Get Off Your Duff Reading List: 2020

There are six months left in 2020 and if you're feeling sluggish, like you aren't going to accomplish everything you wanted to this year, you're in good company—I mean, who among us even saw this coming? What I find helps motivate me when I'm in a slump is a thought-provoking book that inspires me to action. Often times, the more meager the means and the more humble the beginnings of the author, the more their book resonates with me. Not only am I inspired by what they write about, but I'm inspired that an average Joe like me could produce such an awe-inspiring work. It really gets me thinking about my potential, my limitations, and if either are truly as I perceive them. In the words of Helen Exley (creator of the London publisher by the same name), “books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled 'This could change your life’.”

I'm not saying all the books on this list are going to change your life. Maybe your life has already been changed and you already know what these books are saying to be true. Maybe you're still waiting for that "Eureka!" moment and these books aren't likely to be the kind to give it to you. Or maybe, just maybe, somewhere within these pages you'll find that spark, the final piece you were missing, that motivates you to get off your duff and get sh*t done! Whatever that may look like for you for the remainder of 2020.

The five books on this list weren't all published within the last year—nor did I read them all in the last year to be perfectly honest—but their themes and message are of the timeless nature, perfectly applicable to the World in which we find ourselves currently. Now without further ado, five titles (in no particular order) to get you motivated to end the year off right!

1) The Hate U Give

Recent activities aside, this book is always relevant. That being said, now more than ever we need to educate ourselves on the plight of racial minorities. While this book is set in America against the classically American backdrop of police brutality towards Black youth, every country has their race issue(s).

Written by Angie Thomas to highlight the more unfortunate facets of Black culture—like code switching and "the talk"—The Hate U Give is a kind of coming home for those within the community and an awakening for those outside. Written from the perspective of a high school teenager who feels torn between her Black community and her friends at her predominantly white private school, the themes of identity and the feeling of being torn between two parts of the same whole presented in The Hate U Give will resonate with many.

A kind of exposé in its own right, this book will take you on an emotional roller coaster ride through a childhood lived in a neighborhood controlled by gang lords, to an adolescence marked by violence, heartbreak, and strife, that ultimately results in a young wommon finding her voice and speaking out on behalf of her community.

If none of that has you convinced, how about that fact that the book was published in 2017 and the move was released in 2018. The book to movie process takes AGES and the fact that The Hate U Give made it onto the big screen the very year after it made it onto bookshelves is unprecedented and a testament to its powerful nature. The movie also has an amazing soundtrack; if that's your thing I highly recommend you look it up.

Check this book/movie combo out from your local library or check your neighborhood thrift store. I once found this mint condition paperback in a donation bin in Australia so they're out there.

2) Period Power

Boys! Stop scrolling! This one's for you too!

Okay, now that I have your attention again...

This is one of those books that you hear people talking about, but that you don't pick up right away. And then it gets made into a movie and all of a sudden develops a cult following and people start cosplaying as the characters and you're like "okay... I guess I'll see what all the fuss is about..." and then you read the whole thing, cover to cover, in two days and can't believe it's over and that you waited so long to read it and then you start back at the beginning again because you just don't want it to be over.

THAT is Period Power—minus the whole made into a movie thing... at least for now.

Written by Nadya Okamoto—the co-founder of PERIOD—the summer after she graduated high school, this manifesto isn't just for the menstruators behind the movement for menstrual equality (i.e. no tampon tax, accessible hygiene products, stigma education, etc.), but for any activist looking to get inspired. Whether you're fighting for our dying planet, an animal rights activist, or passionate about gun laws, the last chapter (entitled "Take Action") is all about how you can turn your outrage into scalable solutions. Granted, the examples are period related, but the techniques can be applied across all aspects of activism for any outcome.

Okamoto's writing style is simple, but that is not to say it is elementary. Rather quite the contrary. It's impossible to tell Okamoto's age from the way she writes, but the history, psychology, and science she delves into are presented in an easy to digest form, allowing readers of all backgrounds to truly grasp the complexity of the issue at hand. If you're still not convinced of her merit, let the 30-page bibliography be your guide. I learned a great deal, both as a menstruator and an activist.

Oh, and that other co-founder? Yeah, HE WAS A 16-YEAR-OLD BOY! Menstrual equality isn't just for menstruators. Just like any kind of equality isn't just for those on the business end of discrimination; it takes both sides getting involved to see real, systemic change.

Pick this book up from your local bookseller, Amazon, or send Okamoto a message on Instagram for a signed copy if there's something in this World you want to change.

3) Start Something that Matters

First things first, this book made this business-illiterate, money-unsavvy, marine biologist believe she could one day become an entrepreneur. And I had to Google entrepreneur three different ways because I misspelled it so massively spell check couldn't even recognize it for me. No joke. That is how inspiring this book is.

If you went to high school anytime in the late 2000s, early 2010s then chances are extremely high you have heard of TOMS shoes and probably owned at least one pair, which you wore a hole into right in the big toe region. But I'm not here to discuss shoes. I'm here to discuss this amazing book written by the Founder and CEO, or as he likes to call himself, the Chief Shoe Giver, of TOMS, Blake Mycoskie.

Most notably, Mycoskie coined the One for One™ business model where, for each item you purchase, one (nearly) identical item is donated to a person in need. That doesn't mean that when you buy a five course meal a kid in Africa gets a bowl of porridge. That means when you buy a pair of shoes a kid in Africa gets the same pair of shoes in their size, and when you buy Mycoskie's book an age-appropriate book is donated to a school in Myanmar. One for One.™ It's the most practical model for all social businesses to follow. Social business, as defined by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, is any business which is created & designed to address a social problem, financially self-sustainable (as opposed to a non-profit that seeks money from outside sources), and which reinvests its profits with the aim of increasing social impact. In our ever-changing World where the disparities between rich and poor are seen to grow day by day, social businesses play a huge role in evening out or bridging that gap, providing necessary resources where there are none in a way that doesn't burden another society. Anyone interested in starting a business should consider this form, which is why I find this book to be so influential.

