Tuesday, September 30, 2008

First, my apologies for getting this out so late. I think any of the three choices will be manageable as quick reads. As a note, the first two selections are based on personality theory and typing of the Myers Briggs. Each book has a self-test of assessment for you to take to determine your "type". Myers Briggs is widely used in colleges, for vocational testing, in the military and even by prospective employers.

1. Please Understand Me, David Keirsey-this is one of the best basic books on personality. http://www.amazon.com/Please-Understand-Me-Character-Temperament/dp/0960695400/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222819677&sr=8-1


2. MotherSytles: Using Personality Type to Discover your Mothering Strengths, Janet Penley-This personality book is super short and specific to motherhood. http://www.amazon.com/MotherStyles-Personality-Discover-Parenting-Strengths/dp/0738210455/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222820021&sr=1-1


3. Forgive for Good, Fred Luskin-A few months ago I attended a lecture given by Dr. Fred Luskin on the subject of the health benefits of forgiveness. He explains why forgiveness is good for one's body, as well as spirit, and lays out 9 steps in the forgiveness process. His writing is very simple, with lots of tired puns and quips, but I think the reasearch angle is quite intersting. I have the film with Dr. Luskin's cameo appearance called the Power of Forgiveness. It chronicles fogiveness stories from the Amish school house shootings, Ground Zero and international conflicts. I thought it may be interesting to watch, or we could watch a portion. http://www.amazon.com/Forgive-Good-Frederic-Luskin/dp/006251721X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222820643&sr=1-1


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Thursday, September 4, 2008

December Book

SO. Friends. My theme is "Books Whose Story Took Place Around the Time of World War Two."

First option: The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman
I was just given this book by a friend, but no one I know has read it yet. I have LOVED everything I've read by Diane Ackerman (and I've read like five of her books).

Here's a review:
Starred Review. Ackerman (A Natural History of the Senses) tells the remarkable WWII story of Jan Zabinski, the director of the Warsaw Zoo, and his wife, Antonina, who, with courage and coolheaded ingenuity, sheltered 300 Jews as well as Polish resisters in their villa and in animal cages and sheds. Using Antonina's diaries, other contemporary sources and her own research in Poland, Ackerman takes us into the Warsaw ghetto and the 1943 Jewish uprising and also describes the Poles' revolt against the Nazi occupiers in 1944. She introduces us to such varied figures as Lutz Heck, the duplicitous head of the Berlin zoo; Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, spiritual head of the ghetto; and the leaders of Zegota, the Polish organization that rescued Jews. Ackerman reveals other rescuers, like Dr. Mada Walter, who helped many Jews pass, giving lessons on how to appear Aryan and not attract notice. Ackerman's writing is viscerally evocative, as in her description of the effects of the German bombing of the zoo area: ...the sky broke open and whistling fire hurtled down, cages exploded, moats rained upward, iron bars squealed as they wrenched apart. This suspenseful beautifully crafted story deserves a wide readership.

Second option: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
Here's a review written by a friend of mine

Third option: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Here's a review, written by a different friend of mine, I've wanted to read it for a while now, but haven't yet.

Please do read those reviews to get an idea of what the book is about - I just don't want to steal off of their blog (of course, taking a review from Amazon doesn't bother me, hee hee). Scroll down to find the poll and vote :)

























December Book

What should we read for our December meeting?

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne




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