Summer Faculty Bookshelf

What did the Ensworth faculty read this summer? This is an expanded list of book recommendations that our faculty and staff submitted to Ensights.

David Chanaca

High School History

Biggest Brother
By Larry Alexander

"I am rereading Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose and following that up with Biggest Brother by Larry Alexander. Both books follow the Easy Company exploits of the 506th regiment of the 101st Airborne paratrooper division who fought in Europe from D-Day to the fall of Germany in WWII. This will help me prepare for our Ensworth Alumni WWII trip this summer. Author Stephen Ambrose himself is the guide!"

Walter Schultz

High School Math

12 Rules for Life
By Jordan B. Peterson

"I recently started reading 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by psychologist Jordan B. Peterson. Each chapter is laced with life lessons, equally humorous and informative, based on one of his twelve rules:
  1. Stand up straight with your shoulders back.
  2. Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping.
  3. Make friends with people who want the best for you.
  4. Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.
  5. Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.
  6. Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.
  7. Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient).
  8. Tell the truth – or, at least, don't lie.
  9. Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't.
  10. Be precise in your speech.
  11. Do not bother children when they are skateboarding.
  12. Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street."

Rose Pickel

Lower School Art

The Restless Wave
By John McCain

"I intend on reading the political autobiography of John McCain, The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations when it is released. The publisher describes it as 'Written while confronting a mortal illness, McCain looks back with appreciation on his years in the Senate, his historic 2008 campaign for the presidency against Barack Obama, and his crusades on behalf of democracy and human rights in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.'"

Ash Weber

Associate Dean of Students, High School

Overstory: A Novel
By Richard Powers

"I'll be reading Richard Powers' Overstory, a multi-narrative novel that tackles the fraught relationship between trees and humankind. I recently found myself staring at a photograph of one of the world's oldest trees, a baobab in Africa that has 6,000 years under its belt. What has that tree witnessed in its time, and what has it communicated? Though this book's characters are significantly more intense than The Giving Tree of my youth, I imagine that they'll make for good company in the summer shade."

Megan Florentine

Kindergarten Teacher

The Little Princess
By Marion Crawford

"If you are like me and just can't get enough information on the British Royal Family, this book is for you. It was written by Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret's childhood nanny, Marion Crawford. 'Crawfie' started working with the family when Elizabeth was just five years old, before they knew she was destined to be Queen. Though the Windsors weren't pleased with this book (poor Crawfie was excommunicated from the royal fold as a result), I found it a jolly good read!"

Jennifer Ishee

High School Latin

Mini Habits for Weight Loss
By Stephen Guise

"Jump into a new exercise program and you will see positive results at first, but the body does not like drastic change and will fight back. Instead, trick the body by making change so gradual that it won't realize it is happening; incorporate tiny, non-negotiable habits that you track daily. It is so silly that you talk yourself into doing it on your worst days, and on your better days you’ll do more ('bonus reps'). This all begins to compound, creating lasting change. These are the impactful lessons I’ve learned from Stephen Guise’s Mini Habits for Weight Loss. I’ve even incorporated this strategy into my chess training, resulting in greater enthusiasm and less burnout."

Rob Herring

High School Spanish

Red Sparrow: A Novel
By Jason Matthews

"I picked up Red Sparrow on a whim in the airport. The author, Jason Matthews, is a former CIA operative who gives the reader a glimpse into a spy's world. Contrary to how the movie is billed, the book is much less about the use of operative as honeypot than it is about the cat and mouse games that are still being played covertly between Cold War nemeses. It was fascinating and unsettling. I couldn't put it down. John Le Carré may have some company!"

Andy Kelley

High School Chinese

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
By Carlo Rovelli

"A beautiful, thought-provoking meditation on what we know and (mostly) don’t know about the universe. Seven Brief Lessons includes insights from science rendered in poetic terms and laced through with sly commentary on education in general (e.g. 'Undistracted by schooling, one studies best during vacations' punctuates the author’s discovery of the beauty of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity). Rovelli brings us 'in contact with the ocean of the unknown...' and it is breathtaking."

Sukey Johnson

Kindergarten Teacher

The Elephant Whisperer
By Lawrence Anthony

"Lawrence Anthony's exhausting and unpredictable story begins when he accepts a herd of rogue elephants in South Africa. He is their last chance for survival; the herd is notoriously naughty and destructive, leaving rangers no choice but to threaten to put them down. As a teacher, I connected to the author because people often say to me, 'God bless 'ya for what you do.' Much like Mr. Anthony, we teachers receive a herd of our own each year (rogue five-year-olds, nine-year-olds, thirteen-year-olds, etc...rather than elephants. No one is threatening to put them down, of course, so it is not the exactly the same)! As teachers, we strive to reach each student and let them feel heard, loved, and understood. Lawrence Anthony does the unthinkable chapter after chapter; after he gains the herd's trust, the elephants also grow to feel heard, loved and understood. I doubt I will ever sleep in the bush of South Africa, but this book gave me a taste of that life and a heavy dose of admiration for people who make their homes there. God bless 'em."
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