WHAT I'M READING V. 35

1. Clifton Strengthsfinder

I had heard about Clifton Strengths Finder from my friend, Emily, who had done the test with her work and recommended it as another helpful personality framework. This one in particular focuses on your strengths, and helps you to determine how you work in a group or team. The bummer about this is that you have to pay to take the test ($20! -  Or if you buy the book for $20, you also get a code to take the test, which is what I did. - and that only gets you the first five strengths. For the rest, you need to pay more, which I haven't done.) but my friends and I made it into my birthday activity, and all took the test in preparation of us getting together for my birthday so that we could discuss. My friend Emily even put together a power point presentation so we could analyze our results over wine and snacks. I think my results were pretty accurate to what I believe my strengths to be - although I missed several questions (I was interrupted for a chunk of time during the timed test and I couldn't retake it) - my top one being "Strategic".

2.  Calypso by David Sedaris

David Sedaris' latest book! Some of these I had read before in the New Yorker, but it was just as fun to ramble through them within this collection of short stories.  It is the usual collection of delightful and humorous stories, but a little darker and sharper than his previous collections.

3. March by Geraldine Brooks

This was last month's book club reading and I liked it more than I thought I would. I'm finding that is the fun of book club - I get to experience books that I haven't heard of, like this one! This one wonders about what the character of Mr. March (the father of the four daughters "Little Women"!) was doing when he went off to war. At first, during the first couple of chapters, I wasn't sure if I would like it, but as it progressed and I saw that it was touching on topics like idealism, morality, marriage, communication and Emerson and Thoreau make an appearance, I was sold.


4. Mother tongue: English and how it got that way by Bill Bryson 

This was my fourth book by Bill Bryson. I have loved every single one I have read, and I am more determined than ever now to get my hands on everything he has written. His writing is precise, informative, interesting, smart, with doses of humor sprinkled throughout.  This one was fascinating and I thought several times that I should have taken more classes in Linguistics (than the one I took in college, and loved!) I listened to this book on audiobook but loved and appreciated it so much that I bought the physical copy so I could read it through again.