Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by group dynamics, large and small. Why things functioned well, why they didn’t. It’s possible my ability to empathize and use humor as a consensus-builder is the reason I was elected president of a homeowners association, a music production association, and even an agricultural group. Books were not particularly involved in this fascination! But in recent years, experiencing the breakdown of civility and trust in our political and cultural discourse, I’ve taken a more analytical view of the dynamics. These books, in their very different ways, have taught me lessons about life, understanding those with different beliefs, and finding ways to connect and move forward. 


I wrote...

Uniting the States of America: A Self-Care Plan for a Wounded Nation

By Lyle Greenfield,

Book cover of Uniting the States of America: A Self-Care Plan for a Wounded Nation

What is my book about?

We’ve all experienced the overwhelming level of political and social divisiveness in our country. This invisible “virus” of negativity is,…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels

Lyle Greenfield Why did I love this book?

I love this book because of its intrinsic sense of optimism despite the series of troubling, challenging times our nation has endured throughout history. From the Civil War into America’s modern-day civil rights movements and beyond, I was introduced to the committed leaders—and the people—who stood up and defended our ideals and the promise of “liberty and justice for all.” 

I found it inspiring to be reminded not only of our history but also of how our country has moved forward from its darkest hours into the light. It gave me a feeling of pride and a better understanding of why I have an obligation to be mindful of my own responsibilities to this nation and to its historic ideals.

By Jon Meacham,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Soul of America as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear.

“Gripping and inspiring, The Soul of America is Jon Meacham’s declaration of his faith in America.”—Newsday

ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, Southern Living

Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the “better…


Book cover of Ask More: The Power of Questions to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change

Lyle Greenfield Why did I love this book?

This book was like a light bulb switched on suddenly in my brain. Free-floating feelings of uncertainty and anxiety about the decisions I was making and the inexplicable state of our world were literally keeping me up at night. Questions I’d been asking of myself, and of no one in particular, amounted to general complaints: ‘Why is this happening?’ ‘Where is all the anger coming from?’ ‘When will things get better?’

What I learned was the importance of going deeper and asking questions that might actually lead to answers. Or at least to gain an understanding of someone else’s perspective. And definitely to have a clearer insight into my own beliefs and motivations. I learned that asking more resulted in replacing my perpetual sense of uncertainty with something more useful and actionable.

By Frank Sesno,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Ask More as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What hidden skill links successful people in all walks of life--across cultures, industries, generations . . . all of time? The answer is surprisingly simple: they know how to ask the right questions at the right time. Questions help us break down barriers, discover secrets, solve puzzles, and imagine new ways of doing things. The right question can provide for us not only the answer we need right then but also the ones we'll need tomorrow. Emmy award-winning journalist and media expert Frank Sesno wants to teach you how to question others in a methodical, intentional way so that you…


Book cover of The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

Lyle Greenfield Why did I love this book?

I love this book because it’s the life story of a man who came to understand how the world works and how to find his place in it from the unlikely perspective of a rock star. In reading about a young musician who dropped out of high school and toured the country, I felt my own “safe” trajectory challenged. 

The author became a member of the most famous rock band in the country, only to experience the suicide of its lead singer, his friend. He inspired me with the life lessons he took from this tragedy and from multiple other experiences. His ability to move forward in the most positive ways, from starting a new band, touring the world, performing for two presidents, and growing a family. What an education!

By Dave Grohl,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Storyteller as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

So, I've written a book.

Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities ('It's a piece of cake! Just do four hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!'), I have decided to write these stories just as I have always done, in my own hand. The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I've recorded and can't wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or…


Book cover of Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

Lyle Greenfield Why did I love this book?

Learning the origin story of someone I’ve only “known” as a clever comedian and wry social/political commentator was a compelling lesson in overcoming adversity. Told in a series of vignettes, from birth to adulthood, the author brought me to a time in apartheid, South Africa, when it was illegal for a white to have a sexual or marital relationship with someone of color. 

