After an intense school year of numbers, numbers, and more numbers (with several variables littered throughout), I read quite a lot this summer to balance life out a bit.
I started by finishing The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, which I began long ago last January. To be brutally honest -- I despised the ending. Really. I had a throw-the-book-across-the-room-and-say-"Are-you-kidding-me?!" reaction to the ending. It's a long and intriguing story that I felt had somewhere to go...and then went nowhere. I don't recommend it, and as you can see from this blog, that's rare.
To make myself feel better, I turned to authors I trusted, authors I knew I could follow into a world of thought and new ideas. I started with Brene Brown and her book Daring Greatly. I first heard of Brene when I watched her TED talk "The Power of Vulnerability," and I instantly connected with what she had to say. Since then, I also heard her speak at the 2013 Global Leadership Summit and watched her second TED talk, "Listening to Shame." In her talks and her book, she explains the research she's done on living a wholehearted life, on shame, and on vulnerability. An excellent summary of her thoughts can be found in a Zen Pencils comic that quotes her talk. Brene talks about shame in our culture and how it impacts all the areas of our lives; more importantly, she gives insight on how to deal with and combat it. One section on perfectionists hit particularly close to home, and I underlined countless passages throughout the book regarding how to promote vulnerability as a leader -- in my classroom, department, school, and church. This is a book I'll go back to time and again for reminders on how to show up and let myself be truly seen, all the while supporting those around me to do the same.
And as I so often do, I turned yet again to Louise Erdrich -- this time, to her novel Shadow Tag. This is perhaps Louise's most chilling story, one of a broken marriage, damaged familial relationships, distorted feelings and connections that are, in my opinion, misinterpreted as love. The ending gives a new perspective on the entire story, though, one that either makes it more uncomfortable and sad or gives it more meaning, I'm not sure which. Louise's voice is different yet familiar in this story, for which I am glad. As always, she paints beautiful images of the characters' emotions and deepest thoughts, and still gives us an image of the physical surroundings in a way that draws me to that particular place and time.
Just today I finished The Red Tent by Anita Diamont. In a unique voice, Dinah, sister of Joseph and daughter of Jacob of the Old Testament, tells us more than one could surmise merely from the thirty-one verses of Scripture she's given in the Bible. "Given" is a generous term -- she is alluded to, in reference to a string of horrendous crimes, but she never actually comes out of the shadows. I enjoyed learning more about the culture of that time and area, never having thought of how Jacob's God was virtually unknown to the family he married into. Diamont gives a voice to a woman otherwise silent, and she gives shape to a life, complete with highs and lows, otherwise recorded as a tragedy.
Now I'm on to a bit more fiction, balanced with leadership nonfiction for my grad class. If anyone has any suggestions for good reads, please do send them my way.
