RuthElleC...

Musings of a social entrepreneur, book lover, film and jazz enthusiast. Loving the creative...the bold...the brave.

[littlebrown]

We love this book, you guys, and we could not be happier to see it getting love on these brilliant 2015 year-end lists!

David McCullough’s Favorite Reads of 2015 “She writes with such spirit and agility that to read her books is something like watching a great dancer. To say that her latest book is fascinating and insightful is hardly sufficient. It’s brilliant from start to finish.”

Hilary Mantel’s “Book of the Year,” Times Literary Supplement “Schiff interrogates her sources, makes every detail count, and her style is intriguing—sharp-eyed, discriminating, crisp. You want to understand the subject, and you want to meet the historian.”

Time Magazine’s Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2015 “With her impressive attention to detail and atmosphere, she conjures an eerie vision of the 17th century.”

NPR’s Great Reads for 2015 “Eerie and engrossing. As a popular historical writer, Schiff is a proven spellbinder. Schiff may not lead us out of the dark, but she makes it an inviting place to linger a while.” —Recommended by Maureen Corrigan, book critic of NPR’S Fresh Air

Boston Globe’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2015 “In this beautiful retelling of one of our ugliest tales, Schiff describes the sheer strangeness of the trials and the society from which they sprang.”

Washington Post’s Notable Nonfiction of 2015 “Schiff’s contribution to the familiar story of the Salem witch trials is her penetrating evocation of the environment that engendered them.”

San Francisco Chronicle’s Best Books of 2015 “Schiff’s splendidly written account brings it thrillingly to life.”

Chicago Tribune’s Top 10 Picks for Gift Giving “I fell in love with the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Stacy Schiff within the first few pages of Cleopatra—not just for her gifts as a researcher, which are prodigious, but for her prose style, which is almost fantastically elegant. Now Schiff is back with The Witches, a gripping, meticulously researched, sumptuously written history of the Salem witch trials and their historical context, and I’m falling in love with her all over again. —Kevin Nance, Chicago Tribune

Barnes & Noble’s Holiday Gift Guide “Eye-opening and fascinating, this book makes sense of a strange and savage part of American history.”

[vintageanchorbooks]

“The first sentence of every novel should be: Trust me, this will take time but there is order here, very faint, very human.” ― Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion

[forbes]

While the average interview lasts roughly 40 minutes, 33% of hiring managers admit they know within 90 seconds if you’re the person they want to hire. Out of the hiring managers who make their pick within the first 90 seconds of meeting a candidate, here’s what impacted their decisions.

[tribeca]

“It’s showtime, folks!”

Happy birthday to Roy Scheider and Ann Reinking, stars of Bob Fosse’s electrifying 1979 musical drama All That Jazz.

Have you seen it yet?

[whitneymuseum]

Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder, wondering doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, grasping, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, rumbling, rambling, gambling, tumbling, scumbling, scrambling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning, horse shitting, hair splitting, nit picking, piss­trickling, nose sticking ass­gouging, eye­ball poking, finger pointing, alley­way sneaking, long waiting, small stepping, evil eyeing, back­scratching, searching, perching, besmirching, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding away at yourself. Stop it and just do!

Sol LeWitt’s advice to fellow artist Eva Hesse on dealing with a case of creative block. Read their correspondence on The Huffington Post.  (via whitneymuseum)

[strandbooks]

David works in Strand’s Underground ⬇️ and has today’s #BannedPick. He picked Brave New World by Aldous Huxley which ironically is set in a world in which books are banned 🚫. Today, Brave New World finds itself consistently being challenged from Seattle to Cape Town for: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, and being sexually explicit.

So why should you read it? 💥David says: “Huxley’s imagined future parallels so closely with aspects of our own society that it’s kept this book a classic for years, and a must read for anyone interested in exploring the nature of real happiness.” #MakeAmericaReadAgain #BannedBookWeek #BanCensorshipNotBooks #✊ (at Strand Book Store)

[oupacademic]

These Books Have Been Banned

Banned Books Week starts today and we’re rejecting censorship all week by sharing some of our favorites on Pinterest. 

[ruthlchisholm]

Get to reading

[ruthlchisholm]

#literacy #sustainable #societies

[vintageanchorbooks]

17 Books That Perfectly Capture The Immigrant Experience

These novels highlight powerful stories on the struggle to staying afloat in the system.

