What Have Fun, Do Good Books Are You Excited to Read in 2012?

Is the book pile by your bed ready to topple over like mine is?  I've got a big juicy stack to start off the New Year:

Global Girlfriends: How One Mom Made it Her Business to Help Women in Poverty Worldwide by Stacey Edgar. I'll be interviewing Stacey, the Founder of Global Girlfriend, for Have Fun, Do Good in early 2012.

With Liberty and Justice for Some by Glenn Greenwald. My virtual social changey book club is reading this for our January call.

Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners, and Smart Cookin' Mamas by Mark Winne. There was one week where 2 or 3 people all recommended that I read this book, so I added it to my Amazon wish list and got it for Christmas.  Wahoo!  Looking forward to diving in.

Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World by Christine Mason Miller. I want to interview Christine about her book for the Arts and Healing Podcast. If you know her, I'd love an e-intro (:

Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg. I've been holding off finishing Lovingkindness, also by Salzberg,because I didn't want it to end, but now I will so that I can start Real Happiness.

The Artist's Way at Work: Riding the Dragon by Mark Bryan with Julie Cameron and Catherine Allen. A friend and I are reading one of the 12 chapters each month, and then getting together to discuss it.  Seems like a good year to read this book since according to the Chinese zodiac, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon!

What have fun, do good books are you excited to read in 2012?

Full disclosure: I received a review copy of Global Girlfriends, and all of the books I linked to are attached to my Amazon Associates account.  If you click on a link and buy something from Amazon, I get a wee percentage of the sale.
 

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A Book That Changed My Life: Now What? by Laura Berman Fortgang

Nancy Schwartz of the Getting Attention blog, and host of the June Nonprofit Blog Carnival, has asked bloggers to share their "one book" recommendations:

What single book (not blog, not conversation, not Facebook page) has changed your life as a nonprofit staffer, consultant or vendor? 

For me, that book would be Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction by Laura Berman Fortgang.  I read about it on Jory Des Jardins' blog, Pause (now, From Here to Autonomy) in early 2005.  I was 35, had worked for the same organization for six years, and was ready to start a new career.

By the time I'd finished Now What?, I'd given notice at my job, decided to start Big Vision Consulting, and was on my way to launching Have Fun, Do Good.  Over the past six years, I've read the book two more times when my career has felt stuck.  I've read it over 90 days, and over a couple weeks.  Whatever felt right at the time.  It has always instigated big changes. 

I've read a LOT of books about finding your path/career/calling/purpose, but it's hard for me to into words why Now What? is so effective. All I can say is that Laura asks the right questions.

A HUGE hat tip and hug to Jory Des Jardins for turning me onto Now What?, and also for being the person who inspired me to start blogging.  She's definitely on my list of people who have changed my life.  Check out two of Jory's posts about Laura's books:

• Career Coaching Icon's New Book Echoes Our Collective Migration from Craving "Success" to Seeking "Meaning" on BlogHer (May, 2009)
• Special Offer: Path to prosperity in some tough times on From Here to Autonomy (January, 2011)

You can learn more about Laura Berman Fortgang's work at www.laurabermanfortgang.com and nowwhatcoaching.com.

What book changed your life?

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Do Good Graduation Gift Giveaway: Work on Purpose from Echoing Green

When I graduated from college, I was a mess. I'd gained all kinds of knowledge and ideals, but had no idea how to use them in the real world. I knew I wanted to make a difference, but didn't how.

I wish I'd had a book like Work on Purpose by Echoing Green's Senior Vice President, Lara Galinsky, with Kelly Nuxoll. Work on Purpose tells the stories of five changemakers:

• Andrew Youn, Founder, One Acre Fund
• Cheryl Dorsey, President, Echoing Green
• Mark Hanis, Founder, Genocide Intervention Network
• Mardie Oakes, Founder, Hallmark Community Solutions
• Socheata Poeuv, Founder, Khmer Legacies
  
  

Their stories are told within the framework of how integrating and balancing their heart (passion) and their head (talents) created hustle (personal fulfillment and societal impact). Reflection questions are sprinkled throughout the book, and there are 150+ career resources and programs listed in the back.

*I have 3 copies of Work on Purpose to give away to 3 young graduates.* Wahoo!

To enter, please leave a comment describing why a young graduate you care about (it could be you) needs this book. The deadline to leave a comment is May 31, 2011 at 8:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM PT.  Please include a way for me to contact you (e.g. email, website, Twitter name) if you win. The winners will be notified by June 3rd.

Full disclosure: I was the host of Echoing Green's Be Bold Podcast, and contributed to the Work on Purpose Instructor's Guide (coming soon).

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What Poems Do You Love?

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things

- from "Kindness" by Naomi Shihab Nye

For the past few days, I've been reading Kim Rosen's book, Saved by a Poem: The Transformative Power of Words, in preparation to interview her for the Arts and Healing Podcast.

