Nancy King

Andre Agassi: Open: An Autobiography
Feeding my new addiction to tennis.

Arlene Blum: Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life
Seeing Arlene Blum speak last month inspired me to start climbing mountains again. (Kilimanjaro, Spring 2010) If you need a kick in the pants to start believing in the impossible, buy this book.

Count Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenia
Yes, this book is 800 pages and I'm only on page 17, but there is lots of potential.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Infidel
Please read this - it is so smart and honest.

Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger
First book I'm going to attempt to read on the Kindle.

Bill Bryson: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
Reading Bryson's book about growing up in Des Moines is not unlike strolling through my own childhood. Despite the 25 years that passed between Bryson's days in DSM and my own, very little seems to have changed. My grandfather's clothing store, Frankels, also makes a few appearances in the story. Since I never met my grandfather, it is cool to read about him through another person's lens.

Sloane Crosley: I Was Told There'd Be Cake
Liking this book should be easy; somebody commenting on the back compared it to David Sedaris, so I bought it. But, I found it to be a little bland and only occasionally insightful. I'm sticking with the real Sedaris.

Dalai Lama: The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
If I could stop using the teachings in this book to try to read into the plot line of Mad Men, I might gain something from it.

D. B. Holt: How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding
Another dorky marketing book but very insightful about the relationship between culture and brands.