Dinner Party Conversation

Americans have Thanksgiving coming up this week, here are a variety of books to help with conversation at your family gathering!

The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said compiled by Robert Byrne - Robert Byrne's quote books are widely praised as authoritative and accessible sources of sayings for any and all occasions. Byrne's own wit, diligent research, and creativity combine to form a fresh go-to reference that serves readers better than Google--no Wi-Fi required. The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said is an all-new collection of clever quips and laugh-out-loud punch lines from Gracie Allen to Frank Zappa, on such topics as sex, divorce, religion, fashion, animals, and money:
STEVE MARTIN: "I'd do anything for a good body except exercise and eat right."
JON STEWART: "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography."
NORA EPHRON: "Successful parents have adult children who can pay for their own psychoanalysis."
This compilation, to be enjoyed by generations young and old, deserves a place of honor on every language lover's bookshelf.

Awkward: The Science of Why We're Socially Awkward and Why That's Awesome by Ty Tashiro - In the vein of Quiet and The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth comes this illuminating look at what it means to be awkward--and how the same traits that make us socially anxious and cause embarrassing faux pas also provide the seeds for extraordinary success.
As humans, we all need to belong. While modern social life can make even the best of us feel gawky, for roughly one in five of us, navigating its challenges is consistently overwhelming--an ongoing maze without an exit. Often unable to grasp social cues or master the skills and grace necessary for smooth interaction, we feel out of sync with those around us. Though individuals may recognize their awkward disposition, they rarely understand why they are like this--which makes it hard for them to know how to adjust their behavior.
Psychologist and interpersonal relationship expert Ty Tashiro knows what it's like to be awkward. Growing up, he could do math in his head and memorize the earned run averages of every National League starting pitcher. But he couldn't pour liquids without spilling and habitually forgot to bring his glove to Little League games. In Awkward, he unpacks decades of research into human intelligence, neuroscience, personality, and sociology to help us better understand this widely shared trait. He explores its nature vs. nurture origins, considers how the awkward view the world, and delivers a welcome counterintuitive message: the same characteristics that make people socially clumsy can be harnessed to produce remarkable achievements.
Interweaving the latest research with personal tales and real world examples, Awkward offers reassurance and provides valuable insights into how we can embrace our personal quirks and unique talents to harness our awesome potential--and more comfortably navigate our complex world.

Captivate: The Science of Succeeding With People by Vanessa Van Edwards - Do you feel awkward at networking events? Do you wonder what your date really thinks of you? Do you wish you could decode people? You need to learn the science of people.
 As a human behavior hacker, Vanessa Van Edwards created a research lab to study the hidden forces that drive us. And she's cracked the code. In Captivate,  she shares shortcuts, systems, and secrets for taking charge of your interactions at work, at home, and in any social situation. These aren't the people skills you learned in school. This is the first comprehensive, science backed, real life manual on how to captivate anyone--and a completely new approach to building connections.
 Just like knowing the formulas to use in a chemistry lab, or the right programming language to build an app, Captivate provides simple ways to solve people problems. You'll learn, for example...
 · How to work a room: Every party, networking event, and social situation has a predictable map. Discover the sweet spot for making the most connections.
· How to read faces: It's easier than you think to speed-read facial expressions and use them to predict people's emotions.
· How to talk to anyone: Every conversation can be memorable--once you learn how certain words generate the pleasure hormone dopamine in listeners.
When you understand the laws of human behavior, your influence, impact, and income will increase significantly. What's more, you will improve your interpersonal intelligence, make a killer first impression, and build rapport quickly and authentically in any situation--negotiations, interviews, parties, and pitches. You'll never interact the same way again.

Gracious: A Practical Primer on Charm, Tact, and Unsinkable Strength by Kelly Williams Brown - Graciousness is practicing the arts of kindness, thoughtfulness, good manners, humanity, and, well, basic decency. It's not about memorizing every rule of traditional etiquette (though there is something to be said about a lovely hand-written invitation) or being the perfect hostess. It's about approaching the world with compassion, conviction, and self-confidence--and it makes all the difference, whether you're at a Fancy Schmancy Intimidating Work Occasion or at the convenience store. Gracious provides tips to help you deal with the people and circumstances that challenge all of us (pushy relatives, internet trolls), and thoughtful discussions on being the highest version of yourself.
Graciousness, at its heart, is the ability to be truly present to the humans around you, to face the world with a generous heart and a core of strength that's never corroded. Even when you get rude comments from Internet strangers (hot tip: you don't give a lot of credibility to someone screaming obscenities at you on the street, so why do it online?)
We can't control the world, or other humans, or even how we feel in a given moment. The only thing we can control is our words and actions, and when we act deliberately and with kindness, it makes everything better.

