Madelyn's Book Nook

AI is THE hot topic in tech right now. I'd heard par Dr. Buolamwini's story before - her experience with what she coined as ''the coded gaze'' - computer software recoghand picked up her book ahead of seeing Ispeak at a Women in AI conference. Applying an intersectional lens to both the tech industry and the research sector, she shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render broad swaths of humanity “excoded” and therefore vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. 

I heard an interview with the author on the Pivot podcast and was intrigued. Microsoft and The Gates Foundation are institutions in Seattle, where I lived for 6 years. Melinda French Gates is one of my role model and someone I admire a great deal. 

I saw Kara Swisher speak on a panel at The Female Quotient Equality Lounge at SXSW 2024 around the time this book was published. As a woman in tech, I appreciate her no non-sense no bullshit account of the industry that she's been reporting on for decades. 

Amazon hired me in 2014. Scott Galloway was on stage giving a talk with Kara Swisher at SXSW 2024 shortly after a panel I sat on for Women in Tech and Media. This book gives a fascinating view of how these mega tech companies impact culture and the economy. 

Adam Alter, a professor of psychology and marketing at NYU, is at the cutting edge of research into what makes these products so compulsive, and he documents the hefty price we're likely to pay if we continue blindly down our current path. People have been addicted to substances for thousands of years, but for the past two decades, we've also been hooked on technologies, such as Instagram, Netflix, and Facebook.

The volume begins by painting a vivid picture of the current healthcare technology landscape, identifying key trends, challenges, and opportunities. It explores the rapid advancements in digital health technologies, including electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, wearable devices, and mobile health (mHealth) applications, and how these tools are revolutionizing patient care, data management, and healthcare delivery.

Indra Nooyi is the former CEO of PepsiCo and currently holds a seat on Amazon's Board of Directors, the first woman of color and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company, and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time. She makes an urgent call for business and government to prioritize the care ecosystem, paid leave and work flexibility. Amazon Link.

The COVID-19 outbreak has turned bedrooms into offices, pitted young against old, and widened the gaps between rich and poor, red and blue, the mask wearers and the mask haters. Some businesses--like home exercise company Peloton, video conference software maker Zoom, and Amazon--woke up to find themselves crushed under an avalanche of consumer demand. Others--like the restaurant, travel, hospitality, and live entertainment industries--scrambled to escape obliteration.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

My mom gave me this book and I read it while on vacation in French Polynesia - it is so special. With meditations on youth and age, love and marriage, peace, solitude, and contentment, here is an inimitable classic that guides us to find a space for contemplation and creativity in our own lives. Amazon Link.

As someone who joined Amazon in 2014 and continues to work there today... this book was particularly interesting to me. A candid, intensely funny memoir of ambition, gender, and a grueling decade inside Amazon.com, from the author of Nothing Good Can Come from This. Amazon Link.

This book changed my life and made a huge impact on how I approach my relationship with work. In my 20s I had no boundaries, barely slept, had a terrible diet and ultimately suffered severe mental and physical health issues. Our relentless pursuit of the two traditional metrics of success - money and power -- has led to an epidemic of burnout and stress-related illnesses. Arianna Huffington is a role model and showed me happy, successful people are healthy people. Amazon Link.

COUNTLESS hours of my life have been spent dancing to Britney Spears' songs. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last. This narrative took a lot of courage and vulnerability to write. Amazon Link.

A spontaneous decision at age twenty-one transformed small-town Oregon girl Holly Sue Cullen into Holly Madison, Hugh Hefner’s #1 girlfriend. But like Alice in Wonderland after she plunged down the rabbit hole, what seemed like a fairytale life inside the Playboy Mansion—including A-list celebrity parties and her own #1-rated television show. Amazon Link.

Megan Fox showcases her wicked humor throughout a heartbreaking and dark collection of poetry. Over the course of more than seventy poems Fox chronicles all the ways in which we fit ourselves into the shape of the ones we love, even if it means losing ourselves in the process. Amazon Link.

Former Wall Street powerhouse-turned-entrepreneur Sallie Krawcheck draws on her experiences at the highest levels of business. Success for professional women will no longer be about trying to compete at the men’s version of the game, she says. And it will no longer be about contorting ourselves to men’s expectations of how powerful people behave. Instead, it’s about embracing and investing in our innate strengths as women - and bringing them proudly and unapologetically, to work. Amazon Link. 

In her comic, scathing essay “Men Explain Things to Me,” Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don’t, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters. Amazon Link.

A vibrantly illustrated primer on modern feminism for the Instagram generation encouraging us to question the insidious narratives that would hold us back from self-acceptance, self-love, and our own power. From overcoming insecurity projection and the tendency to find comfort in other women's flaws to how to recognize and fight against the male gaze and other toxic cultural baggage and embracing sex and body positivity. Amazon Link. 

