Reading Challenge- August Update

When I started this personal reading challenge in January, I was mostly hoping to find a better reading routine.  There have been so many more unexpected benefits!  One that excites me the most is a shift in the reading culture of my family.  My kids have become much more engaged and excited readers over the past few months.  When my son wasn’t golfing, he was buried in a book this summer.  My daughter recently told me that reading at night before she falls asleep “clears her brain.”  She noticed that one night when she didn’t read that she couldn’t fall asleep and she made a direct connection to the fact she skipped reading that night.  That’s a connection I’m in full support of! I was sharing this experience with an educator and I was surprised to learn that there are many studies that confirm exactly what I’ve experienced.  When moms read, kids read.  In honor of my kids’ interest in reading they both selected books they wanted me to read this month. August was an exciting month also because I reached my goal of 52 books!  I’ve been asked what I’m going to do now that I’ve reached my goal.  I’m going to keep reading.  Here’s the August rundown. We were on the road a lot in August so I wasn’t sure how much reading I would accomplish. I felt good about the reading I was able to fit in given the time and commitments I had. I stumbled on a book that is now on my top ten books ever list, so that made it a great month! The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar And Six More by Roald Dahl This was my son’s pick.  His teacher read The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar in 5th grade and he loved the story.  I read the entire book, it’s a book of seven short stories by Roald Dahl. The Henry Sugar story was for sure the best.  It’s about a spoiled rich man who learns a way to read cards and win gambling.  He comes up with an unusual and unexpected plan for the casino winnings.  It’s funny. It’s surprising. It raises a lot of questions about what is possible, what is ethical and what responsibilities we have to our self and others.  This was my first Roald Dahl book. I enjoyed it and understand why kids love his writing. The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh This is the second or third book I’ve read by Thich Nhat Hanh this year.  His style is so gentle and wise. This was about power, but really personal choice.  In the description of the book, it says: “Turning the conventional understanding (of power) on its head, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us that true power comes from within and that what we seek we already have.”  There really isn’t a better way to describe this book.  It’s a book with so much wisdom to consider and learn from. The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1) by Chris Colfer My daughter asked me to read this book.  She is reading through the series (and loving it.) It’s a very clever concept.  The series is based around an idea that all the fairy tales and characters that we know (Red Riding Hood, Jack, and the Bean Stalk, etc. etc.) are true and live in a parallel land.  Two children, quite to their surprise fall into a book of stories their grandmother gave them and discover a land that is familiar and yet totally foreign.  I probably won’t read the whole series. I do however love that it has engaged my daughter and that she has found an author and series that she loves and carries with her, and of course reads before bed to “turn her brain off.” In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden This book is my favorite book of the year so far.  I know I said that about Gentleman in Moscow, but this IS.  In fact, this found a place in my top books ever list. I try and pay attention when I keep hearing about books, and this was a book that I read about on a couple of lists and even heard mentioned in a podcast.  I didn’t know what to expect when I started. It’s a fictional story of cloistered nuns in England.  It loosely follows one nun, from her successful professional career in London, through her startling transition to becoming a nun.  Not just a nun, but a cloistered nun.  Cloistered nuns commit their lives to prayer and they never leave the order and home which they join. People may visit them, but they don’t even sit in the same room. It’s an intense calling.  The book is so well written. It’s a gentle book about the relationships, trials, and joys of these women. Many reviews on Amazon mentioned it as a book that readers reread at least once a year. I don’t often read books again, this one I will. If you enjoy stories that slowly come to their fullness, thoughtful, well-written books, this one should be on your list. Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man’s Attempt to Understand the World’s Most Mystifying Nation, or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid by J. Maarten Troost This was my first EVER Audiobook.  I checked it out from the library (who knew that was a thing?!)  One Friday in August I knew I was going to be in the car for hours. (Okay, I drove 562 miles that day, and I’m super proud of myself that I covered that many miles, half on my own and half with my son as a co-pilot.) I was looking for something that would be totally light and engaging and require nothing from me (I.E. no thinking).  This book hit all the right notes.  China is a place where I have a little history. This book transported me to my days traveling by train in China.  You haven’t really lived until you’ve traveled by hard sleeper in China. He asked so many of the same questions that I use to ask: “Why does everyone spit?”  “What happened to lines?” “What is this and do I really have to eat it?”  China is a land of contradictions, mystery and great beauty, all of this the author managed to capture. A personal note: The summer of 2019 is one that changed my life. I didn’t have space in any sense of the word (time-wise, heart-wise, etc.) to keep up here. I’m excited to pick up with reflections about questions and the power they hold for us moving forward. If you haven’t subscribed, make sure you do. I have so many great questions I’ve collected and learned from that I can’t wait to share. Thanks for holding this space for me. I’m ready to be back. – – – Amy Enter your email to subscribe– It’s only ever used to notify you of new questions from The Art of Powering Down.

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