In the best-seller Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ, Daniel Goleman explores emotions and the cause of emotions from the perspective of physiology, psychology, and human and child development. While Emotional Intelligence helped me reconsider my default reactions and emotions in various situations, I can’t really say I enjoyed listening to this

The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling contain much more than the story of the adopted wolf-boy, Mowgli, who is probably the most familiar of Kipling’s characters. Kipling’s Jungle Books are collections of stories about animals and people from around the world. Each story seems to be rooted in traditional facts

I really like the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling. It is an inspiration for all of us to be mature. It’s especially timely for me right now because I’m currently listening to the nonfiction audiobook Emotional Intelligence (by Daniel Goleman). More about that later…

[amazon_link asins=’B000I9VOO4′ template=’RightAlignSingleImage’ store=’rebereid06-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’7ddffe1b-17f4-11e7-ad88-c96d2a60b2c1′]Making a movie of To Kill a Mockingbird (reviewed here) was like killing a mockingbird: a sin. In the beginning, I thought “Wow, this is bad; they should do a remake.” By the end, I decided that no remake could capture the beauty of the novel: any film is bound

I found Poems Every Child Should Know, which was edited by Mary E. Burt and published in 1904, on the Project Gutenberg site. I was looking for poems by Rudyard Kipling, but I decided to look at all of this, as I have a child and want him to know what he “should” know. I’ve

I am not very familiar with the political situation before, during, and after World War II. But after reading the best speeches of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, I am impressed that his powerful, confident speeches were a deciding factor in the perseverance of the United Kingdom through the trying times of World War II. I

It’s not Maupassant’s fault, but I have a grudge against him already: his book stinks. The librarian had to retrieve it from The Stacks. The first thing I noticed as she returned was its size. At more than 1300 pages, it thudded on the counter. Then, as she swiped my library card and pushed the

[amazon_link asins=’0446310786′ template=’RightAlignSingleImage’ store=’rebereid06-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’debcb40e-17f3-11e7-ba88-d5e79d61f198′]Harper Lee wrote one novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and it won the Pulitzer prize in 1961. Its themes still resonate with readers and her novel has become a part of our culture. That, I believe, is success. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee almost perfectly captures the main

One Saturday, my husband laughed out loud while listening to something on his headphones. “What’s so funny?” I asked. ” ‘Maggots’ is an ugly word; she’s using ‘haciendas’ instead!” [amazon_link asins=’0393324826′ template=’RightAlignSingleImage’ store=’rebereid06-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’7a454031-17f3-11e7-a96a-6b1918388bb2′]My husband doesn’t normally laugh out loud while listening to audiobooks. This was new. After a bit more coaxing, I found