Annual Faculty Booklist

22nd Annual College Prep Faculty Book List

A pdf version of this list is available here. A cumulative list of faculty reviews from 1987 through 2007 (130 pages) can be downloaded here.

The Ancient World in the Cinema by Jon Solomon
Both a classical scholar and a film aficionado, Solomon combines these two passions in a highly readable treatment of how classical legend, history, and literature are adapted to film. Beginning with the silent era all the way through 2000's Gladiator, the chapters are arranged by genre: Greek and Roman history, ditto legend, the Bible, the ancient Orient, comedy, tragedy, and of course, "muscleman" films. Each chapter is named after one of the nine Muses (a nice touch). Fun even if you haven't seen most of the films mentioned. (P. Hamilton)

The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks by Donald Harington
Only ever so slightly about architecture, this story begins with the founding of a small town called StayMore by brothers Jacob and Noah Ingledew.   The narrative follows the founders and the rest of the Stay Morons through more than one hundred years of fitful progress (or prog ress, as the suspicious town folk refer to it).  The residents are by turns hilarious and infuriating. Harington has a lot of affection for this part of the country and the idiosyncratic people who live there. (B. Thomas)

Behind My Eyes by Li-Young Lee
I agree with our neighbor Maxine Hong Kingston that "Li-Young Lee writes miracles of poetry." He writes with equal clarity, confidence, and depth about both real-life and spiritual matters – for instance:

People have been trying to kill me since I was born,

a man tells his son, trying  to explain

the wisdom of learning a second tongue

(from "Immigrant Blues")

 and

 A lamp, so you can read the words on the tablet.

A hand to copy the sentences you find.

A hand for you to rest your head.

(from "Standard Checklist for Amateur Mystics")

 Slowing down to read Li-Young Lee is well worth the time we spend on his lines. (J. Faggi)

 

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
Like Empire Falls, the other Russo novel I have read, this one is a long, compelling family saga that spans a couple of generations – perfect for listening to on a long car ride. (N. Steele)

Collapse by Jared Diamond
I picked this book up off of a friend's bookshelf and I thought, "No way; too thick and scholarly for summer reading".   But the chapter headings caught my interest: The Anasazi, Easter Island, the Greenland Norse, and many others; all ancient mysteries of vanished civilizations.  So I thought, OK, I'll just skim the chapter about the Anasazi, still curious about these mysterious people after visiting Chaco Canyon many years before.  I wanted to find out what had happened to them.  I was entranced with the Diamond's storytelling as he related the historical narrative of the civilization's rise and fall, and by his description of the ingenious archeological methodology used to reconstruct a story so long silent.  It grabbed me.  I ended up reading, cover to cover with enthusiasm, the stories of past societal collapses and successes, as well as the author's sobering reflections on similar patterns in our own society. Diamond invites us to look across time at the temporal nature of human civilization, so dependant on the choices we make.  (C. Neifeld)

 The Double Helix by James Watson
After decades of hearing about this book (the bio teachers were recommending it when I was a student at College Prep), I finally sat down to read it.  Watson's writing is breezy – I finished it in a couple of BART rides.  It chronicles Watson and Crick's discovery of the structure of DNA. The existence of DNA had been know for almost a century but it was unclear what, if any, importance it had to genetics. Watson and Crick bet that it was important and by determining the structure showed how it encoded genetic information.  The book is a classic example of how science works.  Progress came in bursts, with long periods of frustration in between.  The duo did not have all the pieces by themselves and had to wheel and deal to get fresh data from other researchers.  They were motivated both by curiosity and the desire to be the cleverest which meant they could be quite noble or quite petty, depending on the circumstance.  It's a gripping read and well deserving of the title "classic". (J. Sensabaugh)

 Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations by Georgina Howell
This book is the fascinating story of an English woman - independently wealthy, socially connected, highly intelligent, and well educated - who indulged her passion for the desert. Fluent in Arabic and Persian, she financed her treks by camel caravan across the Middle East, meeting sheiks and danger. These experiences in the early part of the 20th century earned her respect within the British government and among Arabian princes and tribal chiefs so much so that she became a key player in the negotiations which led to the creation of today's Middle Eastern states. She lived out her life in Iraq and is buried near the Euphrates in her beloved Baghdad. (J. de Vries)

 The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
I thoroughly enjoyed this retelling of the true story of Dr. John Snow's use of data gathered door-to-door in mid-nineteenth century London to show that cholera is spread, not by bad air or smells, but by polluted water.  Without being melodramatic, the book conveys sympathy for the sufferers and admiration for Dr. Snow and others involved in the stubborn, brave search for medical truth.  Johnson also connects the period in numerous ways with our own times and invites us to ponder our assumptions about knowledge and progress. (D. Munro)

Grab On to Me Tightly as If I Knew the Way by Bryan Charles
I loved the narrator's voice in this gritty, raunchy, funny coming-of-age story. To me, Charles captures authentically what it is like to be inside the head and heart of a disenchanted 18-year-old boy. Warning: lots of foul language. (N. Steele)

