What We Are - Book Reviews

What We Are, is an acclaimed new novel by Peter Nathaniel Malae, a San Jose native and former SJSU student. This is the story of a young half-Samoan man (based on Malae himself) struggling to find his identity in Silicon Valley. The book won the Joseph Henry Jackson Award from the SF Intersection for the Arts and received a favorable review in the New York Times.

Information from:

• Amazon
• Powell's Books
• City Lights
• New York Times book review (3/18/10)

Please post a comment to leave your review of this book and whether you think it would be a good selection for the SJSU Campus Reading program and why. Thanks.

The Bride’s Farewell - Book Reviews

The Bride's Farewell is on the list of possible books to select for 2011 because it was a 2010 Alex Award winner. Some information:

• Alex Award Information
• Amazon information
• Information from Random House

Please post a comment to leave your review of this book and whether you think it would be a good selection for the SJSU Campus Reading program and why. Thanks.

The Help - Book Reviews

The Help is on the list of possible book selections for 2011 because of a strong recommendation by a faculty member who has been teaching frosh for many years and its placement on some best seller lists. Some additional information:

• Author's Website
• Amazon information
• New York Times review (2/09)
• Book group guide
  

Please post a comment to leave your review of this book and whether you think it would be a good selection for the SJSU Campus Reading program and why. Thanks.

The Good Soldiers - Book Reviews

The Good Soldiers is on the list of possible books to select for 2011 because it was a 2010 Alex Award winner. Some information:

• Alex Award Information
• Excerpt from Washington Post (9/10)
• Amazon description
• New York Times book review (10/09)

Please post a comment to leave your review of this book and whether you think it would be a good selection for the SJSU Campus Reading program and why. Thanks.

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.

The Road - March 18, 2010 SJSU Event

On March 18, 2010 from 2 - 3 pm in ENG 285, there will be a panel presentation on the Pulitzer Price winning, Oprah Book Club selection The Road. Professors Nick Taylor and Katherine Cushing and MFA student Erik Olson will explore the literary and green aspects of this book.

For more information - see http://www.sjsu.edu/reading.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie was recommended by a few members of the Reading Committee. For more info:

Amazon

Book Lover's Diary