Each summer, TIMES asks University of South Carolina faculty and staff members, "What books do you plan to read this summer?" Here are the answers for summer 2006:


"The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald. I am in the process of reading this and love it. I am in the slow-down phase, near the end, and not wanting it to end. This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Holmes. The Place You Love Is Gone: Progress Hits Home by Melissa Holbrook Pierson. Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman by Alice Steinbach. A Year in the World: Journey of A Passionate Traveler by Frances Mayes. And Hard Truth by Nevada Barr."
----Cynthia Colbert, Sarah Bolick Smith Professor of Fine Arts and chair elect, art


"I just finished Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray, which I would recommend to anyone interested in this region's ecology and excellent writing. Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat is next for me because I found his perspective on globalization and world politics in The Lexus and the Olive Tree totally absorbing and I am looking forward to learning what new insights he has."
----Penelope Holme, public information coordinator, USC Beaufort


"I read some 15,000 pages a year, but here are some titles that are special favorites or that I've recently read: The Codex Millionaire by Douglas Preston, story of a father who dies, leaving three worthless sons a legacy hidden in the jungles of Central America. Giotto's Hand by Iain Pears, an 'art history mystery' by the master. Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James, a typical murder mystery to be appreciated for its references to Beowulf. The Bradbury Chronicles by Sam Weller, biography of the bizarre man himself, who ate only hamburgers, Campbell's tomato soup, and his mother's Swedish meatballs; still alive and writing his macabre tales. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, speaks for itself: a lightning bolt out of a clear blue sky. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, a classic. The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy by Charles R. Morris, a brilliantly written book. Shakespeare: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd, an excellent book I finished reading April 23, on the anniversary of the Bard's birth and death."
----Scott Gwara, professor, English


"Marilynne Robinson's Gilead was by far the best novel I read last year. This summer I'm looking forward to reading her first book, Housekeeping. I'm working on a fall exhibit on George V. Higgins, a crime writer whose papers we have in Rare Books and Special Collections, so I've been working my way through his novels. Also on my summer short list: Vegetarian America: A History by Karen and Michael Iacobbo, the first cultural history of vegetarianism in America. And, of course, some books about books: Book Row: An Anecdotal and Pictorial History of the Antiquarian Book Trade Marvin Mondlin and Roy Meador, about a now-lost neighborhood of bookstores in 20th-century New York. And No Longer Innocent: Book Art in America, 1960-1980 by Betty Bright."
----Jeffrey Makala, assistant librarian, Rare Books and Special Collections, Thomas Cooper Library


"I think a good companion for a coastal getaway would be a 1997 nonfiction book I return to periodically: The Circle of Simplicity, Return To The Good Life by Cecile Andrews. Andrews is a Stanford Ph.D. and former community college administrator in Seattle who in the late 1980s became a leader in the voluntary simplicity movement. The movement seeks to help people build 'lives of high satisfaction and low environmental impact while discovering a way of living that brings joy and fulfillment.'"
----Marshall Swanson, senior writer, USC Publications


"My summer reading plans include Wicked. I saw the Broadway play and would love to read the book. I also plan to read everything about health issues/indicators and their impact on university academic success and retention in preparation for my dissertation defense."
----Deborah Beck, director, Student Health Services


"I liked When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka. It's the story of a young family uprooted from their home in California and displaced in a Japanese internment camp in Utah during World War II. It's sparsely written from five viewpoints: the narrator, the son, daughter, and wife of the family, and the father, upon his return. The book was less than 150 pages, and I found it interesting and somewhat disturbing at the same time. I read it on the recommendation of Fred Miller, a friend and University library supporter who has also recommended several other titles I've enjoyed."
----Sej Harman, student services coordinator, College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management


"I recommend My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. It's heavy reading for the summer but definitely worth the time. The story evolves around Anna, a young teen who is the primary blood and bone marrow donor for her sister, Kate. Eventually, Kate, who suffers from leukemia, needs a kidney, and Anna is the perfect match. Anna hires an attorney, Campbell Alexander, to stop her parents from forcing her to donate blood, bone marrow, and even a life-saving organ. With this added stress of Anna taking a legal stand, the family is split apart. The story is told from each family member's perspective, which enables the reader to identify with each character."
----Carol Ann Knoche, business manager, Printing Services


"I just finished Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain, which I highly recommend. It's a New York Times best seller that was published in 2000 and is available in paperback. The book is very entertaining but has some heavy language and subject matter. It's definitely for adults. Bourdain is a chef, and the book is his memoir. He also provides a lot of insider information that gives a revealing view of what it's really like to be a chef and to work in the cooking business, from dishwasher up to executive chef."
----Tom Prewett, director of public relations, USC Sumter


