Apps We Love – July 2021: Summer Reading

Caleb Jenkins, EA, CQP, leader of client accounting services at RLJ Financial Services, Inc., shared the books that are on his anticipated summer reading list:

• The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster – by Katz, Jonathan M.
• Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn’t the American Dream – by Fikkert, Brian and Kapic, Kelly M.
• Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development – by Myers, Bryant L.
• From Dependence to Dignity: How to Alleviate Poverty through Church-Centered Microfinance – by Fikkert, Brian and Mask, Russell and Warren, Rick
• Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis – by Vance, J. D.
• A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload – by Newport, Cal
• The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities – by Lencioni, Patrick M.
• Surviving the Tech Tsunami by Miller, Gary
• The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains – by Carr, Nicholas
• Chronicles of Narnia Box Set – by Lewis, C. S.

Jenkins didn’t include any reference to apps, and instead added, “I’m probably different than most in my generation in that I like hardback paper books. I like the ability set aside my technology for a period of time to focus on what I’m reading and take notes that will help me make changes in my way of life.

Stacy Kildal, founder at Kildal Services, LLC, shared her summer reading pile:

• A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes. by Eric Jay Dolin
• Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire. by Simon Winchester
• The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey. by Candice Millard
• Lost. by Jame Patterson
• The Inheritance Trilogy, by N.K. Jemisin
  
• Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind’s Greatest Invention. by Ben Wilson

Roslyn Banks, MAcc, EA, founder at Adelaide Rose, LLC, said, “On my nightstand is my first copy of my brand-new children’s book, Adelaide The Accountant, which releases on October 15th! I am a huge fan of Audible so that I can multitask while I listen hands-free. I love being able to listen in the office and in the car seamlessly without losing my place. I like that Amazon also linked in my favorite podcast by Patrice Washington Purpose 2 Platform – The Podcast.”

Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing, told us, “Three books I’ve read recently would make great summer reads. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, a saga set during the Great Depression. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, explores the lives of black twin sisters and one who chooses to pass as white. Finally, 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand, a can’t put down page turner. A true beach read. All read on my Amazon Kindle (on my iPad).”

Sandi Leyva, president at Accountant’s Accelerator, said, “I just finished Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, by Caroline Criado Perez, using my Nook reader from BN on my tablet.  It was eye-opening.”

Jessica McClain, CPA.CITP, CISA, PMP, CGFM, controller at Brand USA, told us, “This summer I will be reading Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life, by Hal Gregersen. I usually read hardcopy books but if I do read an e-book, it is on an Amazon Kindle app on my tablet.”

Arline Welty, principal at DataQuest Solutions, said, “Summer reading!? Oh my gosh. Love this one! Here’s what’s on my nightstand right now:

• Samantha Irby: Wow, No Thank you
• Jenny Lawson: Broken (in the best possible way)
• Kiley Reid: Such a Fun Age
• Resmaa Menakem: My Grandmother’s Hands

Richard Roppa-Roberts, founder at Roundtable Labs and The ProAdvisor Advisor at Quasar Cowboy, replied to our inquiry with this. “Summer is here, and as I watched the temperature cross 120 degrees Fahrenheit this morning, I realized it was time to once again hunker down inside the house for the next few weeks. I have three non-businessy books on my list (as of today), and I am looking for more. First, a book that was gifted to me last year by Stacy Kildal. And I have yet to read more than 13 pages – and those 13 pages were crazy. I mean, crazy dialed up to 11. The exact thing I like when I need brain candy.  My Way of Life by Joan Crawford, published in 1971. After that, I plan to read A Burglar’s Guide to the City by Geoff Manaugh, also a recommendation from a good friend, Melissa Mullet of Corpay.

The third book on my list is Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman. After reading NOTHING but business books, journals, contracts, and blogs for the last 18 months, I need some brain candy. Although my usual go-to is to read on my iPad using the Kindle app, I will be reading all of these the way books should be read – hardcover, in my hands, and no notifications are popping up, taking me out of the moment.”

Jeff Wilson II, CPA/PFS, CGMA, CFE, CDFA, Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor, principal at The W2 Group, said, “Audiobooks.com is my favorite app to wind down after a workout in the steam room. I have two books in my read: The Anticipatory Organization by Daniel Burrus, and The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker.”

Samantha Mansfield, founder at Samantha Mansfield, LLC, told us, “My phone is always in my bag or pocket and my favorite reading app is Audible. Given the activity of summer I get my reading in while on the move. I have started the book A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger which provokes a number of thoughts, so I stop to spend time thinking about the ideas. For fun I am looking forward to starting another historical fiction book by Rhys Bowen, Above the Bay of Angels.

Sandra Wiley, president at Boomer Consulting, Inc., said, “I just returned from Punta Cana (which was a wonderful getaway) and I read two terrific books I read on my Kindle:

• Leading Without Authority by Keith Ferrazzi
• Believe It by Jamie Kern Lima

Rick Richardson, CPA.CITP, CGMA, managing partner at Richardson Media & Technologies, LLC, said, “Other than Kindle, for research my two go-to apps are NetNewsWire and Pocket. As for books, I’ve got one on the ’to read’ list so far – Sea Stories by Adm. William McRaven. I am also two months into a year-long project to write my first novel. It will be on ransomware. I’ll let you know when it’s done. Maybe it’ll make next summer’s list?!”

Blake Oliver, CPA, marketing director at Jirav, said, “Feedly is my favorite app for keeping up with accounting and technology blogs. I love how it consolidates all the new posts into a single feed. So while I’m on the beach I’ll be reading all the latest developments from Intuit, Xero, and more!”

Finally, here are the titles (so far) on my own summer reading list:

• The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, by Michael Lewis
• The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything, by Michael J. Casey & Paul Vigna
• A Year at the Movies, by Kevin Murphy
• Why Time Flies, by Alan Burdick
• Chevrolet Summers, Dairy Queen Nights, by Bob Greene
• Redefining Financial Literacy, by Cindy Couyoumjian
• The Flight Girls, by Noelle Salazar

When I read online, I use Scribd and Libby as my apps of choice and these are often the places where I’ll start a book if I’m not certain if I’m going to like it. Most of the time I prefer books made of paper.

Feel free to expand this list by sharing your own summer reading choices in the comment section below this article. Happy reading, everyone!