Oh Hai! The USF Book Club’s next selection is The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie Personally I love Alexie’s poetry and spoken word performances, but I am excited about next month’s meeting because I haven’t read any of his prose. Also, the movie Smoke Signals was based off this novel. … Continue reading USF Book Club: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
The September selection for the USF Book Club is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize, this was one of the more controversial selections chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her book club, so we are bound to have a great discussion next month. We’re meeting on Tuesday Sept. 9, 2008 … Continue reading USF Book Club: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Hi everybody! The USF Book Club is now meeting on Wed. Aug. 6, 2008 to discuss Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. See our older post for more information. Thanks, and we hope to see you there! Continue reading Date Change: USF Book Club: Secret Life of Bees
Guido Brunetti is at it again! Join us to discuss the latest installation of this Venetian policeman’s mystery series. This time Brunetti becomes haunted by the death of a young gypsy girl. The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon We will meet on Tuesday July 8, 2008 from 12 noon – 1 pm in … Continue reading The Girl of His Dreams: USF Book Club (July, 2008)
As the school year winds down and the temperature rises, thoughts turn and hearts yearn for long days at the beach slathered with sunscreen, book in hand. We had a good time promoting summer reading last week at the Spring Fling/Stress Less Day festivities in Harney Plaza. Kudos to Reference/Electronic Resources Librarian Sherise Kimura for coordinating the library’s successful participation for the second semester in a row! Cooling off in the shade of our beach umbrellas and nibbling chocolates, students perused our reading recommendations and lined up to write in their own favorite reads. We had to run off a second printing of our recommended Summer Reading list! Who says print is dead?
Below are additional recommendations generated by students at the Spring Fling and at the Davies Forum National Library Week display in the library over the last month. Most of the titles, we’re happy to say, are already in the library’s collection and we’ll look into ordering the others.
Please feel free to recommend your favorites in the comments below.
Spring Fling celebrants recommend these Summer Reading picks:
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielziewski (recommended by Jenn)
Falling Leaves: a True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah (recommended by Uzuma)
Books by Ayn Rand including The Fountainhead and Anthem (recommended by Freddy G. and others – “Regardless of whether or not you agree with Ayn Rand’s objectivist philosophy, the novel has a captivating, thought-provoking plot with characters that speak volumes about human nature.”— comments Maria D.)
Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano (recommended by Freddy G.)
Working in the Dark: Reflections of a Poet of the Barrio by Jimmy Santiago Baca (recommended by Freddy G.)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov
Phantom by Susan Kay (recommended by Cheryl M.)
War Is a Force that Gives us Meaning by Chris Hedges (recommended by Kathe B.: “anti-war”)
Three books by Paolo Coelho: Eleven Minutes, The Alchemist, and Veronika Decides to Die (recommended by Carlos A.)
The Secrets of a Fire King by Kim Edwards (recommended by Sheila M.)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (recommended by Sheila M.)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (recommended by Tannaz A. and others)
Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
Twilight, Breaking Dawn, and others by Stephenie Meyer (recommended by Anna and Michelle)
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (recommended by Anna)
The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind (recommended by Anna)
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max
On the Road by Jack Kerouac (recommended by Alissa)
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July (recommended by Rachel)
One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights by Kenji Yoshino (recommended by Cameron C.)
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (recommended by Martha)
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone (recommended by Eva)
The Magus by John Fowles (recommended by Theresa)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (recommended by Sophie) (I love this book too!—ed.)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Monkey Business (which one? – hmm)
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
The Clown by Heinrich Böll ((recommended by Crista Y.)
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck (recommended by Jessica C. and Oprah!)
And visitors to the Reading Fort added these favorites to the Digital Literacy class recommendations:
The Heart is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers – “It’s on Oprah’s Book Club. And it’s really good.”
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander by Thomas Merton – “A reflection on human nature by a Trappist/Benedictine monk who was very aware of the times he lived in. It is a perfect, fun, and very relevant read for our days as a “Bystander!”
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov – “more than 60 short stories – simply amazing prose.”
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby – “Great book about Futbol… I mean soccer. Very entertaining!”
The Giver by Lois Lowry.
Peaceful Warrior books by Dan Millman.
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson — “Great ‘unwilling hero’ story of how one person can make a difference – plus a good education about Afghani and Pakistani culture! With appendix on how we can make a difference.”
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller – “Funniest book ever written. Read it if you like sarcasm.”
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon – “I laughed and cried while reading this book.”
Ann Veronica: a Modern Love Story by H.G. Wells – “Quite good, although I hope the SITC movie doesn’t end the same way!”
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson– “eye opening.”
Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse – “It’s, well, it’s a ‘coming of age’ book I guess, about a kid discovering the world, thinking about who he is, exploring the world of artist/intellectual. Great. Makes one not feel alone.”
If You Give A Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff — “All about consequences”
Sculpting in Time by Andrei Tarkovskii – “Single greatest book about filmmaking/editing.”
The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis – “Tragic, human science fiction about loneliness and isolation and the horrors of the world. Very beautiful.”
Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams – “Just a good book.”
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn — “It will change your life and the way you view… everything and everyone. Man learns from gorilla (Ishmael). AMAZING. Easy to read too.
Creepy Susie: And 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children by Angus Oblong – “It’s quirky and funny in a strange way.”
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini — It’s a beautiful story that really spoke to the heart – it was raw and it had something pure about it.”
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón – “Modern Gothic novel full of romance & intrigue & awesome descriptions of Barcelona!”
Marchlands by Karla Kuban – “About what’s still sacred in our country.”
The Education of Little Tree by Carter Forrest “This book will change your life. About a young boy raised by his Cherokee grandparents in the mountains of Tennessee.”
Continue reading “Drift away with these summer reading recommendations”
Four students in one of J.P. Allen’s courses (School of Business and Management – SOBAM) recently completed a class project that involved developing a proposal to solve a complex problem we’ve had at the library for some time – automating the reservation process for group study rooms. Willis, David, Phoebe & Eddie came by Gleeson … Continue reading USF School of Business and Management Gleeson Library Project
Check out our resource guide in celebration of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month Feel free to share other resources and events on our blog! Continue reading Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
The USF Book Club will discuss The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls on May 28, 2008 (Wednesday). We will meet in the Seminar Room (2nd Fl) of Gleeson Library | Geschke Resource Center from 12 noon – 1 pm. Bring your lunch! (Faculty and staff only.) If you want to request this book through the … Continue reading USF Book Club: The Glass Castle
The University of San Francisco recently hosted the bi-annual Joint Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Library Directors/Chief Information Officers/Educational Technology conference. Close to 100 individuals attended and their reviews of the meeting were excellent. While many timely issues facing academic libraries, IT, and the use of technology in the classroom were discussed, we also … Continue reading AJCU Library Directors/Chief Information Officers/Educational Technology Conference hosted at USF
So God apparently has a special place waiting for Greg Mortenson when he gets to heaven. He did all this good like building over 50 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan and he founded the Central Asia Institute, which he uses to promote education and literacy advancement for girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In case God’s … Continue reading Three Cups of Tea: USF Book Club