May 19, 2009

I’m back from the not-so-sunny south of France. Mostly overcast, actually. Nothing quite like a 15th century stone house when it’s chilly and damp outside.

Here’s some great reading:

1. City of Thieves by David Benioff: This is a marvelous novel about friendship and fear and courage and survival. Takes place during the Nazis’ siege of Leningrad in World War II. Great book.

2. The Future of Capitalism, special section in the UK’s Financial Times, May 12, 2009. Insights and commentary by people like Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen, Larry Fink, Alan Greenspan. A must-read in so many ways…to better understand, to get really angry (thanks Alan Greenspan!), to have some hope, to learn.

3. The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World by Michelle Goldberg. I cannot say enough about this book. I think it should be mandatory reading for everyone, no matter one’s personal opinion. This is about the empowerment of women – or rather the disempowerment of women. This is about patriarchy and power and population control and the evolution of the pro-choice and anti-abortion movements. Truly amazing. Truly informative. Truly disappointing and scary about our societies, our world.

Filed under: Social Commentary

About Simone Joyaux

A consultant specializing in fund development, strategic planning, and board development, Simone P. Joyaux works with all types and sizes of nonprofits, speaks at conferences worldwide, and teaches in the graduate program for philanthropy at Saint Mary’s University, MN. Her books, Keep Your Donors and Strategic Fund Development, are standards in the field.

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