Each spring, the College Store solicits\u00a0from members of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community their suggestions for good summer reads:<\/p>\n
Paula Jean Schlax, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry:<\/em><\/p>\n \u2026Kafka on the Shore<\/em><\/strong> by Haruki Murakami. This was a fascinating story about Kafka, a 15-year-old boy who runs away from home and ends up at a small private library and Nakata, a strange old man who has a connection to Kafka and the people he meets. The story delves in and out of time and dream type reality. The prose, even in translation, is great.<\/p>\n Harbor<\/em><\/strong> by Lorraine Adams. This story is about an illegal immigrant from Algeria and his experiences. He is accused of being a terrorist (because of his associations with others that conduct illegal activities). His interactions with others are intriguing.<\/p>\n Mirrormask: Script book<\/em><\/strong> by Dave Mckean and Neil Gaiman. It is the storyboard and script of an upcoming movie by (Jim) Henson films. Dave McKean’s storyboards are so interesting that I enjoy looking at it and reading it.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Andrew White, Director of Academic Technology:<\/em><\/p>\n The busier I get at home and work, the more I read–go figure.<\/p>\n The Baroque Cycle<\/em><\/strong>–Neal Stephenson Gilead<\/em><\/strong> and Housekeeping<\/em><\/strong>–both by Marilynne Robinson<\/p>\n Housekeeping<\/em><\/strong> has always stayed on my reread shelf. It reads like a single breath. Reading Gilead<\/em><\/strong> is like reading a prayer.<\/p>\n Buddha in the World<\/em><\/strong>–Pankaj Mishra One Man’s Wilderness<\/em><\/strong>–Sam Keith How Soon is Never?–<\/em><\/strong>Marc Spitz Lobster Coast<\/em><\/strong>–Colin Woodward \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Laura Faure, Director of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival:<\/em><\/p>\n Time Traveler’s Wife<\/em><\/strong> (by Audrey Niffenegger) and The Kite Runner<\/em><\/strong> (by Khaled Hosseini). Both were excellent.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Elizabeth Eames, Associate Professor of Anthropology:<\/em><\/p>\n Finally got around to Poisonwood Bible<\/em><\/strong> by Barbara Kingsolver–been meaning to read it for ages–I thought the first three-quarters were inspired and brilliant. (Even though it went on a bit too long, it was all in all enlightening, poetic and evocative).<\/p>\n \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Alli Lambert, Coordinator of Alumni and Parent Programs:<\/em><\/p>\n Night Fall<\/em><\/strong> by Nelson Demille…finished it in one day! A fast and funny read.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Gene Wiemers, Vice President for Information and Library Services and Librarian:<\/em><\/p>\n Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World<\/em><\/strong>, by Tracy Kidder. Out in paperback from Random House in 2004. Required reading for the human race. I’m interested in it because it shows that it is possible to be an effective professional one person at a time, and at the same time influence political systems, national, and international policy. Some ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ readers will remember Farmer’s visit here several years ago, and many will have read Kidder’s other books. Kidder wrote this book as a first person narrative, which some readers may find jarring. In a recent visit to Maine, he said that he used this approach in order to keep Farmer on a human and personal scale, as his accomplishments are so great that a third person narrative might make Farmer seem unbelievable.<\/p>\n We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda<\/em><\/strong>, by Philip Gourevitch. The 1998 book available in paperback from Picador. You may not think about the Rwandan genocide as summer reading. Many readers may have been put off by the topic, which makes this book of value to this list many years after it was published. Don’t let the subject matter stop you. This is a gripping, dispassionate and compelling account of how human beings can instigate, accept, witness and ignore unspeakably inhuman acts. It reminds you that it can happen here. A very good and very important reading experience.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Charles Kovacs, Director of Career Services:<\/em><\/p>\n Getting a job is really a job; it involves as much, possibly more, time, energy, effort, and skills than a nine to five occupation. More, job hunting hurts: loss of self-esteem, wages, identity, and status. Yep, unemployment can be a bummer, for the first time, job seeker no less than the seasoned professional. Consequently, there is a proliferation of books, web sites, newsletters, self-help guides, and multi-media materials aimed at making the transition a bit less painful. After a while, the literature in the field resembles variations on predictable themes, like the \u201cgothic\u201d novels of pulp fiction fame. It was refreshing to discover that a recent book returned to a provocative technique that has not been covered in the literature for a while and is most deserving of another serious review.