I am a hyper-curious person, and curiosity is an important value in my life … as well as an important impact of museums.

But curiosity isn't limited to museums, and can be hard to sustain through adulthood. By sharing some of my curious paths through reading, I'm hoping to reinforce how important wide-ranging curiosity is to our practice and spark new conversations that may seem unrelated to museums, but deeply matter to how we do our work. After all, as museums we cover a variety of topics. Our curiosity should also be as omnivorous!

To that end, here's a new installment of some of my wide-ranging reads (mostly non-fiction) I hope to hear recommendations from you!

Mahogany: The Costs of Luxury in Early America, by Jennifer L. Anderson
The older I get, the more I feel I have head-slap moments. Reading Mahogany was one. Of course it was crop made possible by enslaved labor. Of course it was clear-cut to enable sugar plantations. And of course the harvesting of mahogany has significant environmental repercussions. I was blinded by the amazingly beautiful wood and the furniture and objects it makes possible. Now, I am looking at the handful of mahogany pieces I have, as well as those in museum collections, with new eyes.


The Revenge of Analog, by David Sax
Over the past 20 years, our society has seemed to promote that digital is the future, and analog options are for dinosaurs or luddites. Yet we all live in an analog world. David Sax investigates a hypothesis that analog is often superior, and explores when it is, how, and why. This is, by no means, a rejection of digital progress, but instead an embracing of a hybrid existence that values and supports how we can make choices for our very human lives.

It was interesting reading this book, which is grounded in a pre-pandemic world, and then look at the digital experiment we all participated in during the pandemic. If anything, the pandemic made Sax's case as humans sought (and missed) human contact and IRL experiences. Indeed, the 2021 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers found that fewer than half of regular museum-goers (our most avid fans) participated in virtual content from museums during the pandemic … but they are anxious to return to our IRL experiences, objects, plants, animals, and spaces. I also had to chuckle at Sax's observation that the people pushing digital technology the most are Baby Boomers who are afraid of appearing out-of-step with young adults. Guess what museum-goer demographic participated in virtual content from museums the most during the pandemic? Adults over 60.


Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America, by Patrick Phillips
This one hit close to home for me, as it explores the racial violence of Forsyth County, Georgia in 1912, when it went sundown, as well as the ongoing "whites only" nature of the county that existed into the 1990s. I grew up about 20 miles away from Forsyth County, and I remember Hosea Williams leading protests there in the late 80s. This chilling book lays out the racial terror that wasn't uncommon in America at that time, and how it continues, even today, to affect this community. I found it difficult to read, yet one of the most important books I've read lately. I'm sending my sister a copy.


Have a suggestion for my reading list?  Email it to me at susie (at) wilkeningconsulting (dot) com.

I am a hyper-curious person, and curiosity is an important value in my life … as well as an important impact of museums.

But curiosity isn't limited to museums, and can be hard to sustain through adulthood. By sharing some of my curious paths through reading, I'm hoping to reinforce how important wide-ranging curiosity is to our practice and spark new conversations that may seem unrelated to museums, but deeply matter to how we do our work. After all, as museums we cover a variety of topics. Our curiosity should also be as omnivorous!

To that end, here's a new installment of some of my wide-ranging reads (mostly non-fiction) I hope to hear recommendations from you!

Treasure Palaces, edited by Maggie Fergusson
Twenty-four great writers, on museums. Pretty obvious must-read, I should think. These essays were originally published in Intelligent Life (now called 1834), a sister publication of The Economist. Includes meditations on connection, thought, objects, serendipity, sublimity, intimacy, and perception shifting (just to start). A lovely read.


Book: My Autobiography, by John Agard
Imagine if Book (yes, Book) could tell you its autobiography. From writing and clay tablets to ebooks (and everything in between), this book tells Book's story. Beautifully and cleverly written, learn why Book salutes Phoenicians, personally thanks Ts'ai Lun, and feels excited about "sitting on a passenger's lap and feeling my pages turned, and the pride rushing down my spine, as the steam engine puffed its way through the countryside of northern England" (train reading apparently a precursor of modern-day plane reading). If you love books, get Book!


Technology in the Country House, by Marilyn Palmer and Ian West
Confession: I love to geek out around old houses. I also realized, halfway through writing my master's thesis, that I was writing on the wrong topic. I should have done technological systems in 19th-century homes. So I LOVED this book. From plumbing to heating to central vacuum systems … it totally appeals to my interest in not only how people lived, but how they strove to make their homes more comfortable and efficient. And while this focuses on the grand country houses of the United Kingdom, it's not hard to extrapolate to how, say, electric lighting changed domestic spaces for people across the socio-economic spectrum.


Have a suggestion for my reading list?  Email it to me at susie (at) wilkeningconsulting (dot) com.

I am a hyper-curious person, and curiosity is an important value in my life … as well as an important impact of museums.

But curiosity isn't limited to museums, and can be hard to sustain through adulthood. By sharing some of my curious paths through reading, I'm hoping to reinforce how important wide-ranging curiosity is to our practice and spark new conversations that may seem unrelated to museums, but deeply matter to how we do our work. After all, as museums we cover a variety of topics. Our curiosity should also be as omnivorous!

To that end, from time to time I'll share some of my wide-ranging reads, mostly non-fiction, and hope to hear recommendations from you.

King Sequoia: The Tree That Inspired a Nation, Created Our National Park System, and Changed the Way We Think About Nature, by William C. Tweed.

While the title is a bit over the top, this was a quick and interesting read about how one type of tree has figured in our cultural history and ecological thinking. After all, majestic is an understatement when it comes to this tree. Depressing fact: way too many Sequoias were felled by timber companies, and when they fall, they shatter … making much of their wood largely useless for much besides things like grapevine stakes. Also, Sequoia the tree has nothing to do with Sequoyah the Cherokee.


The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh, by Kathryn Aalto.
If you love Pooh (or, in my case, Eeyore), grounding the antics of Piglet and company in the physical landscape and natural environment of the very-much-real Ashdown Forest brings even more meaning to the stories. I loved this book and how it juxtaposes the stories with the actual place.


On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes, by Alexandra Horowitz.
My friend Rainey Tisdale uses this book in her work, and so I picked it up at her recommendation. The author takes eleven walks with experts in various disciplines, and then explores how much we miss (and how complex our environment is). From geology to bugs to dogs, it is a fascinating read that is relevant to anyone creating environments for people to experience  ... or for those who are simply curious.