Ensights Magazine

faculty bookshelf 2022

Faculty Bookshelf: Winter 2022

Editorial Staff
What has our well-read faculty and staff been into lately?
Ricky Bowers
Associate Head of School; Director of Athletics

By Philip Graham Ryken

From the publisher: “In the Song of Songs, we encounter a love story that is part of the greatest love story ever told. Philip Ryken walks through this biblical love poem verse by verse, reflecting on what the Bible says about God’s design for love, intimacy, and sexuality and offering insights into not only human relationships but also our relationship to God himself—learning more about the One who has loved us with an everlasting love.”

 
Greg Chambers
Director of Tennis

Alex Berenson
“Painfully truthful.” 
 
 
Megan Florentine
Kindergarten Teacher

Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.

“We all know about the Carnegies, the Rockefellers, and the Vanderbilts, but has anyone ever heard of W.A. Clark? This legendary industrialist of the gilded age amassed one of the greatest American fortunes as well as a dazzling real estate portfolio befitting a tycoon of his stature, including a 121-room mansion in New York City. His youngest child lived into the early 2000s and was so reclusive, barely anyone knew she was still alive. She elected to live in a hospital for the last 20 years of her life, though in good health. Meanwhile, her mansions sat empty, several requiring more than $30,000 per month to keep running, though she had not visited them in more than 50 years. This fascinating book dives into the unique and mysterious life of Huguette Clark, who valued privacy over all the possessions her money could buy.”
 
 
Kevin Brown
High School English Teacher

By Kazuo Ishiguro

“Ishiguro always loves to create narrators who know less than the reader, so the reader learns about the world as the narrator does. In this case, Klara is an AI companion for Josie, so she begins the novel almost as a child. Even as she learns more and becomes more sophisticated, there are still parts of the world she doesn't comprehend, but the reader does. Ultimately, as he often does, Ishiguro is asking readers to think about what makes us human.”
 
 
Kevin Brown
High School English Teacher

By Maggie O'Farrell

“In O'Farrell's novel, she explores the time in Shakespeare's life when his son Hamnet dies. Almost nothing is known about this event, giving O'Farrell latitude to create the situation and the characters. She invents a fascinating Anne Hathaway (or Agnes, as O'Farrell refers to her) who is a woman on the margins of society due to her knowledge of natural medicine. Shakespeare is not a great husband or father, but he does use Hamnet's death to create a great work of literature and ultimately show his love for his son and wife.”
 
 
Kevin Brown
High School English Teacher

By Imbolo Mbue

“Mbue's novel uses the children of the fictional African village of Kosawa to tell a story that begins in hope, but ends in tragedy. The town's officials agree to let an American oil company drill just outside the city, promising an economic boon for those who live there. Instead, the village suffers severe environmental degradation, despite repeated promises of cleanup and financial reparations. The government of Kosawa works with the American oil company to exploit the land and people, ultimately leading the children to grow up and try to lead a revolution.The novel is timely, relevant, and beautiful.”
 
 
Kevin Brown
High School English Teacher

By Kristen Radtke

“This graphic nonfiction is a mixture of memoir and research, as Radtke wants to examine the idea of loneliness (Seek You refers to CQ, which is what amateur radio operators use when trying to find somebody to talk to). She began this book before the pandemic, but it takes on more weight since the onset of Covid. The artwork enhances the text, helping readers to feel the ideas she's presenting, even when Radtke is relating facts about loneliness, which helps humanize such statistics. This work is not only one of the best graphic works I've ever read, but it was one of the best explorations of American loneliness.”
 
 
Kevin Brown
High School English Teacher

By Anthony Doerr

“Doerr's previous novel All the Light We Cannot See followed two narrators whose lives intersected; in his latest novel, he raises the stakes, giving the reader five stories to follow, all of which do ultimately connect in some way. Through those individual stories and the way that they talk to each other, he asks readers to consider the power of story and its importance in our lives. He conveys the idea that story is not only part of what makes us human, but perhaps the core of our humanity, reminding us that stories propel us into acting for the good of others.”
 
 
Kevin Brown
High School English Teacher

By Jacob Tobia

“Tobia's memoir about his gender nonconformity seeks to tell a different story than the one most people know. Their struggle wasn't in feeling they were the wrong gender, but that they had too much gender for most people to know what to do with. They don't want to have to choose between the two dominant genders as much as they want to blur them, living in and between both of them. Thus, their author photo presents a person with long, flowing hair, large earrings, bright red lipstick, and a five o'clock shadow. Their story is one of trauma and struggle, but also hope and acceptance.”
 
 
Heather Caponi
Head of Lower School

By Meghan Cox Gurdon

“Parents with children of all ages should not miss this valuable book, which explains how reading aloud turbocharges a child's brain development, builds focusing skills and rich vocabulary acquisition, and primes the mind to become intellectually curious. Gurdon offers practical strategies for establishing a daily read-aloud culture in your home and shares stories of how the melding of books and voice enhances the emotional well-being of both children and adults. This is a must-read for families fighting the takeover of technology in their homes.”
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Red Gables Campus (K–8)

Nashville, TN 37205
(615) 383-0661

Frist Campus (9–12)

Nashville, TN 37221
(615) 301-5400
Ensworth is a coeducational, kindergarten through twelfth grade, independent day school.