Tag Archive for: books – parenting

Booker Prize shortlisted – Bewilderment by Richard Powers

Pivotal Book CLub

A magnificent new novel by Richard Powers, his first novel since the Booker Prize-shortlisted, Pulitzer Prize-winning The Overstory.

Picked as one of the 'Best Books of 2021' in the Sunday Times

An astrobiologist thinks of a creative way to help his rare and troubled son in Richard Powers’ deeply moving and brilliantly original novel.

Theo Byrne is an astrobiologist. He is also the widowed father of a most unusual nine-year-old. Robin is loving, funny and full of plans to save the world. He is also about to be expelled, for smashing his friend’s face in with a metal thermos.

What can a father do, when the only solution offered is to put his boy on psychoactive drugs? What can he say, when his boy asks why we are destroying the world? The only thing to do is to take the boy to other planets, while helping him to save this one.

Meet the Author:

Richard Powers

The astrobiology and neuroscience in Bewilderment – two fields undergoing rapid and dramatic revolutions – are really ways into much older and more intimate human passions

The Overstory, shortlisted in 2018, won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, among other honours.

Powers says he is partially indebted to Booker-winner Margaret Atwood for his 2021-shortlisted novel Bewilderment, which explores the anxiety of family life on a damaged planet.

He lives in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and is currently delving into ‘what social media, deep learning, hidden algorithms, and surprisingly intelligent marine creatures have to do with one another.’

Buy from Amazon.com.au

Parents, children and the search for identity

ISBN: 9780743236720
Format Paperback
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
Published: November 2012

Winner:The National Book Critics Circle Award 2012 General Nonfiction

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Books for a Better Life Award, and one of The New York Times Book Review’s Ten Best Books of 2012, this masterpiece by the National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon features stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so—“a brave, beautiful
book that will expand your humanity” (People).

Andrew Solomon’s startling proposition is that being exceptional in some way is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender.

While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter.

All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves? Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges.

Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other—a theme in every family’s life.<
The New York timescalls it a “wise and beautiful” volume, “that shoots arrow after arrow into your heart,” and says that it “will shake up your preconceptions and leave you in a better place.”

Andrew Solomon (born 30 October 1963) is a writer on politics, culture and psychology who lives in New York and London. He has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Artforum, Travel and Leisure, and other publications on a range of subjects, including depression, Soviet artists, the cultural rebirth of Afghanistan, Libyan politics, and deaf politics. His book The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression won the 2001 National Book Award, was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, and was included in The Times list of one hundred best books of the decade.

The reading group guide for Far from the Tree includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and ideas for teachers. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

 

Available From: Book Depository or  Amazon

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I will earn a few cents.  I thank you!

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Minimalism for Families: Practical Minimalist Living Strategies to Simplify Your Home and Life

"Zoe's perspective of minimalism is pure joy. She brings years of experience as a mother and a wife to the table, paired with an ongoing love of the simpler life."--Brian Gardner, Founder of No Sidebar

"Minimalism for Families is a must-read for anyone wanting to explore minimalism but feels held back by 'having a family.' Zoe, a mother of four and a military wife, gives approachable, practical, actionable and direct advice. If you follow the guide set forth in Minimalism for Families, you'll be able to declutter every room in your house and maintain your simplified home once it's achieved."-- Rebecca Shern, MPH, RDN, Creator of minimalwellness.com

"Zoe Kim has written a book on minimalism for families that is practical, encouraging, and motivating. And I'm glad she did--we need more guidance like this in the world today."--Joshua Becker, founder of Becoming Minimalist

 

Organizing your home and leading a minimalist lifestyle can seem like a daydream for busy families―but it’s possible! Designed for families who want to declutter and embrace minimalism into their life and home, Minimalism for Families lays out a room-by-room strategy to conquer chaos and show your family how much more time, space, and energy you gain when you live with less.

Minimalism for Families contains:

  • An Introduction to Minimalism covering essential information including what minimalism is, its lifestyle benefits, and how to adopt and integrate the mindset into your life
  • A Plan for Every Room providing practical and realistic strategies for decluttering your family home one room at a time
  • Tips for Team Effort tactics for getting your family on board with minimalism, plus approaches to address resistance to minimalism as a lifestyle

Minimalism for Families features techniques to declutter and tidy up every room: Living Areas, Kitchen, Bedrooms, Home Office, Bathroom, Basements, Attics, and Other Storage Spaces.

Clean up your family home for a clear purpose with Minimalism for Families.

 

About the author:  Zoë Kim stumbled upon voluntary simplicity and minimalism 6 years ago through Zero Waste Home. She's a regular mom of four who found herself stressed and exhausted, spending more time doing things with her stuff than doing things with her family. It was in that stress and exhaustion that her desire to live lighter was born. As she shed her layers of possessions she began to see the real cost of her stuff—and it was way overpriced!

Zoë Kim is the creator of The Minimalist Plate, a website that inspires families to own fewer possessions to make room for what matters most. She is also a contributor at The Huffington Post and No Sidebar.

She is passionate about helping other families let go of what’s weighing them down so they can find and experience the freedom in owning less.
She lives outside Atlanta with her family.

 

Available from Amazon or The Book Depository

Yes those are affiliate links.  If you buy the book through them
I will make several cents - with thanks.  It all helps!

Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy

Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant combine stories, research, and practical advice to help you build strength for life's challenges—and help your family and community do the same.

