It’s always fun to see what colleagues are reading, or planning to read. Here are a few summer reading suggestions from Libraries’ staff members…
From Ree DeDonato:
“Here’s what I’m reading… different items for different moods and times!
on the subway to and from work:
the New Yorker, (doesn’t quite matter which issue since its fiction and non-fiction are interesting even when I’m behind!)
lunchtime break at work:
Artscience: creativity in the post-goolge generation. David Edwards. Harvard Univ Press, 2008.
Bedtime:
Crazy ’08: how a cast of cranks, rogues, boneheads, and magnates created the greatest year in baseball history. Cait Murphy. Smithsonian/Collins, 2007.
2 hour weekend train rides out of town:
Traitor to memory. Elizabeth George. Bantam Books, 2001
(recommended to me by Joe Hough, president of Union Theological Seminary. I’m not much for mysteries but he said I would really enjoy her writing… so I’m starting this one this weekend)
I’m always looking for suggestions too, so I’ll be eager to see what others are reading!”
From Kate Harcourt:
Away by Jane Urquhart
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Downhill Lie by Carl Hiaasen
Thomas Hardy by Claire Tomalin
Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
“I just reread Fear of Flying and think it isn’t a classic but it held up better than I expected.”
From Mayra Melendez:
“I am in a book club with nine other ladies. We meet once a month. We just read the Senator’s Wife/Sue Miller. We did not like it too much, but had a great discussion. We are now reading Change of Hear/Jodi Picoult our next meeting is scheduled for the end of June.”
From Nick Patterson:
“Do we sometimes feel like we’re working in a candy store, but can’t taste the merchandise!?
My guilty secret is that I’ve not had time to do much reading this semester, but here are a few that I hope to read this summer:
Author: Berger, Karol, 1947-
Title: Bach’s cycle, Mozart’s arrow : an essay on the origins of musical modernity / Karol Berger.
Publisher/ Date: Berkeley : University of California Press, c2007.
Location: Music
Call Number: ML195 .B47 2007
Author: Lewis, Anthony, 1927-
Title: Freedom for the thought that we hate : a biography of the First Amendment / Anthony Lewis.
Publisher/ Date: New York : Basic Books, c2007.
Location: Barnard
Call Number: KF4770 .L49 2007
Headless Body in Topless Bar: The Best Headlines from America’s Favorite Newspaper (Hardcover)
New York: HarperEntertainment, 2008
Enjoy!
For those interested in life narratives of the “undead” I highly recommend Max Brook’s “World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Wars (2006).” The Studs Terkel of the sci-fi horror genre, Brooks’ straight man delivery of seemingly boring questions that yield fascinating teeth gnashing answers, is a riff not only on oral history but on the failure of world governments to contain catastrophes. Ironically, it’s a wonderful model for oral historians in the making, who are seeking new ways to publish. Plus, it’s a great read that you can share with your teenager. Very, very cool.
Mary Marshall Clark, Director, Oral History Research Office