ABAW: Quick Hits in Early May

A quick update on the things we’ve been reading. 

Ben & Me: from Temperance to Humility, stumbling through Ben Franklin’s thirteen virtues, one unvirtuous day at a time by Cameron Gunn, Penguin Group 2010 (library copy)

Cameron Gunn is an early-middle-aged public prosecutor who wants to be a better man. Ben & Me is the story of his foibles and misadventures in following a program of self-improvement based on the work of Ben Franklin. Gunn, in no way a Franklin expert, focuses on one Franklinian virtue each week, trying to understand the meaning and significance of the virtues and how they can be applied to his busy modern life. Guided by a philosopher/pastor, Gunn’s initial vision and much of his application is fairly self-centered. He doesn’t expect perfection, but then, neither did Ben. He learns along the way that “selflessness is the beginning of the understanding of the self,” and that the best way to improve himself is simply to try. Even if he fails at any individual endeavor (which he does frequently), merely striving to be better has rewards. He also learns that rather than asking HOW he can improve himself, if he answers WHY he wants to improve himself, then the answers are both more satisfying and more useful. Though Gunn is clear that he’s a Christian, as is his guide, the book is not a religious one. His self-deprecating humor made this an interesting pondering of the nature and need for virtue in modern life without being didactic or preachy. The biggest gain for him may well have been a greater appreciation for his family and the way they inspire him to be the man he is.

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer, Scholastic 2002

I read this one out loud to the Sonars and they loved it. Artemis and Holly put aside their animosity from book one to work as a team. Together they are able to apply their unique skills to save something important to Artemis, as well as protecting the fairy world from takeover by an evil mastermind. I think Artemis gets a little soft in this installment of the series, but the Sonars still think all of the characters (especially Mulch Diggums) are great. I’m curious to see how the Fowl family dynamic will change as the series goes on. I could just as Sonar X8 and X10, who have already gone on to devour read The Eternity Code and The Opal Deception.

On Deck:

Out loud we’re reading Summerland by Michael Chabon. I started listening to this on audio book, read by the author, and loved it so much that I stopped and convinced the Sonars that they’d love it as a bedtime story. I wasn’t wrong. We all do love it. Baseball, fair—um, I mean ferishers, a werefox, baseball, a zeppelina, baseball. It has a lot of elements that fire their imaginations.

I’ve just started Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and Do the Work by Steven Pressfield (of The War of Art fame), and I continue to make my way slowly through Far From the Madding Crowd. There’s also a stack of sex ed books on the corner table that are sure to come up in a blog post soon. Stay tuned.