And the Winner is "The Bookshelf”

"Reading is fundamental." I grew up hearing this statement over and over. I also recall Oscar Wilde's quote – "You are what you read," and most recently a George R.R. Martin quote – "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies … The man who never reads lives only one."

One of my goals for 2020 was to read at least two books and listen to one per month. Through May, I had read and listened to 19 books on various topics. As the COVID-19 pandemic pushed us into quarantine, I started to notice something interesting when watching television, especially certain news shows. Since everyone is being interviewed via video feed in their home, the background became more important than ever. Most people who were being interviewed were in front of a bookshelf with mountains of books stacked behind them. Some bookshelves were neatly stacked, others had a few books, and many shelves were filled.

The "Bookshelf" has become the centerpiece of in-home decoration - who would have thought?

Is the bookshelf being used as a prop to help establish credibility and expertise? Does it truly tell what you are intellectually curious about? I got so curious about the bookshelves behind individuals that I started to pause the television to see if I could make out the books certain people were reading. If you are what you read, let me put it to the test –[this is assuming that these individuals are reading the books on their bookshelf.]

Here is a sample of what I was able to make out.

Stacey Abrams, Former Georgia State House Minority Leader, Founder, Fair Fight and Fair Count

• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

• Run for Something: A Real-Talk Guide to Fixing the System Yourself by Amanda Litman

• Night Tiger, a Novel by Yangsze Choo,

• Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe by Roger McNamee

• There, There, a Novel by Tommy Orange

Judy Woodruff, Journalist who anchors the news show 'PBS NewsHour.'

• Agents of Innocence: A Novel by David Ignatius

• A War to Be Won: Fighting the Second World War by Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett

• The soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham

• Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential by James Moore

• Grant by Ron Chernow

Gordon Brown, Served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party

• RFK: A Candid Biography of Robert F. Kennedy by C. David Heymann

• Nelson Mandela: The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela by Nelson Mandela

• The New Machiavelli: How to Wield Power in the Modern World by Johnathan Powell

• Till Time's Last Stand: A History of the Bank of England 1994-2013 by David Kynaston

• Multiple books on Winston Churchill

William "Bill" Jefferson Clinton, Served as the 42nd President of the United States

• New Power: How anyone Can Persuade, Mobilize, and Succeed in Our Chaotic, Connected Age by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms

• Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power by Robert D. Kaplan

• The Complete Works of W. B. Yeats

• Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity by Stephen D. King

• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Cate Blanchett, Actress

• Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Harms the Planet and Threatens Our Lives by Michael Specter

• Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future by Paul Mason

• Moscow, 1937 by Karl Schlogel

• The Death of Tragedy by George Steiner

• The Complete 20-Volume of The Oxford English Dictionary

Reading is such a vital part of who we are as human beings and how we learn, and I am excited to see the images of books on television and the message that it is sending. I hope that it is encouraging someone to take up a book and read (either for themselves or to someone else). If "today a reader, tomorrow a leader" as coined by Margaret Fuller is right, we need more readers. In a time when it feels that our world is out of control and that we have a lack of leadership at all levels of society, we should be advocating for more readers.

Dr. Seuss [how can you write anything about reading and not quote Dr. Seuss - I digress] said, "the more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go." I am encouraged by the diversity of the books on these individual's bookshelf.

In order for us to tackle all the problems of this world, we need to expand and diversify our learning and thinking, and that is accomplished through reading. So as I put this blog aside and pick up my next book, [sidenote - today I just finished reading Shoe Dog by Phil Knight the founder of Nike] The Heart of a Warrior: Before You can Become the Warrior You must Become the Beloved Son by Michael Thompson, I have to leave you with these words from Richard Steele, "reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."

Now let's set aside some time to read and exercise our mind.

Drop me a note and let me know what you are currently reading.