In this fun and practical guide, Molly interweaves stories from her life with her own tried-and-true tips, as well as advice from the best in the business of beauty, health, fitness, and fashion. The ultimate guinea pig when it comes to looking good and feeling good, she’s learned what works—and what doesn’t—and is prepared to share it all with women everywhere. Amazon Link.

Indra Nooyi is the former CEO of PepsiCo and currently holds a seat on Amazon's Board of Directors, the first woman of color and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company, and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time. She makes an urgent call for business and government to prioritize the care ecosystem, paid leave and work flexibility. Amazon Link.

I LOVE me a Tunde workout on Peloton! She is a gifted coach and her story will surprise and move you! Taking us through each step of the SPEAK acronym—Surrender, Power, Empathy, Authenticity, and Knowledge—Oyeneyin shares the lessons she has learned about loss, love, body image, and how she has successfully created an intentional, joyful life for herself, offering an accessible blueprint for anyone looking to make a positive change in their lives. Amazon Link.

Sara is my sorority sister and this book is an absolute MUST read especially if you are in the throws of wedding planning! How does a Southern Belle plan the perfect wedding in the midst of COVID? By conquering one catastrophe after the next. The COVID Bride is the hilarious, straight-talking wedding guide that could put a ’90s rom-com to shame. Amazon Link.

My Body is a profoundly personal exploration of feminism, sexuality, and power, of men's treatment of women and women's rationalizations for accepting that treatment. These essays chronicle moments from Ratajkowski’s life while investigating the culture’s fetishization of girls and female beauty, its obsession with and contempt for women’s sexuality, the perverse dynamics of the fashion and film industries, and the gray area between consent and abuse. Amazon Link.

The timeline shifts between the protagonist's present privileged Upper East Side existence and her time at a hardcore evangelical college. Amazon link

A gorgeous and brilliant art dealer in L.A. is finding her post-divorce identity as a single mom, when an unexpected romance with a young international pop-star gets hot and heavy. Amazon recently adapted for film starring Anne Hathaway - the plot is similar but there are many differences in the story, so worth the read and the watch ;). Amazon Link.

This story takes place in a middle upper class neighborhood where all the residents appear to 'have it all', until alcohol, scandal and murder shake up the annual summer block party. Amazon Link.

Love affairs and murder on Fire Island! A juicy  drama following stylish and elitist New Yorkers as they summer out of the city. Amazon Link.

Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. As a named partner at her firm, life is going exactly how she planned. The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He’s a struggling writer who has had little success in his career and he tires of his and Sarah’s relationship as she is constantly working. Out in the secluded woods, at the couple’s lake house, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers... until she is found dead... Amazon Link.

When Leeds meets Layla, he’s convinced he’ll spend the rest of his life with her—until an unexpected attack leaves Layla fighting for her life. After weeks in the hospital, Layla recovers physically, but the emotional and mental scarring has altered the woman Leeds fell in love with. In order to put their relationship back on track, Leeds whisks Layla away to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. Once they arrive, Layla’s behavior takes a bizarre turn. Amazon Link.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up — she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true... then her first love Atlas reappears. Amazon Link.

Sequel to It Ends With Us. Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date. Amazon Link.

Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water... Amazon Link.

Fern Castle works in her local library. She has dinner with her twin sister Rose three nights a week. And she avoids crowds, bright lights and loud noises as much as possible. Fern has a carefully structured life and disrupting her routine can be...dangerous. When Rose discovers that she cannot get pregnant, Fern sees her chance to pay her sister back for everything Rose has done for her. Fern can have a baby for Rose. She just needs to find a father... Amazon Link.

This book is RIVETING! Amber Patterson is fed up. She’s tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne—a socialite and philanthropist—and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale. A story of "careful what you wish for" and "everything is not as perfect as it appears". Amazon Link.

Lexi is a counselor at an elitist New England prep school, engaged to the nicest guy she's ever met. Her childhood ghosts haunt her into questioning the stable married life she is about to embark on, pushing her to engage in an affair with an alumnus and Father of a student... the turbulence of this choice she never saw coming. Amazon Link.

This imagery in this book was SO colorful! In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Showtunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. Unbeknown to her mother, he doctor is a psychiatrist who's one job is helping a famous rock star dry out. Amazon Link. 

For fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a shivery, atmospheric, page-turning novel of psychological suspense in the tradition of Agatha Christie, in which a group of old college friends are snowed in at a hunting lodge . . . and murder and mayhem ensue. Amazon Link.

I LOVED this story! Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Exciting depiction of what life would have been like for classic old Hollywood star. Amazon Link.

