What Did You Read Over Summer Vacation? – Faculty Edition

Posted on June 18, 2013 by nobles

What book(s) did you enjoy reading over the summer break? What made them so great?

Learning Specialist Gia Batty:
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
“This was so good. It follows a small group of people who met at a performing arts camp in the 70s.  The story takes you through their lives in the 80s, 90s and through the present. It’s about what it means to be talented, but it’s also about friendship and loss. ”

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
“A great beach read. Italians, writers, actors, innkeepers—all in a tiny coastal town on the Ligurian Sea.”

Director of Foster Galley John Dorsey:
“I am working my way through 1Q84, Haruki Murakami’s latest novel. Wonderful, intricate, complex, layered. Love the worlds he creates and how they bend back upon themselves. 600 pages in, 300 pages to go…”

Head of School Bob Henderson:
The Plantagenets, by Dan Jones.
“Terrific popular history, about the longest dynasty in English history, a family that dominated the Middle Ages in Britain. Full of intrigue, triumph and tragedy, it reads like Game of Thrones, but it isn’t fiction.”

Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris.
“I think David Sedaris is hysterical (although not everyone does).  His narrative essays are well crafted, and are often poignant. I don’t think this is his best book (for that, I nominate Me Talk Pretty One Day), but it is nevertheless quite entertaining, with a few moments that are truly laugh-out-loud funny.”

Director of Community Service Sandi MacQuinn:
“One novel I read this summer still haunts me: The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont. It sets up class privilege, the interior lives of students in a dorm, the stock market crash of the 80s, and the consequences of teenage recklessness. It felt like a Gatsby sort of tale, told by the “vastly careless” narrator, who leaves the reader wondering if the boy will ever learn to admit and face his regret.”

History teacher Brian Day:
Bunker Hill: a city, a siege, a revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick
“The book is a vivid narrative that focuses on what happened in the greater Boston area before, during and after the Battle of Bunker Hill. For anyone interested in the history of Boston, it’s an outstanding read.”

Math teacher Bill Kehlenbeck:
“I greatly enjoyed Neil Young’s memoir entitled Waging Heavy Peace. Having been a fan of his music ever since his days in Buffalo Springfield in the 1960s, I was entertained by his rather disjointed, non-chronological collection of memories and stories from his childhood right up to the present.”

Science teacher Chris Averill:
I am the messenger by Markus Zusak
“I love Markus Zusak books because they are written from a fresh perspective, and contain interesting plot twists.

The Human Stain by Philip Roth.
“A beautiful written novel that addresses issues of race and identity in a most surprising story.”

Associate Director of Annual Giving Brian Read:
The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell by Mark Kurlansky.
“Kurlansky tells the history of the oyster industry in Manhattan and America. If you like oysters, this is a must read! I also recommend many of Kurlansky’s books if interested in the history of food. My wife (Jill Read) loved Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm by Erin Byers Murray. The story of living and working for Island Creek Oyster Co. in Duxbury, Mass.”

Dean of Enrollment Management Jen Hines:
“Shameless plug for a book written by my lifelong friend, Bethany Schneider: The River of No Return is a time-travel novel set in 1815 and 2013. If you don’t trust my plug, Vanity Fair has called the novel a “thrill-ride” and the Washington Post says it “has the feel of an instant classic.” And I’m happy to report that she’s working on the sequel! Just know that she wrote the book using a pseudonym—Bee Ridgway. I found it particularly funny that she signed my copy using that name…”

English teacher Sarah Snyder:
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
“An engaging story of the intersecting lives of a group of ‘interesting’ kids who met at summer camp. So well-written.”

Art teacher Lisa Jacobson:
Cooked by Michael Pollan
“It is SO interesting! In this non-fiction piece, he discusses the science and sociology of cooking. He divided the book into different sections: cooking by fire, cooking by water, cooking with air. I highly recommend this book.”

English Teacher Vicki Seelen:
The Housekeeper and the Professor, Yoko Ogewa
“A quiet novel about the relationship between an aging mathematics professor, who cannot remember more than the past forty minutes of his life, and his housekeeper (and her son). Makes one think about the nature of memory, aging and friendship.

The Baker’s Daughter, Sarah McCoy
“One of my favorite sub-genre is the bakery novel in which the main character has, most likely, had to change her career and return to or get a job in a bakery. This is no exception. Love the struggles, the family dynamics and the smells.

Paris Was the Place, Susan Conley
“Written by Lily King’s (former Nobles English teacher) best friend, Susan, a poet and memoirist, writes her first novel about a poetry professor who, while living in Paris, has to confront her brother’s battle with AIDS as well as her own tendency to want to save an immigrant girl who she is tutoring.

