Book Club

Current reads and discussions on topics relevant to our lives as research and scholarly writers.

CSU Writes Book Club is:

SPRING 2024 BOOK CLUB/SHORT COURSE

3 SESSIONS: Tuesdays

MAR 26, APR 9, APR 23 | 1-2:30pm | HYBRID: LSC 308-310 and Zoom

Sönke Aherns, How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking (2022)

Part book club, part training and practice session, this series of three workshops (short course) introduces writers to a reading and notetaking system that will enhance their writing quality and establish a system by which they can build (or continue to build) their research and scholarly careers. 

Over 6 weeks and 3 discussion sessions, we will read and work with ideas from Sönke Aherns, How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking (2022). 

You can purchase a copy of the book at Sönke Aherns’ website or your preferred online book outlet. 

For students, postdocs, or faculty who have need, CSU Writes has 10 copies of Ahern’s book. Request book here. If you register for this short course and request a book, we kindly ask that you attend all three discussion sessions (3/26, 4/9, 4/23).

About How to Take Smart Notes: “The key to good and efficient writing lies in the intelligent organisation of ideas and notes. This book helps students, academics and nonfiction writers to get more done, write intelligent texts and learn for the long run. It teaches you how to take smart notes and ensure they bring you and your projects forward. Instead of wasting your time searching for notes, quotes or references, you can focus on what really counts: thinking, understanding and developing new ideas in writing. It does not matter if you prefer taking notes with pen and paper or on a computer, be it Windows, Mac or Linux”…or other software systems such as Obsidian.

book description from Amazon page

FUTURE BOOK CLUB: Get a head start!

COMING FALL 2024!!

Meeting day, time, location TBA

Daniel Goleman and Cary Cherniss, OPTIMAL: HOW TO SUSTAIN PERSONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE EVERY DAY (2024)

In his groundbreaking #1 bestseller Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman revolutionized how we think about intelligence. Now, he reveals practical methods for using these inner resources to more readily enter an optimal state of high performance and satisfaction while avoiding burnout.   

There are moments when we achieve peak performance: An athlete plays a perfect game; a business has a quarter with once-in-a-lifetime profits. But these moments are often elusive, and for every amazing day, we may have a hundred ordinary and even unsatisfying days. Fulfillment doesn’t come from isolated peak experiences, but rather from many consistent good days. So how do we sustain performance, while avoiding burnout and maintaining balance? 

In Optimal, Daniel Goleman and Cary Cherniss reveal how emotional intelligence can help us have a great day, any day. They explain how to set a realistic, attainable goal of feeling satisfied that you’ve had a productive day — to consistently work at your ‘optimal’ level. Based on research of how hundreds of people build the inner architecture of having a good day, they sketch what an optimal state feels like, and show how emotional intelligence holds the key to our best performance.

Optimal is the culmination of decades of scientific discoveries bearing on emotional intelligence. Enhanced emotional intelligence pays off in improved engagement, productivity, and more satisfying days. In this book, you’ll find the keys to competence in emotional intelligence, and practical methods for applying this skill set more readily. It will equip you to become a highly effective leader and enable you to build an organizational culture that empowers workers to sustain high performance.

from HARPER COLLINS promo webpage

PAST BOOK CLUBS: PRIOR SEMESTER CHOICES

SPRING 2023

April 11 3-4:30 PM MST LSC 322

Lee McIntyre, HOW TO TALK TO A SCIENCE DENIER: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason (2022)

Can we change the minds of science deniers? Encounters with flat earthers, anti-vaxxers, coronavirus truthers, and others.

“Climate change is a hoax—and so is coronavirus.” “Vaccines are bad for you.” These days, many of our fellow citizens reject scientific expertise and prefer ideology to facts. They are not merely uninformed—they are misinformed. They cite cherry-picked evidence, rely on fake experts, and believe conspiracy theories. How can we convince such people otherwise? How can we get them to change their minds and accept the facts when they don’t believe in facts? In this book, Lee McIntyre shows that anyone can fight back against science deniers, and argues that it’s important to do so. Science denial can kill.

Drawing on his own experience—including a visit to a Flat Earth convention—as well as academic research, McIntyre outlines the common themes of science denialism, present in misinformation campaigns ranging from tobacco companies’ denial in the 1950s that smoking causes lung cancer to today’s anti-vaxxers. He describes attempts to use his persuasive powers as a philosopher to convert Flat Earthers; surprising discussions with coal miners; and conversations with a scientist friend about genetically modified organisms in food. McIntyre offers tools and techniques for communicating the truth and values of science, emphasizing that the most important way to reach science deniers is to talk to them calmly and respectfully—to put ourselves out there, and meet them face to face.

from MIT PRESS promo webpage

SPRING 2022

Oliver Burkeman, FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS: Time Management for Mortals (2021)

Four Thousand Weeks: TimeManagement for Mortals is the most important (anti)productivity book published since COVID. Oliver Burkeman takes a holistic and healthful approach to productivity. All at CSU are welcome. 

We selected Four Thousand Weeks for this semester’s CSU Writes’ book club because we know that sustainable writing and healthful productivity contribute to a meaningful career and to our wellbeing. Let’s get together to talk about embracing realistic limits and “getting meaningful things done, here and now, in our work and our lives together,”  to quote Oliver Burkeman

Register via the link below. 

CSU Writes has 10 books to sponsor readers who wish to participate and who need a copy of the book. If you wish to receive a copy of the book, please let us know when you register for the book club.

PRIOR BOOK CLUBS

FALL 2021

Stuart Ritchie, SCIENCE FICTIONS: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth (2020)

ALL at CSU who are interested in topics of scientific writing, funding, and ethics are welcome to join this book club and conversation. 

Register via the link below. 

CSU Writes has 10 books to sponsor readers who wish to participate and who need a copy of the book. If you wish to receive a copy of the book, please let us know when you register for the book club.

The CSU Morgan Library has both electronic and hard copies of the book.