[ruthlchisholm]

Timely reading. Here's to understanding the intricacies of the human experience. #LiteracyDay

[marcelagara]

[gem-report-unesco]

It’s World Literacy Day!

Around 175 mill young people in poor countries cannot read all or part of a sentence 

The poorest young women are the furthest behind:  On current trends, it will take until 2072 for all the poorest young women in developing countries to become literate.

Let’s make this #LiteracyDay make a difference!

Read www.efareport.wordpress.com for more info

Share this and let’s make a change for the better.

[oupacademic]

(via Oxford SA Blog | More Commonly Confused Words)

[whitneymuseum]

Happy birthday to artist Jacob Lawrence! 

In 1946, just a year after completing his World War II service with the Coast Guard, Lawrence began work on the fourteen paintings that comprise the War Series. The images are based on the artist’s own experiences and present a narrative, like chapters in a book. Lawrence said that he wanted these works “to capture the essence of war” by “portraying the feeling and emotions that are felt by the individual, both fighter and civilian.”

Installation view of America Is Hard to See (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, May 1–September 27, 2015). Photograph by Ronald Amstutz

[the-final-sentence]

A spinning wind was picking up and whirling: dust, rags, chips of painted wood, bits of gilded plaster, pasteboard bricks, posters; an arid gloom fleeted; and amidst the dust, and the falling things, and the flapping scenery, Cincinnatus made his way in the direction where, to judge by the voices, stood beings akin to him.

Vladimir Nabokov, from Invitation to a Beheading (via the-final-sentence)

[ruthlchisholm]

Make way for the brave ones

There is sea change happening at this very moment. How far we will get and at what pace? I am unable to say. But I do know that it is happening. And in spite of all the challenges thrown at us by this beautifully flawed thing called life, human beings are reaching inward and adding their voices, their talent and their willpower to various causes or endeavours that will undoubtedly move us all forward.

The brave ones are coming

Artists are becoming bolder and more fearless. They are painting, writing and expressing themselves using whatever skills or innate talents that they possess. I see them through their social media posts. I hear their angst and frustration. But, more importantly, I feel them bursting through tradition and the intangible yet powerful societal walls. Their resolve is palpable and has my deepest admiration. They are also tapping into entrepreneurial energies. Yes they can be artists and run businesses too.

Social entrepreneurs are adding their voices to critical social challenges. They are innovators who are working tirelessly to provide opportunities for the poor and underserved. They are coming up with real solutions, cost-effective and out-of-the box approaches that will have significant social and economic benefits. From malnutrition to poor reading skills to environmental degradation, these remarkable human beings are adding their voices to human development issues. They are cutting through the rhetoric, the bureaucracy and are led by the need for sustainable growth and change.

Watch them closely

Go Global Art: a new platform based in London, that is connecting artists with buyers, curating contemporary art around the world and subsequently, connecting cultures and human expression. I can’t wait to see how this initiative evolves.

Plant Jamaica: a non-governmental organization transforming under-served communities through agriculture, arts, education & entrepreneurship.

NLSKingston : or as I like to call it – a bad-ass start-up! This is a place for visual artists who are making work in dialogue with contemporary issues to experiment with new ideas, collaborate with each other and engage the public.

IPublish Jamaica: a publishing consultancy offering traditional and digital services for books and magazines. Follow iPublishJA on Twitter for further updates.

Meet them where they are

Where any of these individuals or groups falls short in administrative or general business processes they are aligning themselves with the people who do have these skills.  They are building partnerships: collaborating virtually and defying geographical borders or time zones. They are re-thinking, challenging and where necessary, defying the status quo. They are clawing their way out of offices, cubicles and padded walls that were never meant for them. Some of them are creating new spaces, seen as offices to some, but on a deeper consciousness. Why? Because these spaces, offices, physical surroundings are being constructed on foundations of passion, legacy and purpose.

Stay the course

For those of you who are still wondering if you should try? Of course you should. Pair the dream with a plan and just start. The negative voices come in stillness. They attack at nightfall. They show up just before those crucial moments when we are poised for growth. But when the morning comes, when the shift is clear and we see that were not completely crazy and disillusioned…it’s beautiful. Then we think and say “It was worth it.”

[whitneymuseum]

You can’t be a builder without being an optimist.

Renzo Piano via Interview Magazine. (via whitneymuseum)

[seachangeprogram]

Thanks to Population Action International for this #infographic which highlights some of the benefits of access to birth control methods across the globe.