<\/p>\n Brian Graham\u2019s new monograph, Get Hired Fast! Tap the Hidden Job Market in 15 Days<\/em><\/strong>, [Adams Media, Avon, MA, 2005] recommends that the older techniques \u2013 cover letters, resumes, email spam \u201cblasts\u201d of your documents, web postings, and networking \u2013 are too time-consuming and less effective, especially the technology over-kill approach. Graham advises a simple, direct, and seemingly swift approach: identify the key contact in any organization, do research on the organization, target appropriate companies, and execute a professional scripted phone call. If this is done in a focused manner, he states, you could see results in 15 days.<\/p>\n While this sounds too good to be true, it does work. The catch: focus, time, and intentional effort. Graham\u2019s style is direct, clear and exact, just what you would expect from a successful founder of an executive search firm with major clients. Especially useful is his chapter on scripted calling. His advice there is particularly useful for the neophyte and experienced job hunter.<\/p>\n Guy Kawaski is perhaps best know for his work with Apple Computer as their corporate \u201cevangelist\u201d and the positive effect wrought through an intentional and enthusiastic expression of a product. He has published many popular and substantial books, is a motivational speaker, and entrepreneur. His most recent book, The Art of the Start. The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything<\/em><\/strong> [Portfolio\/Penguin, New York, 2004] provides the reader with a great benchmarking tool for starting any new venture be that a company, family, career, or writing a book.<\/p>\n In 11 chapters, Kawaski presents his distilled experience, insights, and sense of the phases of new venture development: starting, positing, pitching, business plan crafting, bootstrapping, recruiting, capital raising, partnering, branding, and rainmaking. His last chapter is perhaps his best \u2013 he recommends reading that chapter first \u2013 on \u201cThe Art of Being a Mensch.\u201d Essentially, if you are not engaged in your new venture for anything less than being ethical, decent, and admirable, your success \u2013 or failure \u2013 will never satisfy or lead to a higher level of personhood. I was struck with the resonance of his admonition with aspects of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ philosophy: \u201cThe three foundations of menschhood are helping lots of people, doing what is right, and paying back society \u2013 simple concepts that are hard to implement.\u201d He inspires too: \u201cWhen telescopes work, everyone is an astronomer, and the world is full of stars. When they don’t, everyone whips out their microscopes, and the world is full of flaws.\u201d<\/p>\n This easy to read book will delight, entertain, and inform your next great venture. It is a funny, witty, and delightful book and if you want to check out his corresponding web site for a taste of it try http:\/\/www.artofthestart.com. Just be sure you focus your telescope, not your microscope, as you start your new venture.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Jim Hart, Academic Technology Project Manager:<\/em><\/p>\n I often like mysteries by British authors, especially the series that feature a central cast of characters through a number of books. In that vein are the Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy Sayers. While the early ones are good to excellent mysteries, the Lord Peter Wimsey\/Harriet Vane books are even more interesting. They interlace a sophisticated love story into a series of 4 mysteries. Sayers’ command of dialogue in these books is outstanding and, sometimes, memorable. She conveys so much without having to tell the reader overtly what the characters are thinking and feeling.<\/p>\n The books are: Strong Poison<\/em><\/strong>, Have His Carcase<\/em><\/strong>, Gaudy Night<\/em><\/strong> and Busman’s Honeymoon<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Do read them in that order. While the mysteries in each stand alone, the progress of the romance between the two protagonists moves in a continuum through them.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Sarah Strong, Associate Professor of Japanese<\/em><\/p>\n I recommend Ceremony<\/em><\/strong> by Leslie Silko. Written in the 1970s and set in northern New Mexico, it tells a story of recovery from the trauma of war. Healing comes in multiple ways but especially through the power of traditional stories of the Laguna Pueblo people and Navaho ceremonies. There are lots of cool desert springs, warm sandstone cliffs, rhythmic voices and wise animals. The narrative thread is both engaging and complex. I really like this book.