March 2022 Soulful Reads

Welcome! We are pleased to share with you our inaugural Reading Nook’s Recommended Readings! Each issue comes with three book recommendations: Specialists’ Picks, Leaders’ Recommended Reads, and Watcha Reading?

In this first issue, we have the pleasure of receiving recommendations from Pei Yong (Sec), Annie (Pre-U) and Evelyn (Pri) to share with us their favourite reads. Read more about their recommendations below!

Specialists' Picks

By Lee Pei Yong

This collection of essays and speeches by Ursula K. Le Guin has been both instructive and inspirational on the personal and professional fronts. For many years, I only knew Le Guin as a science fiction writer; when this book was introduced to me, I felt like I was catching a glimpse of the mind behind the stories that are beyond this world, and what a mind it is! The innate curiosity and concern about the world we live in, the keen observation of people and an openness in accepting who they become, and the sharp wit and sense of humour that have clearly helped her keep going…these are some of the things I keep learning from reading this book. So much of our work and life has to do with sharing with others the power of words and stories as we contemplate people and places around us. This book reminds me that that is in fact a noble and lifelong endeavour, and we should just keep going, knowing we are in good company:

“Words are my matter. I have chipped one stone

for thirty years and still it is not done,

that image of the thing I cannot see.

I cannot finish it and set it free,

transformed to energy.” (Ursula K. Le Guin, 1977)

Leaders' Recommended Reads

By Annie Yong

Conviction is a desirable leadership quality. Is it? Maybe. Maybe not. After all, one’s conviction could be misplaced. Yet, we tend to prefer the certainty of conviction over the discomfort of doubt, of the possibility that we could be wrong. In this book Think Again, Adam Grant challenges us to confront our biases and offers practical advice on how we can become more effective individuals, teachers, leaders and teams, using powerful stories such as how a debater debated against a prodigy and won, and how a Black musician persuaded white supremacists to abandon hate. Think Again invites us to value humility and openness to ‘argue like one is right but listen like one is wrong’. The knowledge that we could be wrong is not only humbling, but empowering. It is empowering to know that we do not know everything but that we are not alone – we have critical friends whom we can look to and together we can help one another to do better every day. Think Again is not just a book for leaders, but for anyone who seeks to ‘improve rather than impress’. (And yes, this short reflection took much rethinking and rewriting.)

Watcha Reading?

By Evelyn Lim

A beautifully illustrated historical fiction story for children, set in the middle of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The story unfolds through the letters written by a little girl, Lydia Grace Finch, as she was sent to live with her uncle, a baker who lives in the big grey city, when her parents were both out of jobs.

Lydia Grace brought along with her a sense of optimism and hope, and sought to bring a smile onto Uncle Jim’s face. Through her passion and love for gardening, and subsequently, baking, she transformed her uncle and brightened her surroundings in the city. Her masterpiece, the incredibly beautiful rooftop garden, was the metaphor for how all of us, even young children, can ‘plant’ hope and make a difference in our own way through relentless faith and effort.

The ending of the story was bittersweet when Lydia Grace bid farewell to Uncle Jim after ten months as her father had found a new job. Definitely a story about strength and determination, love and hope, and a call for kindness especially in times of trouble. To me, this is an almost perfect read for our children in this pandemic we are currently facing!