Teacher’s Picks – March 2009
1. Mary Abinante recommends
Three Cups of Tea by Mortensen because it shows what can happen when one is open to and respectful of people and cultures – and what one person can accomplish with determination and love.
Recently enjoyed reading The Secret Cardinal by Grace.
2. Jason Beyer, SJ says
That if he were stranded on a desert island and had only one book to read, it would be answered by a flip of the coin between Anna Karenina by Tolstoy and Poverty of the Spirit by Johann Baptist Metz.
Recommends The Shrine at Alta Mira because it is a fine book – is forgiveness possible? What can happen in a relationship when one person commits and the other plays it safe, holding back true love?
Recently has read Jeremiah by Dan Berrigan SJ and God without Being by Marion.
3. Linda Boyd recommends
Crooked Little Heart by Lamott because it touches on a family struggling with different issues with the mother, stepfather, and 13 year-old daughter. It’s both funny and suspenseful.
Recently read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.
If stranded on a desert island would read Hard Laughter by Lamott.
4. Tony Calvello has recently enjoyed reading
The Given Day by Lahane. This is a great historical novel set in the early 20th Century tracing the events leading up to the Boston Police Strike and riots of 1919. This book rivals Ragtime as a Must Read for students of American History. Lahane weaves three stories together in alternating chapters. Racial tensions, family dynamics, big city politics and economic strife all come to life with vivid characters and colorful dialogue.
5. Gillian Clements recommends
Any Barbara Kingsolver book because she has a wonderful way of integrating discussion of our earth and real stories. Bean Trees, Animal Dreams are favorites.
Has recently enjoyed reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Kingsolver.
6. Jim Dekker recommends
Three Cups of Tea by Mortenson because it celebrates one man’s personal mission to bring education to impoverished Pakistan and because his wife loved it!
Has recently enjoyed reading Alive in Necropolis by Dorst and Somebody, The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando by Kanfer.
If stranded on a desert island would like to read Absalom, Absalom by Faulkner because it will take him years to completely understand it.
7. Chris Delaney recommends
Dreams From My Father by Obama because it brings up so many aspects of everyone’s family.
“Love it”!
8. Kate Denning
Has recently enjoyed reading Sea of Poppies by Ghosh.
Recommends Angle of Repose by Stegner.
If stranded on a desert island, would read Great Expectations by Dickens.
9. Terry Dillon has recently enjoyed reading
MoloKai by Brennert.
10. Shelley Friedman recommends
Everything written by Walter Mosley. He writes mysteries set in Watts, Ca. I recommend him because his prose is fabulous and his characters plausible and endearing. Although his books are set in Los Angeles in the 1950s and 60s, they are indispensible for understanding current tensions in Oakland. Start with any book except Blind Faith – it’s the last in the Easy Rawlins series.
11. Bill Gotch recommends
The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway alongside Mrs. Dalloway by Woolf. Or Among the Thugs by Buford alongside Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Thompson with Positively 5th Street by McManus. He recommends these pairings because you can truly see how fiction is supposed to be built brick-by-brick in the genre of Modernism, or watch New Journalism mastered and actually become Post-Modern.
If stranded on a desert island, would read Darkness at Noon by Koestler.
Recently enjoyed reading Team of Rivals by Goodwin.
12. Abram Jackson recommends
Sister Souljah’s Midnight which is the prequel to the Coldest Winter Ever. Sister Souljah has a way of engaging the reader in an exciting yet thoughtful journey through the stories of memorable characters in the urban landscape of New York. Midnight has the power to capture one’s imagination to lose sleep for days in the name of a good story.
Recently enjoyed The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Diaz.
13. Bill Haardt recommends
Hot, Flat & Crowded by Friedman, because this book will educate you about the world we live in and the hope of a truly Green Economy which transcends our political, economic, social and religious divisions.
14. Carol Hall recommends
Thousand Splendid Suns by Hosseini because it is well-written and exposes two very different women’s lives. It’s an interesting read that speaks of sisterhood and a grueling existence for two women in Afghanistan.
