Books like GRQ — picked by fans

The last time I reread a book was The Color Purple in college. This time, I revisited The Rise of Technosocialism.

I initially read it from a macroeconomic viewpoint. The second time was as a personal reflection. I saw my life differently after the second time. I was stuck between two black-and-white choices: go get a traditional job or accept entrepreneurial failure. 

The book revealed a third path, which is building in the gray zone. I can define my role in the growing digital economy without fitting into either conventional category. I now have a new perspective with new possibilities.

Rereading this book helped me see a flexible, innovative way forward beyond a traditional role and repeated setbacks. I am now embracing a more adaptable approach to my career.

This book changed how I think about money.

I used to think of non-cash (credit cards, PayPal, and crypto) as a vague construct that wasn’t real, unlike cash. Now I think of money as a system. I saw the difference between what I was taught about finance and how digital money moves. 

More importantly, this book forced me to think hard about resilience because my desmoid tumor, which I had fought for years and thought was gone, grew back. And I've spent years building a brand without getting paid. I wondered for four years what I was doing wrong. I now see navigating modern financial systems isn’t about knowledge but about resilience instead. I must adapt, be aware, and be resilient.

I didn’t read this book about a hacker who broke into the phone number system just for a fun read. I read it as a chance to try something similar with artificial intelligence to protect myself. I get tons of spam and phishing emails.

I get fifty robocalls a day. At first, I just ignored them. But then they became impossible to continuously ignore because some seemed so real. I needed a way to understand the current landscape and how this stuff spreads.

I became a lot more curious and looked beneath the surface. The book forced me to stop just looking at face value. I stopped watching systems and started learning them. I can now spot the fraud attempts. I also discovered how much I care about ethics, values, and morals.

Often over the past few years, as a self-published author, I have felt invisible. But this book showed me what being invisible really is.

For me, this book is not just about immigration or labor. I can see how everything keeps running while leaving out the people who sustain the system. I thought I was outside the traditional system because with Bitcoin, I thought I was part of a rebellion and a new global movement.

I thought there was “the system” and then there was Bitcoin. I didn't realize Bitcoin is a system too. And I didn't see that some people have no system, and maybe never will. I started to be grateful to be part of something where I count, or at least have a chance to count.

What can you say about the book that kicked off a whole new genre?

Widely regarded as the first ‘cyberpunk’ novel, reading Virtual Light today is beyond eery. It takes place in the dystopian future year of 2006 (the book was written in 1994) and is set in San Francisco during a time when the middle class has disappeared and the only people left are either disgustingly rich or living on the street. And as I look around at what San Francisco, and many other cities have become, it makes me think that Gibson might be the Cassandra of the modern world. 

This Stoker Award-winner nearly caused me to miss a connecting flight to Los Angeles. I started reading it in an airport restaurant and got completely swept away until the final boarding call. In Covenant, a big-city journalist visits a small Midwest town to investigate a series of mysterious suicides. What unfolds is a gripping supernatural tale filled with mysterious characters, riveting conflict, and unthinkable twists.

Elroy wrote many other books before he took on this epic noir crime novel (one in a quartet). He made his bones in writing, and it's evident in his skill level, story, and prose. Elroy excels in this novel (and the other three) in voice. And voice is the Big Kahuna in writing, it’s the everything in writing and Elroy has it in spades.

Another great addition to the above is the length (because you don’t want this book to ever end) and that it’s a historical novel that absolutely captures the time period and adds the historical nuance to all the characters.

What a wild ride! Author Susie Black didn’t let me off this roller coaster until I’d twisted and turned my way through a fantastic whodunit.

The tenacious amateur sleuth, Holly Schlivinik, is VP of sales at Ditzy Swimwear, and right out of the chute, she’s in a mess of a murder. Both friends and foes are implicated, and even Holly herself looks suspicious.

The writing is witty, fast paced and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. There’s also a great group of women called the yentas, who both support Holly and have no problem telling her when she’s lost her mind. With this being the first in a series of Holly Swimsuit Mysteries, I’m going to put the kettle on and settle in for the mayhem to come. 

As a mom of six, I must say that I’m in a constant state of balancing motherly duties with other obligations—so Lucy Heron has my sympathy as a fellow native of Los Angeles, who juggles her kids, a bakery, and apparently her job as “Agent 485,” fighting supernatural crime.

Lucy works for a secret organization that wants to keep magic in the realm of myth and humanity none the wiser to its existence. Well, that will be tough as a tribe of ancient witches gets thrown into the mix, some unscrupulous magical beings, and the fact that this mom of three has to get this all done in time for dinner. This is definitely a fun read to check out!

This is the third book in the Trip Callaway Gig mystery series written by Phil Swann. While I’ve enjoyed all the Trip Callaway books, I especially like this one because it takes place in 1966 Hollywood. In this story, musician and undercover agent Trip Callaway takes us into the world of Los Angeles studio musicians, who played on all those memorable recordings and variety shows of the time. On top of spending some quality time in great, but sadly long gone, Hollywood hotspots like Shelly’s Manne Hole, The Palomino, and Martoni’s – places I went growing up in Los Angeles – Tinseltown Tango is also a ripping good yarn. If you enjoy a good murder mystery with a dash of music and no shortage of laughs, check out this book. You won’t be disappointed.