Microjoys by Cyndie Spiegel

MICROJOYS by Cyndie Spiegel (A Year of Positive Thinking) is a deeply personal and moving work from a motivational speaker who is adept at reminding us of the importance of discerning joy, particularly during difficult times. Spiegel shares her own stories and memories in three major sections: Observing Life (one absurd, ordinary, miraculous moment at a time); Despite Everything, We are Still Here; and Becoming Enough (relationships with ourselves and others). Her introduction alone gives pause for thought as she relates a ten month time span in which close family members died, a sibling experienced serious health issues and she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite those circumstances, Spiegel writes of her willingness to give up control and focus on these points: being deeply appreciated and loved; true friendship; and being grateful. She is an expressive writer, asking her readers to “appreciate that love and loss are close dance partners in this lifetime.” The tone is conversational, calm, even comforting as she points out that instead of always looking at black and white we can help ourselves practice to “live within the gray, neither perfect or imperfect, and still find beauty there. … to learn how to let light in.” Share MICROJOYS with family and friends – it will provide solace and encourage resilience in a practical, encouraging, everyday way. Each short chapter concludes with a "consider this" suggestion, honing our ability to better "gently hold grief in one hand and joy in the other." We rarely know all of the struggles and burdens others face and this text, though relating sad events at times, is uplifting, like Beauty in the Broken Places by Allison Pataki.  

Four Battlegrounds by Paul Scharre

FOUR BATTLEGROUNDS by Paul Scharre discusses “Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” particularly from a military standpoint. Scharre is a former U.S. Army Ranger who is currently vice president and director of studies at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington, DC based think tank. Although a weighty, almost 500 page text, a significant portion (almost half) is devoted to Notes, Illustration Credits, Abbreviations and Acknowledgments, plus an Index. In the rest, Scharre presents his arguments regarding how “AI is changing war, and … also changing surveillance, disinformation, and other aspects of global peace and security,” especially in regard to these four areas: data, computing power, AI talent, and institutions. He refers to the “deep learning revolution” and “power dynamics” (especially between the US and China) and describes the “dark side” - how “the dangers from AI today come from people using the technology maliciously or carelessly, causing harm to others.” All of Scharre’s many notes support a myriad of facts (e.g., “China already publishes more AI papers than the United States”) and an enlightening analysis of points of contention. FOUR BATTLEGROUNDS received a starred review from Library Journal. For another recent perspective related to AI, see also “ChatGPT Heralds an Intellectual Revolution” by Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Daniel Huttenlocher in The Wall Street Journal.

I'm Still Writing by Virginia Ann Byrd

I'M STILL WRITING by Virginia Ann Byrd is definitely worth a look if you have been thinking about spending more time (even just thirty minutes a week) writing. Byrd has done a remarkable job of compiling the thoughts of 52 woman writers about the craft. She also adds two sections (Listen and Write) to each writer’s quote so as to provide her readers with a means to engage with the weekly writer and her comments. The chosen writers begin with Toni Morrison on memory and conclude with Min Jin Lee on silence and sound. In the first case, Byrd asks her readers to reflect on whether there is a part of their own experience which has been marginalized and then encourages them to write about a sensory memory. After reading Lee’s quote, Byrd asks for musings on vulnerability and power and then suggestions writing about a central message or theme the reader/writer is trying to convey. Other featured women writers include Agatha Christie, Marilynne Robinson, Ann Patchett, Louise Erdrich, Maya Angelou and MANY more – imagine a graduate seminar with each of them prompting a listen and write exercise each week for a year! The quotes can be read in any order and the writers were “selected because they represent not only various time periods, perspectives, and styles of writing, but also different ways of thinking about creativity and the process of writing.” There is so much to explore in this text and many “sparks” that this book could ignite – both for individuals thinking about their own writing and for students interested in the craft.  

Homestead by Melinda Moustakis

HOMESTEAD by Melinda Moustakis immediately pulls at the reader’s heartstrings and doesn’t let go as Moustakis relates the story of Marie and Lawrence and their efforts to create a home in Alaska. The debut novel is set in the mid-1950s and Lawrence is a Korean War vet with some unresolved PTSD issues. Marie, from Conroe, Texas, is an eighteen year-old running away from a poor family situation. After barely meeting, they decide to marry and the novel recounts their efforts to build a relationship and a family. Readers need to be patient. Each chapter represents a month or so as they attempt to erect a cabin, clear the land, and grow crops; this is rather slow reading at times, especially when these two young people seem to be talking past each other, wanting the same things, but unable to communicate their feelings and needs. Loneliness is pervasive. Still, readers will not be able to stop caring for them and the family members who do visit, Lawrence’s father, Joseph, and Marie’s sister Sheila with her husband, Sly. Moustakis’ writing about nature is poetic, too: “How sudden the autumn came, as the aspen and birch leaves flash bright and golden, a catch of the eye before the falling. But something to be said for the spruce trees, unchanged, steadfast in their evergreen.” HOMESTEAD received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly and here is the New York Times review.  If you are looking for a classic about married life and pioneering in the North (Alberta, Canada), I highly recommend a longtime personal favorite:  Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman which relates the story of Katherine Mary O’Fallon and Canadian Mountie Mike Flannigan.

The Sum of Us (Adapted for Young Readers)

I have commented enthusiastically about the adult version, but also want to recognize that THE SUM OF US (Adapted for Young Readers) by Heather McGhee is now available. She subtitles this version “How Racism Hurts Everyone.” A primary argument is that people of color AND White Americans’ are hurt and disadvantaged by racist actions and policies. That seems such a powerful message to share with all young people, especially given the recent public debate over topics like AP classes and content. In a NPR report on that controversy they quoted a student who said, "Any time you want to try to silence something, you will only make someone want to learn about it even more."  McGhee’s text is accessible – covering the impact of racism across education, healthcare, housing, and much more. Near the end, she poses an essential question: Who is an American, and what (competitors or collaborators with different strengths and a shared humanity) are we to one another? THE SUM OF US (Adapted for Young Readers) received starred reviews from both Booklist (recommended for grades 8 - 12) and Kirkus and deserves space on the shelf in every school library.

We the Scientists by Amy Dockser Marcus

WE THE SCIENTISTS by Amy Dockser Marcus is an impressive look at “How a Daring Team of Parents and Doctors Forged a New Path for Medicine.” Dockser Marcus profiles the activity of a group of parents whose children have an extremely rare and fatal genetic condition called Niemann-Pick Type C disease (NPC). With this specific case story, she describes a growing movement that is “empowering patients to gather and analyze their own medical data.” Another example to which she refers involves Long Covid, including evidence of newer type collaboration in the blog post from the director of the NIH which references patient self-reported data collection. While reading Dockser Marcus’ inspirational book, I was struck by the possible connections to the more general and younger-student oriented title The Field Guide to Citizen Science which I reviewed a couple of years ago. WE THE SCIENTISTS received a starred review from Kirkus (an “expert mixture of reportage and storytelling”) and Amy Dockser Marcus has previously been recognized for her Wall Street Journal reporting with a Pulitzer Prize. To learn more about the tantalizing potential of patient advocacy, read an essay from the author titled “Making Medical Science More Democratic.”