As a strait-laced, rule-abiding Chinese American lawyer with a successful surgeon as a husband, a young son, and a beautiful home, Ava built the perfect life. But beneath this façade, Ava's world is crumbling: her marriage is falling apart, her expensive law degree hasn't been used in years, and her toddler's tantrums are pushing her to the breaking point... the opportunity to become involved in a luxury handbag counterfeit scheme is too good to pass up. Amazon Link. 

In this deeply addictive tale of psychological suspense, Ellery Lloyd raises important questions about technology, social media celebrity, and the way we live today. Probing the dark side of influencer culture and the perils of parenting online, People Like Her explores our desperate need to be seen and the lengths we’ll go to be liked by strangers. It asks what—and who—we sacrifice when make our private lives public, and ultimately lose control of who we let in. Amazon Link. 

A wedding on an island off the coast of Ireland. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. And then someone turns up dead... Amazon Link.

The Home Group (SoHo Hosue-esque) is a glamorous collection of celebrity members' clubs, where the rich and famous can party hard and then crash out in its five-star suites, away the prying eyes of fans and the media. The most spectacular of all is Island Home- ultraluxurious resort, just off the English coast - and its three-day launch party is easily the most coveted A-list invite of the decade. Wild behavior leads to a murder on the island... Amazon Link.

A dear friend from my yoga studio gave me Book 1 and I've since given copies to several people. Neale Donald Walsch didn't claim to be special or spiritually gifted. He was just a frustrated man who sat down one day with pen in his hand and some tough questions in his heart. As he wrote his questions to God, he realized that God was answering them--directly--through Walsch's pen. And the result was a series of witty, provocative, and profound books - I've read Books 1,2 & 3 so far. Amazon Link.

This book brings HERstory into HIStory. Why aren't women respected religious figures? Reveals the tradition of goddess worship in early Judaism and how Jesus attempted to restore the feminine side of the faith. Provides historical and archaeological evidence for an earlier form of Hebrew worship with both male and female gods. Shows how both Jesus and his great rival Simon Magus were attempting to restore the ancient, goddess-worshipping religion of the Israelites. Amazon Link.

Watterson explains how and why Mary Magdalene came to be portrayed as the penitent prostitute and relates a more historically and theologically accurate depiction of who Mary was within the early Christ movement. And she shares how this discovery of Mary's gospel has allowed her to practice, and to experience, a love that never ends, a love that transforms everything. Amazon Link.

Restores to the forefront of the Christian tradition the importance of the divine femine. The first complete English-language translation of the original Coptic Gospel of Mary, with line-by-line commentary. Reveals the eminence of the divine feminine in Christian thought. Offers a new perspective on the life of one of the most controversial figures in the Western spiritual tradition. Amazon Link.

For almost two millennia, the story of Jesus has shaped the lives of countless people.  With Resurrecting Jesus, Adyashanti invites us to rediscover the life and words of Jesus as a direct path to the most radical of spiritual awakening.Jesus crossed all of the boundaries that separated the people of his time because he viewed the world from the perspective of what unites us, not what divides us. Amazon Link.

Undaunted by the Bible's most difficult passages and unafraid to ask the hard questions, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating the mysteries surrounding Scripture. Discover alongside Evans that the Bible is not a static text, but a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that can equip us and inspire us to join God's loving and redemptive work in the world. Amazon Link. 

In Faith Unraveled, Rachel recounts growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, and learns to ask questions she never thought she would ask. In order for her faith to survive, Rachel realizes, it must adapt to change and evolve. Using as an illustration her own spiritual journey from certainty to doubt to faith, Evans challenges readers to disentangle their faith from false fundamentals and to trust in a God who is big enough to handle tough questions. Amazon Link.

Part of the library of books found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, this central myth of Gnosticism tells the story of how God fell from perfect Oneness to imprisonment in the material world, and how by knowing our divine nature and our divine origins that we are one with God we reverse God's descent and find our salvation. Amazon Link.

Discovered by farmers in the 1970s in Middle Egypt, the codex containing the gospel was bought and sold by antiquities traders, secreted away, and carried across three continents, all the while suffering damage that reduced much of it to fragments. In 2001, it finally found its way into the hands of a team of experts who would painstakingly reassemble and restore it. Amazon Link.

This text answers recent sensational questions (via Brantingham’s translation) “did Jesus kiss Mary Magdalene frequently on her mouth” and, “is it a certainty that she was his wife?” This is the text informs the reader about what is known regarding both of these controversial questions. Dan Brown in The DaVinci Code claims these verses containing proof of Mary Magdalene being the wife of Jesus are found in the Gospel of Philip. Amazon Link.

One of the cache of codices and manuscripts discovered in Nag Hammadi, the Gospel of Thomas, unlike the canonical gospels, does not contain a narrative recording Christ's life and prophecies. Instead it is a collection of his teachings — what he actually said. These 114 logia, or sayings, were collected by Judas Didymus Thomas, whom some claim to be Jesus's closest disciple. Amazon Link.