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Paul Kuritz, Professor of Theater: Father Joe. The Man Who Saved My Soul<\/em><\/strong> by Tony Hendra<\/p>\n Right Turns. Unconventional Lessons from a Controversial Life<\/em><\/strong> by Michael Medved<\/p>\n Gilead. A Novel<\/em><\/strong> by Marilynne Robinson<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Sawyer Sylvester, Professor of Sociology:<\/em><\/p>\n John Adams<\/em><\/strong> by David McCullough is an immensely readable biography of the quintessential New Englander and second president of the United States, without whose efforts there probably would not be a United States. If this book rekindles your interest in early American history, you might also enjoy Joseph Ellis\u2019s Founding Brothers<\/em><\/strong> and Alden Vaughan\u2019s The Puritan Heritage in America<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n A Solitude of Space<\/em><\/strong> is a collection of paintings by Thomas Crotty. I suppose it\u2019s not necessary to have been born and raised in Maine to like Crotty\u2019s spare, cold, silent landscapes\u2014but it helps. For those not fortunate, go alone to a place like \u201cBackyard Winter South\u201d, \u201cWolf\u2019s Neck Pasture\u201d or\u2014especially\u2014\u201cFrost Gully, New Snow\u201d, take a deep breath of the frozen air, and listen.<\/p>\n Oxymoronica<\/em><\/strong> by Marty Grothe is a little collection of those pithy sayings with the snap of illogic at the end. One from a church bulletin is: \u201cThe cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer Conference includes meals.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Brown\u2019s The DaVinci Code<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em> with some suspension of critical faculties, is a romp. P.D. James\u2019s The Murder Room<\/em><\/strong> is a solid read, requiring no such suspension.<\/p>\n In an age enamored of alternative medicine, Dangerous Garden<\/em><\/strong> by David Stuart is a sober reminder of the double edge to herbal remedies.<\/p>\n Sailing the Wine Dark Sea<\/em><\/strong> is the fourth in Thomas Cahill\u2019s \u201cHinges of History\u201d series, and a book-long paean to ancient Greek culture\u2014including its language which he says had a word for just about everything. Hebrew, by contrast, was a language of silences, and Latin, \u201ca language ideal for recordkeeping.\u201d That last is a bit harsh, I think.<\/p>\n Outwitting History<\/em><\/strong> by Aaron Lansky is the story of a college student who, in order to gain a \u201csociological view of Jewish history,\u201d takes a course in Yiddish and soon discovers that there are very few Yiddish books. This is because such books in America are rapidly being lost, abandoned, or destroyed. The author begins a country-wide rescue, raiding attics and dumpsters, and finally establishing the National Yiddish Book Center.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Anthony Shostak, Education Coordinator\/Museum of Art:<\/em><\/p>\n The Elementary Particles<\/em><\/strong> by Michel Houellebecq Platform<\/em><\/strong> by Michel Houellebecq \u2026<\/p>\n Sylvia Federico, Resident Learning Associate\/Classical and Medieval Studies:<\/em><\/p>\n I recently read, and thoroughly enjoyed, Jonathan Lethem’s novel titled Motherless Brooklyn<\/em><\/strong>. It’s about a detective with Tourette’s syndrome, set in contemporary New York.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Leigh Weisenburger, Assistant Dean of Admissions:<\/em><\/p>\n Prodigal Summer<\/em><\/strong> by Barbara Kingslover<\/p>\n Camille<\/em><\/strong> by Alexandre Dumas<\/p>\n The Namesake<\/em><\/strong> by Jhumpa Lahiri<\/p>\n 11 Minutes<\/em><\/strong> by Paulo Coehlo<\/p>\n The Big House<\/em><\/strong> by George Howe Colt<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Rob Farnsworth, Lecturer in English:<\/em><\/p>\n I recommend: Ian McEwan’s new novel Saturday<\/em><\/strong>, skillfully done and quite absorbing\/disturbing; John Banville’s strange novel Athena<\/em><\/strong>; William Trevor’s novel pathetique The Story of Lucy Gault<\/em><\/strong>; Botanies of Desire<\/em><\/strong> by Michael Pollan, engagingly written horticultural and cultural musings in four chapters concerning respectively the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato; and for those still picking up thin volumes of verse, of whom I wish there were many more, poetry: by James Richardson–Interglacial: New & Selected Poems<\/em><\/strong>; by Glyn Maxwell–The Nerve<\/em><\/strong> and The Boys At Twilight: Poems 1990-95<\/em><\/strong>; by Sydney Lea–Ghost Pain<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Roxanne Prichard, Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology:<\/em><\/p>\n Oryx & Crake<\/em><\/strong>– Margart Atwood<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Maggie Maurer-Fazio, Associate Professor of Economics\/Associate Dean of the Faculty:<\/em><\/p>\n Books that I read this year and would recommend are:<\/p>\n The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime<\/em><\/strong> by Michael Haddon<\/p>\n Kite Runner<\/em><\/strong> by Khaled Hosseini<\/p>\n Lipstick Jihad<\/em><\/strong> by Azadeh Moaveni<\/p>\n The Wind-up Bird Chronicle<\/em><\/strong> by Haruki Murakami<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Karen McArthur, Systems Administrator\/ILS:<\/em><\/p>\n For those of you who enjoy a bit of humor, I recently read Yiddish with Dick and Jane<\/em><\/strong> by Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman. It’s very enjoyable! And it has a Yiddish index in the back that helps you figure out that childhood mystery … What “Bobe” was saying?<\/p>\n \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Ray Potter, Environmental Health and Safety Specialist:<\/em><\/p>\n I Am Charlotte Simmons<\/em><\/strong> by Tom Wolfe Anyway, it\u2019s an interesting tale of one young woman\u2019s painful maturing process in the first six months of college. It\u2019s not a good read for a parent sending a teenager off for the first time. The end product of this process is not thoroughly likable. It might make one consider home schooling at the collegiate level.<\/p>\n Ice Hunt<\/em><\/strong> by James Rollins Jack Whyte has written a series of books that put a new, and perhaps more believable spin on the Arthurian legend. He starts with Roman legionnaires in the fifth century and weaves an earthy and fascinating story of how Arthur and his knights may have evolved. There are characters of all kinds: likable, despicable, endearing, lovable, creative, bellicose. I liked the new Merlin, a real, clever person, not a wizard. It\u2019s a great series and I\u2019m not sure we\u2019ve come to the end yet. There was a new book released in hardcover in November 2004. The titles, including the newest are: The Skystone<\/em><\/strong>, The Singing Sword<\/em><\/strong>, The Eagles Brood<\/em><\/strong>, The Saxon Shore<\/em><\/strong>, The Fort at River\u2019s Bend<\/em><\/strong>, The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis<\/em><\/strong>,
\nA tale told across 3 volumes and over 2700 pages. I could say it’s about the origins of our modern economic system in Baroque Europe-but it’s really a fantastic, picaresque adventure story which blends Newton, Leibniz, Louis XIV, piracy, European aristocracy, Peter the Great, voyages round the world, and cross-dressing into a rollicking read. You can go deep or stay on the surface. Either way it’s a blast.<\/p>\n
\nA somewhat disjointed, but enjoyable overview of the Buddha’s legacy.<\/p>\n
\nTouted during endless PBS beg-athons, this reconstruction of Dick Proenneke’s journals of his time near Lake Clark, Alaska fuels the wanderlust of those of us trapped behind our desks.<\/p>\n
\nA great read for us Reagan-era adolescents. A primer for saving your life by reuniting your favorite band.<\/p>\n
\nEntertaining cultural history of the Maine coast, useful for those of us perpetually from away. It explains a lot.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\nWill in the World. How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare<\/em> by Stephen Greenblatt<\/p>\n
\nThis tale of two half-brothers encompasses genetic engineering, wife swapping, and the consequences of growing up motherless.<\/p>\n
\nThis homage to Camus focuses on how sexual tourism and religious intolerance change the life of a middle-aged French bureaucrat.<\/p>\n
\nI was looking for some answers. I hoped to gain some understanding of today\u2019s college student. I found more questions. I don\u2019t know whether the novel is an accurate reflection of Wolfe\u2019s research or a serious case of literary and \u201colder generation\u201d exaggeration. There seems to be a convergence of what I have observed and what Wolfe writes but it\u2019s not clear how widespread the behaviors are in the population.<\/p>\n
\nFor sheer escapism featuring science fiction, international intrigue, marriage rebuilding under extreme circumstances with a side order of Navy Special Forces, this is the book for you. Rollins seems to have a formula which he sticks to in his books but if you\u2019re not looking for great literature, it\u2019s a good entertaining read. This tale takes place in the extreme northern hemisphere beginning in the Alaskan wilderness and proceeding to a research station buried in the ice above the arctic circle. There are prehistoric creatures, a favorite of Rollins, evil scientists, a wolf, an Alaskan Fish & Wildlife agent and an Alaskan law enforcement person. All these characters are wrapped up into a compelling adventure that\u2019s pretty hard to put down. Other books by Rollins that might be of interest: Excavation<\/em><\/strong>, Subterranean,<\/em><\/strong> and Amazonia.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n