Read more

100+ Creative Hands-on Activities for Ages 4-8 for curious kids

curious_kids

What happens if you water plants with juice?
Where can you find bacteria in your house?
Is slug slime as strong as a glue stick?

How would your child find the answers to these questions? In The Curious Kid's Science Book, your child will learn to design his or her own science investigations to determine the answers! Children will learn to ask their own scientific questions, discover value in failed experiments, and -- most importantly -- have a blast with science. ... Read more

Essential reading for anyone whose life had hit a road block

Fat, Forty, and Fired: One Man's Frank, Funny, and Inspiring Account of Losing His Job and Finding His Life

 
by Nigel Marsh
 

"Homer Simpson meets Anthony Robbins. Marsh's honesty and humanity make Fat, Forty, and Fired essential reading for anyone whose life has ever hit a roadblock. Hilarious and inspiring." --Bob Rosner, best-selling author and internationally syndicated Working Wounded columnist

"An extremely funny and touching account of how someone can use humor and optimism to put adversity into perspective. Marsh's warm and distinctive view of life lights up every page and makes this a thoroughly enjoyable read." --Paul Wilson, author of The Little Book of Calm

"I can pinpoint the precise moment when I realized my transformation from 'executive dad' to 'guy who doesn't work' was complete." --Nigel Marsh

Take Dave Barry, Jack Welch, Homer Simpson, and Ray Romano, mix in a family, a little weight gain, failure, introspection, and redemption, and you have Nigel Marsh's international best-selling autobiography.

As a stressed husband and father of four small children under the age of eight, Nigel Marsh was enslaved to his mortgage, recuperating from an embarrassing surgery, and suddenly fired from his corporate career. Deciding to venture "off the treadmill" in search of a more meaningful and balanced existence, Marsh tackled the art of hands-on parenting while simultaneously training for an ocean swimming race and coming to terms with his alcoholism. Touching on topics ranging from marital sex (or lack thereof), dieting, and parenthood to work, love, football, religion, self-help books, and sharks, Marsh makes his U.S. debut after enjoying best-seller status in Australia and the U.K. with this provocative and funny book.

 

Stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so

Far from the Tree

Andrew Solomon
Winner:  The National Book Critics Circle Award  2012 General Nonfiction

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Books for a Better Life Award, and one of The New York Times Book Review’s Ten Best Books of 2012, this masterpiece by the National Book Award-winning author ofThe Noonday Demon features stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so—“a brave, beautiful book that will expand your humanity” (People).

Andrew Solomon’s startling proposition is that being exceptional in some way is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter.

All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves? Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges.

Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker,Far from the Treeexplores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other—a theme in every family’s life.<The New York Timescalls it a “wise and beautiful” volume, “that shoots arrow after arrow into your heart,” and says that it “will shake up your preconceptions and leave you in a better place.”

 

Andrew Solomon (born 30 October 1963) is a writer on politics, culture and psychology who lives in New York and London. He has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Artforum, Travel and Leisure, and other publications on a range of subjects, including depression, Soviet artists, the cultural rebirth of Afghanistan, Libyan politics, and deaf politics. His book The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression won the 2001 National Book Award, was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, and was included in The Times list of one hundred best books of the decade.

The reading group guide for Far from the Tree includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and ideas for teachers. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

,

Strong fathers – strong daughters

‎10 Secrets Every Father Should Know ...

The most important person in a young girl’s life? Her father.

That’s right—and teen health expert Dr. Meg Meeker has the data and clinical experience to prove it.

(From the Pivotal Package - Books for Families)

Mindset: the New Psychology of Success

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

by Carol Dweck

World-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, in decades of research on achievement and success, has discovered a truly groundbreaking idea-the power of our mindset.

Dweck explains why it's not just our abilities and talent that bring us success-but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset. She makes clear why praising intelligence and ability doesn't foster self-esteem and lead to accomplishment, but may actually jeopardize success. With the right mindset, we can motivate our kids and help them to raise their grades, as well as reach our own goals-personal and professional. Dweck reveals what all great parents, teachers, CEOs, and athletes already know: how a simple idea about the brain can create a love of learning and a resilience that is the basis of great accomplishment in every area.

“A good book is one whose advice you believe. A great book is one whose advice you follow. I have found Carol Dweck’s work on mindsets invaluable in my own life, and even life-changing in my attitudes toward the challenges that, over the years, become more demanding rather than less. This is a book that can change your life, as its ideas have changed mine.”

From Publishers Weekly
Mindset is "an established set of attitudes held by someone," says the Oxford American Dictionary. It turns out, however, that a set of attitudes needn't be so set, according to Dweck, professor of psychology at Stanford. Dweck proposes that everyone has either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is one in which you view your talents and abilities as... well, fixed. In other words, you are who you are, your intelligence and talents are fixed, and your fate is to go through life avoiding challenge and failure. A growth mindset, on the other hand, is one in which you see yourself as fluid, a work in progress. Your fate is one of growth and opportunity. Which mindset do you possess? Dweck provides a checklist to assess yourself and shows how a particular mindset can affect all areas of your life, from business to sports and love. The good news, says Dweck, is that mindsets are not set: at any time, you can learn to use a growth mindset to achieve success and happiness. This is a serious, practical book. Dweck's overall assertion that rigid thinking benefits no one, least of all yourself, and that a change of mind is always possible, is welcome

The book is available in the latest edition at Amazon

and yes that's an affiliate link. I will earn a few cents if you buy through it.  Thank you!