It's the June Baby's Turn

Erin, I know you're going to read this first, and I encourage you to go ahead and cast your vote the sooner, the better. I don't much like lapses between books either....

Alas, my three choices are:

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. I've heard oodles about this (and his many others). Here, a blurb from Goodreads:

"Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant in the blink of an eye - that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?" In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple: the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; New Coke; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police. Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing" - filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.

2. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers. I've wanted to read this biographical account for quite some time, particularly as it is pertinent to the DISCO project I'm involved with in Woodlawn. If you have some spare time and want to invest in helping kids in Woodlawn get better at and fall in love with writing, let me know. There's that and here's a description of the book:


The literary sensation of the year, a book that redefines both family and narrative for the twenty-first century. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is the moving memoir of a college senior who, in the space of five weeks, loses both of his parents to cancer and inherits his eight-year-old brother. Here is an exhilarating debut that manages to be simultaneously hilarious and wildly inventive as well as a deeply heartfelt story of the love that holds a family together.

3. 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life. This one is a two-fold project. If it wins, my vote is that we both read it and implement it's challenge to give likewise for the month. I think it could give depth to our conversation as we talk about how our giving actually affected our attitudes. I have a friend who did it. Read about it here and read about the original project here. The description:


At age thirty-five, Cami Walker was burdened by a battle with multiple sclerosis, a chronic neurological condition that made it difficult for her to walk, work, or enjoy her life. Seeking a remedy for her depression after being hospitalized, she received an uncommon prescription from an African medicine woman: Give to others for 29 days.

29 Gifts is the insightful story of the author’s life change as she embraces and reflects on the naturally reciprocal process of giving and receiving. Many of Walker’s gifts were simple —a phone call, spare change, a Kleenex. Yet the acts were transformative. By Day 29, not only had Walker’s health and happiness improved, but she had created a worldwide giving movement.

The book also includes personal essays from others whose lives changed for the better by giving, plus pages for the reader to record their own journey. More than a memoir, 29 Gifts offers inspiring lessons on how a simple daily practice of altruism can dramatically alter your outlook on the world.

Go on and get your votes in. How's about we aim to meet May 18? I'm out of town the following week, so if not then, could we meet at the beginning of June? If we did that, we could have icebox cake, as my birthday is actually in June. Booyah.