The libraries polled UW faculty and staff to find out what books and movies they enjoyed recently. A selection of their favorite books follows. Later this week, we’ll look at favorite movies of 2008. Don’t see your favorite read? Tell us about it in the comments!
Lisa Muller, Office of Institutional Analysis:
Mountains beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder: excellent writing about a fascinating doctor.
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovski: I suspect our club wants to read more of Nemirovski’s work if there are good translations available – she wrote prior to World War II. This book was hidden for many years before being published ,I think first in French, and then translated beautifully into English.
Phil Holt, Modern & Classical Languages:
My favorite reading last year—and what I’ll be reading this summer too—is Sudoku Challenge. It’s a real page-turner.
Brenna Harkins, Coe Library Circulation Supervisor:
The Concubine by Norah Lofts
If you are interested in historical fiction, then you may have noticed the hot topic to write about these days is Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII. The infamous Boleyn family has made an appearance in many novels and television programs lately, most notably the Other Boleyn Girl and The Tudors on Showtime. However, this enigmatic woman and her family have peaked the interest of historians and novelists alike for years. The Concubine was written in the 1960s and although it is a less racy (dare I say less trashy?) version of the more popular Tudor histories of the moment, it is certainly more well-rounded and worth the read.
Kaijsa Calkins, English Reference and Instruction Librarian
Flight, by Sherman Alexie
This was an impulse purchase at the airport. I knew Alexie had a new book out, but hadn’t looked into it yet for some reason. I should just make it a point to go back a read everything he’s written, because it’s always awesome. Flight is different from anything else I’ve ever read, really. The main character, Zits, is a half-Indian, half-white foster kid in Seattle. He’s always in trouble and has a bad attitude, but is a really engaging, funny character. If somebody described the story to me, I’d think it sounded hokey and wouldn’t be interested, so I won’t get into much detail. Basically, Zits travels through time, jumping into the bodies of a variety of people in history. It’s all fascinating and surprisingly realistic. Seriously, this is good stuff and a quick read.
Hannah Durkee, Coe Library A/V:
Rice Without Rain by Mingfong Ho
Jinda is a young girl in Thailand working on her family farm. Her
family is faced with drought and her country is faced with political
unrest. Jinda meets a group of students from the city who want to
change the way she and her village have lived for generations. Rice
Without Rain asks the question “is there a right way to change a
society?”
Abigail Beaver, Coe Library Circulation Supervisor:
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
If you like Neil Gaiman you’ll probably like this author as well. He is great at creating dark, grimy and fantastic worlds filled with strange new characters. Perdido Street Station tells the tale of a scientist who is commissioned to find another means of flight and in the process unleashes a terrible creature who feeds on human consciousness. This book in particular brings forth amazing and scary imagery which will stay with you for a long time. You might want to leave the light on.
Rosanne Latimer, UW Libraries Development Office:
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Sorry I don’t know if it is fiction or whatever, I just know it has been
the best book I have read in the last 12 months! And I read a lot – at
least 3 books a month sometimes more!
Cass Kvenild, Distance Learning Librarian:
Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All 50 States by Pete Jordan
It’s been a long time since I washed dishes professionally, but I enjoyed reading about Jordan’s adventures in the back rooms of restaurants. His pared-back and unconventional approach to life is inspiring, as are the characters he meets.
Throw Like a Girl: Stories by Jean Thompson
I like short stories in the summer, my attention span seems shorter when it’s warm out. Thompson’s stories will appeal to fans of Miranda July through their dark perspective on relationships and their way of revealing the mysterious inner lives of the characters.
Shadow Mountain