I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversations by Sarah Stewart Holland & Beth Silvers - Two friends on opposite sides of the aisle provide a practical guide to grace-filled political conversation while challenging readers to put relationship before policy and understanding before argument. More than ever, politics seems driven by conflict and anger. People sitting together in pews every Sunday have started to feel like strangers, loved ones at the dinner table like enemies. Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers say there is a better way. As working moms on opposite ends of the political spectrum and hosts of a fast-growing politics podcast, Holland and Silvers have learned how to practice engaging conversation while disagreeing. In I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening), they share principles on how to give grace and be vulnerable when discussing issues that affect families, churches, the country, and the world. They provide practical tools to move past frustration and into productive dialogue, emphasizing that faith should inform the way people engage more than it does the outcome of that engagement. This urgently needed new book reveals how to talk about politics in a way that inspires rather than angers and that pays spiritual dividends far past election day

The Lost Art of Good Conversation: A Mindful Way to Connect With Others and Enrich Everyday Life by Sakyong Mipham - Cutting through all the white noise, chatter, and superficiality our cell phones and social media cause, one of Tibet's highest and most respected spiritual leaders offers simple and practical advice to help us increase our attentions spans, become better listeners, and strive to appreciate the people around us. In this easy to understand and helpful book, Sakyong Mipham provides inspiring ideas and practical tips on how to be more present in your day-to-day life, helping us to communicate in ways that elevates the dignity of everyone involved. Great for families, employees and employers and everyone who spend too much time on Facebook, Instagram, and feel "disconnected" in our "connected" world, Good Conversation is a journey back to basics.

Make Yourself Unforgettable: How to Become the Person Everyone Remembers and No One Can Resist by Dale Carnegie Training - From one of the most trusted and bestselling brands in business training,Make Yourself Unforgettable reveals how to develop and embody unforgettable qualities so you can become the effective and desirable colleague and friend possible.
Learn how to develop and embody the ten essential elements of being unforgettable!
What does it really mean to have class? How do you distinguish yourself from the crowd and become a successful leader? When should intuition guide your business decisions? The answers to these and other important questions can be found in this dynamic and inspiring guidebook for anyone looking to lead a life of greater meaning and influence.
In Make Yourself Unforgettable you can learn the secrets to making a positive, lasting impression, including:
· The six steps to managing communication problems
· The four unexpected stumbling blocks to ethical behavior and how to avoid them
· A new way to understand and exude confidence
· Techniques for building resiliency and preventing fear
· The five key social skills that identify someone as a class act
Once you discover how you can naturally and effortlessly distinguish yourself, you'll quickly find people in all areas of life responding to you more positively and generously than ever before.

The Potty Mouth At the Table by Laurie Notaro - Pinterest. Foodies. Anne Frank's underwear. New York Times bestselling author Laurie Notaro--rightfully hailed as "the funniest writer in the solar system" (The Miami Herald)--spares nothing and no one, least of all herself, in this uproarious new collection of essays on rudeness. With the sardonic, self-deprecating wit that makes us all feel a little better about ourselves for identifying with her, Laurie explores her recent misadventures and explains why it's not her who is nuts, it's them (and okay, sometimes it's her too).
Whether confessing that her obsession with buying fabric has reached junior hoarder status or mistaking a friend's heinous tattoo as temporary, Laurie puts her unique spin--sometimes bizarre, always entertaining--on the many perils of modern living in a mannerless society. From shuddering at the graphic Harry Potter erotica conjured up at a writer's group to lamenting the sudden ubiquity of quinoa ("It looks like larvae no matter how you cook it"), The Potty Mouth at the Table is whip-smart, unpredictable, and hilarious. In other words, irresistibly Laurie.

Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle - We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.
Preeminent author and researcher Sherry Turkle has been studying digital culture for over thirty years. Long an enthusiast for its possibilities, here she investigates a troubling consequence- at work, at home, in politics, and in love, we find ways around conversation, tempted by the possibilities of a text or an email in which we don't have to look, listen, or reveal ourselves.
We develop a taste for what mere connection offers. The dinner table falls silent as children compete with phones for their parents' attention. Friends learn strategies to keep conversations going when only a few people are looking up from their phones. At work, we retreat to our screens although it is conversation at the water cooler that increases not only productivity but commitment to work. Online, we only want to share opinions that our followers will agree with - a politics that shies away from the real conflicts and solutions of the public square.
The case for conversation begins with the necessary conversations of solitude and self-reflection. They are endangered- these days, always connected, we see loneliness as a problem that technology should solve. Afraid of being alone, we rely on other people to give us a sense of ourselves, and our capacity for empathy and relationship suffers. We see the costs of the flight from conversation everywhere- conversation is the cornerstone for democracy and in business it is good for the bottom line. In the private sphere, it builds empathy, friendship, love, learning, and productivity.
But there is good news- we are resilient. Conversation cures.
Based on five years of research and interviews in homes, schools, and the workplace, Turkle argues that we have come to a better understanding of where our technology can and cannot take us and that the time is right to reclaim conversation. The most human-and humanizing-thing that we do.
The virtues of person-to-person conversation are timeless, and our most basic technology, talk, responds to our modern challenges. We have everything we need to start, we have each other.

Say This, Not That: A Foolproof Guide to Effective Interpersonal Communication by Carl Alasko - Do you ever feel that your words produce the exact opposite effect of what you were hoping for--escalating tensions rather than solving problems? Author of Emotional Bullshit Carl Alasko has found that with the right guidance, anyone can learn effective communication skills. In Say This, Not That, Alasko presents readers with simple instructions for what to say . . . and what not to say. Accompanying each pair of statements is a brief discussion of what makes one so negative and destructive, and the other inviting of the kind of discussion needed. This book is the ultimate resource for anyone who longs to consistently say the right thing at the right time.