From ancient clay tablets to today’s e-books, literature has been essential in preserving culture, educating communities and storytelling. To celebrate, selected faculty and staff from the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas A&M University share their reading lists and personal reading habits.
Dr. Mindy Bergman
Department Head, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences
APA & SIOP Fellow Professor
My favorite genres are mystery, contemporary literary fiction, romantic comedies and young adult literature. I love e-books and physical books, but I’m not big on audiobooks unless it is a memoir read by the author. Weird, I know.
I’m reading Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott. I plan to read the sequel, A Rose in Bloom.
One of the most unusual books I’ve ever read, and I think about it a lot is Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. It’s about a fictional island, Nollop, named after the man who supposedly gave us the sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” There’s a statue in town that commemorates Mr. Nollop. One day, letters start to fall from the statue and the town council decides that to be faithful to their town’s history, when a letter falls, it can no longer be used. It starts with z, but things get complicated when more common letters fall. People are banished from the island for using banned letters. The book is written as a series of letters, so you get to see the changes in the language throughout. It explores themes like community, citizenship and freedom of speech.
Dr. Claire Carely-Miles
Instructional Associate Professor, Department of English
I'm reading two books: Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (paperback, in preparation for a Victorian literature class I'm teaching in the fall) and T. Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone (e-book, for recreational reading). Up next is another stab at the Mortal Instruments series (I couldn't get into it the last time I tried a few years ago, but this time I'm going to read them in tandem with my bestie since second grade) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (again, scoping out for the Victorian lit. class).
I've loved Stephen King since I was 12 or 13, and Kate Chopin, Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen since I was an undergrad. More recent favorites include Anne Leckie, Martha Wells (who, by the way, is an Aggie as well as an amazing writer and human being—I've gotten to visit with her twice now, and she is fabulous! Long live Murderbot!), Becky Chambers, Octavia Butler, Laini Taylor and Erika Johansen. As far as my favorite genre goes, you can see that I'm a science fiction/fantasy fan, for sure!
The book I'd most recommend is Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which makes so many vital points about the importance of critical thinking and of getting an education based on being able to think critically. Everyone should read it, in my opinion.
I have never gotten hooked on audio books; I love to read physical books if I'm studying and teaching the text so that I can annotate easily in the margins (I'm old school, I know), and reading for entertainment via e-books got me through a lot of long nights when my kids were little and couldn't sleep—there I'd be, rocking a kiddo in one arm while they drifted off and holding a book in the other!
Dr. Melanie C. Hawthorne
Professor, Department of Global Languages & Cultures
I much prefer novels, but beyond that I like many different kinds. For fiction, my favorite author is Virginia Woolf, I think, but it's hard to pick just one, and it's wonderful that there are so many great writers of all kinds out there, you don't have to limit yourself. I am reading Playground by Richard Powers and re-reading Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (it's the 100th anniversary of its publication).
I have so many favorites; it's hard to settle on just one. One of the best novels I read recently was This Is Happiness by Niall Williams. Maybe not my favorite of all time, but it really impressed me.
If I could choose one book to read again for the first time, it would be John Banville's The Sea. There's a twist at the end that I didn't see coming (though I'm a very trusting reader, it's easy to fool me), and it changed everything, and stood the story on its head. I'll gladly re-read the novel with pleasure, it hasn't spoiled it for me, on the contrary I'll get even more out of it, but I'll always know the ending.
I prefer physical books, always, no question. Other formats have their place, but reading for pleasure is always going to involve the feel of paper.
Dr. Elmo J. Mawk
Instructional Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
Faculty Advisor
Director of Analytics
I read sci-fi, some fantasy and classics. For each genre, my favorite books are Dune by Frank Herbert, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice and 1984 by George Orwell.
I am reading All Systems Red by Martha Wells (she’s an Aggie!) My next book to read is the second book in the Murderbot series, Artificial Condition.
