Meredith’s Recommended Books: May
This month is FULL of GOOD books. Both of these books I highly highly highly recommend. This *may* be one of my favorite set of recommended books so far this year. (Did I really just say that?!) Both are easy reads & won’t take you long to read them but you’re going to want to read them without skipping a word. I think we should just get right into these 2 books!
Here we go!
May Book #1:
Communication IQ by Fred & Anna Kendall
Here’s the summary:
Every so often, we meet people with whom we find it difficult to communicate. For one reason or another, we don’t seem to be on the same wavelength—it’s as if we’re speaking different languages. It’s frustrating when we try to discuss something with them or understand their point of view.
Fred and Anna Kendall set out to discover how different people prefer to communicate and what methods they use to do so. The result is the Kendalls’ Life Languages program, which has been used successfully by tens of thousands of people around the world.
In Communication IQ, the Kendalls share information about three communication intelligence categories—kinetic/action, emotive/feeling, and cognitive/thinking—and the seven Life Languages—Mover, Doer, Influencer, Responder, Shaper, Producer, and Contemplator. Each Life Language has a filter through which one views life and communication, a need that provides feelings of acceptance and love when it’s met, a key character strength, a learning style, and other traits. The Kendalls’ goal is to empower people to learn how to use their Life Language to better communicate with others in their personal lives, their careers, and the world at large, while also gaining a greater self-awareness of their own strengths and passions.
My Thoughts:
Grammy got me this book for my birthday after we had a long discussion about personality types & the quizzes that you take that determines them. So I was very excited to read this book & it did not disappoint. Once I took the quiz (more on that later) and read the descriptions of each communication language, I felt very seen & known (could that have sounder more Millennial? Goodness…). I asked my mom if the authors were following me around. It’s spot on & makes so much sense. I HIGHLY recommend reading & studying this book. It will help you know yourself better but if you have others around you take the quiz (though you may be able to identify your loved ones after reading the in-depth characteristics of each language) & you can speak to them in their primary language, it could very well change your relationships.
Let me break it down for you…
You start by taking the quiz. Download a QR scanner app on your phone & take a picture of the QR code on the inside of the book jacket (the only way to take the quiz for free). It’ll allow you to take the quiz & get the free mini-profile. The mini-profile will only give you your primary language (which is a bummer) but it does give you the percentages of all of your other languages in order. Once I knew my first language, my mom & I were able to use the other percentages & the descriptions of each communication language & place them in the order that we thought they would be in.
The quiz is kind of long. It is 115 questions & I recommend having someone nearby that you can ask for their opinion on some of the questions. The first half is pretty easy & you can totally answer them yourself. But then they ask you to pick one word out of a pair that most describes you. Some of them will both be you but you have to pick one & it’s helpful to have someone else give their opinion.
The Results
So, my top 3 languages were super close together in terms of percentages. After I read the profiles of each language (in the book), I think my top 3 were completely out of order. I chalk that up to the questions it asks. Some of the word pairs were both me but I had to choose one. Had I chosen the other for a few questions, it may have given me what I think is my primary language (Doer). That’s not that big of a deal for me because the quiz did help me narrow it down & put them in what I think is the right order based on the percentages & what primary language it gave me.
Then you read the book. I read the profiles of each communication language in the order that I think I speak the languages. That was just a personal preference because they say that you speak less of each language the further down on your chart that it is (but you do speak all of them to some degree). I wanted to read it in descending order. I don’t think it really matters. They really break down different parts of each communication language even telling you a famous person that would have had that as a primary language.
That’s it! It’s an easy read & could be read in a couple of days. It’s a book that I highly recommend you read! P.S. If you’re a Grammar Nazi, beware. There are multiple small grammar mistakes in the book. I consider myself a Grammar Nazi but I was able to overlook them but wanted to warn others. 🙂
May Book #2:
The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin
Here’s the summary:
Zadie Anson and Emma Colley have been best friends since their early twenties, when they first began navigating serious romantic relationships amid the intensity of medical school. Now they’re happily married wives and mothers with successful careers–Zadie as a pediatric cardiologist and Emma as a trauma surgeon. Their lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, are chaotic but fulfilling, until the return of a former colleague unearths a secret one of them has been harboring for years.
As chief resident, Nick Xenokostas was the center of Zadie’s life–both professionally and personally–throughout a tragic chain of events during her third year of medical school that she has long since put behind her. Nick’s unexpected reappearance at a time of new professional crisis shocks both women into a deeper look at the difficult choices they made at the beginning of their careers. As it becomes evident that Emma must have known more than she revealed about circumstances that nearly derailed both their lives, Zadie starts to question everything she thought she knew about her closest friend.
My Thoughts:
Long Story Short: I absolutely recommend this book. 10/10.
Long(er) Story: First off, isn’t this cover the best? I am obsessed with it. Second: this is the perfect beach read to me. I should probably clarify what a beach read is for me. It would probably be easier for me to tell you what a beach read isn’t for me. It isn’t super light & fluffy (think Sophie Kinsella who’s the author of Confessions of a Shopaholic. Loved the movie though!). It isn’t a mystery novel. It’s not a psychological thriller. It DOES have some depth & a happy ending. This book fits the bill.
I should warn you: there was one part that completely caught me off guard & it took my breath away. I had to get through that section & put the book away for the night.
Once I picked this book up, I didn’t want to put it down. You just want to keep turning the pages to find out more of the story & put all of the pieces together. I’m really not sure what else to say to convince you to read this book besides this: The Queen of Hearts is so good. 10/10. It’s the perfect beach or pool read. Heck, it’s perfect if you’re just chilling on the couch. Oh, & you should definitely judge this book by its cover. 🙂
There you have it! May’s Recommended Books! I hope y’all enjoyed reading my thoughts on this month’s books & that you read these if you haven’t already!
Tell me below: have you read either of these books? What were your thoughts? Do you want to read them?
Love,
You can find my other blogs of recommended books here, here, here, & here.
