Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg

This memoir accurately portrays the turmoil and calamity that befalls a family when one of them becomes mentally ill.

Greenberg's fifteen-year-old daughter suddenly becomes mentally ill; she has visions and is struck inexplicably "mad." Most of the events in the memoir occur during the summer of 1996 in Greenwich Village.

Sally briefly stays in mental hospital where she is given drugs that slowly calm her mania. Greenberg ponder other famous depressives, Robert Lowell, for instance, who wrote eloquently about manic illness. 

Winner of the NAMI Ken book award, this work not only describes Sally's illness but also its terrible effects on other family members--the girl's grandmother, mother, stepmother, and brother. 

Get Out of Your Own Way by Dave Hollis

Hollis, Dave. Get out of Your Own Way.

"I suffered from this disease of always having to be right in any conversation and all arguments for most of my life."--Dave Hollis.

Its honesty like that statement that really drew me in and made me want to read this book. A natural skeptic, Hollis describe a long evolution in his thinking. At first, he was opposed to the self-help movement an is now the CEO of the Hollis company, a company that asserts it gives people the tools to make positive, lasting change.

Library Podcasts

The Librarian Is In, NYPL podcast. Hosts, Frank and Rhonda, Hosts discuss current situation (COVID-19) and what they've been reading in the April 23, 2020 episode. Rhonda discusses Freedom Libraries and Frank discusses The Man Who Loved Children.

Your Shelf or Mine, Longview Public Library podcast (Longview, WA). Discusses the current situation (COVID-19) and discusses a library program the adult librarian is giving along with CORE(a small business webinar). They sound like they are working mostly from home and taking turns to go into the library. The Longview Public Library (WA) offers painting classes online at Youtube. The hosts discuss books they have read.

"If I should have a daughter" by Sarah Kay

This is an amazing poem about motherhood, starting over, finding strength in the face of adversity; its also filled with Sarah Kay's trademark humor.

"If I should have a daughter" by Sarah Kay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQgz2AhHaQg

The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman

A Jewish mother, Hanni, makes a sacrifice so her daughter may live. She with the help of a rabbi's daughter brings to life a golem, Ava.

This is no ordinary golem in many respects; she is female, she speaks, and she has some feelings. Golems, which are born without a heart or soul, are not supposed to have feelings. 

The story moves back and forth between Ettie, the rabbi's daughter, and Lea, the girl the golem was created to protect. Ettie becomes involved in the Jewish resistance, along with Victor and his brother, Lea's soulmate, Julien.

This unique novel which uses magic realism captures the darkest hour in human history. Demons hide in trees and angels wander the earth. And then there's Ava whose tattoo on her arm reads "truth." She can speak to birds and has the strength of one hundred horsemen.

Ava can peer into the future; she knows what her ultimate fate will be. The truth is that Ava isn't made by God. In a locket given to her by her mother, Lea has instructions on what she must do to the Golem.

The magical elements never detract though from the real story--the horror of the trains, the camps, the senseless killing.

If you want to read more about this book and the inspiration behind it, I recommend this article from the Jewish Women's Archive by Karen Kashian, https://jwa.org/blog/bookclub/interview-alice-hoffman-about-world-we-knew 

Cornelia Funke's prose in Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro  garnered critical praise when it came out in 2006. Capturing how the human spirit prevails in the face of tragedy, the film rises above most horror/fantasy films. 

A new novel for young adults written by Cornelia Funke captures and amplifies the dark magic of the original. Her prose explains many of the aspects of the film that defies explanation. Here's an example. We learn that the insect "fairy's" favorite game was change: "Change was in her nature. It was part of her magic and her favorite game."

This explains why the "fairy" readily changes form from insect to fairy to carnivore.

While the movie evokes images, Funke's prose also gives us each character's internal train of thought.

In the book and the film, Mercedes has beauty, courage and worldliness. In contrast, Ofelia's  mother is hobbled by insecurity.

Funke says of Ofelia's mother, Carmen: "She sat once more in the wheelchair, as if the Wolf (the Capitan) had stolen her feet. He had crippled her."

All of this is metaphorical; Carmen can walk; she just cannot stand up for herself. 

Carmen does not believe in magic or fairy tales, believing only delusions e.g. she believes she needs the villainous man, Vidal.

Funke states in another breathtaking passage that illuminate Carmen's thinking:

 "We all create our own fairy tales. The dress will make him love my daughter, that's the tale Carmen Cardoso told herself, although her heart knew Vidal only cared for the unborn child he had fathered."

For a deeper understanding of del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, read Cornelia Funke's version.

Leadership

Great leadership advice for managers.

https://www.accel-5.com/learn/video/take-care-of-your-teams-emotional-and-physical-health

Managers must think about the mental and physical health of workers. Healthy employees do more work, turn-over is less, and it is also inherently the right thing to do. 

Workers need to feel socially supported. 

Pfeffer, Jeffrey. Power: Why Some People Have It--And Others Don't.

Sutton, Robert I. and Jeffrey Pffeffer. The Knowing-Doing Gap. 

Photo by Josh Hild from Pexels