How open minded are you in reading a variety of genres?

Does your reading expand your view and understanding of world cultures?

We all tend to like routine and habit. For many of us we get locked into specific genres of writing because it is comfortable and we don’t want to wrestle with our reading, which for many of us, engage in to relax or distract our minds from our busy intense lives.  Funny enough though, because many of us love to travel and experience new cultures, places and people yet, when it comes to reading, we like to ‘stay home’. 

Over the years my reading tastes have fluctuated between non-fiction leadership books and historical fiction and best seller fiction, some of which included cultural fiction.  Since retiring I have been picking up more cultural and historical fiction novels, in addition to more non-fiction on topics such as brain plasticity and general social and political examinations and commentaries. Much to the disappointment of my librarian friends, I purchase most of my some of my books (I’m terrible about returning books AND I like keeping the books I love so I can reference them again or pass them along). Costco is a great spot to obtain current award winners and a wide variety of material at a great price. 

This summer I picked up two books at Costco that expanded my cultural understanding, The Henna Artist and Daughters of Smoke and Fire. Both books concentrate on the plight of women in Asia and the Middle East. They certainly open our North American eyes to the struggles of abuse and restricted freedoms our female global sisters are confronted with on a daily basis. 

I must say the piece that really shocked me and rattled my cage was Ava Homa’s Daughters of Smoke and Fire. This novel awakened my understanding of the political strife and bias against women and free-thinking individuals. Ava Homa has an extensive background as a journalist and activist. During the last third of my career, I taught many children displaced from their homeland as new immigrants to Canada from the Middle East. It was disturbing to see these children and their families in a state of shock as they assimilated. Often, we would see children responding to situations aggressively or acting with great fear of losing their newfound treasures or freedom. It was heartbreaking to hear one of our senior kindergarten students speak about war and losing her friend to war in her home country. I could go on with various situations that we as a staff thought we responded with empathy, but our understanding was exceptionally superficial. Reading this novel certainly opened my eyes wider and gave me a greater appreciation of the culture and political oppression these families left. If you want to expand your understanding of the hardship in the Middle East, I highly recommend you consider reading this excellent novel.

Quick Take Away Links:

How open minded are you in reading a variety of genres?

Does your reading expand your view and understanding of world cultures?

We all tend to like routine and habit. For many of us we get locked into specific genres of writing because it is comfortable and we don’t want to wrestle with our reading, which for many of us, engage in to relax or distract our minds from our busy intense lives.  Funny enough though, because many of us love to travel and experience new cultures, places and people yet, when it comes to reading, we like to ‘stay home’. 

Over the years my reading tastes have fluctuated between non-fiction leadership books and historical fiction and best seller fiction, some of which included cultural fiction.  Since retiring I have been picking up more cultural and historical fiction novels, in addition to more non-fiction on topics such as brain plasticity and general social and political examinations and commentaries. Much to the disappointment of my librarian friends, I purchase most of my some of my books (I’m terrible about returning books AND I like keeping the books I love so I can reference them again or pass them along). Costco is a great spot to obtain current award winners and a wide variety of material at a great price. 

This summer I picked up two books at Costco that expanded my cultural understanding, The Henna Artist and Daughters of Smoke and Fire. Both books concentrate on the plight of women in Asia and the Middle East. They certainly open our North American eyes to the struggles of abuse and restricted freedoms our female global sisters are confronted with on a daily basis. 

I must say the piece that really shocked me and rattled my cage was Ava Homa’s Daughters of Smoke and Fire. This novel awakened my understanding of the political strife and bias against women and free-thinking individuals. Ava Homa has an extensive background as a journalist and activist. During the last third of my career, I taught many children displaced from their homeland as new immigrants to Canada from the Middle East. It was disturbing to see these children and their families in a state of shock as they assimilated. Often, we would see children responding to situations aggressively or acting with great fear of losing their newfound treasures or freedom. It was heartbreaking to hear one of our senior kindergarten students speak about war and losing her friend to war in her home country. I could go on with various situations that we as a staff thought we responded with empathy, but our understanding was exceptionally superficial. Reading this novel certainly opened my eyes wider and gave me a greater appreciation of the culture and political oppression these families left. If you want to expand your understanding of the hardship in the Middle East, I highly recommend you consider reading this excellent novel.

Quick Take Away Links: