Leah Crisler

Personal Development, Memoirs, and Smut-Free Fiction you can discuss in a meeting

I love to read, however, I haven’t been dedicating as much time to sitting down with a book. One of my goals for 2025 is to read 12 books by the end of the year. This is not a lofty goal, but I’m aiming for consistency over quantity.

If you’ve been on the internet lately, you’ve probably heard of BookTok on TikTok. These literary girlies have ravenous appetites for reading, but mostly of the Romantasy and Smut varieties. Though I have read Twilight and other smooshy books, I’m not here for the Adult Flavored Spicy Books.

I just completed a Paralegal program and am in a Business Administration degree program while I build up my professional skills. I enjoy reading memoirs of successful people, personal growth and development titles, as well as brain-break fiction. This year, I am choosing books that help me cultivate my goals.

Do you love to read too? Are you challenging yourself to read more diverse titles? Do you need a break from the BookTok smut titles that people won’t stop recommending? Come join me in the Safe For Work Book Club this year!

Let’s kick off with February’s title! Lawrence Levy’s memoir of his time as CFO of Pixar is a book I think of often. I loved reading it in 2020 when I had just started as an engineering student. Now as a more business-minded reader, I look forward to the connections I will make this time around.

The focus topic for February is, “What does success look like?”

The problem with success, even a little success, is that it changes you. You are no longer walking along the same precipice that drove you to do great work in the first place. Now you have something to defend: a reputation, money in the bank, a brand, real customer expectations. Success can take the edge away.

-Lawrence Levy

Grab your copy of To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History by Lawrence Levy and join the discussion.