Kristi Coulter wrote this book while working at Amazon - something she doesn't mention in this text but reveals in her next book Exit Interview. Her honesty about how alcohol is so normalized and can sneakily become a bad habit, turning into addictive behavior that does not serve your life is extremely relatable. Corporate America is stressful! Wine is not the answer! Amazon Link. 

While you may already know that alcohol is detrimental to your physical health, you may be surprised to learn just how many other aspects of your life can be impacted by drinking regularly. The Author uses data, experience, and humor to convincingly describe all of the many benefits of cutting out booze. Maybe you want to drink less but you’re worried that a sober life will be boring? Or that your friends won’t stick around? Read this book. Amazon Link.

Candid and dynamic, this book speaks to the all-consuming cycle of working hard, playing harder, and trying to look perfect while you’re at it. Sarah takes us by the hand through her personal journey with blackouts, dating, relationships, wellness culture, startups, social media, friendship, and self-discovery. Amazon Link. 

Whether you're sober curious, looking to stay sober or want to stop drinking alcohol for good, this uncommon guide explores eight critical areas of life that will drastically improve when you give up alcohol. You will be shocked at discovering how drunk society really is, why alcohol has been holding you back, and the life-changing transformations that occur when you go alcohol-free. Amazon Link. 

This book will open your eyes to the startling role of alcohol in our culture, and how the stigma of alcoholism and recovery keeps people from getting the help they need. Many people question whether drinking has become too big a part of their lives, and worry that it may even be affecting their health. But, they resist change because they fear losing the pleasure and stress-relief associated with alcohol, and assume giving it up will involve deprivation and misery. Amazon Link. 

This book is so beautiful, I've read it over and over again. It's Catherine Gray's second book on sobriety, written a few more years into her journey. Her wit and gift of story telling will make you find a friend in her along the way. READ THIS BOOK! Amazon Link. 

My early sobriety was encouraged by this book, and I will forever be grateful to Catherine Gray for sharing her story so candidly. Getting sober can feel extremely lonely and difficult, and I found a friend in this book. I've read this book many times, and gifted it to others wanting to drink less or stop completely. This is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazon Link. 

In straight-talking chapters filled with personal stories, McKowen addresses issues such as facing facts, the question of AA, and other people’s drinking. Without sugarcoating the struggles of sobriety, she relentlessly emphasizes the many blessings of an honest life, one without secrets and debilitating shame. In the midst of early sobriety, when no longer able to anesthetize her pain and anxiety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one - a feeling I relate to now. Amazon Link.

FILLED WITH FASCINATING FACTS! In this innovative book on the attitudes toward and consumption of alcohol, Rod Phillips surveys a 9,000-year cultural and economic history, uncovering the tensions between alcoholic drinks as healthy staples of daily diets and as objects of social, political, and religious anxiety. Amazon Link. 

'I deserve this.' 'This is my reward.' 'I'm allowed to treat myself.' Ever uttered these statements to yourself as you opened a bottle of wine at 5pm? If so, you're not alone. Women around the globe are buying and consuming alcohol at alarming rates never seen before. But is it doing us any favours? Is it really that treat or reward that we deserve? Lotta Dann thinks not. In The Wine O'Clock Myth, Lotta takes an in-depth and eye-opening look at women's drinking habits. Amazon Link. 

When Sacha Z. Scoblic was drinking, she was a rock star; the days were rough and the nights filled with laughter and blackouts. Then she gave it up. She had to. Here are her adventures in an utterly and maddeningly sober world—and how she discovered that nothing is as odd and fantastic as life without a drink in hand... a revelation I relate to!   Amazon Link. 

Girl Walks Out of a Bar is a candid portrait of alcoholism through the lens of gritty New York realism. Beneath the façade of success lies the reality of addiction. Amazon Link. 

 This is Bridget Jones Dries Out.Clare Pooley is a Cambridge graduate and was a Managing Partner at one of the world's biggest advertising agencies, and yet by eighteen months ago she'd become an overweight, depressed, middle-aged mother of three who was drinking more than a bottle of wine a day, and spending her evenings Googling 'Am I an alcoholic?'In a desperate bid to turn her life around, she quit drinking and started a blog (I started this blog 7 days into my sobriety!). Amazon Link. 

If you know that you're drinking too much, then this book is for you. If you wake in the morning, plan to quit, and by 6 p.m. you're drinking again, then this book is for you. I also knew I was drinking more than I wanted to, and so I did a sober 'trial' to see how things would be different. Amazon Link. 

I heard about this book from one of my favorite comedians, Nikki Glaser - it's how she stopped smoking and drinking right away. Allen Carr's Easyway method has been applied to problem drinking. By explaining why you feel the need to drink and with simple step-by-step instructions to set you free, he shows you how to escape from the alcohol trap. Amazon Link.