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What’s On Your Summer Reading List?
Posted 7/6/2005
For many people, one of the joys of summer is having the time to delve into some great books.
We asked faculty and staff from across the university to share their summer reading lists with us, and we are publishing their responses in a series of installments in UNotes. This is the second installment in the series.
Read last week’s list of summer book picks.
We’d love to know what’s on your summer reading list! If you would like to share it, please write to unotes@hartford.edu, and tell us what you’re reading this summer, and why.
In the meantime, if you’d like to know what some of your colleagues are reading, or if you’re looking for some recommendations to take to your local library or bookstore, read on.
Humphrey Tonkin, President Emeritus and University Professor
In the car I have been listening to Alec Guinness’s highly entertaining memoirs, Blessings in Disguise – and his frequent references to Charles Dickens have convinced me that it is time to read Dickens again, before he drops out of my head completely.
I’m also planning to read Karen Armstrong’s A History of God, which I did not read when it was first published ten years ago, but which has been on my list for a long time. And I suppose I must read Camille Paglia’s Break, Blow, Burn, in which she writes out her class notes from her undergraduate poetry courses (she was well taught and she is formidably bright, but has she no shame?).
On the plane coming back from Britain the other day, I read Matt Haig’s The Last Family in England, a novel narrated by an earnest and well-intentioned Labrador bent on defending his family from a band of hedonistic and morally bankrupt springer spaniels. I recommend it. While in Britain I went to an exhibition at the Tate Gallery called A Picture of Britain, about landscape and the British sense of place, a cooperative effort between the Tate and the BBC, complete with a television series. David Dimbleby has written a marvelously illustrated book to accompany both the exhibition and the TV series, and I am enjoying it immensely.
Belle Ribicoff, Board of Regents (Life Regent)
Snow, by Orhan Pamuk, an award-winning Turkish author, is a provocative book about the tug-of-war between religious and Islamist elements in a remote town in Turkey.
To Know a Woman, by Amos Oz – I read it because I much enjoyed his Fima earlier this year.
A must read: The Known World, by Edward P. Jones. It's an unforgettable book about black slave-owners in the pre-Civil-War south.
Before presenting an honorary degree to Gregory Rabassa (at Commencement in May), I read his memoir, If This be Treason, which illuminates the art of the translator and the challenges of translation.
Before introducing Paul Weidner, former director of the Hartford Stage Company, who is appearing here to introduce his first novel, I read it: Memoirs of a Dwarf at the Sun King's Court, a frolic about the lowlife (both literally and figuratively) of the circle of Louis XIV.
On tap: Aloft, by Chang-Rae Lee, and The Double, by Jose Saramago.
Cheryl Kloczko, Principal, University of Hartford Magnet School
I have a few books I hope to get to this summer:
Simple Justice by Richard Kluger, which is a book about Black America's struggle for equality and focuses on the history of Brown v Board of Education. Sheff v O'Neill and the development of magnet schools in Hartford is just one result of this historic case.
The Cardiac Cartel by David Mucci, a physician and parent of students attending the University of Hartford Magnet School. This is a suspense thriller where the setting of the story is a Connecticut hospital. A quick read for a day at the beach or sitting in the backyard.
Accountability for Learning by Doug Reeves, which focuses on accountability for student learning and how teachers and leaders can take charge by putting it all together: standards, assessment, and accountability.
School Reform by Richard Elmore, which examines school leadership, bridging the gap between standards and achievement, and the impact of professional development to make this happen.
I also love to read new books by children's authors, including picture books and chapter books. This becomes early holiday shopping.
Beverly Maksin, Vice President for Finance and Administration
I'm a mystery novel fan. I read several Archer Mayor books while on vacation recently: The Sniper's Wife, Open Season, and Bellows Falls.
David Goldenberg, Dean, Hillyer College
I have four books on my summer reading list.
At the top of the list is a book written by Hillyer College alum Darius Mehri. It is titled Notes From Toyota Land, and details his experiences working in Japan for Toyota. He's giving a lecture at the University of Hartford on October 25.
His Excellency: George Washington, by Joseph Ellis. I have this thing for the Founding Fathers. Greatness never gets tiring.
One Thousand Years of Painting, by Stefano Zuffi. I love art history and have to get my fix every summer. I love to understand what influences created a painting.
I Can See Clearly Now, the autobiography of Ryne Duren (pitcher for the NY Yankees). Frankly, I had never heard of him, but a friend sent me the book after meeting Duren and asked him to autograph it for me. I'm hoping this one will be a fun read.
Margery Steinberg, Associate Professor of Marketing, Barney School of Business
I have several marketing-related books that I plan to delve into over the summer:
Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture, by Sharon Zukin
Up Against Retail Giants, by A. Coskun Samli
I Want That: How We All Became Shoppers, by Thomas Hine
All Marketers are Liars, by Seth Godin
For light reading I hope to catch up on some older Anna Quindlen.
