Community Reading Profiles

We reached out to alumni/ae and current faculty and staff to see how reading fits into their lives — what they like to read, how their tastes have changed since high school, and what books they’d recommend to the CSW community. A selection of reading profiles is shared here. Give it a read and you just might discover your next favorite book...

TO VIEW WHAT OUR STUDENTS ARE READING, CHECK OUT THE LIBRARY'S "CSW READS" FEATURE AT WWW.CSW.ORG/CSW-READS

NAME Claire Bunn GRAD YEAR 2016 PROFESSION Outdoor Educator

Describe your ideal reading experience.

Sitting on the beach on Thompson Island in Boston Harbor where I work!

How would you have described yourself as a reader in high school? How have your preferences changed as an adult?

In high school and college, I only read a little bit outside of school requirements because I always had a lot of reading for homework. After graduating from college this past spring, I am trying to get back in the habit!

What books would we currently find on your nightstand?

Circe by Madeline Miller, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Difficult Women by Roxanne Gay.

NAME Joshua Rosenblum GRAD YEAR 1976 PROFESSION Professor of Economics

Describe your ideal reading experience.

I love to read on the beach, but lacking sun, sand, and surf, I like a rainy weekend day when I can curl up on the couch to read uninterrupted. The reality is that I do much of my reading listening to audiobooks during my morning exercise routine, and I actually find this to be a great way to focus my mind (though maybe not the best workout).

How would you have described yourself as a reader in high school? How have your preferences changed as an adult?

This was very long ago, but I would say I was omnivorous and adventurous. I have always liked books about history and politics; my fiction reading was sporadic.

Are you a “must-finisher?” Or do you put a book down if it’s not hooking you right away?

I used to be a must-finisher but I’m trying to let go of that. Life is too short to read boring books!

If you could read one genre of book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Memoir.

If you were to recommend one book to the CSW community, what would it be?

I recently read Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals for my senior seminar at Smith and absolutely loved it. It’s a good book to read slowly because each section is really profound and needs some time to think about it.

What books would we currently find on your nightstand?

My actual nightstand is uncluttered with books (I don’t much like reading in bed), but at the moment you would find me reading Louis Menand’s The Free World (on my Kindle) and listening to Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads. Up next are the second part of David Sedaris’ diaries, A Carnival of Snackery, and Adam Tooze’s Shutdown.

Are you a “must-finisher?” Or do you put a book down if it’s not hooking you right away?

Yes, I am mostly compelled to finish what I started, but as I have gotten older I have begun to learn that I don’t have to read every word.

If you could read one genre of book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I could not stand to be confined to one genre, but if you insist I guess I would say history and biography.

If you were to recommend one book to the CSW community, what would it be?

Michael Lewis’s Premonition was a page turner that reveals so much about what went wrong in our

NAME David (Alex) Barker GRAD YEAR 1984 PROFESSION Filmmaker

Describe your ideal reading experience.

An Italian villa overlooking Lake Como with a glass of 20-year-old nebbiolo.

How would you have described yourself as a reader in high school? How have your preferences changed as an adult?

CSW had a profound effect on my reading. One of my first quarters I made an independent study with Alice McMahon where I read Camus’s Myth of Sisyphus and Rimbaud’s A Season in Hell. I had very little vocabulary at the time and had to look up lots of words on each page to get through them, but both books marked me profoundly. I don’t think my reading preferences have changed much since then.

What books would we currently find on your nightstand?

Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts; Valentino and Sagittarius by Natalia Ginzburg; 77 Dream Songs by

NAME Rachel Hirsch GRAD YEAR — PROFESSION CSW Dean of Faculty

Describe your ideal reading experience.

Hours (days?!) with no other plans, a big pitcher of iced tea, and a sunny porch where I can sit and read into the night, as long as I want, and get lost in a story with a giant scope (giant geography, giant timeline, giant cast of characters...).

How would you have described yourself as a reader in high school? How have your preferences changed as an adult?

I gobbled books in high school, and it felt like every book I read changed my view of the world loudly and profoundly (The Great Gatsby is LOVE! Invisible Man is TRUTH! Pride and Prejudice is EGO! The Awakening is WOMEN! Catch-22 is WAR! The Iliad is ANGER! and so on...). Now, some books still rock me, but their push on my world is slower and less dramatic, although often still profound. But slower — more like glaciers shaping the land than volcanoes and earthquakes. When I was in high school, I never gave up on a book. As I’ve gotten older, I’m more comfortable letting go a hundred pages in and finding something I like better. response to COVID-19. I think almost everyone would enjoy it from one angle or another and everyone should be informed about these events.

John Berryman; Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki (that last has been on the nightstand since I was at CSW).

Are you a “must-finisher?” Or do you put a book down if it’s not hooking you right away?

I’ve made it halfway through War and Peace twice and look forward to starting it from the beginning a third time.

If you could read one genre of book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Novels.

If you were to recommend one book to the CSW community, what would it be?

The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander.

What books would we currently find on your nightstand?

Augustus by Anthony Everitt, The Beautiful Ones by Prince, Hell of a Book by Jason Mott, Coaching For Equity by Elena Aguillar.

Are you a “must-finisher?” Or do you put a book down if it’s not hooking you right away?

Not anymore... I give most books between 20 and 100 pages to get me hooked. After that, I’m free to walk away.

If you could read one genre of book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Too hard to answer!!

If you were to recommend one book to the CSW community, what would it be?

I’m still really excited to dissect and explore The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee, so I want our community to read it so I have lots of different folks with whom I can discuss it and think about how to use it in classes and as a lens for our community.

