Kristi’s Notes: READING THIS NOW!!!!

Kristi’s Notes: yes, yes, Yes! Kate interviews 40 men who are in fact equal partners in their households. They intentionally take on half of the physical and emotional labor of their household. she refers to them as “positive deviants” and digs into how they became equal partners. A must read with tactical solutions for change!

Kristi’s Notes: If you want to go deep, this is the book. it will take you down the road of how the aspirations of career, family, and equity have evolved over the past century. And, ultimately, how understanding the problem and calling it by the right name, will help us get on the right path for the future. THIS is the course I want to teach!!!

Kristi’s notes: What can I say, this should be mandatory reading for all women, especially mothers who have buried themselves in the “giving” to everyone else and then failing themselves in the pursuit of what make them happy. Time for the active and open pursuit of creative expression (whatever that is for you) its what’s missing for so many women/mothers. READ THIS NOW!

Kristi’s Notes: Powerful and validating!! Anger when channeled towards change is a good thing yet we are always taught that anger is wrong - especially for women! Women and men respond to the feelings of anger differently and they are received by others differently. As women we are urged to bottle up our anger yet Soraya Chemaly argues that, as women, our anger is not only justified but necessary. Read On!

Kristi’s notes: A candid assessment of what has happened int he last few years in our country and how, collectively, we can face the past while at the same time embracing a new future. Systems change and sharing power are at the heart of Renewal.

Kristi’s notes: Learn why, as humans, we are so drawn to sameness and the 10 reasons why we don’t change. Learn what gets in the way of change, what pushes us forward, and how “fear of hope” is central to change.

Kristi’s notes: I went out of the box a bit on this one but, wow, how it has changed my view of the deep ocean and, in particular, what the octopus can teach us about humanity and consciousness. Did you know that three-fifths of octopuses’ neurons are not in the brain but in the arms and that they have a command of thirty to fifty different patterns per octopus. AND..they can change color, pattern, and texture in seven-tenths of a second??? A lot of “wow” factors in this book!

Kristi’s notes: Everyone should read this book. Understanding racism from the view point of white privilege is an important and necessary step for change. “When our fundamental understanding of racism is transformed, so are our assumptions and resultant behaviors”.

Kristi’s notes: Well what can I say, Brene Brown is the queen of all things vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. This is one of her first works before she became the guru for humans worldwide. There is nothing not to love about this (and, its a short read ;-) !

Kristi’s Notes: The beauty and tragedy of Botswana & South Africa in the 1970’s apartheid era plays out with Isaac who escape from South Africa and must find new roots. The African landscape comes alive as does the strain of white and black co-existence.

Kristi’s Notes: A Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, I cant say enough about this game-changing book on how to bring a more equal divide of unpaid work into our partnerships at home. Eve has been a trailblazer on this topic and has brought her research to the masses - palatable for the everyday mother who wonders how the hell she can ever get everything done let alone have time for the important but elusive “unicorn space”. If there was one book for 2020 that everyone should read, this is the one. Mom, you have the “right to be interesting”.

Kristi’s Notes: A beautifully written journey into pre-colonial Burma set during the British Invasion in the late 1800’s. Anything by Amitav Ghosh is worth a read as he is a master storyteller who winds history and the meaning of home and culture into every novel.

Kristi’s Notes: Oh yes Tara Jaye Frank gets to the heart of it in her book The Waymakers. She digs into leadership choices and behaviors that shape corporate workplaces in America and crafts tactical and actionable solutions on how we get to workplace equity and what is holding us back.This is one of the best books yet on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging that I have read thus far. EVERYONE should read this book!

Kristi’s Notes: Founder of Girls Who Code and The Marshall Plan for Mom, Reshma Saujani paints the picture of what needs to happen if women are going to be equal in work and life. And guess what, it needs to happen right now. We all need to read this book!

Kristi’s notes: Compelling from the beginning and an easy read! Via twists and turns, Hannah and her step daughter solve the mystery of their missing husband/fathers’ disappearance. A good, fun read.

Kristi’s notes: Whoosh - turning 50 is no joke and at the same time it’s this amazing time of reflection, sharing our stories, and not giving a damn. If you are on the cusp of this next decade, this memoir will be so relatable!

Kristi’s notes: Man or woman this is a must read. Want to hear why? Read what I wrote in my blog on June 19 for a little preview.

Kristi’s notes: This is a re-read from a time long ago when I lived in Kenya. It’s less of a fluid story but instead more of an ethnography about Tepilit Ole Saitoti’s early life, as told by himself, and about his journeys and identity as a Maasai. The book represents the social experience of Maasai during the last decade of colonialism and the first decade of independence, published in 1986. 100% this book should be read alongside The Tree Where Man Was Born.

