David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

Phew!  I didn't know if I'd make it through this one, but I did.

A little over a year ago, I was at the first annual Chestertown Book Festival, and one of the speakers I had the pleasure of seeing was a book critic for NPR - or maybe the Washington Post.  One of the two.  Anyway, I don't remember her name (or where, apparently, she works) but I do remember that she said that one of her favorite all-time books is this one - David Copperfield.  So I went right out and bought it.  All (almost) 900 pages of it.

I started this book almost two months ago.  It's not fast reading; I couldn't just zip through it.  And as frustrating as it was to be progressing so slowly through such a thick tome, I was enjoying every bit of the story.  Finally, with my being on vacation this week, I was able to really spend time, dig in and give this book its due.  I really got a lot out of it.

Anyone can look up this book online to get an idea of the plot; David Copperfield and his life.  But it's so rich...the number of characters, the interconnectedness of them, the way they fade away and then come back...it's like a tapestry in that regard.  And so many insights into the culture of the time, with some opinions in there on class, poverty, snobbery.  Truly a rich novel.

One of the passages that really spoke to me was toward the end.  David has had a lot of loss in a relatively short time, and has reached a point where he's able to step back and breathe and really start to accept it all.

     I went away from England; not knowing, even then, how great the shock was, that I had to bear.  I left all who were dear to me, and went away; and believed that I had borne it, and it was past.  As a man upon a field of battle will receive a mortal hurt, and scarcely know that he is struck, so I, when I was left alone with my undisciplined heart, had no conception of the wound with which it had to strive.
     The knowledge came upon me, not quickly, but little by little, and grain by grain.  The desolate feeling with which I went abroad, deepened and widened hourly.  At first it was a heavy sense of loss and sorrow, wherein I could distinguish little else.  By imperceptible degrees, it became a hopeless consciousness of all that I had lost - love, friendship, interest; of all that had been shattered - my first trust, my first affection, the whole airy castle of my life; of all that remained - a ruined blank and waste, lying wide around me, unbroken, to the dark horizon.


Yeah.  That's some deep stuff.

If you're looking for a nice light read, this is not the book for you.  But if you're looking to read a classic, a novel that will hold onto you for some time, that you can really sink your teeth into, and with people you'll come to like and dislike - then this is a perfect fit.

StrengthsFinder 2.0 - Tom Rath -AND- Strengths Based Leadership - Tom Rath and Barry Conchie

Okay, first of all, Tom Rath?  If you're reading this, CALL ME.  You are absolutely, completely, 110% adorable and I have a crush on you.  *sigh*

But onto the reason I'm here.  I had lunch with the COO of the company where I work a few weeks ago, and she lent me a copy of Strengths Based Leadership.  The main tenet is that we all have strengths and weaknesses, and as employees (and people), we are more engaged and much happier when we can do things that play to and engage our strengths.  Makes sense!  But we're in a culture where more focus - much more - is placed on weaknesses and "overcoming" or "improving" them.  While it's important to know your weaknesses, it's also important to know your strengths and to be able to use them.  And this book talks about 34 different strengths, and how they fall into 4 different categories: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, Strategic Thinking.  People's main strengths can fall into any or all of these 4 areas, but may lie principally in one area.  And leadership needs to come from that area and also bring in people with strengths in other areas for things to work as best they can.  It's a really interesting book and a great concept.

So this led me to StrengthsFinder 2.0 - the book that started it all, I think, and the book that comes with a code to an online exam where you can find out your top 5 strengths.  I read the book and took the exam, and - are you ready? - my top 5 strengths are: Harmony, Empathy, Input, Relator and Discipline.  Of these, three fall under Relationship Building, one under Executing and one under Strategic Thinking.  Clearly I'm not all that great at Influencing.  And - honestly - that makes sense to me.  I know what I feel and what my opinions are, but I'm not always great at expressing them.  I offer an opinion but if you don't want to listen, then that's fine.

I don't know that there's anything rocket science in here in terms of finding out my strengths.  But I really appreciated and learned from reading about this idea of playing to our strengths.  And the book and website have a lot of resources (like my personalized 20 page report about my strengths) that I'm going to continue to read and explore.  And, of course, discuss in my next follow-up meeting with the COO.

Babies Ruin Everything - Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr

Aah, the Idiots are back!  Volume XXVIII (that's 28 to you and me) in the Idiots'Books series.  You could think of this, possibly, as a follow-up to The Baby Is Disappointing, and it certainly is related to the birth of their second child.  This volume is written from the perspective of a very little girl who has been an only child, and now finds herself dealing with having a younger sibling.  The illustrations are a break from the "traditional" Robbi, and are more done in the style of a little kid.  And yet Robbi still shines through, like when the pony is pooping on a kid, and with the amount of urine in the pictures.  There's a lot of urine.  A LOT.  And I love every last drop.

Go find the Idiots at www.idiotsbooks.com.  Buy their books.  You'll never regret it.  And it just may change your life.