Adult Age Readers

Love Your Enemies, by Arthur C. Brooks

When you think about kindness and civility one of the names that always comes to mind as a driving force is Arthur Brooks. In this book he demonstrates how divided our society is, and that contempt is becoming the prevailing zeitgeist of our time. Using research and experience Brooks invites the reader to join in a “countercultural movement” saying “I’m asking you to join me and work to subvert the prevailing culture of contempt as a radical for love and decency.”

His plan for accomplishing this is laid out in five rules to follow, which you’ll have to read the book to learn. It is well worth it though as this message is sorely needed in these days and it has the power to change lives.

I have to confess that I enjoyed this book so much that when I finished it, I stood up and applauded. I’ve never given a book a standing ovation before.

Read this book and join Brooks in spreading decency and kindness.

One People One Planet, by Michael Glauser

What an inspiring book! I appreciated the approach the author took to convey his message. He utilized a format in each chapter which drew on his own experiences, real life anecdotal stories, research from multiple sources, the teachings of a wide variety of religious approaches, together with the sage wisdom of philosophers through the ages.

The six universal truths the author presented are truly that – truths. There isn’t a people on the planet, not to mention a person on the planet who could or should disagree with them. They may not prioritize them the same, or even define them the same, yet it seemed to me they are unarguably and properly represented. At the end of the day, I was indeed inspired to figure out how I can be one person, on this one planet, who could work a little harder to make my experience and that of all humankind just a little better.

Born to be Good, by Dacher Keltner

In an academic yet approachable book Dr. Dacher Keltner reviews how to achieve a good life and why human beings are wired to be good. Central to his idea is the concept of a “jen” ratio, or the balance of uplifting vs unkind acts in one’s life. He also argues against the idea that humans are self-motivated creatures and instead, as Charles Darwin believed, we have evolved to have sympathy and cooperate. It isn’t the cruel and backstabbing who get ahead in life, it is the kind and compassionate.

Using an abundance of research on emotions and anthropological data he shows how our emotions developed and support his thesis. We have given the book three stars not for any fault of its own, but because we are focusing on kindness, and while this book describes benefits of kindness it also speaks a lot about other good emotions. If you want a book on kindness this is a fair one to read. If you want a book about a meaningful life and our emotions this is just for you.

The Five Side Effects of Kindness, by David R. Hamilton

This is a good book about why kindness is so good for us as a people and as human organisms. The book is an easy read and it’s clear the author is not only knowledgeable but committed to kindness as well. If you want to be happier, have a healthy heart, slow aging, improve relationships, and spread the contagion of kindness, this book will help.

I genuinely appreciate the authors way of taking significant amounts of research and distilling it into easy-to-understand terms making the book as stated – easy to read. The research is so convincing, I wonder why the information isn’t adopted more broadly in treating both physical and mental conditions. Lastly, laced throughout each chapter are examples of kindness all of us can do, and true to the spirit of the book a seven-day kindness challenge as a wrap-up. Easy read, easy to understand, convincing in every way, I recommend this book.

Go Be Kind, by Leon Logothetis

A journal, a workbook, a series of adventures. That is what this book is. Leon Logothetis, the host of “The Kindness Diaries” on Discovery Plus, was a finance professional in England who gave up everything to travel the road with kindness. His many experiences led to him creating this book with ideas and challenges to live kinder.

Full of cute illustrations and handwritten font there are 28 1/2 challenges to be kinder in our lives, just enough to last the month of February, even on a Leap Year. Some are fun, like creating and leaving notes for people. Some are scary, like playing “phone roulette” or scrolling through your contacts and calling whoever it lands on. All are uplifting and help one to reflect on kindness and act on it in our lives.

Get a copy, get a pen, and start your adventure.

Practising Compassion in Higher Education, edited by Narelle Lemon, Heidi Harju-Luukkainen, & Susanne Garvis

Compassion and kindness go hand in hand, and the world of academia is in desperate need for both. In an ambitious collaboration of 27 academics writing nine chapters, they discuss different ways to show and practice more compassion. A lot the discussion reflects on changes from the COVID19 pandemic, however that was a unique time that let academia re-evaluate and reassess culture and practices.

This book is part of a series called “Wellbeing and Self-care in Higher Education” and would benefit any researcher or professor who wants to foster a better environment for their research and students. The collaborative nature of the project does make it seem without a clear direction. It almost reads like a special edition of a journal with separate articles about a certain topic. However, the benefit of the collaboration is that viewpoints and ideas from all over the world, different academic fields, different universities are all brought together to consider.

While this book isn’t a must-have for the topic is certainly is helpful and can provide insights to those seeking to add more kindness into academia.