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Welcome!I welcome you to the 13th Annual Bates College Store Non-required Reading List, or Good Reads for Leisure Moments XIII. As in the past, this list includes submissions from across the Bates College community. Enjoy! — Sarah Potter '77, College Store director • • • Brother Fish by Bryce Courtenay Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab by Christine Montross Lee Abrahamson, Associate Professor of Biology • • • My reading has been eclectic: A Guide to the Birds of East Africa (Nicholas Drayson) was very fun: a love story in postcolonial Nairobi with interesting politics; School of Essential Ingredients: not my favorite, but a light, sweet food- and-relationships novel; Peace Like a River (Leif Enger): beautiful story of a family's struggles with faith, integrity, and the law in the upper midwest, gorgeously written; Emotionally Weird (Kate Atkinson): took me two readings to "get" it, but a very clever, fun, bizarre literary adventure — stories within stories; Metzger's Dog (Thomas Perry): rather hilarious heist-and-murder sort — surprisingly clever and lots of fun, though I usually enjoy stories more when there's a character I can really admire; (also The Island by Perry —same critique); Dick Francis novels — any of them — good fun around/involving the British horse-racing scene. Read too many, though, and you end up speaking and writing a little funny. Len is reading The Life You Can Save — Peter Singer — and loving it. It's an intellectual argument for increased philanthropy from individuals — giving consistently, because of justice and reason, rather than sporadically out of pity. He's also enjoyed The Starfish and the Spider and Here Comes Everybody, both about new organizational models of leadership, usually technologically mediated. And he worked through Breach of Faith which is about Katrina, though it was heavy. Anna Bartel, Associate Director of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships (and her husband, Len!) • • • Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson Jim Bauer, Director of Network and Infrastructure Services, ILS • • • The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch....should be a "must read" requirement for everyone. Very inspiring... Knit Two by Kate Jacobs.....sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club, if you read the first book, reading this is like catching up with old friends. Jane Bedard, Admissions Office Specialist • • • Moloka'i by Alan Brennert Kristen Belka, Associate Dean of Admissions • • • Finding Beauty in a Broken World, Terry Tempest Williams, Pantheon Bill Blaine-Wallace, Multifaith Chaplain • • • Robert Whiting, You Gotta have Wa (1989). This is a fascinating account of how America's pasttime changed/evolved in Japan to be more compatible with the culture as it was in the 70s and 80s. A great read for anyone with an interest in baseball or Japan. Julie Norem, The Positive Power of Negative Thinking. (2001). If you've ever been disgusted by someone telling you to "not worry so much" or "look on the bright side," then you may be a defensive pessimist. Norem argues that this may actually be a good thing for many people, as it can help them deal with what might otherwise be overwhelming anxiety. Moreover, she argues that for some people, being defensively pessimistic is better than being optimistic! This is an interesting book that turns the positive psychology movement on its head. Helen Boucher, Assistant Professor of Psychology • • • Matthew Kelly: The Rhythm of Life Jane Boyle, Library Assistant, ILS • • • Here are a few children's books that are/have been popular at our house. Ellison the Elephant by Eric Drachman A wonderful story about self-confidence and perseverance that you will want to read over and over again. The accompanying CD is priceless. The Dinosaur Who Lived in My Backyard by B.G. Hennessy A great book for little ones interested in dinosaurs. Dinosaur facts woven into a cute story that even includes lima beans. Do Like a Duck Does! by Judy Hindley The rhyming makes this a really fun book to read. Dig, Dig, Digging by Margaret Mayo An entertaining book for those fascinated by big machines such as bulldozers, tractors and firetrucks. Heather Bumps, Assistant to the President • • • As The Earth Turns, Gladys Hasty Carroll '25, D.Lit '45 H. Jay Burns, Editor Bates Magazine • • • Magazines: Mother Jones, Mental Floss Books: The Complete Manual of Things That Might Kill You: A Guide to Self-Diagnosis for Hypochondriacs by Knock Knock; The Phantom Tollbooth by Justin Norton; Poor People by William T. Vollmann Anne Marie Byrne, Staff Assistant-Dean of Students Office • • • The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri I really liked this book! An interesting blend of Indian culture and contemporary life in Bombay, with the mythical world of the gods. The story loosely follows the death of Vishnu, a man who lives in an apartment hallway. We learn of the inhabitants of the building, while Vishnu goes in and out of delirium and/or death "truths." A clever combination and the characters are built well. The Glass Castle: A Memoir, by Jeanette Walls This is an excellent book and a page-turner! It ranks right up there with Angela's Ashes — and I think I like this one better. A true story of a girl's horrific childhood. Told with humor and insight. My 12 yr old started reading this book "accidentally" and couldn't put it down until he had finished it. A Mercy, by Toni Morrison Since this is one of my all-time favorite authors, I have trouble saying anything negative about her most recent book. A friend ordered it for me as soon as it became available, and I finished in a couple of days. It was a satisfying read, wonderfully written. A bit shorter than I would have liked. I think she could have beefed out some of the characterization and depth more, but it was a good read. Not as good as Beloved, but that would be hard to compete with. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, by Sebastian Junger The Pilot’s Wife, by Anita Shreve I'm on a bit of an Anita Shreve kick. This book didn't disappoint. I like her writing style and her sense of the perverse. She takes the reader through the unfolding of a terrible discovery that keeps you turning pages. She takes the ordinary and makes it strange, and the strange ordinary. Sea Glass, by Anita Shreve Again, another story where the reader gets pulled in bit by bit and washed out to sea with the unraveling of truths and deceptions! I didn't like the ending — seemed very abrupt and too wrapped up, but maybe the abruptness is part of the point. Testimony, by Anita Shreve This book is dark, intense, and disturbing. Through multiple viewpoints, we see the cause and effect of one terrible moment caught on video — what led up to it is just as troubling as what happened afterward. This book is well written — and despite the darkness was hard to put down. But I warn you, it’s a bit on the weird side. Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer I thought I would like this book more than I did, but it was a good read. By about the 3rd page, I was already sick to death of one of the narrator's overdone butchered English and smug crassness. But of course that sets you up for lots of change in the character as the book evolves. The book is about a young man who goes searching for the woman who saved his grandfather during WWII. The first-person narrator who opens the book is a "foil" of sorts, as the chapters from different viewpoints interweave with each other. One thing I really liked about this story was its nuances of what's real and what's fiction. The Ukrainian narrator alludes to shifting and "inventing" parts of the story, and some of the "historical" chapters by the other narrator are clearly fanciful. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery Series, by Charlaine Harris (Dead Until Dark; Living Dead in Dallas; Club Dead; and other novels in the series) Anita Charles, Lecturer in Education • • • Some "light" summer reading! Peter Thomson, Sacred Sea: A Journey to Baikal. Read it and pretend you're coming with the Bates FSA to Russia! Lyrical and quirky and informative about Baikal and Siberia and Russia. By the former producer of Living on Earth. Thoughtful consideration about what it means to be an environmental journalist. Karen Armstrong, The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness. There were moments when I wasn't sure that Karen Armstrong ever had ANY friends - but all in all I found this an interesting account, and a more personal approach to some of her work on various religious traditions. Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate. This is the War and Peace of the 20th century, only it's actually better. Without Tolstoy's ponderous philosophizing. Grossman was the most famous Soviet war reporter, his mother murdered by the Nazis in their invasion of the western Soviet Union. His novel takes on a vast cast of characters, interlinked by their connections to the Battle of Stalingrad. It's a novel about ideology and individual lives, but also about the Holocaust, state control of science, art and freedom and incredible heroism. My FYS loved it! Anything by Andrei Platonov that you can get your hands on - but only if it's translated by Robert Chandler. Chandler is an AMAZING translator. And Platonov is the great unsung Russian writer of the 20th century, finally coming into his own. He was a true believer, an engineer who became a writer, with an uncanny ability to register the odd distortions of vision and verbiage that went along with the revolution. His prose is a kind of heartbreaking grotesque mysticism...The collection entitled Soul is a good place to start. Jane Costlow, Professor of Russian • • • I think Still Alice by Bates' own Lisa Genova '92 is the best read I've had this year. This is a fantastic novel that brings you into the life of an Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease patient - and beautifully demonstrates the struggles of the patient, her family and colleagues. There's enough humor to make it light, and you just fall in love with the patient and her family. Marianne Cowan, Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Programs • • • An excellent summer book is: Phyllis Rose -Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages David Cummiskey, Professor of Philosophy • • • These are quite diverse suggestions but since I turned 50 on Tuesday, my memory only serves my most recent reads. Marrying Mozart was a good historical fiction and Marley and Me couldn't be lighter. If you are a fan of nutty dogs it is pretty funny! Karen Daigler, Assistant Director of Medical Studies The first two are Swedish authors: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson Firewall by Henning Mankell Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (yea Bates!!) Champlain's Dream (non-fiction) by David Hackett Fisher Jerry Davis, Class of 1961 • • • How the Irish Saved Civilization, The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by Thomas Cahill. Finally, now everyone knows why I am so proud of being Irish! Sylvia Deschaine, Academic Administrative Assistant - Pettengill • • • Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver; The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon; Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams; The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls; Divided Minds by Carolyn Spiro and Pamela Wagner; Home by Marilynne Robinson; Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Relin; The World Without Us by Alan Weisman; The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga; Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. Marty Deschaines, Asst. Dir. For Community Volunteerism and Student LeadershipDevelopment, HCCP • • • Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers is probably already on your list, but I just finished it an enjoyed it immensely. Carol Dilley, Director of Dance • • • Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a fascinating novel about the lives of two women (lao tang) who wrote to each other over many years in the Chinese women's language, nushu. Lijia Zhang's Socialism Is Great! is a memoir about growing as a worker in the "New China." Xiolu Guo. Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth, novel about an unmarried young woman's life in contemporary Beijing is an interesting read, but her A Concise English Dictionary for Lovers is a better choice for those who have less time to read. This novel describes the cultural differences a Chinese woman encounters when she moves to the U.K., but it also focuses as much on the English and Chinese language as on her experiences. As the book progresses, the reader actually "sees" her fluency in English develop. And finally for those who are interested in schools and teaching, Relentless Pursuit by Donna Foote summarizes the history of Teach for America as it profiles the experiences of first-year teachers in Los Angeles. Engaging and thought-provoking read. Anne Dodd, Senior Lecturer in Education • • • I'd like to recommend A Cargo of Women: Susannah Watson and the convicts of the Princess Royal by Babette Smith. It tracks 99 women who arrived in Australia in 1825 after being sentenced to "transport" in England and Wales. Some of them received life sentences for very minor crimes. It should be great reading for anyone with an interest in crime and punishment or Australia in general! Amy Bradfield Douglass, Associate Professor of Psychology • • • I recently discovered a gem; a very poetically written little novella called Welcome to Our Hillbrow, by Phaswane Mpe, set in contemporary times in a township of Johannesburg. I used it in a class this year, along with Benjamin Kwachye's The Clothes of Nakedness, set in contemporary Accra. I highly recommend either or both, though you are on notice: don't expect any familiar "North Atlantic" sensibility here, rather, be ready to encounter a distinctive moral universe! Elizabeth Eames, Associate Professor of Anthropology • • • Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates Johie Farrar, Assistant Dean of Admissions • • • Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert; Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah; The Women Who Raised Me: A Memoir by Victoria Rowell. Heidi Gagnon, Advancement • • • I have enjoyed re-reading some of the late Tony Hillerman's mysteries, set in the desert Southwest, with Navajo Tribal Policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Some of the most recent are The First Eagle, The Sinister Pig, and Hunting Badger. The characters are very appealing, and the setting really takes the reader into the Native American cultures of Arizona and New Mexico. We will miss him. Lois Griffiths, retired staff member, Class of 1951 • • • Two Rivers, by T. Greenwood. Suspense, love, and betrayal told in flashbacks is the story of a widowed father his daughter and an orphan. Setting is in the late 60’s in a small town, Harper has trouble dealing with a vicious act that happened while in his teens. Nice gentle mystery that kept me entertained. Double Bind, by Chris Bohjalian. Psychological thriller about a social worker and the homeless. There are characters brought in from the Great Gatsby era. I couldn’t tell if this was fact or fiction. I liked this authors book Midwives better but this was worth reading also. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. Ms. Strout is a Bates alumna and now a Pulitzer Prize winner! How can you not read this novel? It is a collection of short stories of people from a small town in Maine. You get insight of Olive in almost every chapter as she tries to understand herself and her life in painfully honest ways. Lorraine Groves, Bookstore Sales Floor Supervisor • • • The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic — and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson. If you’re an alum who loved Professor Herzig’s courses, this book will make you wish you could return to discuss it in one of her seminars. Bridget Harr, Institutional Research Assistant • • • Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, The Three Trillion Dollar War Margaret S. Creighton, The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg's Forgotten History William H. Tucker '67, The Cattell Controversy: Race, Science and Ideology. Two books and a related film on India: Bapsi Dishwa, Cracking India Alex Von Tunzelman, Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire Bill Hiss '66, Vice President for External Affairs • • • David Hackett Fischer, Champlain's Dream A history of Franco Americans in Lewiston, Maine, from 1850 to 2007, who subscribed to neither survivance (maintaining their separateness) nor assimilation (erasing their heritage). They accomplished acculturation, becoming Americans, but retaining for a long time their identity. Tom Vanderbilt, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) The human psychology of dealing with traffic. Considers the variation in different places in the U. S., as well as the world. Treats questions such as whether you should merge early or late when a lane is closed ahead. Quotes statistics that show "dangerous" narrow streets with distractions are safer than "efficient" thoroughfares like Russell Street (but maybe we knew this already). Doug Hodgkin, Professor Emeritus of Political Science • • • I have been meaning to send you this, excellent book about college girls who's identity got switched unintentionally at an accident scene where one died and one nearly so, months of recuperation... Mistaken Identity by Don and Susie VanRyn and Newell, Colleen, and Whitney Cerak. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch, I may have put this on last year's list, but it is worth repeating. It is so inspirational, it's a must! Not for everyone, but I love the series by J.D. Robb, Lt. Eve. Dallas, Homicide books, great if you love crime drama!! Happy reading... Joan Houston, Administrative Assistant, Physical Plant • • • I'm enjoying biologist Bernd Heinrich's Summer World: A Season of Bounty very much, though I think it should be titled, "Bug World: A Season of Bounty." I thought there would be more about flowers, other plant life, and mammals, but much of the book concentrates on moths, wasps, caterpillars, and other insects and their alternate forms. But that's fine, because it's fascinating! There's also some great stuff on why male wood frogs all sing together, when only one really needs to in order for them all to attract females. And he answers the question: Why do hummingbirds come north before many of the nectar-bearing flowers bloom? After I finish this book, I'm going to start in on his others. There are enough to keep me going for quite a while. He lives in Vermont, with a camp in Western Maine, and is a graduate of the University of Maine. Sue Hubley, Senior Researcher, College Advancement • • • The Man Who Loved China, by Simon Winchester Jim Hughes, Thomas Sowell Professor of Economics • • • I'd like to suggest Water Dogs by Lewis Robinson. A novel based in Maine.
• • • Guy Delisle's graphic novel Burma Chronicles eloquently portrays daily life in Myanmar, the official name of Burma since 1989 when a militaristic government seized power. Canadian animator Delisle joins his French wife who works for the humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and their infant son for a year in this tightly controlled Southeast Asian nation. Humorous and observant, Delisle's treatment demonstrates that drawings with text can match solo prose, no sweat. Give me a comic book, please. Phyllis Graber Jensen, Senior Staff Writer and Photographer • • • For fans of Patrick O'Brian's and C. S. Forester's naval adventure fiction try the collection of short stories edited by Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Book of Sea Battles, 2001. I laugh to tears with David Remnick's and Henry Finder's Fierce Pajamas. These are the best humor from the "New Yorker" magazine. A terrific new history of the Christian and Islamic struggle for the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages is Stephen O'Shea's Sea of Faith, 2006. Michael Jones, Christian A. Johnson Professor of History • • • Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill, a book we read aloud to each other, is a powerful story of a young, intelligent, literate woman who is sold into slavery at the age of 12, and who is obsessed with being free and returning to her native village in West Africa for the rest of her life. We followed her through about sixty years of her life on three continents, with all the hardship, prejudice, and soul-wrenching pain of enslavement, which is often complicated by her abilities and intelligence which she must hide from her masters. Freedom does come decades later, but it is a freedom in a world where only the force of her will and personality keep her surviving. The ignorance of even the "good" whites to the implications and cruelty of slavery become a vehicle for her to further her goal, but only as a tool of the abolitionists and often at the cost of her personal dignity. (To a white authority figure who insists that she has "profited by being enslaved" and vehemently deny's slavery's cruel branding, she bares her old breast to show the brand she was given at 12.) Lawrence Hill has written a breathtaking book and created Aminata Diallo, a remarkable woman. Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres was a wonderful book, and I enjoyed it as much as a previous book of de Bernieres, Corelli's Mandolin. Both books deal with the everyday experiences of the life of civilians during a war. "Birds" takes place in Turkey at the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of the modern Turkish state. Greeks and Turks, some of each of whom are either Muslim or Christian, and most of whom happily rely on each other's religions when it suits their needs (Muslim woman concerned for her soldier son asks her friend to "light a candle to the Virgin for me"), live together in simplicity and peace until WWI starts far away in Europe. Turks and Greeks are forced to choose sides in a war that has nothing to do with them. And then religion and nationalism imposed by others starts ethnic cleansing, forcing Greeks who don't speak Greek to leave Turkey for Greece, where they are shunned, and Turks are forced from Greece to Turkey. The small town life and ambiance is destroyed, the friends and fellow citizens scattered, and no one has a clue about what it is all about. A poignant, anti-war story, and for me a reminiscence of my time in Turkey and Greece. I recommend this book to anyone who still thinks that war is an answer to any problems, and to all who think that Muslims and Christians can't live in peace and harmony together. Laura Juraska , Associate Librarian for Reference Services • • • My suggestion for summer reading is: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (translated from the French). It is tender and funny, and a sly critique of French social conventions. Leila Kawar, Visiting Instructor in Politics • • • I have just finished reading the new autobiography by Harold Varmus, The Art and Politics of Science. Dr. Varmus was the director of NIH under Clinton and the co-winner of the Nobel Prize in 1989 for his work on oncogenes, and he is now the director the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The book is a generally well written summary of his career and his opinions of and his involvement in the major health issues of our day. Written for a general audience, I learned a lot about retroviruses, oncogenes, stem cells, Congress, pharmaceutical companies, publishing companies, and open access journals. John E. Kelsey, Professor of Psychology • • • Here are two suggestions for the book list, each arguably a "coming of age" story but from distinctly different cultural contexts and literary styles: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (2006) Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (1920) Nancy Koven, Assistant Professor of Psychology • • • Home by Marilynne Robinson; Memorial Day by Vince Flynn; Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo; American Babylon by Richard John Neuhaus; Christ the Lord by Anne Rice. Paul Kuritz, Professor of Theater • • • The English Major by Jim Harrison (N.Y., Grove Press, 2008) Dark summit: the true story of Everest's most controversial season by Nick Heil (N.Y., Henry Holt, 2008) Jim Lamontagne, Ladd Library Assistant, Cataloging • • • What is the What? by Dave Eggers, and if I have never given you this before, and even if I have, Here's Your Hat, What's Your Hurry, by Elizabeth McCracken Peter Lasagna, Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach • • • I'm on a mystery jag. Margery Allingham's brilliant Albert Campion mysteries. A real delight. And, Akunin's two different mystery/detective series. Great distractions. Kathy Low, Professor of Psychology • • • Book of Embraces (Eduardo Galeano); L'Assommoir (Emile Zola); Design in the Age of Darwin: From William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright; (Stephen Eisenman) End of the World Book: A Novel (Alistair McCartney) The Night Watch (Sarah Waters) Perrin Lumbert, Library Assistant-Interlibrary Loan • • • Grown Up Digital by Dan Tapscott. Here's a link to the book's site. Ethan Dahlin Magoon, Online Media Producer, CMR • • • Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende Based almost entirely on the life of Ines Suarez who lived from 1507 to 1580, this is the historical fictional account of life in the 16th century and the birth of a nation. I love Allende’s wonderful descriptions and just as in her book, Zorro, she brings her characters to life. Poor and nearly destitute, Ines had a rough life in Spain. Alone because her husband has left to make his fortune in the new world she eventually sets out to search for him. When she arrives Ines learns he has been killed. Determined to make a new life for herself Ines decides to remain in the new colony. She eventually meets Don Pedro de Valdivia, field marshal of Francisco Pizarro. Together they undertake the founding of the country of Chile. You will not be able to put this book down! The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry Mary Main, Director of Human Resources • • • This year, my three personal favorites are recent reads: Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout The Help, by Kathryn Stockett Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 60's—as seen through the stories of black "maids" in upperclass white households, written by a young white woman who has grown up in the culture and encourages the middle-aged women to tell her their stories. The stories are powerful, chilling, and especially shocking to me, as a college student from the 60's. Perhaps reading it then would have made me more of an activist. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows Judy Marden, Bates Retiree and Class of '66 • • • History: A Novel by Elsa Morante. Trans. by W, Weaver Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy by Eric G. Wilson Lisa Maurizio, Associate Professor of Classical and Medieval Studies • • • The Oregon Files are a group of novels written by author Clive Cussler and co-author Craig Dirigo and later co-author Jack Du Brul. The books follow the mysterious "Corporation" and its leader Juan Cabrillo. Juan Cabrillo is Chairman of the Corporation, a special US Government-sponsored group that operates out of a ship called Oregon, a marvel of scientific research equipment bristling with state-of-the-art weaponry - but disguised as a heap of junk. Cabrillo and his crew of mercenaries with a conscience are able to cross the high seas in their 'rusting' tub unmolested, seeking out those beyond the arms of the law and dealing out justice to any who would plot chaos on a global scale. The Oregon Files series currently consists of 6 books: Golden Buddha (2004), Sacred Stone (2004), Dark Watch (2005), Skeleton Coast (2006), Plague Ship (2008) and Corsair (2009). Karen McArthur, Systems Administrator, ILS • • • My favorite book this year was Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was probably on last year's recommended list. I also liked Loving Frank: A Novel by Nancy Horan, "a historically imagined novel that is at once fully versed in the facts and unafraid of weaving those truths into a story that dares to explore the unanswered questions of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney's love story." In line with our Bates year of contemplating food, I recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp (I love every book by Kingsolver) and, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan. Here if you need me: A true story by Kate Braestrup. A wonderful memoir by the chaplain to the Maine Warden Service. Laurie McConnell, Academic Administrative Assistant , Carnegie lobby desk, • • • I'm not one who usually reads autobiographies, but I recently picked up the book, What's It All About by Michael Caine. His writing style is friendly and conversational, as though he is telling his story face to face with the reader. His story as a struggling actor making it into the limelight of celebrity carries you on a personal journey that is laced with comedy and sadness. With the pending release of yet another acclaimed movie, one may be interested to learn what life experiences made him the person and actor that he is today. Monica McCusker, Office Coordinator-College Store • • • The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie — One of the best books I have read in recent memory. An engaging story, memorable characters, and a dynamic writing style. And the extreme controversy surrounding the novel only makes it more appealing! A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry — This is a story about India in the 70s, during the State of Emergency. Four strangers are thrown together and are forced to live together and grow, learn, and develop together during troubling times. A very moving and deeply emotional story. The Brother Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky — A very long, very interesting Russian novel centering on the four Karamazov brothers and the murder of their father. It combines courtroom drama with mystery with many musings on man's place in the world and the existence (or lack thereof) of God. Gripping and powerful! Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan — A story that centers on a fateful trip to Burma. Narrated by the ghost of the trip organizer who dies before the trip commences. This book includes a lot of historical fact regarding Burma. A very engaging and interesting read. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver—This book is about a family of missionaries who are working in the Congo. Each chapter is narrated by a different daughter. Another book that integrates the actual history of the Congo and its post-colonial history. Andrew McGeehan, Housing Coordinator and Residence Life Assistant • • • Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004) Bryan McNulty, Director, Communications and Media Relations • • • The Gathering by Anne Enright - The Irish family can be a rich trove of sadness, and Enright mines it as few can. The Art of Strategy by Dixit and Nalebuff - Game theory offers myriad strategic insights. Here those insights are illustrated with examples from everyday life, business, and sport. An easy introduction to better strategic thinking. Michael Murray, Charles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics • • • Here are some great books I've read lately: Thinking In Pictures: My Life with Autism (Expanded Edition), by Temple Grandin — A very interesting perspective on the world. I learned things in this book — about animals, about the different ways people think, about 'disorders,' and so much more — which, I think, will forever influence my own perspective on the world. It certainly has defended my desire for lots of hugs (or squeeze machines) — you'll know what I mean if you read the book! Water for Elephants, but Sara Gruen — This book sweeps you up, right along with its protagonist, onto the traveling circus train. Boy's Life, by Robert McCammon — This book is filled with the magic of being young but also the realities of change and the passing of time. It takes place in a small, Alabama town, but every chapter is action and imagination-packed, from shoot-outs to dinosaurs. McCammon encourages nostalgia in the reader, not only for the innocence of childhood, but that time in history, not too long ago, in which people were sure that "the world'll always need milkmen." But he also plays close attention to the darker facts of life (and death), using clever metaphor and skilled writing to blur the lines between fact and fiction, and to ask us to question the need for this distinction in the first place. Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan — This might be a cliche choice, but, more than any other book, this has made me rethink my lifestyle. I like that Pollan not only presents the problems with our current food consumption, but offers more efficient solutions. The book is full of wellthought-out points and counter-points which force you to chew on your own daily decisions, as well as lots of tasty factoids. I just fine Pollan's writing so persuasive, and yet so honest and common-sensical. Aubrey Nelson, Americorp VISTA • • • Leo Lerman, The Grand Surprise: The Journals of Leo Lerman. Knopf, 2007 Charles Nero, Associate Professor of Rhetoric • • • Two novels I enjoyed this year: The Swarm by Frank Schätzing is a big, fat thriller for readers who love science as well as speculation about alien forms of intelligence. If you don’t enjoy science fiction, you might still enjoy this thriller because the alien form of intelligence turns out to share the planet with us. The story explores possible outcomes of our unsustainable ways of treating the world’s bodies of water. Mr. Emerson’s Wife by Bates graduate Anne Belding Brown is a fictional imagining of the life of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s second wife, Lydia(n). She was a fascinating member of the transcendental circle, who may or may not have reacted to Emerson’s request that she modify her common name to the less common Lydian, as Brown has her do. But whether she spoke up or not, we understand something about the shape of the marriage to come. Georgia Nigro, Professor of Psychology • • • The Broke Diaries by Angela Nissel The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch The New Kings of Nonfiction - Edited & Introduced by Ira Glass (NPR's "This American Life") Sara Noyes, Residence Life and Student Activities Assistant • • • The Air We Breathe, by the great Andrea Barrett, is a brilliant, transcendent book. Written in the first person plural (go figure, but for a reason), it chronicles the lives of inmates at a New York TB sanitorium, hitting on class, immigration, anarchism, women in science, public health, power, and of course love, deception, healing landscapes, big meals, revenge: this book has everything! Go immediately to the College Store and buy it! The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery is a very different book but has some of the same themes about class, knowledge, and humanity. Its protagonist is the concierge of a swanky apartment building in Paris who is compelled to hide her formidable intellect, till she is discovered by two other outsiders. A great book about why it matters to educate yourself. And I did read and love Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout ’77, long before it won the Pulitzer Prize. Life in a small Maine town told in a series of precise and unnerving stories. Liz Strout has an uncanny ability to make you love and loathe a character at the same time: so lifelike! Kerry O’Brien, Assistant Dean of the Faculty • • • I wish I could remember the others I've read this year, but those are ones that stand out to me. The Latehomecomer, A Hmong Family Memoir, by Kao Kalia Yang The author is a young woman, not too much older than our students when she wrote this. She writes beautifully about her experiences as her family is resettled in Minnesota after the Vietnam War. I Remember Warm Rain, Telling Room's Story House Project This is a collection of writings by immigrant and refugee teens living in the Portland area. It is a very quick read that provides a glimpse into the lives of these young adults as they begin to make their ways here. Godmother, The Secret Cinderella Story, by Carolyn Turgeon This is the Cinderella story from her fairy godmother's point of view. It is an interesting take on the story, one you don't expect at all. It would be a great choice for a book group. On the darker side, though. Karen A. Palin, Lecturer in Biology • • • Here are two novels I'm very excited about: Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies Jim Parakilas, Music, James L. Moody Family Professor of Performing Arts • • • I recommend The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall. It is the story of an autumn's adventures of a very quirky family of four young (ages 4-12) sisters and their dad. The characters are marvelous: quirky, like I said, and some nerdy, some obstinate, all well-meaning and very accepting of one another. Lots of laugh-out-loud moments. Liz McCabe Park, Director, Maine Campus Compact • • • I'm just finishing up Wally Lamb's newest novel, The Hour I First Believed. I gave it to Ian, who loved Lamb's previous novel, I Know this Much is True, for Christmas. He recommended I read it but be prepared. It's not for everyone, and it brings in the Columbine tragedy and images thereof in a big way, but if you like Lamb's other books, you should like it. I still think I like his previous one better. I also have been reading..."They were very beautiful. Such things are" : memoirs for change from Dadaab, Kenya and Lewiston, Maine, which I've enjoyed very much. In a different genre, Julian was telling me about the wellknown juvenile fiction novel Holes, by Louis Sachar, which I had come upon in one of my cleaning forays. I knew the other 2 kids had read it and that a movie had been made of it, but he piqued my curiosity, so I read it, quickly of course (a treat in itself). I liked it! Carole Parker, Library Assistant-Acquisitions • • • I would like to recommend Kenneth Roberts' novel Lydia Bailey. With action ranging from New England in the early 1800's, to Haiti during Toussaint L'Ouverture's rebellion, to the Barbary Coast, this novel is fairly typical of Roberts' style. It is a little bit detective story, a lot of adventure and a little bit of romance, extensively researched with plenty of historical details. Heather L'Hommedieu Perreault, Assistant Director, Financial Offices • • • Two examples of successful historical fiction for your list, in case these have not yet been named: The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland It's actually a 3-book series that chronicles the life of Josephine Bonaparte (wife of Napoleon) through her fictional diary entries. Great glimpse into a turbulent time through the life of a fascinating woman. Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett — another piece of historical fiction, this one about Chancellor Thomas More (under Henry VIII) and the relationship of his family (in particular, of his foster daughter) to the visiting German painter Hans Holbein. Sonja Pieck, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies • • • I like to mix up my genres and the price I pay is that not everything I read ends up on my list of favorites. For international intrigue with a submariner’s theme you can’t go too far wrong with Patrick Robinson. I read H.M.S. Unseen which is about a very angry but very clever Iraqi agent working with a group of Irani opportunists to steal a British submarine and shoot missiles at American targets. The U.S. would be doomed without the curmudgeonly but brilliant Admiral Morgan and his British counterpart. This is an edge of your seat thriller with some truly despicable and some truly likable characters. A great escape. My favorite novel this past year lead to interest in reading others by the author. Susan Vreeland wrote Luncheon at the Boating Party which is an imagined explanation of how Pierre-Auguste Renoir came to create the painting bearing the book’s title. Vreeland skillfully weaves the lives of the models and their relationships with Renoir into a tale which brings life to the painting. I had great fun Googling the paintings referenced in the book and other artists who were part of the story. Aside from the creative way in which the story is developed Vreeland has a wonderful writing style. I found this to be an adventure in art appreciation and I was fascinated with Vreeland’s speculations on what was going on in Renoir’s life and in his head as the painting evolved. So then I had to read Girl in Hyacinth Blue also by Vreeland. I didn’t find it as compelling but the story followed a fictional Vermeer painting backwards through its various owners to its origin. The story is about how the painting impacted each custodian. This book is about art history, character study, near-poetic prose and emotional transitions in the lives of people from all walks of life. It is about the power of art to shape peoples’ lives and thus inform history. It isn’t a totally happy story but in some chapters this painting lifts people up from hardship and frees them despite the pain of letting the painting go. So then I had to read The Passion of Artemisia also by Susan Vreeland. This is a beautifully written speculation on the life and times of a female painter in Italy from 1593-1653, Artemisia Gentileschi. She is the daughter of a painter in a world of male artists. She is raped by her father’s partner, publically humiliated in a trial, forced into an arranged marriage and cheated upon by her husband. Through it all she finds solace and enlightenment through art. This is another story which can be enhanced by Googling the paintings referenced in the story. Artemisia has a unique and renowned ability to capture the emotion in women’s faces. This book also provides a spectacular perspective on the art of Italy and one woman’s perception of the influences of the time. I needed to change genres so I read Christopher Paolini’s Brisingr. This is the third novel in the series which was started when Paolini was 15 years old. His writing is maturing but even with only a few years behind him the author has an amazing perception of human values. His characters reveal his wit and wisdom. But his hero is pure youth, supremely confident one moment and impatient and filled with angst the next. Of course there is magic and politics and warfare and relationships and dragons. The book has a lot to offer if fantasy is your thing. It’s a brick of a book but it usually moves along quite well. Of course, there is no real solution to the central plot so you’ll have to wait for the last book in the series. I tried on some other fantasy and science fiction but the author who I found most satisfying was Julie E. Czerneda. The Trade Pact Universe Trilogy includes A Thousand Words for Stranger, Ties of Power and To Trade the Stars. I like the author’s imaginative characters and her sense of humor. There is telepathy and a love interest and strange creatures with odd devotion to the heroine. It’s complicated enough to keep your interest without befuddling you in tangled plots. There are answers to some of the mysteries in each book with enough loose ends to draw you into the next book. It’s not high literature but it’s entertaining for a light read. Since I was travelling to New Mexico and Arizona for vacation in March I had to read some Tony Hillerman. While I’m not usually a fan of mysteries, the two stories I read were very engaging. The Blessing Way and A Thief of Time were recommended and did not disappoint. These books provide a good introduction to Native American culture and a bit of archeology with a great introduction to the geography. For non-fiction I read two books which I enjoyed. The Flamingo’s Smile: Reflections on Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould is a collection of articles originally written for Natural History Magazine. It seemed like a timely read for the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Sometimes Gould’s writing seemed a bit arrogant or self-righteous but the subject matter and depth of knowledge was truly impressive. The other book was Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey: River of Doubt by Candice Millard. This was historical, dramatic and startling. The trip was one of adventure and exploration on a South American river and took place fairly late in Roosevelt’s life. It reveals a lot about the man and his companions. At times I found the narrative redundant but the boldness of the poorly equipped and barely prepared expedition left no doubt about the strength of will and determination of the men who undertook this trip. The area was previously uncharted and once the journey was begun there was no turning back and no real chance of rescue. There were no satellite photos or aerial shots showing the number and ferocity of rapids. Little was known of the natives except that they were not prone to welcoming strangers. This book can make you stop in your tracks and think about how you would have managed in Roosevelt’s shoes. We have come a long way in our ability to prepare for safe outcomes but I suspect few of us would have the tolerance for hardship and risk demonstrated by this band of men. It was fascinating and chilling. Ray Potter, Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator • • • I’ve had a bit of a reading drought this year, broken (thankfully) by these downpours: Liz Strout’s Olive Kitteridge. Liz and I were both English majors at Bates in the glorious Class of ‘77. She has a fresh Pulitzer while I have…a great affection and respect for Olive. Mary Shaffer’s Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Devoured this one. Anne Lamott’s Plan B. I have always appreciated Lamott’s quirky yet direct approach on matters spiritual, parental, mid-life… Lorna Landvik’s View from Mount Joy. Landvik continues to create characters I enjoy. Amy Dickinson’s The Mighty Queens of Freeville. This wonderful read features two Bates notables, Kirk Read and Camille Parrish. You’ll have to read the book to discover just what pivotal roles they play in Amy’s life. (This is the Amy of "Ask Amy" advice column fame and "Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me" on NPR). And on my list of "to be read and savored" this summer, the newly-released An Honorable Harvest—Shakers and the Natural World, by professor emeritus of Religion, Clark A. Griffiths Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies AND former Dean of the Faculty at Bates, Carl Benton Straub. This much-anticipated book is published by the United Society of Shakers and is available at the Bates Bookstore (shameless plug here!). Sarah Potter, Bookstore Director • • • I recommend taking time to linger in the kind of pop magazines for sale in places like the supermarket check-out area. They can be a great source of pleasure, amusement, and insight—and not just about what some people in academic settings assume to be the sorry state of pop culture. Sure, you can find the same fake science that daily graces the Today show: my favorite of late concerns the "chemical of attachment" that allegedly prohibits women from enjoying casual sex. But I've also read great pieces in Soap Opera Digest on how racism drives programming, and dare I say it, a wonderful column "by" Pamela Anderson in (the now defunct) Jane that was useful and vividly on target about living with an alcoholic. You never know what you might find, but more often than one might expect, I think, it includes counterevidence to snobby presumptions about where to find insight. Erica Rand, Professor of Art and Visual Culture • • • Confession