🌯 August wrap; ft a new member of the five star club...
Hello,
ICYMI, Spring arrived last week down here in the Southern Hemisphere (sorry to those lamenting the end of the summer in the North). I am absolutely someone who is impacted by the seasons and have a visceral reaction to even the slightest hint of the weather improving. And yes, whilst in Australia (eveninmelbourne) the winter isn’t nearly as bleak as the UK, there’s still a lot less vitamin D and general daylight kicking around than I like. This change is bittersweet though as I infinitely prefer my winter wardrobe 🤷🏻♀️.
This is the August wrap edition so keep scrolling for what I read last month. As of writing this (5 September) I’m 40 books down for the year, with five to go before I reach my 45 book goal. I had a bit of a Kindle buying binge the other week so I’ve got A LOT to get through 😬
Once again, I haven’t tackled some of the longer books I had on my list, but I think the end of the year (and a couple of weeks away in NZ over Christmas) will be a good time to pore over those. The question still remains on whether another 31 December will roll around without me finishing Sapiens...
Here’s some things I’m currently digging:
Documentary - Fire of Love: abysmal name, great documentary. It’s about scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft, who dedicate their lives to the study of volcanoes. Amazing story about the very intentional choice to live an unconventional life. Also, incredible footage of volcanoes. I caught it at my local independent cinema, check if it’s still showing near you.
Netflix - The Rise and Fall of And1: very interesting story about the sports brand And1; their origins, their brilliant decision to chart their own path in Street Ball, rather than the NBA (where they'd have to compete with the mid-1990s beast of Nike + Jordan), guerrilla marketing techniques, meteoric rise, and then subsequent crash.
Podcast - Don’t Stop Us Now: in this episode Greta shares her learning experience from a week of surf school in Bali. I loved the self-awareness Greta had on her own tendencies when learning something new, and the hacks she came up with to make sure she still had fun. Listen on Spotify | Apple.
Tool - Storytail: Storytail is a cool new virtual classroom tool launching next month out of right here in Naarm/Melbourne. Here’s more details in the form of a rather good analogy.
Learning - improv classes: I recently started my second term of improv. At first I wasn’t sure why I’d signed up for the next level, but I am SO pleased I did. The class are absolute ripper human beings and I’m having a blast playing and being silly with them each week.
Guesting - on podcasts: I’ve popped up on The New Way with Dr Kate Byrne, and Pete Clark’s Freedom Fridays. Both great conversations where we dug into learning, books, leadership, teams, and work. I’m using these to kick off a little ‘podcast speaking tour’ for the rest of the year, and already have some other fun conversations in the diary. If you know a podcast I should pop onto, leave a comment or hit reply and let me know.
Giving - blood / plasma: this month I’ve been able to donate for the first time since moving to Australia, as the ban on blood from people who lived in the UK has finally been lifted. I was straight in the tippy chair and am now in a regular cycle for plasma donations (did you know you can donate plasma fortnightly?). If you’re also now eligible (or have been eligible for a while but it’s usually on the ‘when I get around to it’ list) why not register to donate?
Season: did I mention how good Spring is?
What have you been reading/listening/watching/enjoying recently? Pop a comment to this post, hit reply, or just tap the little heart button if you liked something you read.
Bouncing out of hibernation,
Steph
PS. To borrow from Austin Kleon (and everyone else who borrows this from Austin Kleon), this newsletter and the podcast are 'free but not cheap'. You can support their ongoing creation by buying me a coffee as a one off 'thank you', or leaving giving the podcast a (five 😉) star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Thanks!
What I read in August
At the end of each month I am very grateful for my Storygraph giving me all my top stats for the month. Here’s what I read in August…
👀 BOOKS I READ WITH MY EYES 👀
Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The latest addition to the 2022 five star club is Brave New Work. It strikes the perfect balance of being unique, challenging, practical, and accessible. As someone who finds the idea of work / how we work fascinating, this topic was already right up my straße, and the book lived up to expectations. Aaron puts forward new ways of organising humans at work that actually allows them to do their best work, and doesn’t assume they’re lazy/untrustworthy, as most organisations policies, systems, and procedures do. Aspiration stuff.
This book is also this week’s podcast episode. Check it out.
Disrupting the Game by Reggie Fils-Aimé
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A memoir of sorts, featuring lessons in leadership from the career of the former COO and Chair of Nintendo America. I quite liked the lessons and the insights in the relationships and cultural differences between the Japan and US entities and leaders, but found the signposting of the lessons a little bit forced in places. I also would have liked a bit more about Reggie’s career struggles and some of the times he was wrong / failed (as pretty much every story ended up with him being proved right and making a great decision!).
Two Hour Cocktail Party by Nick Gray
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
You literally CANNOT get more practical than this book. If you’re hankering to get back to some IRL connection post-youknowwhat, this book is a must read. I loved that it has one singular topic, and focuses on setting you up for the most success. The reason it didn’t tip to four stars was that I found the very start of the book off-putting with what felt like over-egging the pudding on how life changing the book would be. Chill Nick.
👂🏼BOOKS I READ WITH MY EARS👂🏼
Tough by Terry Crews
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Funny and reflective story of Terry’s life growing up in Flint, Michigan, getting out of his abusive home and having to figure the rest of life out on his own. Complete with cult membership, parenthood, professional sports, art, going broke, shame, police run-ins, racism, therapy, Me Too, and addiction, it’s quite a story. I also enjoyed hearing Terry reading it.
ICYMI, recently on the podcast…
Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan
Four Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey et al