Recommended Reading from Alums
On Saturday, March 31, Library 515 was overflowing with enthusiastic and voracious readers. The English major alums from the Class of l941 to the Class of l999 who gathered for a presentation by Professor Diana Postlethwaite on "Recreational Reading" had plenty of their own recommendations for great reading. Thanks to all of you who shared their ideas!
Here are the books our alumni "class" of March 31 recommends:
RECOMMENDED READING 101: ALUMNI PICK THEIR FAVORITES
Allen, Grant, An African Millionaire (Randy Cox, '59)
Argueta, Manuel, One Day of Life (Judith Stoutland, '54)
Baldwin, James, Giovannni's Room (Christopher McCarty)
Bateson, Mary Catherine, Composing a Life (Nancy Shaw, '80)
Binchy, Maeve, Tara Road (Mary Rathbun, '56)
Boyd, Brian, Nabokov's Pale Fire (Nick Cody, '94)
Byatt, A. S., Possession (Jean Ditmanson, '41)
Chandler, Raymond, The Lady in the Lake (Eric Hanson, '77)
Chevalier, Tracy, Girl with the Pearl Earring (Katherine Reilly, '98)
De Bernieres, Louis, Corelli's Mandolin (Katherine Reilly, '98)
Durant, Will and Ariel, Caesar and Christ (Herbert Stellner, '50)
Esquirel, Laura, Like Water for Chocolate (Katherine Horton, '99)
Frayn, Michael, Headlong (Patricia Bauer, '76)
Gabaldon, Diana, Outlander (Katherine Henz, '98)
Golden, Arthur, Memoirs of a Geisha (Melissa Graner, '96)
Gopnik, Adam, Paris to the Moon (Patricia Bauer, '76)
Graham, Katherine, Personal History (Katherine Jacobson, '56)
Irving, John, A Prayer for Owen Meany (Amy Fuller, '96)
Ishiguro, Kazuo, When We Were Orphans (Chris Folke, '85)
James McBride, The Color of Water (Marilyon Tiede, '60)
Kay, Guy Gavriel, Tigana (Becky Gravrock Willenbring, '98)
Kingsolver, Barbara, Animal Dreams (Barbara Evans, '70)
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible (Holly Welch, '91; Ann Sorebo, '90)
Krueger, William Kent, Purgatory Ridge (Carole Engblom)
Lahiri, Jhumpa, Interpreter of Maladies
Mann, Thomas, The Confessions of Felix Krull (David Feider, '84)
McCarthy, Cormac, The Crossing (Chris Folke, '85)
McGee, Allison, Shadow Baby (Steve Swanson, '54)
Morgan, Patti Jones, Island Soul (Lisa Knutson Hamnes, '79)
Orwell, George, Homage to Catalonia (Christopher McCarty)
Pollan, Michael, Second Nature
Power, J.S., Morte d'Urban (Eric Hanson, '77)
Reily, Benedict, Drink to the Bird (Graham Frear, '47)
Reily, Benedict, The Wave Behind Us (Graham Frear, '47)
Ross, Ann B., Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind (Rebecca Anders, '73)
Russo, Richard, Straight Man (Leah Peck, '99)
Stegner, Wallace, Angle of Repose (Schele Gislason, '90)
Thirkell, Angela, the Barset books (start with High Rising) (Patricia Bauer, '76)
Vreeland, Susan, Girl in Hyacinth Blue (Lisa Knutson Hamnes, '79)
Walker, Alice, The Third Life of Grange Copeland (Mary Fabel, '75)
Windhester, Simon, The Professor and the Madman (Pam Sherwood-Gabrielson, '73)
