Happy Friday everyone, I hope you all had a great week and are looking forward to celebrating the Victoria day long weekend! The warm weather has finally arrived in Montréal, and that I can safely leave the apartment in the evening without a jacket (and yes, that's my indication that summer is here). It's crazy how quickly the year is flying by; we're almost at the half way mark! This time of year always makes me think about how much I've been reading. Now that 1L is successfully complete, I can finally get my hands on all the amazing books that people have suggested. I'm excited to share my reading list and book recommendations with you guys!

Thinking Fast and Slow: If you would like to get a better understanding of the human mind and the factors that influence our decision making, this book is for you. Daniel Kahneman provides a comprehensive overview of heuristics, internal biases, priming, rationality, and judgments. I know, it sounds a bit dense, but Kahneman manages to summarize decades of extensive psychological research in a palatable way. This book is quite scientific, so I wouldn't describe this as a book for reading (with a cup of tea) before bed. This book encourages you to think! It will challenge your preconceived notions, and make you more sensitive when reasoning and drawing conclusions.

I've Been Thinking: Maria Shriver may be the niece of President John F. Kennedy, but make no mistake, she's is a self-made woman. She's an American journalist, an activist for individuals with intellectual disabilities, an anchor on NBC News, and the former first lady of California. In her book, she articulates her philosophy on life, faith, and community, elements that have all been shaped after years of reporting on the lives of other individuals. This book is funny, blunt, a little bit quirky, but always instructive. I particularly enjoyed the fact that each chapter ends in some form of prayer or good intention, so as to inspire introspection. The chapters are quite short and do not need to be read in succession. After reading this novel, I somehow feel closer to Maria. Her insights have taught me that the human experience is shared one, and despite living in socially divided world, there are universal ties that connect us all. We should be grateful for the relationships that shape us, and the adversities that grow us. Most of all, we should be proud of our own story, whatever it may be.

David and Goliath: I picked this one up at the airport over the Christmas holidays and was pleasantly surprised. As the title suggests, Malcolm Gladwell draws on biblical and historical references that teach us that the most unassuming individuals can succeed, and that our greatest weaknesses are also our greatest strengths. I'm forcing all of my friends to read this, and have already started listening to "Outliers" on audiobook.

On the bookshelf: