Tell me a book is an award winner and I'm in! The Booker Prize is, according to their website, the leading literary award in the English-speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward, and readership to outstanding fiction for over five decades (https://thebookerprizes.com/booker-prize/about-the-booker-prize)
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood caught my attention because it was compared to Marilynne Robinson's writing, which includes The Gilead Series. I see similarities because both writers examine faith and inner life in the context of lived experience. The book is quiet, but compelling. I learned things about Australia's mice population, I can't unlearn.
🐁⛪️🇦🇺
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote is the December book for my book club. I picked it thinking it was a fun, breezy book, much like the movie.
Nope.
It is a worthwhile book, but much sadder and grittier than I anticipated. I wonder if Holly Golightly is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl — a quirky young woman who enters the male protagonist's life and propels him forward, whether in his career, relationships, or emotional intelligence.
Side note: I'm going to sound so smart at book club.
The book is about loneliness and glamour, about wanting to belong and wanting to be free. The conflicting desires of the main characters make the story hum with tension. It was a compelling read, and even though the book is fairly short, I finished it in an afternoon.
🥃🐴🍸
A favorite podcast of mine is Hidden Brain. The format interviews people in the field of social sciences. The interview with J. Stuart Ablon. His research and conclusion were so compelling that I wanted to read his book, Changeable: How Collaborative Problem Solving Changes Lives at Home, at School, and at Work. One of his basic ideas is that people are disruptive and difficult not because of will, but because of skill. These skills revolve around communication, processing, and opportunities. When people are heard and understood, problems can be solved collaboratively. He has some great case studies.
🤲👂🧐
