ABOG Book Club
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A great opportunity to meet other campus members and to be inspired by new thoughts and ideas! |
MEETS EVERY QUARTER (thereabouts)
Looking for some Inspiration? Feeling stressed? Wondering how to make more of your "job"? Well, the ABOG Book Club has some inspiration!
Email Holly Ames, Katy Rau, Elissa Keszler, or Edgar Micua with Questions, Comments, Suggestions...
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Quotes from the October 8 Book Club Meeting:
- That’s what’s fun about this puzzle book. You can read it again and again.” Jennifer F.
- “I was fascinated with Lola. She knew so much at such a young age and had to prove herself to stay alive.” Lois E.
- “Totally loved it and did finish it. It was brilliant in how [the author] wove the whole tapestry together. I would even read it again to pick up those pieces I dropped.” Katherine K.
- “I forget how far east the Holocaust was; it played out in so many places.” Jennifer F.
Thursday, October 8, 2009 @ 5ish – 6:30pm
Location: The Pub @ Mission Bay (lounge area)
People of the Book
By Geraldine Brooks
(Link to amazon.com for more info)
One of the earliest Jewish religious volumes to be illuminated with images, the Sarajevo Haggadah survived centuries of purges and wars thanks to people of all faiths who risked their lives to safeguard it. Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March, has turned the intriguing but sparely detailed history of this precious volume into an emotionally rich, thrilling fictionalization that retraces its turbulent journey. In the hands of Hanna Heath, an impassioned rare-book expert restoring the manuscript in 1996 Sarajevo, it yields clues to its guardians and whereabouts: an insect wing, a wine stain, salt crystals, and a white hair. While readers experience crucial moments in the book's history through a series of fascinating, fleshed-out short stories, Hanna pursues its secrets scientifically, and finds that some interests will still risk everything in the name of protecting this treasure. A complex love story, thrilling mystery, vivid history lesson, and celebration of the enduring power of ideas, People of the Book will surely be hailed as one of the best of 2008. --Mari Malcolm
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Thursday,
December 3, 2009 @ 5ish – 6:30pm
Location: The Pub @ Mission Bay (lounge area)
Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist
By Michael J. Fox
(Link to amazon.com for more info)
There are many words to describe Michael J. Fox: Actor. Husband. Father. Activist. But readers of Always Looking Up will soon add another to the list: Optimist. Michael writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual outlook that has served him throughout his struggle with Parkinson's disease. Michael's exit from a very demanding, very public arena offered him the time-and the inspiration-to open up new doors leading to unexpected places. One door even led him to the center of his own family, the greatest destination of all.
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Thursday, August 6, 2009 @ 5ish – 6:30pm
Location: The Pub @ Mission Bay (lounge area)
Outliers: The Story of Success
By Malcolm Gladwell
(Link to amazon.com for more info)
He takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful.
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Thursday, February 4, 2010 @ 5ish – 6:30pm
Location: The Pub @ Mission Bay (lounge area)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery
(Link to amazon.com for more info)
Renée Michel is the dumpy, nondescript, 54-year-old concierge of a small and exclusive Paris apartment building. Its handful of tenants include a celebrated restaurant critic, high government officials and members of the old nobility. Every day these residents pass by the loge of Madame Michel and, unless they want something from her, scarcely notice that she is alive. As it happens, Renée Michel prefers it that way. There is far more to her than meets the eye.
Paloma Josse also lives in the building. Acutely intelligent, introspective and philosophical, this 12-year-old views the world as absurd and records her observations about it in her journal. She despises her coddled existence, her older sister Colombe (who is studying at the École normale supérieure), and her well-to-do parents, especially her plant-obsessed mother. After careful consideration of what life is like, Paloma has secretly decided to kill herself on her 13th birthday.
These two characters provide the double narrative of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and you will -- this is going to sound corny -- fall in love with both. In Europe, where Muriel Barbery's book became a huge bestseller in 2007, it has inspired the kind of affection and enthusiasm American readers bestow on the works of Alexander McCall Smith. Still, this is a very French novel: tender and satirical in its overall tone, yet most absorbing because of its reflections on the nature of beauty and art, the meaning of life and death. Out of context, Madame Michel's pensees may occasionally sound pretentious, just as Paloma might sometimes pass for a Gallic (and female) version of Holden Caulfield. But, for the most part, Barbery makes us believe in these two unbelievable characters.
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Discussion of Spring Conference keynote speaker's book "Cut to the Chase". Anyone is welcome to attend; Having read the book is not required as it will be a great opportunity to learn about the rules and/or discuss what you learned at the Spring Conference.
May 7, 2009 @ 5:00pm, location: The Pub @ Mission Bay (lounge area)
Cut to the Chase: and 99 Other Rules to Liberate Yourself and Gain Back the Gift of Time
By Stuart R. Levine
In Cut to the Chase, bestselling author Stuart R. Levine reveals 100 no-nonsense rules on how to be more effective at work and make the best use of your most precious resource: your time.
Just before CEO and consultant Stuart Levine appeared on the Today show to discuss his book The Six Fundamentals of Success, co-host Matt Lauer said to him, "You know what really drives me nuts? When people come into my office for a five-minute conversation and an hour later, they're still there! Why can't they cut to the chase?"
Lauer's question echoed the concerns Levine has heard from business people and top executives at every level: How can I get more done? How can I stay focused? How can I condense my workday so that I can become more successful and still spend more time with the people I love?
Levine's answer? By cutting to the chase. Successful individuals are the ones who make the best use of their time and energy. They approach each task with clarity, focus, and purpose. They prioritize. They don't allow others to waste their time. They understand the importance of refueling their batteries outside of work. In Cut to the Chase, Levine distills the expertise of hundreds of CEOs, leaders, and professionals into 100 concise, invaluable lessons about how to get to the point, stay on track, and be more successful in everything you do.
In an age where we spend more hours at work than ever before, Cut to the Chase is the indispensable guide for taking control over your time so that you can lead a happier, more balanced life. (Link to amazon.com for more)
Past Selections
ABOG Book Club.....Thursday, November 6, 2008 @ 5:00pm, location: The Pub in the William J. Rutter Community Center at Mission Bay, 1675 Owens St.
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...
One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
"Here (in Pakistan and Afghanistan), we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family; and for our family we are prepared to anything --- even die."
- Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his remarkable humanitarian campaign in the Taliban's backyard. (link to amazon.com for more)
Future ABOG Book Club.....
Thursday, January 8, 2009 @ 5:00pm, location: The Pub @ Mission Bay (lounge area)
Tales of Beedle the Bard
By J. K. Rowling
In December 2007, J.K. Rowling unveiled The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a very special book of five fairy tales illustrated by the bard herself, embellished with silver ornaments and mounted moonstones. Amazon was fortunate to come into possession of one of the original copies, and it was our privilege to share images and reviews of this incredible artifact. Now J.K. Rowling is giving millions of Harry Potter fans worldwide cause for celebration with a new edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, available December 4, 2008. (link to amazon.com for more)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 @ 5:00pm, location: The Pub @ Mission Bay (lounge area)
Light refreshments will be available!
A Thousand Splendid Suns
By Khaled Hosseini
Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love. (link to amazon.com for more)
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