Looking for a new book? A new perspective? A good laugh? Take a look at this great list! These readings are not mandatory. This is simply a "favorites" list from the Hendrix Community.
If you'd like to make a suggestion of your own, just complete this short form. Don't forget to check out the list of suggested reading by the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation visitors.
Books
- Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Suggested by: Sharla Howlett, Friend of the College
Sharla's thoughts: This book is a must read for everyone in education or for any parent concerned with bullying in our schools. It is about a school shooting in a public high school and the trial that takes place afterward. It goes even further though and details the torment, abuse and rejection the shooter suffers from his first day of kindergarten. DON'T cheat and read the last few pages though, it will completely ruin the book for you if you do.
- Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin
Suggested by: Chris Campolo, Faculty
Chris' thoughts: Beautiful and thought provoking stories about the the desert west by a virtuouso writer and naturalist.
- A Shorty History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Suggested by: Fred Baker '00, Staff
Fred's thoughts: Darned fine and interesting book. Subject matter is very expansive. Thought provoking. Written with a good deal of readability.
- A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Suggested by: Rob O'Connor '95, Staff
Rob's Thoughts: A riotously funny read that weaves the history of the Appalachian Trail, commentary on the trail's state today and the personalities of those who hike it, and personal reflections on the ideal of nature and solitude. All told by a master storyteller. A great trip indeed.
- Mother's of Invention by Drew Gilpin Foust
Suggested by: Fred Baker '00, Staff
Fred's thoughts: Did the womens liberation movement start in the worn-torn South in the 1860's? Perhaps, perhaps not. At the very least, the female population of the embattled Confederacy took on new roles and helped sustain the fledgling and ill-fated secessionist nation.
- A Ruined Land by Robert Golay
Suggested by: Fred Baker '00, Staff
Fred's thoughts: Not a "war book" but rather a look at the final months of the Civil War and the first months of the "peace" following the end of hostilities. Gives the reader a very good sense of the level of destruction and hardship wrought upon the general population of the South and traces important civilian and military figures.
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Suggested by: Michael Licatino '06, Staff
Michael's thoughts: This was a great book! It was extremely well written and exposed countless characteristics and nuances of middle eastern culture- many of which I was unaware.
- Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals
Suggested by: Leigh Lassiter-Counts '01, Staff
Leigh's thoughts: A timely read with the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock Central High Crisis happening this September. Beals was a member of "The Little Rock Nine" - a group of nine students who integrated Central High School in 1957. Beals will return to Arkansas for the events in September and will visit the Hendrix Campus to speak about her experiences. This will be a required reading for all freshmen in their "Explorations" class, but I suggest it to all as reading before the September commemoration so that the full impact of what nine teenagers did in the fall of 1957 can truly be felt.
- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Suggested by: Cheryl Richman '03, Staff
Cheryl's thoughts: This book is a window through which the soul of Joan Didion can be glimpsed. She shares the most difficult year of her life...the year after her husband, John Gregory Dunne, died of a heart attack. The book is also a catalyst for self-reflection on and examination of a most difficult event...the death of a soulmate, of a portion of one's heart.
- Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver
Suggested by: James Murray '08, Student
James' thoughts: Thought-provoking and eye-opening, Cleaver's Soul on Ice is the quintessential biography for young people struggling with faith and identity.
- Of Human Bondage by William Somerset Maugham
Suggested by: Jacob Fluharty '10, Student
Jacob's thoughts: An excellent book that tells of the growing up of the main character through Europe. Finding himself, being tormented by love, its a must read for sure.
- Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel
Suggested by: Thomas Henry '07, Alumnus
Thomas' thoughts: This is a smart and fun novel about relationships, pharmacuteicals and city life in the 21st century. Especially poignant for 20-somethings feeling anxious about the post-post-irony politics of the 9-11 era.
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Suggested by: Marilyn Lewis, Staff
Marilyn's thoughts: Kurt Vonnegut's best known novel and one of American literature's greatest anti-war books. Written with dark humor and deceptive simplicity, it centers on the infamous fire bombing of Dresden and Billy Pilgrim's travels through time searching for meaning. An excellent introduction to a great writer who recently passed away. Also a good book to reread given current world events. 'So it goes, so it goes.'
