The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

 

Credit: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

 

Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn’t, he has learned that being an artist isn’t about your specific output, it’s about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone’s life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities. The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distills the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime’s work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments—and lifetimes—of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us. Credit: The Creative Act; Rick Rubin.

Bring Your HUMAN to Work By Erica Keswin

 

Credit: Bring Your HUMAN to Work

 

Bring Your Human to Work:

10 Surefire Ways to Design a Workplace That Is Good for People,

 Great for Business, and Just Might Change the World

As human beings, we are built to connect and form relationships. So, it should be no surprise that relationships must also translate into the workplace, where we spend most of our time! Companies that recognize this will retain the most productive, creative, and loyal employees, and invariably seize the competitive edge. The most successful leaders are those who actively form quality relationships with their employees, who honor fundamental human qualities--authenticity, openness, and basic politeness--and apply them day in and day out. Paying attention and genuinely caring about the effects people have on one another other is key to developing a winning culture where people perform at the top of their game and want to work.  As a workplace strategist and business coach, Erica Keswin has spent over 20 years working with top business leaders and executives to build successful organizations that honor relationships. Credit: Bring Your HUMAN to Work; Porchlight Books.

The Talent Code By Daniel Coyle

Credit: The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle

 

Overview

What is the secret of talent? How do we unlock it? In this groundbreaking work, journalist and New York Times bestselling author Daniel Coyle provides parents, teachers, coaches, business people—and everyone else—with tools they can use to maximize potential in themselves and others. Whether you’re coaching soccer or teaching a child to play the piano, writing a novel or trying to improve your golf swing, this revolutionary book shows you how to grow talent by tapping into a newly discovered brain mechanism. 

Drawing on cutting-edge neurology and firsthand research gathered on journeys to nine of the world’s talent hotbeds—from the baseball fields of the Caribbean to a classical-music academy in upstate New York—Coyle identifies the three key elements that will allow you to develop your gifts and optimize your performance in sports, art, music, math, or just about anything. Credit: The Talent Code; Daniel Coyle.

Nutrition Matters

 

Credit: Nourishing Hope, Neil Roberts

Overview

In our modern society, the issue of hunger persists despite advancements in various fields. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) stands as a cornerstone of the fight against food insecurity in the United States. This program, formerly known as food stamps, provides vital assistance to millions of low-income individuals and families, ensuring they have access to nutritious food. In this brief guide, readers learn the intricacies of SNAP, from its history and eligibility criteria to its impact on individuals and communities across the nation. Credit: Nourishing Hope; Neil Roberts. 

Public service announcement courtesy of Roberts Ed from Akron, Ohio.

On The Origin of Time

Credit: On The Origin of Time

 

Perhaps the biggest question Stephen Hawking tried to answer in his extraordinary life was how the universe could have created conditions so perfectly hospitable to life. In order to solve this mystery, Hawking studied the big bang origin of the universe, but his early work ran into a crisis when the math predicted many big bangs producing a multiverse—countless different universes, most of which would be far too bizarre to ​harbor life. Holed up in the theoretical physics department at Cambridge, Stephen Hawking and his friend and collaborator Thomas Hertog worked on this problem for twenty years, developing a new theory of the cosmos that could account for the emergence of life. Peering into the extreme quantum physics of cosmic holograms and venturing far back in time to our deepest roots, they were startled to find a deeper level of evolution in which the physical laws themselves transform and simplify until particles, forces, and even time itself fades away. This discovery led them to a revolutionary idea: The laws of physics are not set in stone but are born and co-evolve as the universe they govern takes shape. As Hawking’s final days drew near, the two collaborators published their theory, which proposed a radical new Darwinian perspective on the origins of our universe. Credit: On The Origin of Time; Thomas Hertog.

Non-Profit Spotlight: Operation Paperback

Credit: Operation Paperback, https://operationpaperback.org

 

Operation Paperback is a national, non-profit organization, whose volunteers collect gently-used books and send them to American troops overseas, as well as veterans and military families here at home. Since 1999, they have shipped over 2.9 million books to countries all over the world. Their service members and their families make sacrifices every day for our country. It takes so little to let them know that they are appreciated. When you donate to Operation Paperback, you will let America’s military community know that you appreciate their service and their sacrifices. Credit: Operation Paperback; How to Help.

Sell Your Books to Help Other Book Nerds 📚

 

Image Credit: Archie Comics | Photographer, Sasha L. | Travel Tales

Calling All Book Nerds! 😉

Above is a snapshot from my travel tales as I embarked upon an adventure scouting out book shops and spaces where I could sell such books online and offline. Below is a brief sample list of platforms where book owners can consider selling their literature and collectibles for others to enjoy. 

 

• Book Scouter
• Abe Books
• Half Priced Books 
• Second Sale
• Decluttr 
• Books Run
• Sell Back Your Book   
  

Goodbye Archie, Jughead, Reggie, Veronica and Betty! 👋

She Comes Undone By Wally Lamb

 

 

 

Credit: She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb

 

Overview

Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up. In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. At once a fragile girl and a hard-edged cynic, so tough to love yet so inimitably lovable, Dolores is as poignantly real as our own imperfections. She's Come Undone includes a promise: you will never forget Dolores Price. Credit: She's Come Undone; Wally Lamb Books.

The 6 Types of Working Genius By Patrick Lencioni

Credit: The 6 Types of Working Genius

 

The Six Types of Working Genius, is on track to be his biggest and most impactful book yet. In classic Lencioni fashion, Pat brings his model to life in a page-turning fable that is as relatable as it is compelling. He tells the story of Bull Brooks, an entrepreneur, husband, and father who sets out to solve his own frustration at work and stumbles into a new way of thinking that revolutionizes the way he sees his work, his team, and even his marriage. Bull's story is indicative of every man and woman who is striving to avoid burnout and find fulfillment, dignity and success in their work. Beyond the personal discovery and instant relief that Working Genius provides, the model also gives teams a remarkably simple and practical framework for tapping into one another's natural gifts, which increases productivity and reduces unnecessary judgment. Credit: The Table Group; The Working Genius.

 Learn more and support Patrick Lencioni's work here. 

Credit: Patrick Lencioni, Channel 4 Profile