Earlier this year, we read Wait, What?, by UVA’s own President-elect James Ryan and the business classic, Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, M.D. For both books, we had two discussion sessions, and also a Finance Matters podcast.
While contemplating what books to read next, we had recommendations from several colleagues to read All the Light We Cannot See, a novel by Anthony Doerr, so we decided to change our format slightly. Each year, we will pick a “summer selection” to read and discuss fictional books of interest to the group. The rest of the year, we’ll stick to non-fiction books, like the two we have read this year, to support personal and professional development.
Whether you are in UVAFinance or in another department, you are welcome to join the discussion.
Please let Patty know if you need to participate remotely, so we can set up the meeting to allow that.
Read more about these books and the dates for Book Club after the jump!
All the Light We Cannot See, published in 2014, took Doerr ten years to complete, and in 2015 won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and was a National Book Award finalist. It was on the New York Times Bestseller list for hardcover fiction for 130 consecutive weeks. It is on almost every list for best books of 2014. It’s a long (500+ pages) book, but don’t let that discourage you from reading this excellent book. It reads quickly, alternating between two different stories that take place during the years leading up to the start of and through the end of WWII.
Here is a description of the book from Amazon.com:
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them, they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them, they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
The discussion for this book will be Tuesday, September 18, 12-1 in Carr-2.
After this book, we’ll read and discuss The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg. This book, published in 2012, was named one of the best books of the year by The Wall Street Journal.
Here is a description of the book from Amazon.com:
In The Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to the sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.
The discussion for this book will be Thursday, November 1, 12-1 in Carr-2.
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