The popularity of Executive Director of Presbyterian Village North (PVN), Dustin Allen’s Book Review series, is steadily growing among residents. The series began in November 2022 with approximately 80 residents in attendance and since the inaugural gathering, interest and attendance has steadily increased, capping out at 130 attendees in August 2023.

“I started reviewing books with our residents because it provided me a platform to engage with them outside of the work environment as well as sharing a hobby with several of them. Continued professional development is very important to me, and the book review also requires me to be prepared and sharpen my presentation skills.” Dustin said.

“In fact, when the community life opens their activities up on the Wednesday before Dustin’s book review, he consistently has the most people sign up to attend at 10:02 – just two minutes after it goes live! Even the first time Dustin did a book review, the interest level was there from the get-go! It is wonderful to see how the connection and spark is there from the moment Dustin walks into the auditorium. He is engaging and upfront and uses a PowerPoint presentation to help tell the story – even dressing in the character of the book he is reviewing.” Lisa Englander, Director of Resident Services, said.

Dustin shared that he enjoys spending time with PVN residents and discussing book topics. When he walks through the community, residents will often share personal stories that relate to the subject matter of a book recently reviewed with fascinating anecdotes to continue the discussion. He considers learning about these accounts one of the many perks of working at PVN.

Lisa Englander credits the popularity of the book review sessions with the fact that PVN residents are lifelong learners and love to read. The book review events provide a wonderful opportunity for residents to truly engage with Dustin on a more casual level and see him “kick off his boots” a bit as his sense of humor shines through during his presentations.

“I would like to eventually review books written by local authors and have them attend a book review and host a Q&A. Another idea I have is to conduct a pulse survey for residents to vote on the book they would like to be the subject of the next review.” Dustin said.

Follow the links below to learn more about each book in the series thus far:

November 2022 – The Last Year of the War

January 2023 – Bad Blood

March 2023 – Dallas 1963

April 2023 – The Big Rich

May 2023 – The Last Cowboy

June 2023 – Killing the Legends

August 2023 – Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football

September 2023 – Waco Rising

October 2023 – The Good Neighbor The Life and Work of Fred Rogers

Read more about this series here and here. Watch the attendance grow, below: