New Year 2014: Metamorphosis and Preservation
New Year Resolutions: Community and Learning
The new year can be a time for us to reflect on our lives: what do we want to change and what would we like to preserve?
New year’s resolutions can be cliched and fleeting (just look at the spike in new gym memberships that tends to happen each January!) but they don’t have to be. We can take the opportunity that the new year affords us to start something fresh and commit to small and sustainable changes.
If you have been hoping to have a stronger sense of community in your life or if you would like to add a dose of learning for pure enjoyment and challenge, then check out our upcoming classes at Polis.
We thought it would be appropriate to kick of the new year with a classic work on change and renewal: Kafka’s, “Metamorphosis” paired with Czech beers curated by Healthy Spirits (all part of our Drinkers and Great Thinkers monthly series) on January 21st. Sign up with the promo code “new year” and receive a 20% class discount.
Our 2014 Polis classes are as short as one session (some even include beer samplings!) and as long as four sessions with topics ranging from the question, “What Makes Us Human?” (Dawkins) to “What Is Our Responsibility to Others in This Sometimes Absurd World?” (Camus). If you have always wanted to read (or you are dying to re-read) works by Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, and Herman Melville then why not dive into a Polis class in the new year? We will be adding even more classes in the months ahead so be sure to check back regularly.
New Year’s Lists, Lists, and More Lists…
With the new year comes the annual onslaught of “best of” lists from best travel spots around the world to best films of the year.
Of course it is important to take these “best of lists” with a grain of salt (after all, we don’t have to agree with the critics). That said, we thought we would close out the year at Polis with a few of the “best books of the year” lists. And with no further ado…
Best Books of 2013 (A List of Lists)
- Goodreads: Reader’s Choice Awards: Best Books of 2013
- NPR’s: Best Books of 2013 (concierge style)
- New York Times: The 10 Best Books of 2013
- Brainpickings: The 13 Best Books of 2013
And, finally while it is not a year in review book list, here is the book list that became the basis for the NYT best seller, The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe.
We hope that these lists will serve as inspiration for future reading. We welcome you to make a resolution to try something new this year and join us in community and discussion at Polis.
Polis 