something new for the new year: IAM Reader's Guild and a book give-away!

In the spirit of the New Year, I've decided to take [what feels like] a giant risk.  I've volunteered to facilitate a local group for the IAM Reader's Guild.   I'm working out details for the location but am hoping to meet at Erin McMahon's studio at the Lackawanna Train Station in Binghamton the fourth Tuesday of each month, starting January 26.

I didn't start out hoping to lead a group, but when I saw the book list for 2010 and had to keep myself from jumping up and down on the couch from sheer delight and realized the only way I could be part of a group was to lead one, well...  

January's selection

This title has been on my to-read list for about a year.  You can find a summary of the book here.  Consider this an official invitation for you to join me in the Reader's Guild this year.  Keep in mind that you are able to come and go as you please throughout the twelve months.  

I'm so excited to have a local group that I went ahead and purchased two of the books.  One for me and one to give away.  Comment before January 7 that you plan to join the discussion group in January and I'll pick a winner randomly from the comment list .  If you're not local, comment that you'll read the book along with us anyway. This group is open to anyone and a monthly rsvp is requested.  Invite a friend!

Let's dig deep in some great reading together this year.  Who wants to join me??

“Deeply engaged reading leads to perceptual awakening, stimulation of the core of the intuitive and experiential . . . What reading and writing can teach us is a deeper empathy that leads us to desire the best for others who are entirely different from us, and to long to communicate with them.”

- Makoto Fujimura, “Refractions #26: The Epistle of Van Gogh