Trevor Noah’s mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, did just that. Largely responsible for his upbringing, she protected her son in a hostile racial environment, making sure he had a good education and knew the value of hard work. The dangers she faced in raising a biracial son were visceral to me. As was his love and respect for the woman who sacrificed so much for him. 

By Trevor Noah,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Born a Crime as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE THURBER PRIZE

The compelling, inspiring, (often comic) coming-of-age story of Trevor Noah, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.

One of the comedy world's brightest new voices, Trevor Noah is a light-footed but sharp-minded observer of the absurdities of politics, race and identity, sharing jokes and insights drawn from the wealth of experience acquired in his relatively young life. As host of the US hit show The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, he provides viewers around the globe with their nightly dose of biting satire, but here Noah turns his…


Book cover of Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America's Edge

Lyle Greenfield Why did I love this book?

This book takes me to a part of the country I never wanted to see, introducing me to people I never wanted to meet. I’d probably shake my head driving by their trailers and shacks. But rendered in these pages, without judgment, the author has made it impossible for me not to “see” these folks who’ve chosen to live off the grid and to empathize with the choices and circumstances that have brought them here.

I’ve driven across the country several times before, on northern routes and southern routes, generally moving from one historic destination to the next. In this remarkable chronicle of American outsiders, I’m happy to have been shown something entirely unexpected: a very different picture of “America the Beautiful.”

By Ted Conover,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cheap Land Colorado as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author of Newjack, a passage through an America lived wild and off the grid, where along with independence and stunning views come fierce winds, neighbors with criminal pasts, and minimal government and medical services

“In these dispatches, [Conover] invites readers to ride shotgun along an unraveling edge of the American West, where sepia-toned myths about making a fresh start collide with modern modes of alienation, volatility, and exile.... In a nation whose edges have come to define its center, this is essential reading.”—Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland: Surviving America in…


Explore my book 😀

Uniting the States of America: A Self-Care Plan for a Wounded Nation

By Lyle Greenfield,

Book cover of Uniting the States of America: A Self-Care Plan for a Wounded Nation

What is my book about?

We’ve all experienced the overwhelming level of political and social divisiveness in our country. This invisible “virus” of negativity is, in part, the result of the name-calling and heated rhetoric that has become commonplace among commentators and elected leaders alike. 

My book provides a clear perspective on the historical and modern-day causes of our nation's divisive state. It then proposes easy-to-understand solutions—an action plan for our elected leaders and citizens as well. Rather than a scholarly treatment of a complex topic, the book challenges us to take the obvious steps required of those living in a free democracy. And it concludes with a sense of optimism that we can become “One Nation” again.

Book cover of The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
Book cover of Ask More: The Power of Questions to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change
Book cover of The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

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Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children

By Felice Picano,

Book cover of Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children

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Felice Picano Author Of Six Strange Stories and an Essay on H.P. Lovecraft

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Felice's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Bold, funny, and shockingly honest, Ambidextrous is like no other memoir of 1950s urban childhood.

Picano appears to his parents and siblings to be a happy, cheerful eleven-year-old possessed of the remarkable talent of being able to draw beautifully and write fluently with either hand. But then he runs into the mindless bigotry of a middle school teacher who insists that left-handedness is "wrong," and his idyllic world falls apart.

He uncovers the insatiable appetites of a trio of neighboring sisters, falls for another boy with a glue-sniffing habit, and discovers the hidden world of adult desire and hypocrisy. Picano…

Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children

By Felice Picano,

What is this book about?

Bold, funny, and shockingly honest, Ambidextrous is like no other memoir of 1950s urban childhood. Picano appears to his parents and siblings to be a happy, cheerful eleven-year-old, possessed of the remarkable talent of being able to draw beautifully and write fluently with either hand. But then he runs into the mindless bigotry of a middle school teacher who insists that left-handedness is "wrong," and his idyllic world falls apart. He uncovers the insatiable appetites of a trio of neighboring sisters, falls for another boy with a glue-sniffing habit, and discovers the hidden world of adult desire and hypocrisy. Picano…


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