"I'm a big fan of Dorothy Benton Frank, who has two new books that I haven't read yet: Pawleys Island and Full of Grace. I've read all of her other four books (Isle of Palms, Shem Creek, Plantation, and Sullivan's Island). All of her books are set in South Carolina; she's a South Carolina girl who was raised on Sullivan's Island. Her books are populated by characters who come across as real people that you come to think of as your best friends."
----Joyce Riley, manager of classification and compensation, Human Resources


"I plan to read Tom Robbins' new book, Wild Ducks/Flying Backwards because I love everything he writes beginning with Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. I also plan to read The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn, because author James Burke says it is about the psychology of baseball, and with our new sports programs at Salk, I feel a need to get a handle on that."
----Jane Brewer, director, Walterboro, associate dean, student services, USC Salkehatchie


"I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, because it was recommended to me. Ayn Rand is a terrific writer, and I would recommend this book to anyone. I still have 500 pages to go, but if I finish by the end of the summer, I plan on reading either Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, or The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand."
----Jeff Wicker, assistant baseball coach and student recruiter, USC Salkehatchie


"The three books I have on my agenda to read this summer are The Pat Conroy Cookbook, Recipes of My Life. If this man writes it, I will read it. He has a way with words that even a small town redneck can appreciate. The bad thing about Conroy is he takes too long between books. That could be why he is go good. I plan to read Robert Jordan's Knife of Dreams, Book 11 of the Wheel of Time series. Fantasy at its best. The second best fantasy series after Lord of the Rings. I also want to read George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows, the last book of this series. I got into this one several years ago waiting on Robert Jordan's next one to arrive on the scene. The first book in this series was excellent, A Game of Thrones, so I have to complete the series."
----Charles (Bubba) Dorman, head baseball coach, USC Salkehatchie


"I am currently reading A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby."
----Ahmed Samaha, director, Student Activities, USC Aiken


"I'm reading two books right now: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (2005) by Steven D Levitt and Stephen Dubner, and The Crying of Lot 49 (1967) by Thomas Pynchon. The second one is a re-read."
----Braden J. Hosch, director, Office of Institutional Effectiveness, USC Aiken


"I borrowed The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman, from a friend during a trip to Spain. As nonfiction, it's completely different from the usual type of English-major books I typically read and will be a great challenge."
----Mary L. Hjelm, associate professor of English, USC Salkehatchie


"I am just getting to The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. I love her books. I even got my 17-year-old to read Picoult's My Sister's Keeper! I am 'anxiously' awaiting Laura Lippman's new novel, No Good Deeds. Lippman's stories take place in Baltimore, Maryland, my hometown."
----Maria Chandler, director, Human Resources/AAO, USC Aiken


"I'm reading two books this summer: one for fun, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero by David Maraniss, and one for professional development, Essentials of Enrollment Management: Cases in the Field by Jim Black (editor)."
----Andrew H. Hendrix, director of admissions, USC Aiken


"I am just finishing Kent Haruf's novel Eventide."
----Suzanne Ozment, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, USC Aiken


"Right at the moment, I am reading The Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster (Harcourt, 2006), the rather belated sequel to Kaye Gibbon's highly successful coming-of-age novel Ellen Foster. I am also about to reread Carrying the Torch (Nebraska, 2005), the latest short story collection by Brock Clarke, who will be the featured writer in the Oswald Distinguished Writers Series at USC Aiken this fall. Although Clarke now teaches at the University of Cincinnati, these stories are set in South Carolina and Georgia during a period that Clarke was teaching at Clemson. All of the students in USC Aiken's Freshman Year Seminar this fall will be reading 'Geronimo,' one tale from this collection."
----Tom Mack, professor and chair, English, USC Aiken


"I've just begun reading Fast Food Nation again."
----Stephanie M. Foote, director, Academic Success Center and First-Year Experience, USC Aiken


"When I'm reading for personal pleasure, I love learning more about history and culture. So far this summer I've read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, which is a compelling, fictionalized tale of Dinah, daughter of the Old Testament's Leah and Jacob, and her life as a girl and woman during that era. I've also recently read Elie Wiesel's Night, an account of his harrowing experiences in the German concentration camps and his struggles for survival, not only of body, but also of hope and faith. I've also begun reading David McCullough's 1776 and Charles C. Mann's 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, as well as Jimmy Carter's Our Endangered Values, which explores issues of church and state and how the trend of integrating these is shaping domestic and foreign policy. My guilty pleasures for the summer? I've just read Dean Koontz' Velocity and Dan Brown's Deception Point (both out in paperback), which are fun page-turners. And I've begun reading Stephen King's Cell. My husband turned me onto Stephen King years ago, and I am intrigued by his descriptions of everyday people facing their fears in atrociously dark situations."
----Chrissy Coley, retention and planning


