{"id":12577,"date":"2018-12-13T05:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T15:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/workable-level.flywheelsites.com\/?p=12577"},"modified":"2018-12-10T20:37:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-11T06:37:48","slug":"book-recommendations-for-winter-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/13\/book-recommendations-for-winter-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Recommendations For Winter Break"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Katlin Cilliers<\/a> | Staff Writer<\/h5>\n

With final exams out of the way, students get to kick back for a few weeks before it all starts again. Some of us prefer to go online and watch shows, while others would rather enjoy a beach read. The Kapi\u2019o News asked professors to recommend leisurely reads for the winter break. Here\u2019s what they said.<\/p>\n

“The Snow Leopard” by\u00a0Peter Matthiessen<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Professor Chris Kelsey teaches English and provided a handful of book recommendations for this winter break. The first title on his list was The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen. In it, a conservationist embarks in search of an \u201calmost mythical\u201d creature, the snow leopard, while touching on topics such as expectations and spiritual discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [Matthiessen] is a wonderful wordsmith,\u201d Kelsey said. \u201c[And Schallen]\u2019s got a wonderful eye, the eye of a scientist.\u201d<\/p>\n

This first-person book tells the story of Matthiessen and the naturalist George Schallen in their exploration of Dolpo, a region in Nepal. The men set out on a journey impulsed by a scientific quest to study matters related to sheep, and an attempt to spot the rare snow leopard. However, ruminations about life, death and expectations emerge during their quest, turning what was intended to be a scientific expedition into a reflection about the meaning of acceptance and self-discovery.<\/p>\n

“Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior” by Mark Panek<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

To those interested in local stories, Kelsey also provided recommendations. Big Happiness is a biography of Percy Kipapa, a Hawaiian who goes to Japan and becomes a sumo wrestler, coming back home after seven years. It then narrates his addiction to methamphetamine.<\/p>\n

Themes such as the role of the government in the meth crisis in Hawai\u02bbi, the meaning and importance of land, and social relationships on the island are touched in this book, which was released by the University of Hawai\u02bbi Press in 2011 and well-received by the local community. Due to its content,(themes such as drug use, graphic descriptions of violence and murder) reader discretion is advised.<\/p>\n

To Kelsey, Big Happiness is a \u201cvery good piece about [the] crystal meth problem [in Hawaii].\u201d<\/p>\n

“Blavatsky’s Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and Misfits Who Brought Spiritualism to America” by Peter Washington<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Professor Eric Denton, who teaches Religion, recommended it for being a\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cfun, fascinating look at a quirky aspect of American life.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Written in the 1990s by a British professor, the book is a colorful, entertaining history of the Theosophical Society and the roots of the American New Age movement,\u201d he wrote in an e-mail.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpiritual seeking is a normal part of the human experience, but it is helpful to recognize that much of that seeking is shaped by the society in which we live and the narratives that inform our values,” Denton wrote. “In that regard, this book might be an eye-opening exploration of historical facts for those who regard themselves as spiritual seekers.\u201d<\/p>\n

“All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by\u00a0Robert Fulghum<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fulghum\u2019s short read was remarkable to professor Dave Stevens, who teaches Network Security at KCC.\u00a0 The book invites readers to revisit values learned in childhood that may have been forgotten or overlooked.\u00a0 These simple lessons \u2013<\/span> being kind to other beings, sharing, and striving for balance in work and play time \u2013<\/span> are at the core of the book’s fifty essays. The collection was first published in 1986. Its 25th anniversary edition was released in 2004.<\/p>\n

To Stevens, the book is a \u201cfunny and ironic revisiting of your past,\u201d which gave him an opportunity for self-reflection in his early 20s.<\/p>\n

“Life of Pi” by Yann Martel<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

When thinking of which book to recommend for a leisurely read this winter, Catherine Primavera \u2013 a professor in the English department at KCC \u2013 was quick to answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first book that comes to mind is ‘Life of Pi,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The novel, published in 2001, tells the story of a 16-year-old that gets stranded in the Pacific Ocean with a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a tiger. The book tackles major themes such as life as a narrative one can choose, growth despite adversity, and faith. It is thought to be a modern classic, having sold over ten million copies worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about animals, it\u2019s about life,\u201d Primavera said. \u201cIt\u2019s about believing in the afterlife, believing in God. There\u2019s psychology involved, anthropology, philosophy \u2026 there\u2019s so many different layers to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Katlin Cilliers | Staff Writer With final exams out of the way, students get to kick back for a few weeks before it all starts again. Some of us prefer to go online and watch shows, while others would rather enjoy a beach read. The Kapi\u2019o News asked professors to recommend leisurely reads for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":12579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campusfeatures","category-features","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}