Christine Seifert's Blog: Lady Professor Reads

Last semester, I asked students in a professional program to read fiction as part of an experiment. I wanted to see if fiction would prompt discussions relevant to leadership/management in new or different ways than when we read more traditional reading assignments–like a textbook directly related to the topic.

The results were fascinating and heartening. It turns out that when smart people read and discuss fiction together, the conversations are rich, ...

The pandemic really upended my writing schedule in 2020, but it definitely gave me plenty of time to read. I set out to read 100 books in 2020, and I did it–by the skin of my teeth. (Shout-out to audiobooks; they got me over the hump).

My 100-book-challenge only had one rule: I had to read whatever I wanted to read. If I didn’t like something, I quit no matter how far in I was (and didn’t count it). For whatever reason, I read a lot more nonfiction than usual....

I’m sort of obsessed with the Victorian obsession with women poisoning their husbands. (My spouse is a little concerned about how much time I’ve spent writing about it.)

So far, I’ve tracked down 20 high-profile trials in the United States alone between about 1845 and the 1912. Some of these women were probably guilty, but many of these trials are downright farcical.

The poison panic stretched across the globe, though. There are h...

Ive always been a meticulous record-keeper when it comes to keeping track of what I read and when. I use Goodreads (and a spreadsheet) to do that. While I always set a yearly reading goal, I usually pick the number I know Im going to read anyway.

This year Im attempting to read 100 books. I set this goal not because I care that deeply about quantifying my reading but because I want to change some bad habits. Late last year, I realized Id fallen into the...

I wrote about the benefits of reading literary fiction for Harvard Business Review last week. I interviewed some really interesting people who are bringing guided literature discussions to a place you’d least expect: corporate America.

You can read my article, “The Case for Reading Fiction,” here. Come back and tell me you always knew reading fiction was good for the soul!

Do you think you could talk your organizational leadership into doing reading groups?

I’m an achievement addict, and I’m working on breaking that addiction.

Before I go on, I want to be clear that this isn’t a humble brag. This is not the equivalent of the person who walks around fake-lamenting about how they wish they weren’t so talented at absolutely everything! This isn’t about talent; it’s about a deep emotional attachment to defining myself by what I produce.

I’m talking about a mindset where the search for achievement overrides everything...

I’m pretty convinced these days that productivity often functions as a cult. Do you ever feel like you are committing a cardinal sin if you aren’t constantly trying to maximize your output and produce as much as possible? Do you feel guilty about not doing something productive? Do you fetishize being busy as a way of feeling important?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you might be in the productivity cult. And once in, it’s so hard to get...

Choosing my favorites is hard because I read a lot of good stuff. I’ll cheat by using categories.

Best Historical Fiction

Best Set in a Boarding School Book (my favorite sub-genre)

Best Book about an Old Lady Serial Killer (also a nominee for Best Use of Cross-stitch)

Best Psychological Thriller

Best Romantic Comedy

Best Nonfiction That Scared Me Half to Death

Best Sequel

Best Weird Book

Best Nonfiction That Confirms the World Is Terrible

Best “Change Your Life” Book

Best...

It’s impossible to write well if you are distracted (says I, who is currently writing this while watching the subpar episode of The Office where Jim buys Pam a house).

Resisting distractions is hard and it saps our willpower. (That obviously explains why I ate three salted nut bars while writing this: no willpower left.)

So how do you get rid of the distractions, sit down to write (or read or whatever), and do it well?

(That last part about doing it well...

After Dinner Conversation publishes short stories about ethical or philosophical questions. It’s been fun to dive into fictional worlds that explore questions about what it means to be human. If you like short fiction, you should definitely check them out. They include discussion questions along with each story.

My story, “Survival Kit,” just hit #1 on Amazon downloads. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it or any of the other stories. Better yet, write your own and share it!