Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Possible Books for Fall 2011

While we have not yet experienced Fall 2010 and the campus reading of Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the Reading Program Committee is already working on the selection process for the book for 2011.

The titles we have under consideration so far:

a. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
b. The Bride’s Farewell
c. Everything Matters!
d. The Good Soldiers
e. The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir
f. Stitches: A Memoir
g. The Help
h. What We Are by Peter Nathaniel Malae
i. Art of Racing in the Rain
j. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow
k. Mindset by Carol S. Dweck

Most of these are from the 2010 Alex Award winner list. We are open to other books as well. Our criteria:

  • less than 350 pages
  • available in paperback
  • not made into a movie
  • something likely to be of interest to the entire campus
  • a variety of discussion topics
  • of some notoriety, such as a Bay Area author or an award winner or takes place in the Bay Area

If you have suggestions, please leave a comment with the title, author and why you think it would be a good selection for SJSU. Thanks.

4 comments:

Preston Rudy said...

Paul Tough's book Whatever it Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America. Tough writes for the NY Times, and this is based on a longer article he wrote for the magazine. The book is well written, on the topic of education for all, and would be a way to discuss public and charter schools, education and family, poverty and education, and numerous other subjects. Additionally Susan Meyers, former Dean of Education at SJSU is working with a local school that is implementing this model. Some other Bay Area communities are also implementing this program, and that might be the way to incorporate a local angle.

Indiayque said...

Luis Alberto Urrea's Into the Beautiful North is one of his latest novels. Urrea's books - whether fiction or non-fiction - are hard to put down - I love his writing. This novel begins in Tres Camarones, a fictional Mexican village, where the men have gone north to the U.S. to find work. The town is threatened by drug dealers and other traveling criminals. The heroine, Nayeli inspired by the movie, The Magnificent Seven shown at the local theater, decides to head north herself in search of seven men who will rescue her village. The novel is written with clever humor and incredible characters as Nayeli travels in the U.S. in search of her warriors.

Anonymous said...

The Help was a terrific book, despite the fairytale type ending. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is more captivating and extremely relevant. The issues of discrimination, informed consent, privacy and ethics will evoke meaningful discussion.

Unknown said...

SCRATCH BEGINNINGS by Adam Shepard is the story of one young man’s social experiment. Beginning in a random city with $25 and the clothes on his back, he sets out to see if he can have $2500, a car, and a furnished apartment after just one year.

A wide variety of ideas are represented here. Among them:
1. Attitude—if you want to get it done, it is up to you. How can you go about making it happen?
2. Living outside the box—The author set out to do something that contrasted his normal lifestyle.
3. Empathy—some people, like many of the homeless men he lived alongside, need a helping hand.