We were wondering what to read, so we asked the experts here on campus for their favorites. After much musing, they came up with an enticing list of approachable books. We’re running out to get them. So should you.
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Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare
Stephen Greenblatt
Recommended by Will Hamlin, Shakespeare scholar. A learned but highly readable book, says Hamlin. He recommends it to anyone who cares about Shakespeare, drama, or the nature of astonishing talent.
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The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
Simon Winchester
Recommended by Alice Spitzer, librarian. Spitzer loved the improbability of the situation--a man locked away in an insane asylum contributing more than 10,000 definitions and illustrative quotations for the Oxford English Dictionary. The book is well researched, beautifully written, and entertaining.
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Mote in God's Eye
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Recommended by Brian Tissot, environmental scientist, WSU Vancouver. This work of science fiction focuses on the first contact with an intelligent alien race and a culture much older than our own. It illuminates some interesting issues facing mankind.
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Lexicon of Musical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers since Beethoven's Time
Nicolas Slonimsky, Foreword by Peter Schickele
Recommended by Erich Lear, music specialist and dean, College of Liberal Arts. The author quotes music reviews written by critics who lived at the same time as the composers and performers. You can enter the book at any point, and it provides a lighter insight into all that "serious" music.
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Letters from Yellowstone
By Diane Smith
Recommended by Tonie Fitzgerald, WSU/Spokane County extension faculty. The novel follows a lone woman, an amateur botanist, in a party of authorities from the Smithsonian Institution. Her compelling story is told in letters and telegrams.
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Terroir: The Role of Geology, Climate and Culture in the Making of French Wines
By James E. Wilson
Recommended by Alan Busacca, soil scientist, geologist. Great and entertaining, though dense. It introduces the concept of terroir to American wine lovers.
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Master and Commander
By Patrick O'Brian
Recommended by Marina Tolmacheva, historian. A seafaring adventure set in the time of the Napoleonic wars, this book is the first in a series that offers a good tale rich with historical details.
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Bel Canto
By Ann Patchett
Recommended by Kim Barnes '85, writer, teacher, and Idaho's Writer in Residence. Barnes has been wanting to read this book for a long time "just for the level of craft, her ability to bring all these characters in one room and set them in motion."
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Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News
By Bernard Goldberg
Recommended by John Irby, professor of journalism who teaches news reporting, editing, and media ethics. Gives readers a better understanding of how the media work. Dan Rather is one of the chief characters Goldberg denounces.
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The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn
by Diane Ravitch
Recommended by Eric Anctil, mass media and education specialist. “It looks at how generic our American curriculum is becoming,” says Anctil. “We’re so afraid of offending anyone, we’re taking all the good stuff out.”
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Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
By Jared Diamond
Recommended by Karen Lupo, archaeologist. A good read for people interested in larger, big-picture type questions. Very entertaining!
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Evolutionary Psychology, the New Science of the Mind
By David M. Buss
Recommended by James Krueger, sleep researcher. Anyone interested in human or animal behavior will love this book. Students find it fascinating, in part due to the subjects covered, such as mate selection, sexual behavior, and war, and how evolution plays a role in how we behave.
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Walt Whitman, The Viking Portable Edition
Ed. by Malcolm Cowley
Recommended by Bob Scarfo, landscape architecture professor in Spokane. Whitman is one of the few individuals who see the urban environment and the country in a positive and constructive manner. His visceral interpretation of life is full of hope and appreciation.
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The Plot Against America
By Phillip Roth
Recommended by Leonard Orr, English, critical theory professor. A startlingly alternative version of American history, imagining the country with Charles Lindbergh as president and the U.S. forces not joining the Allies in World War II. The book is frightening and breathtaking.
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The Secret Life of Dust
By Hanna Holmes
Recommended by Candis Claiborn, interim dean, College of Engineering and Architecture, and atmosphere and particulate expert. The author traces all kinds of dust, from cosmic to volcanic to international pollution. She writes about how dust could have led to the demise of dinosaurs and how it might affect our own health. She does this in a way that brings out the personalities of scientists who study dust.
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The Goal
By Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox
Recommended by Pamela Henderson, business and marketing professor. A novel about a plant manager whose business is failing and whose marriage is falling apart. His efforts to make the plant profitable and bring the workers on board illustrate state-of-the-art management principles.
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Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol. 3
By Robert A. Caro
Recommended by Frederick Peterson, education professor who specializes in educational leadership. An accessible account of Johnson's rise to power in the senate, his use of that power, and his relationships with other influential people during his years as a leader in Congress.
