Holiday Reading

When I'm trying to decide what books to read during vacation time, I often consult the Upper School Faculty Sponsored Summer Reading list. It is wonderful list of books about which my colleagues are passionate. Every year our students comment that they would be happy to read multiple titles from the list, and I agree. Here are a few of the titles I've read already and can personally recommend, and a couple more that I hope to take with me to Florida in December.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever-escalating dangers around them -- in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul -- they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. This is a book every woman should read. It is terrifying but also uplifting to witness the difficulty of women's lives in Afghanistan but also how they manage to rise above all that they face. I highly recommend this book!

The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

When college sophomore Laurel Estabrook is attacked while riding her bicycle through Vermont’s back roads, her life is forever changed. Formerly outgoing, Laurel withdraws into her photography and begins to work at a homeless shelter. There she meets Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of photographs that he won’t let anyone see. Jodi Picoult, a favorite author of many of our students, comments that this is "[t]he sort of book you want to read in one sitting and it packs a twist the end that will leave you speechless.” Read this with a friend – you'll want to talk about the ending after you finish it!

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

The authors focus on the economics of real-world issues that most people view as insignificant, such as how the Roe v. Wade decision impacted violent crime and the socioeconomic patterns of naming children. It examines the hidden incentives behind all sorts of human behavior. If you think economics is boring, this book will prove you wrong.

Run by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett has been a regular visitor at Harpeth Hall, most recently last year when Run was first published. This is an engrossing story of a family on one fateful night in Boston during which their secrets are unlocked and new bonds are formed. I also recommend Bel Canto, another one of her best sellers, as an entertaining read.

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore (Harpeth Hall class of 1979)

Catherine Grace Cline's highlight every week is licking her Dilly Bar at the local Dairy Queen as she longs for the big-city life of Atlanta. As she dreams of leaving Ringgold, GA, population 1932, Catherine deals with her single father, who is a Baptist preacher; younger sister, Martha Ann; doting family friend, Gloria Jean; nosy neighbors; high school gossip; and a boyfriend, Hank. Eventually, and with high hopes, Catherine Grace boards the Greyhound for Atlanta. This is a fun and fast read making it a great beach book!

I hope you can find something here to enjoy during your free time over the holidays.

Read and enjoy! Karen

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist by Paulo Goelho

Years ago one of my son’s friends, Chris, stopped by our home and mentioned that he had just read The Alchemist. Chris explained in his description of the book that it was fun to read, and the message was great. I did not read the book after receiving Chris’s recommendation, mainly because I was too busy. While walking through my local bookstore a few weeks ago I noticed the twentieth anniversary edition of The Alchemist. I had a free weekend so I thought I would dive in and finally read this twenty year old book. I must say the book is written as a fable with wit, wisdom, and a bit of adventure thrown in for the element of suspense. The Alchemist is simple, but not so simple or farfetched that the reader questions why am I spending my time on this book?

Speaking of time, over a period of time not defined by the author, the main character Santiago Andalusian undergoes an amazing transformation. The Detroit Free Press stated in its review that The Alchemist is “a little poke in the ribs from on high.” Mostly though the book offers the reader the opportunity to take the time to journey with Santiago and explore one’s own” personal legend.” Santiago, the young man in the story is a dreamer, a treasure hunter. After talking with a gypsy, Santiago knows he must find his treasure, even if he must leave his sheep and travel to Egypt. During Santiago’s travels he meets a king, an alchemist, and the girl of his dreams. Santiago’s journey is symbolic, beautifully told, yet expressed in simple terms. Santiago’s quest for wealth becomes superseded by something less tangible, but more important, his heart’s treasure. Taking a couple of hours and reading The Alchemist would be time well spent. The ending is worth every page read. Enjoy……

Hot, Flat, and Crowded

“Green is the new red, white and blue.”
Three-time Pulitzer prize winning author Thomas Friedman changed the way we think about globalization with his 2005 best seller The World is Flat. His new book Hot Flat and Crowded: Why We Need an Energy Revolution – and How it can Renew America is poised to help transform the way we think about climate change. Although Friedman clearly outlines the dangers of climate change in the first section of his book, he goes far beyond that to offer a compelling argument for why the United States should take the lead in developing new, efficient, clean sources of energy. He explains that, “Everything America…can do to go green today will make it stronger, healthier, more secure, more innovative, more competitive, and more respected. What could be more patriotic, capitalistic, and geostrategic than that?” (p. 173)