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Tortilla Curtain by T. C.  Boyle
Both of these books are about the immigrant experience in California. The stories take place about 70 years apart. Not much has changed! (A. Knudsen)

 The Guernsey Literary and Potato-Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
I have shared this new epistolary novel with many friends and colleagues, and without exception all have loved it! It has admirable characters, good humor, local color, fresh insight into WWII and its aftermath, and a nifty love story. A perfect read for long plane trips, sleepless nights, and leisure moments. (J. Crisman)

 Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford
The man is crazy!  But lucky for us his journey there is an interesting one.  His interest in cooking, weekend parties for friends primarily, takes on a whole new level when Mario Batali is invited as a guest at one of the parties.  The two men strike up a friendship – sort of – and our author makes a deal to “intern” at Batali’s three-star restaurant, Babbo.  Soon he learns just how much he doesn’t know about cooking.  (C. Peterson)

Inventing Late Night: Steve Allen and the Original Tonight Show by Ben Alba
This one makes me yearn for the long-destroyed archival film of Allen's serendipitous rise to fame as host of one of the first blockbuster late night television shows. Self-educated, a child of vaudeville and radio, Allen gathered a troupe of  musicians, comedians, and media innovators that eventually knocked The Ed Sullivan Show out of its comfortable #1 ratings spot. The Tonight show was the inspiration, if not the source, of today's successful "talk show" format (he invented the "man on the street" spot before wireless technology existed). A nostalgic, surprising, and very funny history. (P. Hamilton)

 Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
It’s briny!  It’s brisk!  It’s peaty!  It’s Scotland in 1751 and in the midst of some serious tartan upheaval, an orphaned young man is sold (by a slime-ball kinsman) to an unscrupulous sea captain.  A rousing tale with loads of rushing through soggy heather as the boy and his Jacobite buddy avoid the British troops.  In addition to being a really good adventure story, Kidnapped also meditates on the terror of slavery, the prospect of being shipped out to the American colonies, and the myriad fevers and illnesses that beset the boy (the often ill Stevenson certainly could testify to the experience of sickness).  Some of the details of the story’s historical situation (Highland clans, the crown’s allegiances, etc) were not as interesting to me, but I was there for the adventure and the landscape and Kidnapped certainly delivers on both counts.  A quick and fun read for both older and younger kids. (K. Kordich)

The Maytrees by Annie Dillard
This is a slim but dense novel to read slowly and then to read again - even more slowly.  I quote proudly from a review by Liza Flum, class of '06: "Her sentences read like passages of verse; each period releases an image and concludes a musical phrase. The Maytrees has a simple plot: it follows Lou and Toby Maytree from courtship to death. Dillard never answers the Maytrees' questions on love, marriage, and enlightenment. Instead, she shows something true: the way people exchange ideas, draw on them for sustenance, and finally let go. This  book expands with age; the characters expand with age; they teach us how to grow up." (J. Faggi)

The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith
This is the latest installment of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, featuring Mma Ramotswe and many more delightful characters.  In this novel several mysteries run throughout: a medical one regarding a possible cure, another involving the search for blood relatives of a woman who was adopted as a baby, and yet a third mystery involving troubling letters with menacing language that arrive at the agency office. The latter mystery isn't just who is sending the letters but also to whom exactly the letters are being sent.  Are they for Mma Ramotswe, or are they for her colleague, Mma Makutsi?  Of course, you'll know by the end of the novel. (E. Keas)

Mr. Pip by Lloyd Jones
This is the best novel I have read in a long, long time. It is about a lot of things – growing up, war, poverty, loss – and for me, most significantly, about the importance to the narrator of reading a great, albeit unlikely, book. The writing and pacing are exquisite. (N. Steele)

 My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor
Jill Taylor is a brain research scientist who at the age of 37 had a major stroke. Her book is an extraordinary combination of well-explained science for the lay person and deeply personal and complete recounting of the details of her experience of the stroke and of being a patient. Everyone should read this book or buy it to hold for when you want to be of help to a loved one who has had a stroke or other major illness that requires hospitalization. Her awareness of the thought processes and needs of the patient is enlightening. (G. Garlinghouse)

Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny Le Couteur & Jay Burreson
Nicely written and fun stuff to learn about. I'm more ready now for Trivial Pursuit, the Science Edition.  Very cool stories; no big time science background necessary. (J. Coakley)

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
I respect this writer and teach Saturday in my Modern Fiction seminar. Many of you may have read his book Atonement or seen the film version. This recent short novel is McEwan at his best. It is a story of young love in the 1950's, thwarted by apprehensions and expectations. (J. Crisman)

 A Pig in Provence by Georgeanne Brennan
For those of you who love books about Provence and cooking, here's a new one. While it lacks some of the humor and sparkle of Peter Mayle, it strikes me as more realistic, and it contains some intriguing recipes for such dishes as bouillabaisse, soupe au pistou, and gigot d'agneau. (J. Crisman)

 A Romance on Three Legs by Katie Hafner
If you love music – particularly piano music – you'll find this book about Glenn Gould's quest for the perfect instrument fascinating.  I loved learning about the special – often tempestuous – relationship that Gould had with his piano tuners as well as with the Steinway Company.  Gould's personal quirkiness, his musical genius, and his special affinity with Bach are all highlighted.  As you are reading, make sure you listen to recordings of Gould playing the Goldberg Variations! (S. Barzilay)

