A few of us in ITS and the Library put our heads together to recommend interesting or diverting summer reading and viewing. We’re gathering all these recommendations in live online list, and we welcome your input! Leave a comment here or email Iris Jastram to add to the list!
Alexander, Christopher. The Timeless Way of Building. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
- Recommended by Iris Jastram: “This lays out a philosophy of building physical (or virtual) spaces. It was written well before the internet and with an architectural audience in mind, but I’m finding its insights useful while thinking about anything from setting up my own home to creating to virtual communities and spaces. Bonus, we have it in the library here at Carleton.”
Boyd, Gregory A., and Edward Boyd. Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with His Father’s Questions about Christianity. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2008.
- Recommended by Dann Hurlburt.
Burton, LeVar. LeVar Burton Reads: The Best Short Stories, Performed Just for You.
- Recommended by Kendra Strode: “This is the best thing ever. LeVar Burton picks a different piece of short fiction, and reads it to you with commentary.” Visit levarburtonpodcast.com.
Catmull, Ed, and Amy Wallace. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. New York: Random House, 2014.
- Recommended by Matt Ryan: “The CEO of Pixar shares their approach to building a highly creative environment. He addresses the question: how can a large organization foster true originality while also delivering consistently high quality and productivity? It’s also a fun peek inside the team and process behind an incredible series of movies.”
Chambers, Becky. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. New York: Harper Voyager, 2016.
- Recommended by Kendra Strode: “This is a relatively short science fiction novel with a “firefly” feel to it that does a phenomenal job of exploring inter-species and AI relationships.”
Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. New York: Crown Publishers, 2011.
Spielburg, Steven. Ready Player One. Warner Brothers Pictures, 2018.
- Recommended by Janet Scannell: “This recent movie (and 2011 book) presents a society in which a Virtual Reality world has become more appealing than the real world. It’s dystopian (and unlikely), but interesting to consider.” Check the book out from the library!
French, Tana. In the Woods: A Novel. New York: Penguin Books, 2008.
- Recommended by Iris Jastram: “I’ve been enjoying the first few books in this series, all set in Ireland and each taking the perspective of a different character in the community. Perhaps ‘enjoying’ isn’t the right word for books that deal with such heavy subjects, but they are definitely engrossing.”
Glass, Julia. A House among the Trees. New York: Pantheon Books, 2017.
- Recommended by Emily Scharf: “I have always enjoyed Glass’s characters and the interpersonal relationships in her books. In A House Among the Trees, famous children’s author and illustrator Mort Lear has passed away and left his long-suffering assistant Tomasina to deal with his estate and find a life of her own finally. A visit from the actor playing Lear in a biopic and many other interested parties make this rich book interesting and memorable. Glass won the National Book Award for Three Junes, a wonderful book whose characters spill over into some of her other works.” Check it out from the library!
Muller, Jerry. The Tyranny of Metrics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018.
- Recommended by Celeste Sharpe: “This is an interesting and provocative stances on the role of data and technology in the world.” Request it from St. Olaf!
Noble, Safiya Umoja. Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York: New York University Press, 2018.
- Recommended by Celeste Sharpe: “This is another interesting take on the role of data and technology in the world.” Check it out from the library!
Wild Wild Country. Netflix Documentary, 2018.
- Recommended by Celeste Sharpe: “This is a documentary about the clashes between Oregonians and the community of followers of controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who moved to Oregon in the 1980s.” Watch the official trailer.