January books
Feb. 5th, 2018 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katharhino posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
christianreaderHi, I just joined this community for the new year! I enjoy reading other people's recommendations so much. So here's my January list, which alternated between pure fluff and non-fiction.
Culture Care, Makoto Fujimura - Inspiring vision for artists that fits with my personal goals for this year to create more wholeheartedly and without poisonous envy and comparison. Beautifully written and lovely ideals. My one critique is that it's so short, and the ideas expressed so big-picture, that I think it passes over a lot of problematic practicalities in the implementation. I hope Fujimura continues to expand this vision. [5 stars]
Art & Fear, David Bayles and Ted Orland - Another tiny gem of an inspirational art book. I was on board from the first page, which defines art work as "ordinary work" that can be pursued with courage and without magic formulas. I copied so many quotations as I was reading I think I need my own copy. [5 stars and would give it more if I could]
Under the Rose,
Rites of Spring (Break),
Tap and Gown, Diana Peterfreund - continuing my reread of the Secret Society Girl series, which I first devoured in 2009. Amy is a student at fictional "Eli University," a very, very unsubtle stand in for Yale, who joins one of the most exclusive secret societies on campus, Rose and Grave (based on real-life Skull and Bones). The books are definitely fluffy but surprisingly meaty in the character development and exploration of the overarching themes of choice and secrecy and how they affect relationships. Ensemble cast is strongly dimensional. And most of all, the romance that grows out of the last two books in particular just hits all my buttons. [4.5 stars]
The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them, Elaine Aron - Rating the book is really difficult. Where it was good, it was brilliant, confirming my instincts about parenting my daughter and offering insight into the way her mind works. Where it was bad, it was narrow-focused, redundant, pedantic, and biased. Sometimes even confusing. For example, it's apparent from my own experience and from the evidence described by Dr. Aron that sensitivity is probably more than a spectrum than an either-or, and that there are probably multiple types of sensitivity. But she ignores this probability for much of the book and after ranting for some pages about how powerful labels are and how careful we should be not to label highly sensitive children as "shy," "withdrawn," etc, she goes on to describe people with a lesser degree of sensitivity as "non-sensitives"! And then to assert with zero evidence that in Ye Olden Days it was the HSPs who held all the high-prestige positions like doctor, clergy, teacher, etc, and it was the "aggressive" "non-sensitives" who kicked them out and made all those professions more commercial and crass. Yes she says this in so many words. Cue massive eyerolls from me. For someone who studies temperament she also handles the difference between introversion and extraversion very clumsily. She should know that introversion is a lot more complicated than just "has fewer friends" and that it too exists as a gradient. Good grief. And yet, after reading the book I am convinced that high sensitivity is a thing that exists, that my daughter has it, and that I am better equipped to handle her intensity. So 5 stars for information, 2 stars for presentation thereof, 3.5 average?
January books: 6
2018 total: 6
Culture Care, Makoto Fujimura - Inspiring vision for artists that fits with my personal goals for this year to create more wholeheartedly and without poisonous envy and comparison. Beautifully written and lovely ideals. My one critique is that it's so short, and the ideas expressed so big-picture, that I think it passes over a lot of problematic practicalities in the implementation. I hope Fujimura continues to expand this vision. [5 stars]
Art & Fear, David Bayles and Ted Orland - Another tiny gem of an inspirational art book. I was on board from the first page, which defines art work as "ordinary work" that can be pursued with courage and without magic formulas. I copied so many quotations as I was reading I think I need my own copy. [5 stars and would give it more if I could]
Under the Rose,
Rites of Spring (Break),
Tap and Gown, Diana Peterfreund - continuing my reread of the Secret Society Girl series, which I first devoured in 2009. Amy is a student at fictional "Eli University," a very, very unsubtle stand in for Yale, who joins one of the most exclusive secret societies on campus, Rose and Grave (based on real-life Skull and Bones). The books are definitely fluffy but surprisingly meaty in the character development and exploration of the overarching themes of choice and secrecy and how they affect relationships. Ensemble cast is strongly dimensional. And most of all, the romance that grows out of the last two books in particular just hits all my buttons. [4.5 stars]
The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them, Elaine Aron - Rating the book is really difficult. Where it was good, it was brilliant, confirming my instincts about parenting my daughter and offering insight into the way her mind works. Where it was bad, it was narrow-focused, redundant, pedantic, and biased. Sometimes even confusing. For example, it's apparent from my own experience and from the evidence described by Dr. Aron that sensitivity is probably more than a spectrum than an either-or, and that there are probably multiple types of sensitivity. But she ignores this probability for much of the book and after ranting for some pages about how powerful labels are and how careful we should be not to label highly sensitive children as "shy," "withdrawn," etc, she goes on to describe people with a lesser degree of sensitivity as "non-sensitives"! And then to assert with zero evidence that in Ye Olden Days it was the HSPs who held all the high-prestige positions like doctor, clergy, teacher, etc, and it was the "aggressive" "non-sensitives" who kicked them out and made all those professions more commercial and crass. Yes she says this in so many words. Cue massive eyerolls from me. For someone who studies temperament she also handles the difference between introversion and extraversion very clumsily. She should know that introversion is a lot more complicated than just "has fewer friends" and that it too exists as a gradient. Good grief. And yet, after reading the book I am convinced that high sensitivity is a thing that exists, that my daughter has it, and that I am better equipped to handle her intensity. So 5 stars for information, 2 stars for presentation thereof, 3.5 average?
January books: 6
2018 total: 6
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 10:49 pm (UTC)That's really interesting about the Sensitive book...sheesh. I wouldn't mind reading a bit about this topic since I seem to be highly sensitive based on some online research, but I do hate how boxed in everyone is getting, and especially when people act like one particular personality/etc. is better (or more special) than the others. Ugh.
I really enjoyed the Secret Society Girl series and meant to reread it last year until I realized I only own Under the Rose and Tap and Gown. So I'll have to track down copies of the others. But I do remember [SPOILERS FOR ANYONE ELSE READING ALONG] that while I enjoyed the romance in those last two books, I was surprised that she didn't end up with her good friend. And the guy she ended up with seemed to be a bit moody or something? I'd be interested to see how I feel about it now! I didn't realize it had been almost 9 years since it was out.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 11:28 pm (UTC)It actually occurred to me that you might be HSP! And what does make sense to me is the idea that highly sensitive people need extra time to process sensory input and thus are more easily overwhelmed, more cautious in unfamiliar situations, need to observe from the sidelines for longer, can't deal with too much intrusion. I see all that in Lena. But this neat dividing line between sensitive/non-sensitive, no.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-08 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 11:00 pm (UTC)https://moredetails.dreamwidth.org/7775369.html
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 11:24 pm (UTC)And to answer your long-ago question, no, I never thought she'd end up with the best-friend character Brandon. He was just kind of wishy-washy for her. There wasn't enough of real connection described to go on.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 11:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-06 01:29 am (UTC)