- The Known World by Edward P. Jones
Suggested by: Marilyn Lewis, Staff
Marilyn's thoughts: Winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize and numerous other awards, this novel challenges us to examine our beliefs about slavery in US history. In a larger sense it asks us to question our presumptions about the truth of our own world and how we know it.
- Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Suggested by: Will McCallum '10, Student
Will's thoughts: Have you ever wondered "what do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common,” “how is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real-estate agents,” or “why do drug dealers still live with their moms?” In Freakonomics, Stephen Levitt answers these questions and a few more.
- Sophie's Choice by William Styron
Suggested by: Marilyn Lewis, Staff
Marilyn's thoughts: One of the best books about the Holocaust, this complex and ambitious novel opens with a young southerner, journeying north in 1947 to become a writer. It leads us into his intellectual and emotional entanglement with his neighbors in a Brooklyn rooming house: Nathan, a tortured, brilliant Jew, and his lover, Sophie, a beautiful Polish woman whose wrist bears the grim tattoo of a concentration camp. As we learn about each of them, we learn about the series of choices each made that defined their fates. Not an easy book but one that stays with the reader long after the last page is turned.
- E=mc^2 by David Bodanis
Suggested by: Jane Santa Cruz '09, Student
Jane's thoughts: I thought this book was great! It is more a history book than a science book but Bodanis makes the background of the famous equation very interesting and easy to read.
- The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
Suggested by: Zora McBride '10, Student
Zora's thoughts: Tragic, yet beautiful, this story captures the landscape of Africa like no other, and chronicles its effects on the protagonists who wander it. Bowles’ genius lies in his ability to portray the descent into and onset of madness via the viewing of his characters inner-most thoughts and feelings.
- Dialectic of enlightenment by Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer
Suggested by: Zora McBride '10, Student
Zora's thoughts: While the enlightenment is generally considered to be a leap in the direction of the imminent progress of mankind, these founding members of the Frankfurt School take a slightly different view of things. Using Freudian Psychoanalysis and Marxist historical-materialist critique, the authors set out “to explain why humanity, instead of entering a truly human state, is sinking into a new kind of barbarism.” A must-read!!
- One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Suggested by: Kim Herrington '10, Student
Kim's thougths: The story of Shukhov, a man imprisoned in a Soviet camp, examines faith, hope, and stereotypical hatred in a life that has be reduced to meager survival in Siberia. The only work of Solzhenitsyn permitted to be published in Russia is worth the short read.
- What It Takes: The Way to the White House by Richard Ben Cramer
Suggested by: Jay Barth '87, Faculty
Jay's thoughs: The single best book on American electoral politics and what makes politicians tick.
- Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families by J. Anthony Lukas
Suggested by: Jay Barth '87, Faculty
Jay's thougths: This chronicle of the Boston school desegregation crisis of the early 1970s says so much about the American experiment: a great analysis of race in American life and terrific stuff on the relationship between law and society.
- The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain
Suggested by: Cache Carter '10, Student
Cache's thougths: One of Twain's last books, The Mysterious Stranger is an early form of existentialism. Three sheltered, young boys in the Middle Ages meet an angel who takes them on a tour of humanity. The angel criticizes the "Moral Sense" of humans. It is a thought provoking book and fairly short at only 100 pages. It is one of the best books I've ever read.
- The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon
Suggested by: James Murray '08
James' thougths: Caribbean-born psychologist, Franz Fanon delves into the problems that colonialism presents to the "native" and advocates violence as necessary reaction to the system's unfair economic practices, power distribution, and so on. More importantly the text provides an analysis of psychological indoctrination in the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. *Includes a preface by Jean-Paul Sartre.
- A Tour of the Calculus by David Berlinski
Suggested by: Shane Spears '00
Shane's thoughts: Despite the automatic nose-wrinkling that comes with the prospect of reading a narrative about such non-narrative subject matter, this is a fantastic book. Berlinski is one of the most colorful and creative writers I have read in recent years. With very little math involved in the text, he fully delivers an understanding of what calculus and advanced math is all about. Much more fun than the title would suggest.