Kristi’s Notes: Heads up parents! Do you strive to raise compassionate children and be the best parent you can be at the same time? Well this 2022 book by Donna Tetrault providesj actionable tools and strategies to do just that - to build a parent-child foundation based on trust, growth, care, love, and learning. *Plus, you’ll find some printed praise for this book (from “yours truly”) in the foreward of her book!

Kristi’s Notes: Men this one is for you (although not going to lie, its for everyone!!). David & Brad show how men can be better allies to women in the workplace and why it matters. Men have a crucial role to play in promoting gender equality at work. This book is chock full of actionable strategies based on research and interviews of hundreds of men who have been identified by women as allies. Learn what they do and how they walk the talk of allyship! Plus Brad & Dave are just cool and, well, “good guys” of course too.

Kristi’s Notes: READ this alongside the above and it will paint a clear history of Kenya and the Maasai before and during Colonialism. Also, if you never make it to Kenya, this book paints (via words) the landscape and geography of this country in a near perfect detail.

Kristi’s Notes: Here you will find the history of Hatshepsut, a female Egyptian King that we have heard nothing about but who had the longest sustaining reign in Egypt during the most prosperous time. Why haven’t we heard of her when her reign was so flawless and her power meticulous?

Kristi’s Notes: What if women were the storytellers? Our history is based on the voices and words of men throughout history. ‘Cassandra Speaks’ traces that history and brings light on the struggles of women to have their voices heard.

Kristi’s notes: For people like me that love cross-cultural understanding and being surrounded by people that may see the world in different ways that I do, this book by INSEAD professor Erin Meyer is for you. Really cool free tools too to see how different cultures communicate, evaluate, persuade etc.

Kristi’s Notes: The anthropologist in me had a hard time putting this one down as it traces the lives of 3 anthropologists inspired by Margaret Meade and their stories of ‘going native’.

Kristi’s Notes: What can I say, Brene Brown has done it again. She has unearthed what it means to be human. This iOS a beautiful book - full of all the Brene insights that we love so much yet this time, packed with pictures and illustrations - perfect with a cup of hot tea and a good pair of slippers!

Kristi’s notes: Author Riane Eisler is THE expert on all things partnership systems, caring economics, and gender equality. Her first book The Chalice & The Blade is as relevant today as it was when it was first written. Eisler has been at the forefront of valuing care for the last few decades and I cant wait to finish reading her new book and what she has to say about all things domination & partnership as they relate to our brains, lives, and our future.

Kristi’s notes: Love all things by Mari Andrew and this new book lives up to her previous - a combination of words, whimsy, and watercolor - poignant thoughts like this : “moving to a new stage of life implies there’s a natural trajectory in life, that adulthood is a series of milestones, when we all know it’s much more scattered and non-linear than that. Perhaps a more accurate phrase would be to see life as less of a graph and more of a map. I’m in a different area of life we could say, as though we were in Zimbabwe for the next couple of years, rather than San Diego…”

Kristi’s notes: The U.S. is the most overworked country in the world. Overload is based on a research experiment to understand if flexible work created better work environments. Their research instead found that overwhelmingly, men and women just need a relief from overwork.

Kristi’s notes: The words of Trina Paulus in this book speak for themselves. Supporting one another, taking the time to look around and “see” what’s really out there, and blazing your own path… makes all the difference.

Kristi’s notes: try it. set your goals on one big hairy thing and see the results pour in. This is what the ONE thing is all about. If you want to better develop priorities and goals and cut through the clutter to make it happen, then this book is for you.

Kristi’s Notes: OMG, if you are a Gen-X woman, this book is for you. Mid-life crisis for women doesn’t show up in the form of sports cars and younger women as it is often highlighted for men … but instead it stays invisible yet it is so very real. This book looks at our history and why we are where we are today …. and why we cant sleep.

Kristi’s Notes: Hands down best book to really understand the impact that becoming a mother has on your career and life and how governmental policies can directly aid or impede the happiness (and guilt!) of mothers.

Kristi’s Notes: A wonderful book about “people” and how the focus on gaining stem based knowledge and “big data” hinders our abilities to extract meaning. In other words, “sensemaking” shows how success is drawn from engagement with culture, language, and history, and the social structures which underlie human behavior. These skillsets and this knowledge is critical for 21st century success.

Kristi’s Notes: Oh My! This is quite the read, a little depressing for those in the hamster wheel of work, but extremely impactful and thought-provoking. In David’s words “We have become a civilization based on work -not even ‘productive work’- but work as an end and meaning in itself.” David uses arguments form political thinkers, philosophers, and scientists to shift our values to esteem creative and caring work as opposed to the “bullshit” jobs that, today, are more revered.

Kristi’s Notes: If you have ever faced an incredibly challenging time in your life - one that almost broke you - then THIS is your book! Because why? Because you didn’t break, you “broke open”. READ ON!