📕 LivingOS Issue #106 - The Top Ten Books That Shaped Model Breakers
Hi friends, I’m Charlene Wang, author of Model Breakers and life coach for high achievers.
After two months of intensive rewriting, Model Breakers is finally ready to share with everyone I admire. I felt my creative juice had been squeezed in the whole rewriting process, but I found my way back. Excited to share all the hard-won lessons with you!
Today I want to share the top ten books that inspired me to become a better writer. These books helped me demolish all the writer’s block and motivate me to hone in on the craft. I’m so grateful for these virtual mentors who paved the way for me to run!
Disclaimer: This list is by no means complete. If you are interested in the full journey, check out the appendix section when my book comes out or follow me on Goodreads.
Here are the top ten books that inspired Model Breakers:
Dear Girls by Ali Wong (memoir)
“Stand-up is not about being pretty or looking your best, it’s about being yourself and being funny, period.”
Ali Wong is my favorite comedian. I’m a big fan of her two Netflix Specials and even went on to take stand-up lessons in 2018. Some of you may know that Model Breakers was originally named Dear Warren, inspired by Ali Wong’s Dear Girls.
Dear America by Jose Antonio Vargas (memoir)
“Journalism was a way of separating what I do from who I am, a way of justifying my compromised, unlawful existence to myself: My name may be at the top of this story, I may have done all the reporting and the writing, but I’m not even supposed to be here, so I’m not really here.”
Jose Antonio Vargas is probably the most famous undocumented immigrant in the United States. He never had a “legal” working status, so he had to earn each gig at the whim of authority’s benevolence. When he became a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, his private “illegal” life was also exposed to the public. His pursuit of the “American Dream” prompted me to research this master narrative.
Mindset by Carol S. Dweck (nonfiction)
“The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset.”
Carol S. Dweck’s book is so widely cited across the self-help industry. I had to admit that I only got this book to verify my citation. I am glad to report that I totally underestimated the power of reading the source. If you think you know what “growth mindset” is, go give it a read.
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell (nonfiction)
“In reality, the very thing that gave the giant his size was also the source of his greatest weakness. The powerful and the strong are not always what they seem.”
Malcolm Gladwell is my favorite storyteller in the world. He is so good at explaining complicated subjects at eighth grade level and twisting the plots. As my husband Chris said, “You have no idea where he is going, but you can’t stop reading it.” I want to write like Malcom Gladwell.
Talking to Strangers by Malcom Gladwell (nonfiction)
“Because we do not know how to talk to strangers, what do we do when things go awry with strangers? We blame the stranger.”
Check out Oprah’s interview with Malcolm on Talking to Strangers. I love everything except for the inconclusion of this book. I was so frustrated until I found…
Educated by Tara Westover (memoir)
“To admit uncertainty is to admit to weakness, to powerlessness, and to believe in yourself despite both. It is a frailty, but in this frailty there is a strength: the conviction to live in your own mind, and not in someone else’s.”
A phenomenal piece throughout.
The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk (nonfiction)
“Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. They often become expert at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside. They learn to hide from their selves.”
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk is the world’s leading clinician and researcher on childhood trauma and his book is truly a masterpiece. I quoted a lot of his research from intergenerational trauma to emotional awareness. If you are interested in the narrative angle, check out Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong or The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (memoir)
“You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving.”
I finished this book during one MRT ride and re-read this story every year. I admire how the author navigated his consciousness from cancer to his legacy.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle (memoir)
“This life is mine alone. So I have stopped asking people for directions to places they’ve never been.”
The dialogue, the creative bend, the authenticity. I have gifted this book to many friends, and they all love it. You can check out my book notes here.
The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier (nonfiction)
“This is why, in a nutshell, advice is overrated. I can tell you something, and it’s got a limited chance of making its way into your brain’s hippocampus, the region that encodes memory. If I can ask you a question and you generate the answer yourself, the odds increase substantially.”
The end-of-chapter exercise inspired me to rewrite the chapter conclusion with powerful questions. As one of the beta readers said, “I think it's very well written and I really like the little interactive exercise in the end.”
Have a great weekend
~Charlene
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