Shiraishisan Working in the Co-op / Seikyō no Shiraishi san / 生協の白石さん by Shiraishi Masanori (in Japanese)
This book reveals lives of university students in Japan through one kind warm hearted customer service agent, Mr. Shiraishi.  He answers all kinds of demands students makes with humor and wit.  Some of the complaints and requests from students are outrageous.  According to Mr. Shiraishi, the most popular request from students is to sell units at the students' co-op store.  It was fun to read and heartwarming, but I am so glad that I am done with my education.  (A. Morse)

 Sister of the Road: The Autobiography of Boxcar Bertha by Dr. Ben Reitman
This is a fictional memoir of a created woman whose wanderlust and iconoclastic nature inspire her to take to the rails and the roads of America.  Secretly authored and published in 1937 by Reitman – whose political street cred is partly established by his being a longtime lover of and comrade to Emma Goldman – Sister of the Road is an absolutely unsentimental buffet of “hobohemian” philosophy, love, sex, drugs, communes, prison, and parenthood.  My own take is that Reitman created Boxcar Bertha so as to have an authentic-seeming voice speak to issues that affected women (such as birth control and its perceived cousin, free love).  Sister of the Road’s content is brutal at times (though, let’s face it, the Bible has some rough stuff, too).  One of the more interesting elements of the story is its depiction of political speakers who stir rallies into frenzies; though married to their asexual politics, these guys exude sex appeal (think Karl Marx combined [finally!] with Usher).  Sister of the Road is a riveting artifact of politically radical America. (K. Kordich)

Suits Me:  The Double Life of Billy Tipton by Diane Wood Middlebrook
Dorothy Tipton was a gifted musician who wanted desperately to be a “jazz man”: to jam, to sit in, to be a professional musician, to barn storm, to not be a novelty in a band.  In the 1930s, this was an impossible dream for a musician in a skirt, so she gave suits a try and began to call herself “Billy” (after her father, who subsequently disowned her).  When Billy Tipton died in 1989, there were five or so wives, three adopted sons, two albums, and a lot of questions left unanswered.  In addition to being a biography of an extraordinarily adored person, this is a history of swing music, a jazz geography, a meditation on gender roles and performance, a how-did-he-do-it, and a white knuckler of passing (Tipton was nearly exposed many times).  Middlebrook’s biography of Tipton is extremely well researched and well written. (K. Kordich)

 A Team Of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
A wonderful book on Lincoln's political journey to the Presidency.  This was a great book to read in this election year with many parallels to the current campaign of Obama.  From his protests against the trumped-up war with Mexico in 1846 which almost cost Lincoln his political career, to his underdog victory at the Republican Convention and the national crisis of slavery and Civil War which he was thrown into, this is an amazing book. (K. Patzner)

 Uncertainty by David Lindley
A very engaging look at the dialog and idea exchange among the principle science minds involved in the development of quantum mechanical theory – Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, and Einstein among them – in the early 1900s.  I love this era of physical chemistry, and enjoy sharing the conundrums with my students. (J. Coakley)

Writing Books for Boys and Girls:  A Young Wings Anthology of Essays by Two Hundred Sixteen Authors Who Tell How They Came to Write Their Special Kinds of Books for Young Readers
Edited by Helen Ferris and a committee of another four editors of the Junior Literary Guild, among whom is Eleanor Roosevelt.  Both Ferris and Roosevelt are among the contributing authors.  There are three sections:  writing for 6- to 8-year-olds, for 9- to 11-year-olds, and for 12- to 16-year-olds.  This is a used book from the early 1950's that I came across this summer.  A number of these writers received the American Library Association's awards for children's books, the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal. (E. Keas)

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
What if Jewish refugees moved to a temporary settlement in Sitka, Alaska after the fictional collapse of Israel in 1948? Michael Chabon creates an alternative reality, complete with Alaskan-Jewish culture and Yiddish slang.  This story follows detective Meyer Landsman as he investigates the death of a young chess prodigy; all the while this temporary Jewish state is on the verge of reverting back to Alaska control after 60 years of independence. I loved this fast-paced humorous detective story and was thrilled by the descriptive, mind-twisting sentences. If you like Michael Chabon's writing, you will enjoy this latest novel from him. (M. Chen)

 The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
This is the tragic true story of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, the zookeepers of the world-renowned Warsaw Zoo during World War II.  Diane Ackerman previously wrote A Natural History of the Senses and clearly knows her biology.   But this is a message about doing what is right.  During the war, the Zabinskis used the zoo to shelter many Jews from the Holocaust.  The real story is Antonina, her love of animals, how she ran “the household” and cared for her son, all while keeping the Germans at bay and protecting many of their friends, their “guests” at the zoo.   Their story is interspersed with chapters discussing the devastation that Poland and Warsaw suffered during the war; the Zabinskis ultimately survived and were able to re-open the zoo after the war.  But it would never be the same again. (B. Shellem)