Summer Reads (and Listens)
Summer has officially arrived and it's time for our annual summer reading recommendations. Here are a few of the books we enjoyed this year. We also offer you a bonus summer playlist that we hope you will enjoy. This will be the last regular issue of our newsletter until August, but stay tuned. We will be back with a new theme and a whole new set of articles and more surprises to come. Until then, have a great summer break!
Crystal Land: I’m reading The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley based on a real life historical event in 1847 that morphs into time travel meets historical fiction meets creepy British government meets love story. A young woman serves as a present day “bridge” or guide to a time traveler from 1847, naval Commander Graham Gore. Gore lands in “the future” right before his life in the 1800s is supposed to end and is forced to adjust to, well, everything from motor bikes and movies to modern day relationships. But it’s more than a time travel story: a motley crew of time travelers and their present day “bridges” face off against the creepy British intelligence. A perfect summer read with ruminations seeing our world with fresh eyes and what it means to love someone through time and space.
Carla Silver: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is suspenseful, provocative and addresses some of the most controversial issues of our times. It’s the story of frenemy authors Athena Liu and June Hayward. Athena is a rising literary star while June is a mediocre writer struggling for recognition. When June finds herself as the lone witness to Athena’s accidental death, she seizes an unorthodox path to fame and literary success by passing Athena’s latest novel off as her own. So what if she is a white woman writing about Chinese Laborers - under the pseudonym, Juniper Song? Kuang weaves a compelling satirical narrative about cultural appropriation, cancel culture by social media, and racial diversity in the publishing industry. I couldn’t put this one down!
Greg Bamford: I choose Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, a mind-bending story about memory, mortality, human connection, and the unnecessary futility of wishing you were anywhere other than where you are -- told across centuries, with unexpected connections between characters. It's heartbreaking, fascinating, and beautifully told.
Shu Shu Costa: I have been armchair traveling to Venice where Commissario Brunetti solves murders, ponders philosophy and human nature, and worries about the state of the world and his children. Pick any book of Donna Leon’s 33 (and counting) series and prepare for walks through the calli of Venice eating tramezzino and meeting all sorts of characters.
For quieter moments when it helps to realize that the world is so much larger than the people in it, open up Poet Laureate Ada Limon’s collection of poets and poetry celebrating our natural world called You Are Here. After a busy, crazy year, you might try talking to the trees like Mexican poet Jose Olivarez: “if I asked them for answers, i wouldn’t have understood: sunlight. water. sunlight. water. sunlight. water.”
Antonio Viva: I chose two books for the summer. Art Thinking: How to Carve Out Creative Space in a World of Schedules, Budgets, and Bosses - Amy Whitaker is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in finding more time to think creatively and think big. With a background in both business and art, Amy combines her MBA and MFA degrees and combines the mindsets of art and the tools of business to protect space for open-ended exploration and how to manage risk on the road towards organizational success. Providing concrete examples that draw from both the arts and business she makes a case for the importance of uninterrupted “studio” time where individuals can carve out time for themselves to engage in creative work and creative thinking.
Your Brain on Art - How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross. Immerse yourself in the transformative power of the arts. This compelling book delves into the profound impact that art has on our brains, exploring how creative experiences can enhance our well-being, cognition, and emotional health. Magsamen and Ross combine cutting-edge neuroscience with compelling stories, offering a unique perspective on the essential role that art plays in our lives. Whether you're an artist, educator, or simply someone interested in the intersection of art and science, this book is a must-read for understanding how the arts can enrich and transform us.
Tara Curry-Jahn: Here are two books I'm enjoying this year. The Parable Series (Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents) by Octavia Butler - As I am learning, Octavia Butler was a profound futurist who in this series described a very dark and fragile world where survival called for awareness, trust and deep connection to self and others. I was recommended these books while at an Assessment for Learning convening this spring due to the author’s focus on equity and liberation. While on the surface they may read like another “post-apocalyptic” narrative on how bad it can be, they are actually incredibly deep, provocative, and hopeful. If you are someone who can look beyond the chaos for the deeper meaning, I encourage you to try these. Plus they open, although written in the mid-1990s, in June 2024 and the actual correlations to our social and environmental and political realities are wild.
ADHD is Awesome: A Guide To (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD by Kim and Penn Holderness - I am still reading this one, which is actually one of the jokes the authors make; they needed to make it colorful and short in sections to keep our (neuro-divergent folks) attention. I had known of the authors from their funny song parodies on YouTube, and shared them with my son this spring. He fell in love (specifically with Public Water Fountain) and I stumbled on their videos talking about Penn’s experiences living with ADHD that led them to write this new book. It’s fun to hear their voices and being able to laugh and learn with them.
Ryan Burke: The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone is a fictional biography of Michelangelo. This is not new or contemporary, but it is what I am re-reading right now, and I was reminded what a great story it was. Also, its cousin book, A Lust for Life, is the fictional biography of Vincent van Gogh. Both are a great exercise in imagining a world where “formal education” meant something very different.
See below for a bonus summer surprise.
An added summer bonus from all of us at L+D to you is our L+D Summer 2024 Playlist. We hope you enjoy some summer tunes from all of us at L+D. Listen. Enjoy!
