What bedside reading do you have?

Each day, I lay in bed, glance over at my pile of books and wonder which one I should pick up and read. One day, I looked at it and surprised myself at the diverse collection I have accumulated.

Granted, it’s only a small percentage of what we’ve got on our bookshelf. One of these days, perhaps I’ll share with ya’ll what our bookshelf looks like but for now: we’ll focus on my bedside books.

Many say if you want to get to know a person, simply take a look at their bookshelf. I hundred percent agree with that. The last few years, I’ve started to accumulate books by the same author, books of the same genre, and professional business growth books that I know I will enjoy years and years again. I often look at the books I own and say to myself, “that speaks to my personality and who I am, without a doubt.”

On a smaller scale, this collection of books on my bedside dresser is a mini version of my bookshelf.

• Haikyu – a graphic novel about a volleyball player in high school and all the dynamics with competition between high schools and players. Comics are a great relief from information overload.
• The Rothko Chapel Writings on Art and the Threshold of the Divine (by Dominique de Menil) – a collection of timeless words and inspired thoughts of Dominique de Menil. Each piece is only a few pages long, a great book to have for when you only want to read a few pages before bed.
• Strangers In Their Own Land (Arlie Russell Hochschild) – a thought-provoking, informational, well-written commentary discussing our current political climate in the United States, and why voters feel the way they feel. A must read for all who is having a hard time understanding why anyone voted/continue to support President Trump.
• Bossypants (Tina Fey) – Comedic. Inspirational. Tina Fey’s words. Enough said.
• The Airbnb Story (Leigh Gallagher) – A look into how three guys distrupted the hospitality industry, continues to change the world and yet, continues to create controversy in every city in the world on a daily basis. I haven’t quite started this book yet but Airbnb envisions everyone to have the mixture of tourism + cultural exchange that I strive for in all my travels. A must read to understand the disruption and changes in the hospitality industry today.

I hope to be finished with Strangers In Their Own Land soon and will write a longer, more detailed response (book review of a sort) to the book. Every night as I sit in bed and read it, I question my own thoughts and it forces me to question all the news articles and op-ed’s I read on a daily basis.

In this day and age, it’s easy to get caught up in simply surfing facebook, twitter, pinterest, or instagram on our Iphones prior to turning off the lights and falling asleep. I definitely continue to act on that habit, but slowly, night after night, I spend more time holding one of these books, and less time on my electronic device.

Sure, I still hit up FB, Instagram, or get that text message sent out I meant to send out earlier in the day. But each night if my time spent reading a book is more than the time spent on my iphone, I’d call that a victory.

What bedside reading do you have? Magazines? Books? What kind of books? Please share so I can continue to add onto my list! Sharing is caring. And learning is a life-long process. I hope to continue my habit of having diverse reads by my bedside in the future.