Look for more summer reading lists in next Wednesday’s issue of UNotes!
We asked faculty and staff from across the university to share their summer reading lists with us, and we are publishing their responses in a series of installments in UNotes. This is the second installment in the series.
Read last week’s list of summer book picks.
We’d love to know what’s on your summer reading list! If you would like to share it, please write to unotes@hartford.edu, and tell us what you’re reading this summer, and why.
In the meantime, if you’d like to know what some of your colleagues are reading, or if you’re looking for some recommendations to take to your local library or bookstore, read on.
Humphrey Tonkin, President Emeritus and University Professor
In the car I have been listening to Alec Guinness’s highly entertaining memoirs, Blessings in Disguise – and his frequent references to Charles Dickens have convinced me that it is time to read Dickens again, before he drops out of my head completely.
I’m also planning to read Karen Armstrong’s A History of God, which I did not read when it was first published ten years ago, but which has been on my list for a long time. And I suppose I must read Camille Paglia’s Break, Blow, Burn, in which she writes out her class notes from her undergraduate poetry courses (she was well taught and she is formidably bright, but has she no shame?).
On the plane coming back from Britain the other day, I read Matt Haig’s The Last Family in England, a novel narrated by an earnest and well-intentioned Labrador bent on defending his family from a band of hedonistic and morally bankrupt springer spaniels. I recommend it. While in Britain I went to an exhibition at the Tate Gallery called A Picture of Britain, about landscape and the British sense of place, a cooperative effort between the Tate and the BBC, complete with a television series. David Dimbleby has written a marvelously illustrated book to accompany both the exhibition and the TV series, and I am enjoying it immensely.
Belle Ribicoff, Board of Regents (Life Regent)
Snow, by Orhan Pamuk, an award-winning Turkish author, is a provocative book about the tug-of-war between religious and Islamist elements in a remote town in Turkey.
To Know a Woman, by Amos Oz – I read it because I much enjoyed his Fima earlier this year.
A must read: The Known World, by Edward P. Jones. It's an unforgettable book about black slave-owners in the pre-Civil-War south.
Before presenting an honorary degree to Gregory Rabassa (at Commencement in May), I read his memoir, If This be Treason, which illuminates the art of the translator and the challenges of translation.
Before introducing Paul Weidner, former director of the Hartford Stage Company, who is appearing here to introduce his first novel, I read it: Memoirs of a Dwarf at the Sun King's Court, a frolic about the lowlife (both literally and figuratively) of the circle of Louis XIV.
On tap: Aloft, by Chang-Rae Lee, and The Double, by Jose Saramago.
Cheryl Kloczko, Principal, University of Hartford Magnet School
I have a few books I hope to get to this summer:
Simple Justice by Richard Kluger, which is a book about Black America's struggle for equality and focuses on the history of Brown v Board of Education. Sheff v O'Neill and the development of magnet schools in Hartford is just one result of this historic case.
The Cardiac Cartel by David Mucci, a physician and parent of students attending the University of Hartford Magnet School. This is a suspense thriller where the setting of the story is a Connecticut hospital. A quick read for a day at the beach or sitting in the backyard.
Accountability for Learning by Doug Reeves, which focuses on accountability for student learning and how teachers and leaders can take charge by putting it all together: standards, assessment, and accountability.
School Reform by Richard Elmore, which examines school leadership, bridging the gap between standards and achievement, and the impact of professional development to make this happen.
I also love to read new books by children's authors, including picture books and chapter books. This becomes early holiday shopping.
Beverly Maksin, Vice President for Finance and Administration
I'm a mystery novel fan. I read several Archer Mayor books while on vacation recently: The Sniper's Wife, Open Season, and Bellows Falls.
David Goldenberg, Dean, Hillyer College
I have four books on my summer reading list.
At the top of the list is a book written by Hillyer College alum Darius Mehri. It is titled Notes From Toyota Land, and details his experiences working in Japan for Toyota. He's giving a lecture at the University of Hartford on October 25.
His Excellency: George Washington, by Joseph Ellis. I have this thing for the Founding Fathers. Greatness never gets tiring.
One Thousand Years of Painting, by Stefano Zuffi. I love art history and have to get my fix every summer. I love to understand what influences created a painting.
I Can See Clearly Now, the autobiography of Ryne Duren (pitcher for the NY Yankees). Frankly, I had never heard of him, but a friend sent me the book after meeting Duren and asked him to autograph it for me. I'm hoping this one will be a fun read.
Margery Steinberg, Associate Professor of Marketing, Barney School of Business
I have several marketing-related books that I plan to delve into over the summer:
Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture, by Sharon Zukin
Up Against Retail Giants, by A. Coskun Samli
I Want That: How We All Became Shoppers, by Thomas Hine
All Marketers are Liars, by Seth Godin
For light reading I hope to catch up on some older Anna Quindlen.
Look for more summer reading lists in next Wednesday’s issue of UNotes!