NAME Jordan Clark GRAD YEAR 2005 PROFESSION CSW History Teacher

Describe your ideal reading experience.

Sitting either in a comfortable chair by a fire and nice view or on a beach.

How would you have described yourself as a reader in high school? How have your preferences changed as an adult?

I read when needed in high school. Now I love reading historical fiction and sci fi for pleasure.

What books would we currently find on your nightstand?

The Last Pow Wow by Ron Querry.

Are you a “must-finisher?” Or do you put a book down if it’s not hooking you right away?

I am ok to walk away from books that don’t catch my interest.

If you could read one genre of book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Historical Fiction.

If you were to recommend one book to the CSW community, what would it be?

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse.

NAME Linda (Howard) Zonana GRAD YEAR 1954 PROFESSION Retired Clinical Social Worker

Describe your ideal reading experience.

In cold weather, curled up on the couch with a fire crackling. In warm weather, outside on our deck or at the beach in a reasonably comfortable chair.

How would you have described yourself as a reader in high school? How have your preferences changed as an adult?

As a child, I looked to books to feed my fantasies about times long ago: riding horses, having adventures, and solving crimes. As a teen, I wanted books with a main character who felt perplexed about life in the way I did, or books with moral dilemmas like Crime and Punishment or Darkness at Noon. I still prefer novels or memoirs that have personal meaning, but also love reading non-fiction about topics I find deeply interesting.

What books would we currently find on your nightstand?

This Land is Their Land by David Silverman and Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne —both nonfiction about conflicts with Native Americans. Fiction: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr,

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet, and The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes.

Are you a “must-finisher?” Or do you put a book down if it’s not hooking you right away?

I’m pretty much a must-finisher.

If you could read one genre of book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I really can’t choose one, so here are two: novels focusing on human emotion and/or ethical dilemmas and nonfiction that enlarges understanding of evolution, prehistory, history, geology, or human behavior.

If you were to recommend one book to the CSW community, what would it be?

One of Ours by Willa Cather. This book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1923, but is not widely read now. With her gift for lyrical language, it gives a vivid sense of rural life in the early 20th century in the first half, and an equally vivid portrayal of World War I in the second half. It is engaging and very moving.

NAME Sarajerome Kominsky GRAD YEAR 1990 PROFESSION Writer and former ethnologist and professional equestrian

Describe your ideal reading experience.

Reading anything that captures my imagination and/or feeds my soul. Could be historical fiction, sci-fi, or horror.

How would you have described yourself as a reader in high school? How have your preferences changed as an adult?

Voracious. It’s a disease that has only gotten worse.

What books would we currently find on your nightstand?

Chesapeake by James A. Michener; Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman by Marjorie Shostak; The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer; At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop; Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens; The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris; The Boy from Baby House 10 by Alan Philps and John Lahutsky; and The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck.

Are you a “must-finisher?” Or do you put a book down if it’s not hooking you right away?

I usually find something redeeming about every piece I read, but there have been a few over the years, even by well-known authors, that weren’t worth the time.

If you could read one genre of book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Historical fiction. I find that reading truth through story is the best way to learn.

NAME Dolores Minakakis GRAD YEAR — PROFESSION CSW English Faculty

Describe your ideal reading experience.

I love to read on the couch with a warm blanket (no matter the weather). Lying down is key, because that way I can take naps happily. Despite my parents’ best effort, I also like to read at the table while eating if I’m alone.

How would you have described yourself as a reader in high school? How have your preferences changed as an adult?

In high school, I was a voracious reader, and it was both an escape and a hobby for me. I am the same as an adult, but with less time than I used to have! My preferences have stayed pretty consistent, but I would say that I’m more open to reading more genres from around the world than I was as a teenager.

What books would we currently find on your nightstand?

Right now, I’m rereading Julio Cortázar’s Rayuela, which will probably take up much of my time. I have a stack of books that I’ve skimmed from the CSW’s “free to take home” pile, such as an anthology of AsianAmerican literature called Charlie Chan is Dead. I also

If you were to recommend one book to the CSW community, what would it be?

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.

have the Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature that I’ve started but come back to when I’m between other books. I’m also rereading a mystery novel called Necessary as Blood to read during meals when Rayuela gets too heavy (I like to read more lightly at the table).

Are you a “must-finisher?” Or do you put a book down if it’s not hooking you right away?

I am a must-finisher, but I am trying to get better at putting a book down if I’ve gotten far enough that I don’t think it’s gonna grab me. There’s only been a handful of those, though.

If you could read one genre of book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Probably mystery novels. I don’t always think they’re great literature, but I always, always come back to them when I need something quick and engaging.

If you were to recommend one book to the CSW community, what would it be?

Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra!

NAME Alison Safford GRAD YEAR — PROFESSION CSW Visual Arts Faculty

Describe your ideal reading experience.

On the train or curled up on the couch.

How would you have described yourself as a reader in high school? How have your preferences changed as an adult?

More voracious then than now, read more theory and non-fiction now.

What books would we currently find on your nightstand?

Amsterdam: A Brief Life of the City by Geert Mak; Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by Buckminster Fuller; Evocative Objects: Things We Think With by Sherry Turkle; Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk; Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli; The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera.

Are you a “must-finisher?” Or do you put a book down if it’s not hooking you right away?

Put it down, too much to read.

If you could read one genre of book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Couldn’t do it...but maybe Eastern Euro lit.

If you were to recommend one book to the CSW community, what would it be?

Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman.