Tag: Da Capo Press

Books, Professional Development

Book 264: Overcoming Passive-Aggression – Tim Murphy and Loriann Hoff Oberlin

Geoff W

Murphy, Tim and Loriann Hoff Oberlin - Overcoming Passive AggressionTalk about a rough read. The entire time I was reading this, I kept thinking back to that phrase from the 2001 movie A Knight’s Tale: “You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting.” Please don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t solely from this book or the last few that I’ve read that this thought process stems from, trust me. It’s something I’ve been struggling with for the past year and a half and as much as I’ve improved, I knew I was still struggling with myriad issues.

I mentioned when I wrote about Crucial Conversations that I’d had one recently and that the feedback I got hurt like hell but was something that I needed to hear. And honestly I can’t thank that person enough for having the candor to tell me what they did and spurring me to take a long look at myself. Again, don’t get me completely wrong I’ve not been hiding that I’m a horrible person, but I’ve definitely struggled for some time and after reading this I’m wondering how long I’ve been struggling and not knowing or, more than likely, not admitting it.

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Book Group, Books

Book 254: Amistad – David Pesci

Geoff W

Pesci, David - AmistadThis is one of those books that make me glad that I participate in my local library’s book group! I would never have gone out of my way to read this book and I surprisingly enjoyed it. I’ve done like I did with Dances with Wolves and broken down this post into the book and movie sections. I don’t think I will add a book group recap unless something really bad happens like with Dances with Wolves.

The Book
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised anymore that I’m enjoying the books selected for book group. They’ve broadened my reading and helped me to branch out, not just because of the styles and subjects I never would’ve read, but because the film adaptations are older and they are really interesting!

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Books

Book 216: The Velvet Rage – Alan Downs

Geoff W

Downs, Alan - The Velvet RageAs with most pop-psychology books, I’m a little torn: do the benefits of the book outweigh the drawbacks of the book? And, as with any book, I found both good and bad parts. I can say regardless, I am glad I finally read this book. It’s been on my to-be-read list for ages, but the push from my friend Dominic spurred me to move it up my list.

The largest challenge I faced while reading The Velvet Rage was having to constantly remind myself that Downs wrote this book for the “masses” and not for academia or research. And as often as I did this, I still wound up harshly judging Downs’ generic and stereotypical observations, which I do for anyone including my own. His generalizations were not wrong, stereotypes exist for a reason, but I did have to ask how Downs’ feels about this and whether he has since acknowledged this as he does not discuss it in the novel. There is an updated, 20th anniversary, version of this book which would be interesting to read.

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2013 Challenges, Books

Book 201: Homo Domesticus – David Valdes Greenwood

Geoff W

Greenwood_9780738211145.inddOnce again, I have to say something about other Goodreads reviews that’s not very nice. Multiple people have compared this book to Dan Savage’s The Kid and although yes, they are comparable, they are not the same thing. Savage’s book focuses on the adoption process and this book focuses on wait for it, a Same Sex Marriage (see what I did there, I stole it directly from the subtitle). In addition there are people whinging about the plainness of this marriage. Aren’t all marriages boring to anyone not in it? I mean seriously people did you expect the craziness Valdes Greenwood alludes to when talking about the Dear Parent note of cosmopolitan and sex parties?

I’ve read this book once previously and when I found it in a box of old books when I was moving my mom this past winter I knew I wanted to re-read it again before I passed it on and I am glad I did. In addition it just further supports that my statement still stands: this is a better book than Savage’s The Kid.

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Book Group, Books

Book 79: Friday Night Lights – H.G. Bissinger

Geoff W

I thought Friday Night Lights was going to focus solely on football (like the movie) but it didn’t. It was about so much more.

I read this book as part of a new book group, Books into Movies, I found at my local library. The book group itself was interesting enough, regardless of the book read. It was a mixture of 55+ individuals and about four of us in our 20s/30s. One guy pontificated, one woman knit, and the rest of us just sort of meandered about. I’ll definitely go back as I enjoyed the diverse opinions and perspectives, but I also like the idea of comparing books and films.

Prior to reading the book, I knew nothing about the story other than the film and the film was incredibly stunted compared to the book. In thinking about the book and what it means, Bissinger provided a perfect description of the book,
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