Community Corner
Your Weekend Agenda: Get Smart
What's the best non-fiction book for your buck this August? We checked in with three 'Dena authors.
1. From Altadena's Desiree Zamorano, author of "Human Cargo"
THE HIDDEN BRAIN - by Shankar Vedantam
How do we make decisions? How do we live our lives? Very much on an unconscious level, according to Shankar Vedantam.
I found this book compelling and riveting, particularly when discussing our hidden brain and how it impacts racism, gender and privilege. It is written for a broad audience, which, for me is always a plus.
The author does an excellent job in choosing anecdotes to embody his premise. Some of the stories are truly moving. Favorite quote (among many) "people who swim with the current never credit it for their success, because it genuinely feels as though their achievements are produced through sheer merit...when we achieve success because of unconscious privileges, it doesn't feel like cheating."
I would have enjoyed an index, and ultimately I wanted more, perhaps of along the lines of application of these insights.
2. From Pasadena's Petrea Burchard, author of "Camelot and Vine"
THE COLOR OF WATER: A BLACK MAN'S TRIBUTE TO HIS WHITE MOTHER, by James McBride
My book group just read this memoir. The book came out in the 1990s, but it's still relevant.
Our discussion went from race to socio-economics to choosing husbands to child-rearing (as in, how the hell did this woman raise twelve children, all of whom have turned out to be educated, useful contributors to society, when she was so poor?). That took us back to socio-economics, etc. This is one of the few books we've read as a group where the discussion actually revolved around the book the entire evening.
McBride takes us back and forth, from his mother's words to his, to show us how this woman became so remarkable, and how he became the success he is today. His family story compels us to reflect on our own, our differences and our similarities.
3. From South Pasadena's Margaret Finnegan, "The Goddess Lounge"THE BOLTER, by Frances Osborne
The one nonfiction book I've read this summer is "Creating Significant Learning Experiences" by L. Dee Fink. But don't read that unless you want to improve your college teaching! Read "The Bolter," a biography of early twentieth century English socialite Idina Sackville. Think Downton Abbey meets Out of Africa meets Fifty Shades of Grey. Sounds improbable? Check out this passage: "The bedrooms were locked, and Idina held the keys. She spread these out on a table and with a roll of dice, the turn of a card, the blow of a feather across a sheet stretched between trembling hands, keys were allocated and each guest would win a partner for the night."
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