If I could recommend one book, it would probably be 1984, so students will understand what the phrase “It’s just like 1984” means during discussion about surveillance, censorship, etc.
Dr. Emily Pentzer
Associate Dean for Research
Professor, Presidential Impact Fellow, Department of Chemistry
I tend to most enjoy books that involve some component of history, including biographies or collections of short stories. I recently finished The Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O’Keefe and learned not only about her life, but also a little history of the American art world
I recently started reading The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. My research lab works with some national labs, and learning about some of the history of the labs is interesting. But my favorite book has changed many times! When I read Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, I could not put it down (I think I even left the lab early as a postdoc one day to read it).
I always read physical books — I think I like to see the progress and like to put them on the shelf or give them to a friend when I’m finished. I don’t typically set reading goals for myself. I played a lot of sports growing up, so I can get competitive (with myself), and if there was a number I had in mind, I might focus on getting through a book rather than enjoying it.
Allison Rivera
Executive Director of Academic Advising & Student Success
Two of my degrees are in literature, which has exposed me to so many authors and genres. I haven’t encountered a genre yet that I do not like! I will frequently be listening to a true crime audiobook during my commute while reading a new fiction novel at home. I’ve been reading ACOTAR and the Fourth Wing series over the past two years, so I am enjoying “romantasy” (romance and fantasy) for the first time. I will purchase the pre-release of any book written by Ruth Ware. I lean toward true crime, mysteries and general fiction.
I am reading When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. It is the perfect mix of magical realism, feminism and historical fiction. My mom, sister, niece and I are reading it together, in different states, for a family summer book club! You will love it if you are also in your dragon era but love stories that play with historical context and politics.
My favorite book of all time is The Giver by Lois Lowry. It is the only book I have read multiple times and is as impactful as it was in elementary school when I read it for the first time. Lois Lowry has forever introduced a love of dystopian fiction into my heart.
I set an annual reading goal on Goodreads. I am also crocheting a book blanket this year, which is when you crochet a granny square based on the cover of each book you read over the course of the year.
Dr. Adam Seipp
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
Professor, Department of History
During the academic year, I spend much of my time reading for work–mostly academic books and journal articles. I keep a running list of novels and non-fiction that I want to read during the winter holidays and over the summer. There is never enough time to get all the way through the reading list, but that is one of the joys of being a reader!
I only read physical books. In a digital world, I find that the only way I can disconnect from all the distractions that surround us is to engage with a hard copy of a text. Besides, there is nothing like the satisfaction of flipping the actual pages of an actual book.
If I could re-read any book, it would probably be J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I first encountered Tolkien when I was a child. The Hobbit came into my life at the moment when I began to see the beauty and wonder of reading. It is certainly the first book that I remember racing to finish just so I could find out what happens to the characters.
Dr. Mark Zoran
Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
R.H. Harrison Family Dean’s Chair
Professor, Department of Biology
I am currently reading Ben Hur, by Lew Wallace, and Shiloh, by Winston Groom. I found out reading Shiloh that Gen. Wallace, after the Civil War, wrote Ben Hur. Having seen several movie versions of Ben Hur, I thought I would see the for myself the General’s written work. I am also reading this summer The Climate Demon by A&M professor Dr. Saravanan, head of atmospheric sciences. I enjoy reading (and try to understand) the scholarly works of some of our Arts and Sciences faculty. In the past year or so, I have read books by Drs. T. Bickham, J. Mercieca and K. Sweet.
I don't really have an all-time favorite book. There are so many great and different genres and choices. I would say that there are some books that have strongly influenced me at different times and places in my life. These include Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children’s Crusade by Kurt Vonnegut, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. The poetry and stories of Edgar Allan Poe also impacted a younger me. Finally, as a young child, the book Gunilla: An Arctic Adventure, had a great impact and, perhaps, put my mind on a track toward the life sciences.
My favorite author would have to be Kurt Vonnegut. Apologies to all the Faulker lovers, etc.
