What We’re Reading While We’re Hunkered Down

By Daniele Berman, Communications and Events Manager

It’s long been our habit at Book Harvest to start any meeting by sharing what we’re reading. I only wish I had taken notes over all the years — we’d have a pretty great booklist by now if I had! While we’re all hunkered down at home, I took a virtual roll call of our staff to see what they and their families are reading this rainy weekend:

Charlia Vance, Executive Assistant, picked up The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson by Nancy Peacock from our office bookshelf before she left. In her review of the book, Lee Smith, member of our Authors’ Circle, said, “Nancy Peacock grabs her reader by the throat and makes him hang on for dear life as the action moves from a Louisiana sugar plantation to life among the western Comanches, bringing to blazing life her themes of race and true love caught in the throes of history. [This is] is as deeply moving and exciting an American saga as has ever been penned.” That sounds like it’ll make for an exciting weekend!

Nadiah Porter, Community Partnerships and Operations Manager, is reading Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverence by Angela Duckworth, which she also picked up in our office. According to Amazon, in this book pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows anyone striving to succeed—be it parents, students, educators, athletes, or business people—that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls “grit.” Nadiah and her daughters decided to get out of town for the storm, and she reports that her girls are too excited by their new surroundings to have thought about what to read yet!

Isabel Geffner, Advancement Director, reports that she will be reading the Sunday New York Times Magazine section. We’ll expand our definition of “booklist” to include this selection…as long as she’s reading it in print!

Whatever you’re reading this weekend, we hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and dry!