- Le Petit Prince (or) The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Suggested by: Brenley McGuff '09, Student
Brenley's thoughs: Whether read in French or English this small little novel is a work of art. Of course in it's native language the little jokes are that much funnier but either way it's a great read. It's a short book so it's also a quick read. I recommend it to anyone especially those in love with the fantastic.
- Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud by Peter Watson
Suggested by: Charles Hough '92, Alumni
Charles' thoughts: The book is an intellectual history like few, if any, others. It begins with prehistory (the first "invention" noted is standing upright) and pushes forward into modernity with what can be described best as a relentness torrent of detail. It's a wonderful compendium of knowledge.
- Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Suggested by: Matthew Brizzi '04, Alumni
Matthew's thoughts: I'm still reading this book, but it's a very insightful and revealing account of life in Baghdad following the U.S. invasion. It's a great read for anyone interested in international relations or politics as well as anyone curious about Bush administration policies and how they affected and continue to affect progress in post-Saddam Iraq.
- Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Suggested by: Jared Zehring '99, Student
Jared's thoughts: Zelazny was the one truly notable figure of the so-called "New Wave" science fiction writers of the 1960's. His prose style is quirky without being difficult to read, and the offbeat patter is fresh and unusual even today. "Lord of Light" is a wry blend of deep philosophical introspection, Hinduism, Buddhism, hypocrisy, and self-delusion. A standout in the spacegoing colonists cloning themselves and pretending to be deities only to actually become deities genre.
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Suggested by: Erica Siebrasse '09, Student
Erica's thoughts: A Thousand Splendid Suns is an excellent and worthy follow-up to the Kite Runner. Also set in Afghanistan, it follows two women. It is particularly interesting to see the cultural changes in Afghanistan from the eyes of a woman. I highly recommend this book in addition to the Kite Runner.
- Persepolis 1 & 2 by Marjane Satrapi
Suggested by: Carey Voss '02, Alumni
Cary's thoughts: Marjane Satrapi's critically acclaimed graphic novels chronicle her life growing up in pre- and post-revolution Iran, her schoolgirl-refugee years in Eurpoe, and her eventual return to Iran as an adult. A simultaneously informative and interesting read for teens and adults who are curious about life outside this country.
- Infidel by Ayan Hirsi Ali
Suggeseted by: Sunny Young '09
Sara's thoughts: This wonderful book gives a great insight into the Muslim religion from the perspective of a young women growing up in various African countries, as well as Saudi Arabia. The experiences of Hirsi Ali teach lessons we can all appreciate. This book is life changing, and I recommend it to all.
- The Language of God by Dr. Francis Collins
Suggested by: Erica Siebrasse'09
Erica's thoughts: This book is a necessary read for anyone questioning whether science can fit with their religious views. Dr. Collins is the head of the Human Genome Project and one of the country's leading geneticists. He provides a logical, scientifically-minded approach to belief in god. It would also be a good book for those in the religious community who are questioning scientific advances.
- Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi
Suggested by: Jim Bennett, '69
Jim's thoughts: An unlikely love story set during an unlikely time, it will touch your heart as it enlightens your mind.
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Suggested by: BJ Fogleman, '09
BJ's thoughts: It isn't very often that a book really resonates on a deep emotional scale. In this book, Card gives you a glimpse into the future of humanity and the effects of using children in war. It is a sci-fi book, so go in with an open mind; you won't regret it.
Short Stories
- A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway
Suggested by: Zora McBride '10, Student
Zora's thougths: A brilliant tale that, as only Hemingway can, conveys so much with so little.
Song/Album
- Sam Cooke: Live at the Harlem Square Club (1963) by Sam Cooke
Suggested by: James Murray '08, Student
James' thougths: I was obsessed with this album after having the opportunity to work with Peter Guralnick (the nation's leading biographer on The Father of Soul Music) after my stint at The Oxford American Magazine in the summer of 2006. Sam's vocals invoke a feeling that is almost spiritual as he takes the listener on a journey through lovelorn ballads such as "Cupid" and and teenage sock hop bliss in the recording "Having A Party." Favorite track : "Bring It On Home to Me."