February Reads

The Wright Brothers is one of the most inspiring fascinating biographies I have ever read. The brothers were part of a great aviation race much like the technological races we saw in Silicon Valley over the last thirty years. They tweaked a few things and found mistakes in others work. They also took great risks, but did so away from the distraction of others' opinions and assessment. It was fascinating to see how two different personalities complemented each other, and it was sad to read they witnessed a tool they invented for good and creativity used to kill millions of people in the World Wars. As a result of reading this book, I picked up a copy of every book David McCullough has written. It was that good. (Side note: He's won the Pulitzer Prize. Twice.)

Albright's Fascism is an historical account of how fascist leaders came to rise, and how ordinary citizens gave slowly gave up their rights until a critical point had been reached. 

I Don't Want to Talk About it is a great book on male oppression through the lens of Feminist Theory. When speaking to gender programming in our culture, he illustrates how women lose their public voice, but men lose their ability to feel emotions, and how that leads to depression,  addiction, and "offending victims" in cases such as Intimate Partner Violence.

Rest divides self-care into seven facets, and shows that the great innovators and thinkers of our history worked less and reflected more than we do in our society. There are many examples of how, when someone was doing something they loved for fun, all of a sudden the answer to an unsolvable problem just appeared. 

Crucial Conversations is a book about how to lean into differences and get to the heart of conflict through curiosity and listening to understand rather than respond. 

Banished is the memoirs of a child who grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church, how she was banished, and her struggles to adjust to the outside world. It is a clear example of how shame and certainty are used as a tool to acquire power.