Recently enjoyed Never Cry Wolf by Mowat.
If stranded on a desert island would read Tess of the d’Urbevilles by Hardy.
15. Kate Kodros recommends
Straight Man by Russo because it is hilarious!
If stranded on a desert island would read Man’s Search for Meaning by Frankl.
Recently I enjoyed reading Out Stealing Horses by Petterson.
16. Roselva Lozano recommends
Souls of Black Folk by Du Bois
If stranded on a desert island would read any book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Has recently read and loved….The Twilight series by Meyer.
17. Hillary McKinney recommends
It’s not about the Bike: my journey back to life by Armstrong.
I’ve recently enjoyed A Walk in the Woods by Bryson.
If stranded on a desert island would read The Fountainhead by Rand.
18. Owen Maguire recommends
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Wolfe, because it is a great window into the 1960’s counterculture and covers Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters in their pre-Jackass, Punk’d, and Tom Green glory messing with the minds of the American establishment.
Recently enjoyed reading Letters Back to Ancient China by Rosendorfer and The Godfather by Puzo.
19. Paul Maychrowitz recommends
Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Seife.
The Essential Ellison: a 50 Year Retrospective by Ellison; his command of language is phenomenal…one of the best American modern authors.
Recently enjoyed reading Fool Moon; book 2 of The Dresden Files, a cool sci-fi/fantasy series set in the modern day.
20. Nora Miller recommends
The Alienist by Carr because mystery novels are fun to read. This novel is especially interesting because not only does it delve into the mystery of crime, but it incorporates so much historical flavor of turn of the century New York City. Real life historical figures are characters along with a detective who uses the best science of his time to stop a brutal serial killer.
Recently enjoyed reading Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by Sedaris.
If stranded on a desert island, and only had one book to read, it would be an anthology of Jane Austen novels. One can never tire of Pride and Prejudice.
21. Carole Nickolai says
If stranded on a desert island, and only had one book to read, it would be The Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver.
Recently enjoyed A Mercy by Morrison and Four Queens by Goldstone.
Recommends Purple Hibiscus by Adichie because it’s a compelling story about a young woman growing up in Nigeria. It’s a wonderful window into a different culture, yet it describes some of the same struggles young people feel as they confront evil in the world.
22. Adrian O’Keefe recommends
The Autobiography of Malcolm X because he think it’s important, as Americans, to try and understand how race shapes America, and doesn’t think you an do that without reading this book.
If stranded on a desert island would read To Kill A Mockingbird by Lee.
Recently enjoyed reading The Road by McCarthy.
23. Elizabeth Purcell says
If stranded on a desert island and only had one book to read it would be Angle of Repose by Stegner and the complete works of Arthur Miller!
Recently read The Last Days of Dogtown by Diamont and North River by Hamill.
Recommends Zelda by Milford because biographies are a wonderful way to learn history. The book is the story of F.Scott Fitzgerald’s wife. Of course you can’t read about Zelda without reading about Scott and the life and times of many American writers of the 1920s. It was a truly fabulous time in American history.
24. Carol Quattrin enjoys reading magazines
Two favorites are Archeology and a literature magazine called The Sun.
25. Barbara Talavan enjoys listening to books on tape
Recently finished One Good Turn by Atkinson and I Feel Bad About My Neck by Ephron.
Currently listening to Portrait in Sepia by Allende
26. Michelle Wynn says
If stranded on a desert island, would read Catcher in the Rye by Salinger.
Recommends Into the Wild for the suspense and tragic true story that it is;
A Walk in the Woods by Bryson for its humor and geographic and historical dialogue; Pride and Prejudice by Austen because it’s a classic story; The Little Prince because we should always keep some of our innocence; Narcissus and Goldman by Hesse for the philosophy; and Travels with Charley by Steinbeck because Charley is a cool road trip dog and Steinbeck is a master.