BR: Vanishing Half, Anxious People, Mexican Gothic, Inheritance Games and Marketing Made Simple

The Vanishing Half is a New York Times best seller, one of Barak Obama’s favorite books of the year, and named the best book of 2020 by multiple other publications. Find out what I thought in my latest book roundup, plus 4 other recent reads.

The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett has been on the top of the book charts for awhile. I think I waited close to 6 months to get it from the library. Then, while lounging at the pool in Vegas, I devoured it. Very intriguing and thought provoking. It’s about the lives of twin sisters who take completely different paths in life; one stays in their southern black community while the other secretly lives as a rich white woman. It was really gripping, but the end was a bit anti-climactic. Still a great book- I even passed it off to Nolan after I finished since he forgot his Kindle.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman {audiobook}

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman makes you laugh and cry, almost at the same time. I loved listening to it in audiobook because of all the accents that the narrator used. 😛 I will say that it wasn’t as good as A Man Called Ove, which I really enjoyed.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I picked up Mexican Gothic from a recommendation from Bev Cooks. She has some of the best book recs. Plus her writing is super hilarious. Anyway, Mexican Gothic! It was a weird, creepy, and captivating book. I wouldn’t categorize it as horror, but for sure has some dark parts.

Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes {audiobook}

It took me two rounds of borrowing Inheritance Games from the library to complete it. Not because I didn’t like it- but because it was so long. It’s a young adult fiction, which might be why it made for a great audiobook. The writing and plot line were really easy to follow, even if they were interrupted by going through a drive through or being distracted by traffic.

Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller {audiobook}

I’ve been a longtime follower of Donald Miller and the StoryBrand framework. So when Marketing Made Simple came out, I quickly added it to my library queue. It was available via audiobook first, so that’s how I “read” it. I’ll cut to the chase- I wasn’t blown away. It’s still great stuff, that I agree with, but nothing new to me. It’s a great reference book for how to execute StoryBrand marketing and I highly recommend it to any marketing professional.