Friedman weaves together hundreds of interviews, examples, and anecdotes from all over the world to help him state his case. His first-hand accounts of deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia lend a chilling urgency to his arguments. I was especially moved by one observation from environmental scientist John Holdren, “The biodiversity of the planet is a unique and uniquely valuable library that we have been steadily burning down – one wing at a time – before we have even cataloged all the books, let alone read them all.” (p.142) After spelling out the vast scope of the problem, Friedman insists that we have both the obligation and the ability to fix it. “Unlike Noah, though, we – our generation and our civilization – are responsible for the flood, and we have the responsibility to build the ark.” (p.141)

Friedman’s driving point in the second half of the book is that making our economy energy-efficient is more than just good for the planet – it’s good for business. Again he uses interviews with business leaders across the world to make his case. Take the example of David Douglas, vice president for eco-responsibility for Sun Microsystems, on the huge sales of their new energy-efficient processing chip called Niagara: “’It’s like there was all this money lying all over the floor, and we finally decided to have our employees reach down and pick it up.’” (p.335) Friedman warns that if we miss this great opportunity, the United States will lose its economic prominence in the world. He gives a chilling example from Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, who told him a story about a,”European solar manufacturer was looking to outsource production of his solar panels to America. They would do all the innovation in Europe, he said, but do the blue-collar assembly in America, where the cheap dollar had made everything half price for companies with foreign currency to spend. ‘He told me,’ said Resch, ‘You are the new India.’ It sent a chill down my spine.” (p.380)

What about China? China is one of the worst polluters today, and as Friedman’s predictions in The World is Flat come true and another billion Chinese rise to the middle class over the next few decades, the soaring demand for energy could cause a true climatic disaster. However Friedman gives many encouraging examples of attempts at energy efficiency in China and stresses how critical is it that the United States set an example of the correct path. He states that, “the greatest thing that the US could do today for itself, for China, and the world is to publicly state its intention to ‘outgreen China’ – to let the Chinese know every day in every was that we are going to try to clean their clock in the next great global industry: clean power. Just as we and the Soviets had a space race…that greatly strengthened our own society, from education to infrastructure – we, the European Union, and the Chinese, need to have a similar race today. Only instead of a race to put a man on the moon, it has to be a race to preserve humankind on earth.” (p.365)

I came away from this book not just with an increased sense of urgency to improve energy efficiency in my own life, but also a more global perspective on the business and political factors that will determine whether we as a nation will succeed or fail. Ultimately I am hopeful, as I think is Friedman, that we will meet this great challenge and “renew America.”

The Shack

I mentioned to Donna and Karen that I read The Shack on my plane trip to California for the ALA (American Library Association) Convention in June. When I picked up The Shack at the airport bookstore I did so because I wondered why hundreds of copies of this book were being merchandized. I read the back cover of the book and realized this was a “God” book and wondered why this book was so popular among people of all ages and faiths. I guess because I spend most of my life in the world of Middle School I had not heard about this book before seeing it in the bookstore. Later, after reading the book, I came to discover The Shack was in its fourth reprint and was on the NY Times’ Best Seller List.

If you choose to search the Internet for reviews of The Shack you will be amazed by the amount of time and energy people have spent writing about this book. Although I do not think The Shack is the best book I ever read, the book did make me think and rethink about life, its challenges, joys, and deep sorrows. I will say I liked the way the author, William P. Young, gently pulled me into the book. As I read the first few pages, I was a bit confused and not yet interested. But the agonizing thought of losing a child to a murderer kept me wondering with trepidation. Mackenzie (Mack) Phillips loses one of his children to a murderer while on a weekend trip with his children. Perhaps because I have children or perhaps because I love them, my heart hurt while reading the story of the disappearance, search, and subsequent outcome of the terrible day of tragedy.

God has summoned Mack to “the shack” where his beautiful child was killed. I found it interesting the way the author developed the story, and I must admit there were times when I thought the story was going to take a completely different turn. Mack does go to “the shack” and God is there waiting for him. This part of the story leaves the reader with thoughts to ponder for centuries, and I thoroughly enjoyed the perspectives presented. If one is searching for answers in life, whether a Christian life or not, there are answers that may help along the road of life. I would recommend The Shack to those examining their lives, whether they are a Christian or a non-Christian. Reflection is good for the soul and The Shack gives much to ponder.