Worthwhile Nonfiction Read for Students

Linchpin is Seth Godin's new book. A review on amazon describes it this way: ""Everyone’s an artist now."

"By Seth’s definition, an artist is not just some person who messes around with paint and brushes, an artist is somebody who does (and I LOVE this term) 'emotional work'.”

"Work that you put your heart and soul into. Work that matters. Work that you gladly sacrifice all other alternatives for. As a working artist and cartoonist myself, I know exactly what he means. It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it.

The only people who have a hope of becoming linchpins in any organization, who have any hope of changing anything for the better in real terms, are those who have the capacity to do “emotional work” at a high level—to be true artists at whatever they set their minds on doing. The guys who just plod around the office corridors, just turning up for their paycheck.... Well, those guys don’t have a prayer, poor things. The world is just too interesting and competitive now.

And Seth then challenges us, the readers, to become linchpins ourselves. To make the leap. To become artists. To do emotional work, whatever the sacrifice may be. It’s our choice, and it’s our burden."
Listen to and/ or read an interview with Seth Godin.

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

For the time being, Mudbound is my new favorite book. Actually, it's in a tie with The Help by Kathryn Stockett.
The Help has a spirit of realism that engages the reader to think, to question, to understand, and to wonder. This realism threads the reader into the story quickly and easily, as if you are sitting in the living rooms or kitchen tables of these individuals who could be neighbors, friends, or family members. I soon forgot I was reading a piece of fiction; it read more like chapter from one's life; a primary source, of sorts - a piece of historical and cultural sentiment unearthed by accident.

Mudbound intertwines a collective history and culture with individuality - a narrative of expectations, experience, and perspective. Each character is deeply indebted to one or another, yet wanting to gain freedom from that which they are beholden. A history lesson taught not through facts and figures, but through words, emotions, and actions.

The age-old saying of "actions speak louder than words" resonates within this story of individual needs versus family duty, race and class, and personal identity. Laura, Jamie, Henry, Ronsel, Hap, and Florence are all individuals or personalities one could meet today. The voices are loud, yet controlled; their actions controlled, yet meaningful, and their silence says more than any words.

Moments of laughter, reflection, and learning exist in the mud, the racism, the patriotism, and the culture of the land which owns the people. Dare I say that it even made me cry.

Ms. Brennan