Written in 2011, Start Something that Matters is Mycoskie's how to manual. How he came up with the idea for TOMS, how it happened, how it grew, and how it became one of the most well known shoe brands, next to maybe Nike and Air Jordans, which arguably service a much narrower clientele. Mycoskie lays out exactly how he went about starting his company, running it out of his apartment with interns he found on Craigslist, cold calling every Macy's in the continental United States until one of them would stock his newly-minted, unisex recreational shoe. He explains why he doesn't believe in classical hierarchical position titles (see Chief Shoe Giver above) and how a few tweaks in corporate environment—once TOMS migrated out of his apartment that is—save him from having to endlessly rehire due to employee burnout. If book number two on this list is an activist's manifesto, than Start Something that Matters is an entrepreneur's.

Mycoskie wrote this book to help others create social businesses of their own. He provides endless resources to check out in the form of websites & books, recommendations for the cheapest ways to get started, and techniques that have been successful for businesses in the past. Some of the websites are a tad dated as this book was written in 2011, but the tips and tricks are helpful nonetheless. And the inspiration gained from watching Mycoskie build TOMS out of nothing will have you believing in your own business potential by chapter three.

Purchase this book from your local bookseller or your prefered online retailer. Every book purchased provides a book to a child in need. One for One.™

4) The Promise of a Pencil

Adam Braun is the Founder of Pencils of Promise, a nonprofit that builds schools in rural, underserved communities in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ghana, and Laos. Born out of his love for travel, Braun turned a successful finance career into an even more successful career helping to improve the education sector both at home and abroad. Much like Start Something that Matters is Mycoskie's how to manual, The Promise of a Pencil is Braun's. Except this time the how to is focused on creating a scalable, "for-purpose" nonprofit.

While Braun's subtitle indicates that ordinary people can create extraordinary change, Braun by no means had an ordinary upbringing. Or at least not one that is universally ordinary. He discusses at length his roots and how his parents instilled in him the work ethic that saw him through the extremely cutthroat NYC financial industry and into nonprofit management. While his path is not one I imagine many will see mirrored in their own lives, Braun's internal struggles are those that we all have at some point or another. Where we question the path we're on and what pursuits we spend our limited time on and if any of it is worth it at the end of the day. More than anything, this book is a how to guide for righting your sinking ship and turning it into the winds that will carry you to your dreams. Which sounds cheesy, until you read about his Semester at Sea experience.

Braun has a way with words I haven't encountered before, able to say the hard truths in a way that slaps you awake, but doesn't offend you. He imparts little nuggets of wisdom as he goes, almost as if he were the Easter Bunny with an unseen hole in his egg basket. You never know when you might stumble upon the golden egg that changes your outlook. Personally, I have been using his chapter titles as headings for my calendars since 2018 because they are simply such good advice I want each ever present to remind me of the life I want to be living.

Even if you don't have any grand dreams of starting a nonprofit, if there is any side project you've been wanting to devote more time to, but work and life and adult commitments just seem to always get in the way, then has Braun got some words for you. The Promise of a Pencil is the push you need to stop making excuses and just get out there and Do The Thing.

Yet another book I, uncharacteristically, recommend purchasing. 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of this book go straight to Pencils of Promise and their ongoing school construction projects.

5) No One is too Small to Make a Difference

Possibly the most famous climate activist in the World EVER, Greta Thunberg has rocketed to international fame over the past one and a half years... and for good reason. What started as a lone 15-year-old Greta, sitting against the wall of the Swedish Riksdag (Parliament) with her now famous sign "SKOLSTREJK FÖR KLIMATET," quickly morphed into four million people striking in 4,500 cities in 150 countries with signs as diverse as the people wielding them. This phenomenon, known as the Greta Effect, produced the largest climate protest in history. And it all started with a girl and her sign (incidentally, you can now buy imitation signs, stickers & car clings of the infamous slogan, mugs & keychains bearing her likeness, and even a signed picture of Greta holding her sign in her yellow trench coat—you know the one—for $700USD on ebay).

But this book is not about Greta. Rather, it is a compilation of her sixteen scorching speeches delivered over the span of a year. Starting with her September 2018 Stockholm Climate March speech right at the beginning of her rise to international fame and ending with her September 2019 Montreal Week for Future Climate Strike speech as the capstone of the largest global demonstration in human history—the Global Climate Strike—you can follow Greta around the planet as she conveens with and shames some of the World's "greatest" leaders, from politicians to the finance sector and everyone in between.

Greta drives home the very real statistics, math, and models that spell the end of humanity, but she will also impart hope, solutions, and a wisdom well beyond her years. More than once, you will forget you're reading the words of a high schooler and not a scientist, Greta's understanding of the climate science is so thorough. And since the majority of the sixteen speeches are intended for politicians, they are short, concise, and comprehensible. She breaks down the science into politician terms, framing the issue in terms of dollars and years, not gigatons and tipping points, though there's plenty of those too. In short, this is the climate science crash course everyone needs, especially if you're confused about what all the science is saying and just want to know what this means for your health and future. Let Greta be your guide into the unknown.

And there they are, five picks to help you get off your duff and use the remainder of 202o to your greatest advantage. Whether you're campaigning for racial equality, striving for a more livable planet, or just trying to make it through quarantine, I hope these titles can help you find the spark within yourself to see IT through.

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