"Some of these titles I've read, some are stacked and waiting to be read, and one--Not a Good Day to Die--is about half finished. I read at night some but mostly on weekends when I travel and on vacation. I often read while watching golf, a ballgame, or a movie unless it is something 'heavy.' And I like to finish one book before beginning another. My list includes: Blink--The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell; I enjoyed this one and am looking forward to reading his other bestseller, The Tipping Point. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. The Language War, Robin Tolmach Lakoff, 'shows that the struggle for power and status at the end of the century is being played out as a war over language.' Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Moments of Truth by Jan Carlzon, a discussion of the real meaning of quality and customer service. Duty First: West Point and the Making of American Leaders by Ed Ruggero. Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, which the publisher calls 'an interesting read for any one remotely interested in selling, marketing, or in understanding why they sometimes get roped in to say 'yes' when they wish they had said no!' Not a Good Day to Die by Sean Naylor, is about the war in Afghanistan's biggest battle. Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson. The Great Raid on Cabanatuan: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor by William B. Breuer, billed as 'a riveting account of [a] rescue mission and the gallant soldiers who carried it out against overwhelming odds.' The Grand Slam: Bobby Jones, America and the Game of Golf by Mark Frost."
----Brad Choate, vice president for University Advancement


"Here's a quick list of summer reading that I'd like to do (if I'm not too busy with the baby I'm expecting this summer): Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh; Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart; and Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala. All are novels set in fascinating places where I'd like to travel someday: South America, India, Russia, and West Africa."
----Alexa Maddox, Honors College


"The writer I would like to recommend is Ron Rash. He has published three novels and several volumes of poetry. As you can imagine, his prose is written in a very graceful and poetic style. His first novel is called One Foot in Eden. It is very suspenseful but also very profound with characters you will remember and reflect about long after you have read the last page. His second novel is Saints at the River, which was featured on Radio Reader last year. Rash's latest novel is The World Made Straight, which came out in April. He read from this book at the S.C. Humanities Book Festival this spring, and the audience members were on the edge of their seats as the story unfolded. Rash's poetry, unlike some modern poetry, is quite accessible and usually at least somewhat narrative."
----Nancy Washington, public information coordinator, libraries


"The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult, is one of the most life-altering books I have read in a long time. It is a haunting mystery novel that follows a family through the crisis of rape and murder with an in-depth look at family bonds, teenage angst, Dante's Inferno, and Eskimo culture with all of this interpreted through the eyes of a comic action developer. Turning Angel by Greg Iles, is a murder mystery delving into the age-old question, 'Can a middle aged man really fall in love with a high-school senior?' It also discusses race relations, politics, and drug dealing in the old South with a cultural diversity twist provided by a foreign exchange student from Croatia. The 5th Horseman by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, is a murder mystery in a hospital setting with a real look at how financial constraints can set up interesting quality of care issues. As with any James Patterson novel, there is a sideline mystery involving twisted people with twisted minds. Year of Wonders, A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks, is a brilliant novel about how a community dealt with the plague in the year 1666. The author really develops the characters so that, when the book is finished, you feel you know the characters and want to see how they turn out. The World Made Straight by Ron Rash, once again, is a novel centered in the South, that not only discusses characteristics of mountain people (the book is centered in Madison County in North Carolina) but also the effects of lives disrupted by poverty, drugs, and bad choices. The Civil War twist makes the book much more interesting and definitely haunting in the descriptive details of what might have gone on many years ago."
----Barbara McCracken, instructor, Mary Black School of Nursing, USC Upstate


"The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs by Madeleine Albright."
----Rebecca Stevens, associate professor, Foundations of Education, director of Graduate Programs and Special Initiatives, School of Education, USC Upstate


"The Stolen Child: A Novel, by Keith Donohue; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson; The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell; and The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler."
----Becky Lamb, administrative assistant, Kathryn Hicks Visual Arts Center, Department of Fine Arts and Communication Studies, USC Upstate


"The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini."
----Charisse W. Krieger, front desk coordinator, USC Upstate, Greenville campus


"Haydn: A Creative Life in Music by Karl Geringer; The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien; and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame."
----Gregg Akkerman, director of jazz, USC Upstate


"Meditations on Divine Mercy by Johann Gerhard; The Qur'an and The Bible--A Comparison by Rick Richter; Reasonable Ethics by Robert Benne; The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth by Roger Zelazny; and Women in Early Imperial China by Bret Hinsch."
----Kitty Rickert, adjunct Instructor of history, USC Upstate


"A Year in the World by Frances Mayes."
----Sharon Cherry, professor of Spanish and interim director of the USC Upstate Honors Program, USC Upstate

6/06