If you are interested in books and beers then Cheers to the Weekend will cover the books I'm reading or have read this past week and a quick blurb to spur on your curiousity.
If anything is of interest then send me a note and I can fill you in!
It will also cover the beers I tried out during the week with a short review (I'm no expert) and a little more information for you to follow. Given my love of audiobooks I also want to include a section on what I'm listening too so you can get a sense of what's out there for audiobooks and why they are so great. Think commuting! The other stuff is random and could be a cool quote I found this week or a random musing.
I am also doing some deep dives into the books over at www.aretemind.com so follow along there if you are interested in finding excellence in your own life through the literature and ideas that are all around us.
What I'm Reading:
A book that brings to life the idea of absurdism at its most distinct. This is a thought provoking book right here and should get you thinking about your own beliefs and the type of philosophy that you follow in your own life. Camus weaves these philosophical thoughts into Meursault's life. If you pick this one up or have read it, let me know what you thought about the book and absurdism.
Some absurdism info for after your read. Here.
Mihaly has another tremendous book with Creativity on the heels of his already classic Flow.
Creativity takes the next step and examines the lives of various creatives from numerous fields including science, writing and art, and distils the ideas and beliefs that shaped them while generating practical advice for you to find your own creativity. Look for a deep dive on this one in the coming week.
For a great TED Talk to see what Mihaly is all about and his views on happiness check this out.
What I'm Drinking:
Driftwood Brewery's Belle Royale
A powerfully sour kriek coming out of this B.C. brewery. Poured a thick burgundy and lots of sourness with some nice cherry hitting the nose. Reminded me of the Belgian Lambics we were drinking last fall on the streets of Brussels; you don't find these very often around here so it was a nice change and a good reminder. Side note; always love the artwork coming out of this brewery!
For more info on the beer: Driftwood Brewery (check that logo out!)
Breakside Brewing's Passion Fruit Sour Ale
One of the highlights of our trip to Vietnam this past spring was tasting passion fruit in beer! It has now become quite popular over on this side of the ocean and this sour brings lots of passion fruit flavour and some great citrusy flavours hitting the palate. Not too sour either bringing a lot of balance to the mouth. First time trying a beer from Breakside Brewing and I'll definitely be on the lookout for more.
For more info on the beer: Breakside Brewing
What I'm Listening To:
Written by a retired marine (Thomas Brennan) and photographer (Finbarr O'Reilly) this book was a sobering look at the effects of war on individuals. There have been a lot of books written on the subject (Thank You For Your Service, Dispatches, etc.) that are all great. This one was interesting
because it provided a lot of back story before the wars and the effects afterwards. I never considered the impact on those documenting war but PTSD seems to affect everyone who bears witness.
Some great info on the book and a few photos to check out: Shooting Ghosts
If you have some extra time Finbarr O'Reilly has a cool IG account with some of the photos from his different tours.
Neil's follow up to the epically successful The Book of Awesome, this one makes a solid case for many areas where we get ourselves hung up when trying to find happiness. One of my favourites that I'm often trying to remind myself of: Do It For You. So simple to read and always a challenge to remember especially if you are an overthinker like myself!
Simon Sinek wrote Start With Why to great acclaim as a follow up to his TED Talk that was providing the very ideas presented in this book. See below for a link. Find Your Why is the practical guide to how to find it. This book is thorough and truly step by step. You can follow the instructions for individuals or go down the path of applying these ideas to where you work. The ideas of recalling and writing down stories from childhood really struck me as a good idea. I find myself often thinking back now about stories from those days and what they may tell about myself.
The Simon Sinek TED Talk: Jump
Random Thoughts:
Thanks for making it this far; I appreciate everyone who has made it to this page and joined me for this weekly update. If you love books and beers as much as I do then the goal is to help you find new ones that may take you down the path of greater learning, happiness and overall well-being.
Random Shoutout: The Queue
The queue reached out to me a week ago and started prodding me about this very blog. I said I don't really know what to do with it. They gave me this very idea. So please go check out their Instagram @thequeuegram (books related!) and their website (TheQueuePress). Thank you for the idea!!
A Quote:
Neil Pasrich quoted the above poem taken The New Yorker magazine, written by Kurt Vonnegut after famed author Joseph Heller passed away. It should be a reminder to us all to take stock of what we have in our lives and how great we have it.
True story, Word of Honor:
Joseph Heller, an important and funny writer
now dead,
and I were at a party given by a billionaire
on Shelter Island.
I said, "Joe, how does it make you feel
to know that our host only yesterday
may have made more money
than your novel 'Catch-22'
has earned in its entire history?
And Joe said, "I've got something he can never have."
And I said, "What on earth could that be, Joe?"
And Joe said, "The knowledge that I've got enough."
Not bad! Rest in peace!
Final Thoughts:
Although I write this for me, I want to hear from you. It's the first week so let me know what you liked or what you didn't like. No holds barred.
Send me an e-mail: Books & Beers Follow along on Instagram: @books.and.beers Follow along on Twitter: Books & Beers Share your beers on Untappd: Books_and_Beers (You'll have to search for this one!)