of an Economic Hit Man John Perkins John Rasmussen, Project Manager-Physical Plant • • • It is a sign of my perversely pitiful life that I, as a professor of literature, have read so little for leisure. And some of what I read I really didn't like. A pleasure from my short term: Tintin in Tibet (or better yet, Tintin au Tibet). A beautifully told story of friendship, gorgeously illustrated. Tintin encounters the abominable snow man and rescues his friend Tchang in the himalayas after having dreamed of his peril. Michael Farr's companion that I recommended last year is a nice complement: The Complete Tintin. This is the second time I've taught Tintin for short term and my fanaticism is becoming ever more complicated and nuanced. I heard Samantha Hunt read from her book The Invention of Everything Else about Tesla (thank you Jonathan Skinner, Rob Farnsworth and Eden Osucha for such a wonderful authors series!) and have started it and love it A tri-fecta based on Terry Gross's interview with Erik Reece. I haven't read his book, but plan to: An American Gospel which is an exploration of his struggle with religion. He uses Walt Whitman as a reference and quoted some beautiful passages from Leaves of Grass which I took off the shelf and bathed in again right after. I love Walt Whitman for his rambling, unruly, exuberant verse which is so right in summer. A tonic for overheated academic prose and overedited senior theses. And then listen to the musical settings of leaves of grass by Fred Hersch. Beautiful. As a respite from Whitman, read Baudelaire. And Emily Dickinson. Anything. Exquisite. My honor's thesis student did a study of Baudelaire and Debussy and what music can or cannot do in comparison with poetry. The same could be said for French and English, I suppose. Get a bilingual edition at least! I want to read Our Life in Gardens by Wayne Wintterrowd and Joe Eck and then go visit their amazing estate in New York (North Hill). I will put in (perhaps another) plug for my pal Amy Dickinson's memoir, The Mighty Queens of Freeville. I know everyone in it and make an appearance in chapter 6. Amy and I were negotiating our book contracts at the same time. She got over 4 million dollars for two books. I am still negotiating not to have to pay for my own indexing. Sigh. At 5 thousand dollars a word, I think her beautiful book holds up quite well. Kirk Read, Associate Professor of French • • • Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime System by Roberto Saviano and Virginia Jewiss The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: A chilling and poignant tale of vanity vs. morality. Savage Grace by Natalie Robins and Steven M. Aronson : A true modern story of Oedipal proportions. Thing of Beauty by Stephen Fried: An inside look at the darker side of modeling through the life of Gia Carangi, one of the first super-models and one of the first victims of AIDS. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser: A must read on the real story of the meat conglomerates' control over our food safety and supply. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: Satiric look at a middle-aged man trying to rebel against being caught in the machine of societal expectations. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott: A gripping epic tale set in the 12-century against the backdrop of the rivalry between the Saxons and the Normans. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier: Suspenseful story of a woman living in the shadow of her husband's first wife. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: Vivid dramatization of slavery's cruelties which has been said to have been a catalyst for the Civil War. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The Street Lawyer by John Grisham. Angela Reed, ILS, Business and Reporting Analyst • • • Indian Summer by Alex Von Tunzelmann. NY: Picador-Henry Holt & Co. Jill Reich, Dean of Faculty • • • Here's my one great read from the past year. Loved it! If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende From Publishers Weekly: Lende chronicles the various lives and deaths of the people of Haines, Alaska, an almost inaccessible hamlet 90 miles north of Juneau. In writing her social and obituary columns for Haines's Chilkat Valley News—some of which are included here—she blends reportage and humor. Julie Retelle, Assistant College Librarian for Access Services • • • Heat by Bill Buford The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen An Unexpected Forest by Eleanor Lincoln Morse (Maine author!) Stephanie Richards, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology • • • Magazines too? Then my pick is definitely The Week. As for books - I'll go ahead and suggest Getting Green Done by Auden Schendler. Julie Rosenbach, Environmental Coordinator • • • I'm in the middle of The Known World by Edward Jones. I had to stop reading for awhile because I knew something bad was about to happen to a favorite character. Now that the light has returned I can continue. The story is set in Virginia during the mid-1800s and is about the lives of African American slave owners, their slaves and the culture surrounding them. Multiple main characters with flash forward events that allow you to know their future without actually getting there in the narrative. Nancy Salmon, Bates Dance Festival • • • Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It) by William Poundstone Michael Sargent, Associate Professor of Psychology • • • Sherman Alexie: Ten Little Indians, Indian Killer, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and Reservation Blues. Julia Glass: Three Junes For the Young Adults/teens: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Paula Schlax, Associate Professor of Chemistry • • • The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (much better than the movie) Claire Schmoll, Assistant to the Vice President for Finance and Treasurer • • • Liz Strout's amazing, Pulitzer-Prize winning Olive Kitteridge. David Scobey, Director of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships • • • Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh Ghosh seems to want to single-handedly revive the rich Indo-English vocabulary of past centuries in this book about the British opium industry of the early 19th century—and why not? Don't you want launderbuzz, budzat and chuckeroo in your emergency expletive repertoire? Why NOT go back to that huge crossover stock pile of which "jodhpurs" and "kedgeree" are just the tip, instead of trying to translate impossible idioms (and I've tried)? Sea of Poppies is a salty tale of tall ships and second mates, a historical compendium of early British India, and a fictional testament to vicissitudes of cross-cultural characters high and low. If you think "globalization" is a recent thing, read this book. It would be handy to have a labeled diagram of a slave-trade sailing ship nearby. Readers with some Hindi/Urdu/Bengali will get a kick out of the South Asian inside jokes, though there is a glossary of sorts (in fictional guise) to help others. And I belatedly understood why the story stops in the middle of the Indian Ocean—it's part of a projected trilogy. Poet in New York by Federico Garcia Lorca These texts are from a gritty time when only cabbies and hoodlums, rather than writers and artists, seemed to swarm the streets of the city. The facing page translations are a rather insane way to pick up Spanish, but that doesn't stop me from trying. "...una reunion de cloacas/donde gritan las oscuras ninfas del colera." What he said! Smooth and digestible translations, however. Sagaree Sengupta, Asian Studies Lecturer, Graduate Fellowships Advisor • • • For someone whose reading taste has run to light fiction in recent years, this was a serious year for me: my two favorite books were both about presidents, Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and President Obama's autobiographical Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. Perhaps inspired by the Obama book, I happened