What WE Read Last Summer

Seattle Central Community College 2009 What I Read Last Summer: A Sampler

The Library asked Seattle Central employees what they read over the summer, and here is what they shared. Call numbers are included for titles in the Seattle Central collection.

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
“Wacky and humorous tale of a San Francisco shop owner who discovers his new purpose in life as a modern-day grim reaper and father.”
-- JENNIFER SHAVIT, LIBRARIAN

You Have No Rights by Matt Rothschild, Editor of The Progressive Magazine
The End of America by Feminist writer Naomi Wolfe “These two non-fiction books are very good”
1996 by award winning African American Writer and Screenwriter Gloria Naylor
“This book is particularly interesting.”
-- SEANA SPERLING INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ACADEMIC ADVISOR

Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom by Daniel T. Willingham.
“The brain is designed not to help us think, but rather to help us avoid thinking because it taxes our resources; so how can we encourage thinking?”
--BRYCE WALB, COUNSELOR
STUDENT ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE (TRIO)

Ship of Ghosts by James D. Hornfischer
“The story of the U.S.S. HOUSTON, FDR’s Lost Cruiser. This is the story of her survivor’s unflinching account of heroism and honor in World War Two and the unsung warriors who witnessed one of the most remarkable battles of the war. A great read for all history buffs.”
-- PAUL WEISS
WOOD CONSTRUCTION CENTER

The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, M.D.
“An examination of the obesity epidemic and what to do to reverse it.”
-- CYNTHIA A. WILSON, FACULTY
SEATTLE CULINARY ACADEMY

The Worst Hard Time by Seattle author Timothy Egan [F595.E38]
“The book describes the personal accounts of those who experienced the era of the Dust Bowl of the Great Plains during the 1930's. Exceptional storytelling and a very readable historical account. (It reminded me of similar tales shared by my dad who lived through this.)”
-- KARLEEN WOLFE, FACULTY
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey “A crazed and passionate Aussie artist falls hard for a pretty, shady art trader and with his disabled brother in tow they commit a number of crimes, some statutory and some not. Very funny.”

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene “A married woman and a sullen writer have an affair, but she calls it off, to his consternation, when her prayers come true.”

This Gun For Hire by Graham Greene “Political murder, shame, kidnapping, pursuit, suspense, everything you could want.” A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh “The idle rich are destroying themselves and the precious heritage of England, but it’s fun to watch them do so.”

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh [PR6045.A97B76] “Beautiful and sad, the Flyte’s aristocratic world is collapsing on the brink of World War Two, and though Charles Ryder is in love with two of them, he cannot postpone the end.”

American Pastoral by Philip Roth [PS3568.O855A77] “You are the parent of a teenage nihilist, you are also a Jew in the exurbs and a high school football star. All of it drives you to despair, and why shouldn’t it?”

The Burned-Over District by Whitney R. Cross [BR555.N7C7] “In the early part of the 19th century, western New York experienced an unprecedented revival of protestant religion; we are still feeling the repercussions.”
-- TOM LENON, FACULTY, BITCA

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina. “Informative yet funny, with practical suggestions.”
-- LAURA MANSFIELD
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive That Changed the World by Jack Kelly
“It's like a trashy romance for nerds!”
--DYLAN MARTIN
IT SERVICES

The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner
“It was great!”
-- RACHEL SEELEY, COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST PIO

Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham
“ Marcus Buckingham is a credible and gifted author who has created a great resource for women. He shares lots of evident that the woman who are the happiest and most fulfilled are those who don’t “juggle” everything in their lives. Instead, the women who do the opposite, by having a “strong life,” draw in a few important things into them. This book helps woman figure out this life skill of drawing a select few things that are important to them and then draw strength from these. In order to find their strengths, Buckingham shares a Strong Life Test for woman to take to determine their strong life roles. There are nine strong life options that he explores in the book for women to select from. I found the Strong Life Test and strong life information a great way to positively help me focus on what is important in my life.”
-- KRISTINA HAYEK, ED.D, PHR
PROJECT MANAGER- OCPE

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
“The novel is about a librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and his artist wife whose life takes a natural sequential course.”
-- PATRICIA HOWITZ
LIBRARY STAFF

Song For Night by Chris Abani
“A poignant, lyrical novella about a child soldier in Nigeria. (How Abani waxes poetical and lyrical on this subject can only be understood by reading it.)”
-- PORTIA JEFFRIES, FACULTY
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
“A sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, but most of all thought provoking memoir detailing a lesbian’s coming of age, her father’s apparent suicide, and her subsequent discovery of, and reaction to, his “hidden” life; told in graphic novel form.”
-- JEFF KEEVER
DIRECTOR OF AUXILIARY SERVICES

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson [LC2330.M67]
“One man’s mission to promote peace -- one school at a time”
The Girl From Foreign by Sadia Shepard
“A search for shipwrecked ancestors, forgotten histories, and a sense of home.”
--BRENDA ARON, FACULTY
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Radical Evolution by Joel Garreau [GN281.G37]
“ A thought-provoking overview of emerging technologies (Genetics, Robotics, Information Technology, & Nanotechnology) and their impact on what it means to be ‘human.’”

The Class by Francois Begaudeau
“An autobiographical novel by a Paris middle school teacher. I read it after seeing the movie in which the main character (the teacher) is played by the author. The most realistic movie about teaching I've seen.”

Feed by M.T. Anderson [PZ7.A54395Fe]
“ A novel about the future in which the internet is a device implanted in the brain, connecting everyone to everything...corporations and advertising in particular.”

Skid Road: an Informal Portrait of Seattle by Murray Morgan [F899.S457M67]
“ An interesting book about the city's founders and early history. Reading it you learn quite a lot about the people many of our streets are named after.

The Hill With A Future: Seattle's Capitol Hill 1900-1946 by Jacqueline B. Williams.
“A detailed overview of the history of Seattle Central's neighborhood with a lot of great pictures of things that used to be where other things are now (and some that are still there).”
-- GREG BACHAR, FACULTY
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

East of Eden by John Steinbeck [PS3537.T3234E3]
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
“Both always manage to keep me enthralled and I gain a new insight each time read them.”
-- DENEVA K. FLATH
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, SEATTLE MARITIME ACADEMY