Transatlantic, Colum McCann
“This novel captured me for several reasons.  First, McCann is a great storyteller. Also, Frederick Douglas makes an appearance! This takes place in Ireland, which I love. The first section is about two Brits who attempt to fly across the ocean; just riveting!

And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Kosseini
“This Afghani writer’s third book is a terrific story about a father who tells his two children a story about a man who gives his child to an ‘ogre’ then this father gives his daughter away.  This was one of my very favorite reads.

The Love Affairs of Nathan P, Adelle Waldman
“This was represented as the modern day Jane Austen novel. Perhaps that is a stretch, but she is a fine writer of present social climes in New York among the young aspiring writers’ set.

When I Found You, Catherine Ryan Hyde
“A touching novel about a man who finds a baby in the woods while hunting, and although he is not able to raise the boy, he follows his ‘progress’ through the troubled teen years when the young man is unexpectedly handed over to him.”

Science teacher Christine Pasterczyk:
The First Rule of Swimming by Courtney Angela Brkic
“The first rule of swimming is to stay afloat, but this is not a book about swimming— except in the metaphorical sense. Instead, it chronicles relationships and the history of a family over a period of 50 plus years, beginning in war-torn Yugoslavia and ending in more modern day NYC and Croatia. They say you should not judge a book by its cover, but the cover of this book is beautiful—and I would not have read it had I not been drawn to the title and the cover art. So much for what ‘they’ say. Ha!”

Assistant Controller Rachel Weinstock:
“My favorite book this summer was “The Welsh Girl” by Peter Ho Davies, a story about civilian life during World War II in a remote Welsh village, where a POW camp is constructed. The novel examines human “cynefin” —cynefin is a Welsh concept that a flock of sheep know the pasture to which they belong. The book was especially enjoyable since the main character is the same age as my dad, and I could experience her life on the home front, which in some ways was similar to his.”

History teacher Nahyon Lee:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
“I was incredibly amazed at how this one woman’s cells have changed the medical world. I am grateful to her because her cells have saved many lives. The book was also enlightening about how the medical profession has changed over the years not only in terms of how they gave care differently to people based on race and gender.”

English teacher Peter Raymond:
Life of The Cell, Lewis Thomas
“Brilliant man with great imagination integrating many perspectives and fields. Did you know that distinctly non-human bugs live inside, and are essential to, your own cells? What’s with that?!”

Archivist Isa Schaff:
Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.
“This is a book for anybody who LOVES reading and enjoys computers, a mixture of old and new uniting an old fashioned mystery story (no murder, though) and a real techno feeling (one of the main characters works at Google). A fun story to read, it has the allure of a modern day fable and the fast paced rhythm of a madcap movie.

All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith.
“Of course the subject is dear to my heart! The author (a professor at the University of the Pacific in California) recounts a year long trip she took through six countries in South America with the purpose of studying how different cultures reacted, interpreted and identifies (or not) with Austen’s book. She accomplished this by running book clubs (organized before her arrival by local book lovers) and “going with the flow” more times than once. She challenged herself even more by conducting the reading and the discussions in Spanish, a language she was just getting familiar with. Well narrated, with astute observations on the people and the countries, it can appeal to readers of Austen or of travelogues, without overwhelming with one aspect or the other.”

Registrar Judith Merritt:
Andrew Wyeth, A Secret Life by Richard Meriman.
“A great read—almost like a novel. There’s lots of focus on the influences on Andrew’s life, the involvement of his family and his intense awareness of his surroundings. I was especially interested in the role his wife, Betsy, played as a loyal supporter, an outspoken critic and an organized business manager. Andrew and Betsy had a very strong marriage, even in the face of public criticism and hurtful rumors. I had visited the Olson House in Maine this summer, where Andrew painted his famous ‘Christina’s World’ and it gave me a wonderful backdrop for the book.”

History Teacher Oris Bryant:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
“It is a quintet and an overall excellent series.”

Counselor Jen Hamilton:
“Over the summer I read The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer (a suggestion from Gia Batty).  I liked it so much that I proceeded to read three other books by the same author: The Ten Year Nap, The Wife, and The Position. I highly recommend them all, but The Interestings was my favorite.”

History teacher Don Allard:
The Passage of Power by Robert Caro.
“This is the third in a series of biographies on Lyndon B. Johnson. One of the best biographies I’ve ever read. If you like politics and post-World War U.S. history this is your book!”

Well it looks like The Interestings was the most popular book of the summer. If you are “interested” in reading it, or any of the other books on this list, stop by the library! Be sure to check back soon for our next blog post: What did you read over summer vacation? —student edition.

Happy Reading,
Ms.