to read two novels about young men growing up between cultures this spring, The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri) and The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie). For sheer fun, I recommend Gods Behaving Badly (Marie Phillips) about a house full of bored Greek gods in contemporary London and Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty (Jim Sandlin) about a nursing home full of ex hippies in 2022. Beth Sheppard, Associate Director of Annual Giving • • • I recommend the humorous fantasy/alternate history series by British author Jasper Fforde (don't ask me how to pronounce that!). The books are: The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots and Something Rotten. I've read the first 3 so far. The main character is named Thursday Next. There are puns and in-group humor a-plenty for literature fans and I often laugh out loud while reading these books. In the alternate world of these books, literature is far more popular than in our world, and in fact there is a whole organization set up to police and protect books and their characters. I simply can't begin to describe all the clever plot and character devices, but I can recommend this series without reservation to anyone who loves literature and quirky novels. Also recommend the series by Laurie B. King, starting with The Beekeeper's Apprentice. The beekeeper is Sherlock Holmes, and his apprentice is a young teenager named Mary Russell. I won't be a spoiler and say more, except you know there are other books in the series, so the partnership must continue. As a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I was skeptical, but this series is every bit as witty and full of plot twists, maybe even more so. Good writing, as well. Laurie R. King has described Russell as "what Sherlock Holmes would look like if Holmes, the Victorian detective, were a) a woman, b) of the Twentieth century, and c) interested in theology". King has a graduate degree in Old Testament theology that has doubtless informed Russell's own theological pursuits. Finally, I just finished Four Letters of Love by Irish writer Niall Williams. The writing in this sometimes reminded me of a long prose poem. Stunning. And a great love story (actually, several) as well as weaving the atmosphere of Ireland and the Irish throughout. Great summer read. Bonnie Shulman, Associate Professor of Mathematics • • • The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker Marni Lyn Sienko, Bates Contract Photographer • • • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery Roberta Strippoli, Visiting Assistant Professor of Asian Studies • • • This year it’s mostly books about books — with two exceptions. Bibliotopia, Steven Gilbar Reading the OED, Ammon Shea The City of Dreaming Books, Walter Moers A History of Reading, Alberto Manguel The following are the two exceptions — one is an historical mystery (fiction), the other is a modern tragedy (fact). Mistress of the Art of Death, Ariana Franklin Dying Inside, Benjamin Fleury-Steiner Sawyer Sylvester, Professor of Sociology • • • One new one old: Rose Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizond, written in 1956, has to be one of the most charming, and funny "travel" books ever written. A fictional account of the narrator, her aunt, and an Anglican priest as they wander around Turkey. The opening sentence will give you some idea of the book: ""Take my camel, dear," said my Aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass." Of course it's outdated, but you get a pretty good picture of the country and its people, and not everything has changed. It’s wise as well as funny. For a new book I suggest Ursula LeGuin's Lavinia, an imagining of the story of the wife Aeneas chooses after abandoning Dido to burn on her pyre. Lavinia gets only a handful of words in The Aeneid, but LeGuin not only creates a worthy (and of course feisty) companion for the hero, she makes Lavinia seem credible, and pius Aeneas both human and lovable. The novel sent me back to Vergil, in a new translation by Sarah Ruden. Anne Thompson, Professor Emerita of English • • • Two of the best murder mysteries I (Dick) have ever read — and I've read a lot — the first two of a trilogy by Stieg Larsson, who died shortly after finishing the third (which will be translated in a year or so). They are best read in order: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and, for those who care about the third, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest). Superior travel book: Colin Thubron: Shadow of the Silk Road Dick (Professor Emeritus of Psychology) and Lois Wagner • • • If you like your summer reading served up in big, tasty chunks of contemporary history — and I bet some of you do — then find a copy of Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 by Tony Judt. One of our most respected and honored historians, Judt has crafted a magesterial work encompassing not just the recent political and military history of post-WWII Europe, but also the social, cultural, intellectual, and occasionally the moral histories of the era. The New York Review of Books said this work "has the pace of a thriller and the scope of an encyclopedia." Amen. And as a bonus, if you're thinking of reading Martha Cooley's The Archivist — don't. Dull, stifling, maddening. Find something more diverting, like product labels or shipping instructions. Pat Webber, Archivist, Muskie Archives • • • Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and Davis Oliver Relin Beth Whalon, Assistant in Instruction in Biological Chemistry • • • Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens Two in the Far North, Margaret Murie The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz Selections from John Degon, partner and fellow-reader Fingersmith. Sarah Waters Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work, Jason Brown A collection of stories set in and around the fictional town of Vaughn, Maine. Beautifully written and as evocative of life in a small town as "Olive Kitteredge". Andrew White, Director of User Services, ILS • • • Two older books I read this year that deserve some notice. When I studied history seriously I shied away from military studies, tactics, and all associated matters. Grant, by Jean Edward Smith (Simon & Schuster, 2001) tells me why this was maybe a mistake. The story of a modest man who became the most celebrated American after Lincoln who also was written off by subsequent generations, especially in high school history texts. A really interesting study of the rise and fall of fame, and an answer to the question "Why does Grant deserve a tomb on Riverside Drive?" Also, An Island out of Time, by Tom Horton (W. W. Norton, 1996). Tom Horton is a journalist and now a champion of saving the Chesapeake Bay. This is his narrative of a year spent on Smith Island in 1987. Full of vignettes of island life and living, with unsentimental and stunning transcripts of islanders who seek to maintain their lives in the face of environmental destruction, bureaucratic insensitivity and the relentless work of currents, tides and isolation. Gene Wiemers, Vice President for ILS and Librarian • • • Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks Anne Williams, Professor Emerita of Economics • • • Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner won a Pulitzer Prize, but don't let that put you off. Great intergenerational saga of the American west without cowboys. Beautiful writing and a fantastic storyline. 400 pages of summer enjoyment. LaVerne Winn, Science Reference Librarian, Ladd • • • Pocketful of Names: A Novel by Joe Coomer Emily Wright-Timko, Assistant Chaplain • • • Our annual thanks to our friends in Office Services for getting this list into booklet format with blazing speed and to our friend in Communications and Media Relations for their assistance with our web version of the list. Compiled and edited by Sarah Potter '77, Bookstore Director, May 2009 |
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