I have 11 books for you this month, not bad for how busy May was. Today is my 49th birthday, so I’m appreciating how amazing my daily life is (I get to study exactly what I am interested in and passionate about with truly kind people) and how blessed I am in family and friendships.
Yesterday I completed 21 hours of facilitation training for rabbinical students of various seminaries in “conflict transformation” through a grant from Resetting the Table. RTT has a unique framework for navigating political differences and using direct communication on charged issues to address heated issues. Their method gets right to what matters most to the participants and names the differences to allow them to explore and discuss them. It was rather exhausting learning and practicing these skills and I’m not an expert in them by any means, but I’m glad I did their program.
I went out of my comfort zone and attended Hava Nashira last week, a Jewish song retreat at my camp, about 3 hours from home. It was fantastic and I met amazing people and learned some skills in creating sacred community that gave me more confidence. Plus I got to sing for 3 days straight, which was a dream.
I am also three weeks into the summer trimester and am enjoying my classes. I’m finally in a non-beginner level Hebrew class, am loving my liturgy class, and have two weeks remaining in the Yeshiva University Grief and Loss class.
I will be teaching two webinars in June for Twin Cities Mussar, and am preparing my slides and script for it.
Our Omer program is just about complete. It has been fantastic and well-received. I have one final webinar and one more weekly essay to do. Here’s my essay on harnessing your inner strength that I’m proud of.
Sweet Girl has 4 days of her freshman year remaining and I’m working on summer plans, working around my classes. It’s only two months, and we want to make sure she has a great summer and will be ready to return to school mid-August. We’ve got some travel, and she will hang out with friends and do some babysitting, as well as take a required school health class. I’m thinking of some fun things we could do together besides driving lessons, which is the main thing on my agenda for her. I hope it will seem super long for her and go by quickly for me. 
Finally, I’m grappling with occasional limited energy levels. It’s not time management, per se, but more energy management, which is hard to plan for or predict. There are times when a 2.5 hour class will energize me and other times when the same course will exhaust me. Hormone therapy comes in here too, where my doctor and I are figuring out what will work best. Peri-menopause is not for the weak. It seems to affect absolutely everything. It doesn’t help that I can’t walk on the treadmill right now because I hurt my foot. I’ve enlisted a therapist to help with self-care practice.
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On to the books – a huge self-care ritual for me! Please let me know what you are reading that you recommend. 
The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend our Broken Hearts and World by Sharon Brous — I wish this were required reading for every person living on earth! Stories about the need for connection and caring between people.
The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis — This book really got me emotionally… two heartbreaking stories (three really) in each generation. Beautiful, though predictable.
The Spectacular by Fiona Davis — I’ve read all of Davis’ books about New York landmarks. This one was a good, quick read but not as good as her others. About Radio City Rockettes and also a detective story.
Montauk by Nicola Harrison — A story about a glamorous summer escape for New York society, where the unhappy protagonist changes her life. Eh.
My People’s Prayer Book, Vol. 1: The Sh’ma and Its Blessings by Lawrence Hoffman — The first of a 10-volume set that I’m reading in an Intro to Liturgy course. Contains text, translation, and commentary.
The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga — A Japanese philosophy lesson using the theories of psychologist Alfred Adler. This is a conversation between wisdom and youth about how to care less about what others think of you and how to set yourself free from limitations – every moment is a choice. I thought it was good.
The Hero of this Book by Elizabeth McCracken — I listened to this on audio while I was sick because it was available at the library. Pretty good… reflections on the author’s mother and what she meant to her.
The Switch by Beth O’Leary — This was a really charming story and I enjoyed it very much. A grandmother and granddaughter decide to live in each other’s London flat and country house for a month… such good stories and self-discoveries unfold. Recommend.
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl — I was pleasantly surprised by this one… a lovely story of self-discovery and adventure. Highly recommend.
Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers by Emma Smith — Much more academic than I expected, but still fascinating. I learned about WWI paperbacks for soldiers, the Guttenberg press, and all things book-related.
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone — I read this for a short course about how to handle confrontation and diffuse tension. I read the 2023 version and it was pretty good.