It seems like I haven’t had as much reading time lately as I would like, but I did still finish a handful of books in December. Here are my favorites:
In The Power of TED , David Emerald uses a fable to explain the Dreaded Drama Triangle, with its roles of victim, persecutor, and rescuer—offering The Empowerment Dynamic, with its roles of creator, challenger, and coach, as an alternative. I love the simple, yet powerful, ideas he shares to help us shift from a victim orientation to a creator orientation and am finding ways to apply them in my own life. If you’re interested in learning more about these concepts before diving into the book, check out this short series of videos by Hannah Braime from Becoming Who You Are.
I alway enjoy a good book on writing or creativity and If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland was no exception. Ueland is spirited and opinionated. The book doesn’t give a lot of technical instruction, but instead focuses on creating with an authenticity that helps us discover who we are and makes our writing (or other creative pursuit) alive. With her strong belief that “everybody is talented, original and has something important to say,” Ueland’s book is especially encouraging to those of us who sometimes struggle to trust our own creativity.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the first book in an autobiographical series by Maya Angelou. So much has been said about this book and I’m glad I finally read it. Many of the themes aren’t comfortable for the average reader, but that doesn’t mean they should be shied away from. Angelou’s writing quickly pulled me in and kept me engaged. I felt she was sharing her story with me, not just telling me about her story.
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh was my favorite fiction from this month. I’ve read a couple other Ghosh novels and always find myself deeply invested in the characters and immersed in a vivid world. Telling a story of 19th century India, Sea of Poppies introduced me to places and events I knew almost nothing about. This book took me a little longer to get into than some of his other novels, but before I got to the end I was very glad to know it is the first in a trilogy.
What have you been reading?