Books 23 & 24
23 Now, Discover Your Strengths by Buckingham and Clifton
Can you believe I bought a $30 business book? And read it? Me neither, but there it is. Recommended to me by a colleague as I'm in the midst of vocational discernment. What kind of priest should I be? What are my gifts/skills/talents? What should I do with the next few years? This particular book's thesis is that, instead of focusing on improving people's weaknesses, we should focus on encouraging our strengths. If you're not good at something, manage around it by hiring someone else for that task, being honest with your colleagues about the weakness, etc. More to the point, do something you love and are good at. And it's got a handy StrengthsFinder website with a skills inventory to determine just that. (And that's why it costs $30) So, what am I good at? Wooing, ideation, positivity, inclusion, and something else I've forgotten. It's actually pretty neat, but I recommend just taking the inventory online and skipping the book itself.
24 Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Continuing my Vonnegut craze. This one is pretty fantastic. American in Germany is recruited as a spy. He becomes a Nazi radio star, spewing hate like crazy and simultaneously sending coded messages to the Americans. Problem is, no one's heard of his spy contact and he does an amazingly good job of being a Nazi. Good portrayal of the whole "good intentions" problem. Main character, unsurprisingly, is distant, cynical, and polite. Seems to have no remorse or love for his role in Nazi Germany. Yet another absurdist novel from Mr. Vonnegut.
Can you believe I bought a $30 business book? And read it? Me neither, but there it is. Recommended to me by a colleague as I'm in the midst of vocational discernment. What kind of priest should I be? What are my gifts/skills/talents? What should I do with the next few years? This particular book's thesis is that, instead of focusing on improving people's weaknesses, we should focus on encouraging our strengths. If you're not good at something, manage around it by hiring someone else for that task, being honest with your colleagues about the weakness, etc. More to the point, do something you love and are good at. And it's got a handy StrengthsFinder website with a skills inventory to determine just that. (And that's why it costs $30) So, what am I good at? Wooing, ideation, positivity, inclusion, and something else I've forgotten. It's actually pretty neat, but I recommend just taking the inventory online and skipping the book itself.
24 Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Continuing my Vonnegut craze. This one is pretty fantastic. American in Germany is recruited as a spy. He becomes a Nazi radio star, spewing hate like crazy and simultaneously sending coded messages to the Americans. Problem is, no one's heard of his spy contact and he does an amazingly good job of being a Nazi. Good portrayal of the whole "good intentions" problem. Main character, unsurprisingly, is distant, cynical, and polite. Seems to have no remorse or love for his role in Nazi Germany. Yet another absurdist novel from Mr. Vonnegut.