Coach Michelle's 2023 Fall Reading List

When the leaves start turning, the temps cool off & the sun gets low in the sky, I dream of wrapping up in a fuzzy blanket & reading a good book. And dare I say, there is no shortage of awesome books to read. Seriously…my list always seems to get longer…never shorter!! If you’re looking for book ideas, look no further. I give you Coach Michelle’s 2023 Fall Reading List!

#1 – Beethoven: Anguish & Triumph, Jan Swafford

Truthfully, I’m still reading this book. It is ginormous…and it’s taking me months & months to get through. But, oh my, it is spectacular! As a classical pianist, I’ve always been huge Beethoven fan…but after reading this bio, I’m an even bigger fan. To put things simply, Beethoven was a rebel & a contrarian (though he never saw himself that way). His compositions challenged everything that came before from the make-up of instruments in an orchestra to the structure of a piano concerto to the actual piano itself. He single-handedly changed classical music. Celebrated composer Franz Shubert once said:

Secretly, in my heart of hearts, I still hope to make something of myself, but who can do anything after Beethoven?

While Beethoven was very much admired & appreciated for his musical genius, his personal life was quite literally a mess. He was manic, unpredictable, rude, hostile & intensely paranoid. He had a myriad of health problems (potentially from ingestion of lead from utensils, plates & cups) &, of course, he was going deaf by age 28. The beautiful thing though…the more he suffered in life, the more transcendent & amazing his music became. It’s as if he found peace from his worldly troubles inside his own head creating what has become some of our most beloved music. It’s a fantastic read – I highly recommend it.

#2 – The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self, Michael Easter

What a GREAT book!! I loved this book…from start to finish…couldn’t put it down. Michael Easter delves into the evolutionary science behind why we humans need discomfort. Using his own 33-day hunting expedition in the remote Alaskan wilderness as a case study, Easter connects how our modern lives (filled with the comforts of shelter, temperature-control, excess food & minimal physical challenges) may actually be a cause for many of our physical & mental health issues. If you’ve read my blog posts for any length of time, you know that I often talk about getting out of comfort zones. This book solidified my thoughts on this topic. Basic Point: Leverage the power of discomfort (particularly in the outdoors) to increase health, happiness & creativity!

#3 – Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD

In this fascinating book Dr. Peter Attia discusses the critical difference between “lifespan” & “healthspan” – the former focuses only on number of years lived whereas the later focuses on quality of those years. He then details how you can take control of your daily routines to offset the “slow death” from our modern diseases: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s & Type 2 diabetes. Throughout the book, he asks an awesome question: What do you want to be doing in your 90th decade? Once you’ve answered this question in specific, measurable & quantitative ways, you then develop a “training plan” to achieve these goals. In other words, you TRAIN to make each decade better than the previous one. It’s a brilliant way to approach the aging process!

#4 – Buddhism Plain & Simple: The Practice of Being Aware, Right Now, Every Day, Steve Hagen

I will be the first to admit that I really had NO idea what Buddhism was about. The only things that really came to mind when I thought about Buddhism were those funny little Buddha dolls & not killing any living thing…even mosquitoes. So, I decided to educate myself. I picked up this book & have really enjoyed expanding my understanding beyond those laughing Buddha statues! In the past few years, I’ve been working with meditation & what do you know…many of the Buddhist teachings are exactly what meditation focuses on! Both are about…

The process
Being non-judgmental
Seeing reality for what it is, not what we wish it to be
Accepting change
Being comfortable with the grays of life (there are no black & whites)
Being in THIS moment right now

#5 – Frankenstein; or, The Modern Promethius, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley

As an English major I read this spell-binding book in college…and then again in 2022. It truly is a “must read.” Mary Shelley was only 18 yrs old when she started writing this classic novel which was prompted by a challenge made by Lord Byron to both her & her lover, Percy Bysshe Shelley. The challenge was that they each should write a ghost story. Lucky for us, she completed the challenge (Lord Byron & Percy Shelley did not) & gave us Frankenstein. She published it anonymously in 1818 partially out of fear that she might lose custody of her three children (it was quite uncommon at that time for a young woman to write a book…and much less to write a book with such a dark & twisted plot). And the rest…as they say…is history. The story of Frankenstein & his creation has become one of the most well-known & captivating tales in all of literature. If all you know of Frankenstein is the square-headed Hollywood monster, you really must read this book. A fitting read for the Halloween season too, I might add!