In Part 1 of this series on “what I’m doing on sabbatical other than work”, I talked about a couple of ways I’m volunteering in my kids’ pursuits. In this part, I’ll talk about some of the reading I’ve been doing. (In the next part, I’ll talk more about my physical pursuits.)
I have always loved to read, and when I have the opportunity, I’m a voracious reader. I read every night before bed, although many nights in the past few years I’ve only been able to read for 5-10 minutes before nodding off. One of my non-work sabbatical goals was to read more, particularly to whittle down the piles (virtual and physical) of books I’ve accumulated. Of course complicating matters is that I continue to acquire books, which means the pile never really shrinks. But this is a good problem to have.
Part of the ever-growing pile of books.
Over the past few years I’ve mostly read on my Kindle, but this year I find myself reading more physical books. My daughter’s swim practices are just down the street from the local public library, so sometimes my son and I head there while my daughter swims. I can never, ever leave empty-handed, even if I already have a too-large pile of books at home. Again, this is a good problem to have.
I don’t want to include an exhaustive list of what I’ve read, mainly because I can’t remember a lot of what I’ve read for fun off-hand, but I’ll highlight some of the more interesting things I’ve read this year, so far, and some of the things that are still in my pile.
Computer science/research stuff
My reading in this category has been dominated by catching up on my backlog of technical papers and skimming back issues of CACM and IX. I’m 2 issues away from being caught up with IX, considerably further behind with CACM.
I’ve also done a bunch of reading about conducting interview- and survey-based research. I’m currently working my way through Salsa Dancing into the Social Sciences, by Kristin Luker, which was recommended to me by a fellow POSSE participant. I’ve read through Learning from Strangers, by Robert S. Weiss, and A Practical Introduction to In-Depth Interviewing, by Alan Morris, twice now and have found them tremendously useful.
Next on my list: The Internet of Women: Accelerating Culture Change by Nada Anid, Laruie Cantileno, Monique J. Morrow, and Rahilia Zafar; and Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet, by Andrew Blum.
Teaching
I’m fascinated by the science of learning and using science to hone what I do in the classroom to help my students learn more effectively. I really enjoyed Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, by Peter C. Brown. I do daily quizzes/reading questions in my courses, but this book has given me a lot to think about in terms of perfecting what questions I ask students and how I ask these questions. It’s also helped me think about how I can help my students study more effectively. I’m currently reading Small Teaching, by James M. Lang, which along with science/theory of learning provides practical strategies for professors to implement in their classrooms. Lots of great ideas so far, and I’m only a few chapters in!
I also read and enjoyed The Discussion Book: 50 Great Ways to Get People Talking, by Stephen D. Brookfield and Stephen Preskill. Each chapter describes a different technique for fostering engagement. Not all of them are applicable to my situation, of course, but again, I gleaned lots of great ideas from this book.
Productivity
I was eager to read Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy, by Maggie Berg and Barbara Seeber, because of all the buzz. But frankly, I found this book disappointing and depressing. And a bit obvious. Yeah, it would be really nice to have more time to think! My sabbatical proves that slowing down and reflecting leads to more creative, fulfilling work. But I didn’t think the “advice” was very practical. You know what would help? More recognition by our institutions that the level of work we are doing, particularly the hidden, unrecognized work like mentoring and service, is staggering and unsustainable. And then actually having our institutions put in the work of lightening our loads. I’m not going to hold my breath on this one, though.
More generally, I’ve been working my way through Gretchen Rubin’s books. I read The Happiness Project last year, just finished Happier at Home, and am now reading Better Than Before. I appreciate Rubin’s books because she is honest about what works and doesn’t work for her (and about the ways she may annoy those around her while on her happiness crusades).
I read Chris Bailey’s blog A Life of Productivity fairly regularly, so this year I read The Productivity Project, the book about his year researching and implementing different productivity techniques. Like Rubin, I appreciate Bailey’s honesty about what worked for him and what didn’t, and his critical look at conventional productivity wisdom (not to mention his willingness to try some really bizarro things for the project, like living in isolation for something like a week).
Just for fun
I’ll just mention a couple of fun reads to close this post out…
I adore Jenny Lawson, a.k.a. The Bloggess, and if you’re not reading her blog you should definitely add it to your feed. She blogs and writes candidly about mental illness, chronic illness, and owning your weirdness. Let’s Pretend this Never Happened is laugh-out-loud-until-you’re-crying hilarious, and this year I read her second book Furiously Happy, which is no less hilarious. (She has a brand new book out, too!)
I like reading historical/adventure books, and I just finished reading The Tunnels: Escape Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill, by Greg Mitchell. It was interesting to read this book at this time in our own history, with attempted muzzling of the press and talk of building a wall; as well as to hear the stories of those who risked their lives to help their fellow citizens to freedom.
What have you been reading lately that you’d recommend? Have you read any of the books here?
This is what a computer scientist looks like 
I feel the same way about the Slow Professor – I had several people recommend it and was eager to read it but I found it frustrating – I don’t disagree with anything they say but… Academic culture encourages overwork – when I was a new faculty member I was advised (by someone whose business is counseling faculty) to have “just enough of a social life to stay sane” – would someone with young children be told to “spend just enough time with them so they don’t die” – I hope not (although it wouldn’t surprise me that much…)! A tough TT job market (in most fields) has caused an academic arms race while at the same time we no longer have a model where the typical junior faculty member is a man with a stay-at-home wife helping him focus on his scholarly pursuits. The colleague who announced that he reserved weekends for family time? Not tenured. What kind of a life are we modeling for our students?
For books – love Jenny Lawson, Gretchen Rubin. I’ve heard a few people recommend “Make it Stick” so that’s going on my reading list. I recommend Brene Brown’s books – I especially loved her latest “Rising Strong.” Shonda Rhimes’ “Year of Yes” was uplifting and inspirational. For fiction – probably my favorite so far this year is “A Gentleman in Moscow.”
LikeLike