Summer Reading

National Public Radio (NPR) got a jump-start this week on summer reading.  Check it out:  Nancy Pearl Unearths Great Summer Reads.

More summer reading lists forthcoming.

Bringing Up Bebe

You don't have to have children to enjoy Pamela Druckerman's newest work of non-fiction, Bringing Up Bebe:  One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. 

Druckerman is an American, married to a Brit, living in Paris, and like most first-time parents, trying to figure out the basics of raising a healthy happy family.  However, upon becoming pregnant with her first child, she notices there are some big differences between American and French philosophies on the matter.  For example, she observes that French children, as a whole, are much better behaved than their American counterparts:  they eat healthily, they sleep through the night around 3 months of age, and they pleasantly engage with other children, as well as their elders.  Loads of research, combined with Druckerman's own personal narrative of parenting in Paris, makes this an informative, eye-opening, significant work.  Most importantly, she demonstrates what's possible when you think outside your own culture.  Parents, grandparents, and readers interested in cultural contrasts will find much to think about.

Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power

Anyone interested in American political history, the military, or current events must read Rachel Maddow's fascinating new book, Drift:  The Unmooring of American Military Power. 

Maddow may be most well-known for her hosting of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show, than she is for her academic prowess (she has a PhD in politics from Oxford).  But that last fact makes this work all the more intriguing:  the work extends well past her usual political commentary to a more in-depth, well-researched and well-written thesis on the current state of the American military that people on all sides of the political spectrum should appreciate.  In Drift, Maddow provides a detailed history explaining how far current military policy, beginning with the Vietnam War and continuing through present day, has strayed from the ideals of our Founding Fathers.  From granting the President the power to go to war without calling on Reserves and the National Guard, to outsourcing and contracting for military services, rather than using our own men to carry out the same work, Maddow argues that such policies have escalated our national debt, undermined our national security, and altered our perception of war.  Smart, thought-provoking work.  Highly recommended.