In Saved by a Poem, Rosen talks about the healing power of reading, speaking, and memorizing poems. You can read a short piece on Oprah.com about how Naomi Shihab Nye's poem, "Kindness," carried Rosen through losing all of her savings in 2008.

I'm loving the book, and have been inspired to dig out favorite poems from my twenties by Alice Walker, Sharon Olds, Adrienne Rich, and James Merrill.  Now, I'm on the hunt for new poems to love in my forties.

What poems do you love?  What poets have accompanied you through difficult times? Have you ever been, "saved by a poem?"

For a little inspiration, here's the awesome Maya Angelou reciting "Still I Rise."

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Have Fun Do Good Book - Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart

Each year I post a list of favorite Have Fun Do Good books. I have a feeling Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart will be included this year.

Moonrise is a collection of 37 pieces by women leaders (and a handful of men) edited by Bioneers cofounder, Nina Simons, with Anneke Campbell.  Each essay, or transcript of a panel discussion, is a perfect nugget of inspiration to read before you start, or end your day.

Contributors include Big Vision Podcast interviewees:

• Anna Lappe, author of Diet for a Hot Planet
• Jensine Larsen, founder of World Pulse
• Melinda Kramer, founder of Women's Earth Alliance
• Kavita Ramdas, former President of the Global Fund for Women

Some of the contributors I'll be adding to my Big Vision Podcast interview wish list include:

• Lily Yeh, author of Awakening Creativity: Dandelion School Blossoms
• Rachel Naomi Remen, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather's Blessings
• Judy Wicks, founder of the White Dog Cafe, and cofounder of BALLE
• Latifah Simon, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
• Kathy LeMay, author of The Generosity Plan
• Jessica Rimington, founder of One World Youth Project
• Cheryl Charles, cofounder of Children and Nature Network, and coauthor of Coming Home: Community, Creativity and Consciousness
• Sofia Quintero, author of Divas Don't Yield and cofounder of Sister Outsider Entertainment

If these women's stories inspire you to tap into your own leadership qualities, you may want to apply to attend a Cultivating Women's Leadership workshop led by Nina Simons and Toby Herzlich.  The deadline to apply for the June 23-28 workshop at Ocamora Retreat Center in Northern New Mexico is May 6th, so don't delay!

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Favorite Have Fun Do Good Books of 2010

Below is my 6th annual list of favorite have fun, do good books that I read this year.  You can also check out my lists from 2005-2009:

• Favorite Do Good Books of 2009
• Favorite Do Good Books of 2008
• Favorite Do Good Books of 2007
• Favorite Do Good Books of 2006
• Favorite Do Good Books of 2005

Favorite Have Fun Do Good Books of 2010(in alphabetical order)


I always enjoy Anna Lappe's books.  She does a great job of being positive and practical.  You can listen to my interview with her about Diet for a Hot Planet on the Big Vision Podcast via iTunes, or read it on Have Fun, Do Good.



We read Farm City as part of my virtual social change book club.  It inspired most of us (including me) to grow something, even if it was just one little tomato plant.



I loved the range of women profiled in Farmer Jane and had many laughs interviewing the author, Temra Costa, for the Big Vision Podcast.  You can listen to our chat via iTunes, or read the interview on Have Fun, Do Good.


I can't say that I enjoyed reading Half the Sky.  It's the book that inspired me to start our virtual book club because I knew that I didn't want read about slavery, prostitution, rape, maternal mortality and female genital mutilation alone.  That said, it's an extremely important book that everyone should read.


I mentioned Lovingkindness in a lot of my Reverb 10 posts this month.  I'd never had much luck with meditation until I read this book.  It has truly been life-changing. 


Play is actually a repeat from my  2009 list.  I re-read it this year and underlined all over the place.  It has confirmed for me that having fun really is a key to doing good.  As Brown writes:

"The great benefits of play, as I've said, are the ability to become smarter, to learn more about the world than genes alone could ever teach, to adapt to a changing world."

"When we stop playing, we stop developing, and when that happens, the law of entropy take over--things fall a part. . . . When we stop playing, we start dying."

Although I'm not crazy about some of things Susan G. Komen for the Cure does (see this HuffPo piece), I was engrossed by Promise Me's story of how Nancy Brinker, Susan G. Komen's sister, built an international movement, as well as by the history of breast cancer treatment and research.



Fascinating book about how leaderless circles of circles (the starfish), rather than hierarchical pyramids (the spider) can grow powerful companies and social movements.

Honorable Mention



Radical Homemakers gets an honorable mention because I thought a lot about the ideas in the book after reading it (basically that we need to value homemaking over consumerism), but the tone was a bit too judgemental for me to add it to my list of favs.

What were some of your favorite have fun do good reads this year?

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