What Are They Reading? Local Celebrities' Book Recommendations
By Nadja Maril
Summer is traditionally a time for vacations and reflection. What better time and place to read a book than stretched out in the backyard hammock, on the beach, or sitting under the shelter of a shady porch, sipping cold iced tea?
In keeping with the citywide theme Read Annapolis, adopted by the national literacy campaign we’ve asked some of our local celebrities to recommend their favorite books. Their tastes are as diverse as they are and range from light mysteries to scholarly texts. Perhaps among their favorites you’ll find some books to tickle your fancy or inspire you to restock your library shelves with books for summer reading.
Ellen Moyer—Annapolis Mayor
“I’m such an eclectic reader,” says Moyer, who tries to read any book written by a local author. One of her current favorites is
Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs, published in 1961. Jacobs wrote what is now considered a classic, in response to the practice of urban renewal, whereby “slums” were cleared out and replaced with highways and contemporary structures. Jacobs, who received a lifetime achievement award from the National Building Foundation in Washington, D.C., advocates local community autonomy that prizes diversity, good transportation, architecture, and business. Her priorities have been integrated, manageable communities and diversity of people, transportation, architecture, and commerce. They are a touchstone for activists opposed to urban sprawl.
For general summer reading, Moyer says, “If you’re going visiting somewhere, you should pick up some books to read in advance of your visit.”
John Leopold—Anne Arundel County Executive
Leopold states, “I’ve only had five days off since I was sworn in, but I’ve still found time to read. I just read Rudy Giuliani’s book on leadership.” Published in 2002
Leadership, by Rudolph W. Giuliani with Ken Kurson, is primarily an autobiography that covers significant events, including the devastation of the World Trade Center and Giuliani’s rise to political power.
Leopold has found the book to be both instructional and inspirational, “Part of leadership,” says Leopold, “is developing a competent, hard-working staff and I’ve done that. I’ve assembled an excellent team—independent-minded and creative, one that shares my passion for providing innovative constituent service. Being County Executive means being in charge of an outstanding constituent service operation. Now I can help people in ways I never could as a legislator.”
Jeff Holland—Executive Director, Annapolis Maritime Museum
For enjoyable summer reading, Holland recommends Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series. “Besides Mark Twain, the one author I turn to again and again for a fun, leisurely read is Patrick O’Brian and his 20-volume series of seafaring yarns chronicling the British Naval career of Captain Jack Aubrey and his sidekick, the naturalist-cum-espionage agent Stephen Maturin,” says Holland. “It’s not crucial to read them in sequence, but you do want to begin with volume 1, Master and Commander. (Forget about the movie, which has little to do with this or any of the other books.) Any fear of getting lost in the nautical terminology will disappear after you tag along with the landlubber Maturin on a tour of a ship from keel to mast top, from rudder post to figurehead.” Holland adds, “As you climb the ratlines, you literally get to know your ropes.”
Holland elaborates on why these books give him so much pleasure: “O’Brian doles out the details of life in the Napoleonic era with joy and verve, from drinking parties to boarding parties. And if you really get into it—and you will— there’s a host of reference manuals, from atlases to cookbooks, which provide plenty of background material for each story. O’Brian weaves these details throughout the narrative, providing a rich backdrop for all the personal and political intrigue as well as the natural wonder of every one of the seven seas and every exotic port of call. Each book is its own training manual, providing all the knowledge you need to feast on all the furious action at the climax. And if you’ve already read all of these twice (I’m on my third voyage around, myself), you can always turn to Aubrey’s noble predecessor, Horatio Hornblower.”
Christopher Nelson—President, St. John’s College
Nelson enjoys a good mystery . “I’m waiting for the next book in Henning Mankell’s mystery series with Swedish Inspector Kurt Wallander and his daughter, Linda,” he says. Winner of the prestigious Gumshoe Award for best European Crime novel in 2004, Mankell is a very well known Swedish author who has written a myriad of books, from children’s novels to crime dramas, but he is most famous for the Kurt Wallander mysteries. Recent titles include
Firewall and
One Step Behind. According to Nelson the books feature droll humor, upright and committed good guys, ruthless bad guys, and international intrigue.
“But I’d settle quite happily for another of Tony Hillerman’s mysteries set in the Navajo nation with Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee,” Nelson adds. “They are sensitive, warm, and deeply satisfying (if light) reads. I always learn new things about people and places from both Mankell and Hillerman.”
Veronica Tovey—Publisher and CEO, What’s Up? Publishing Group
As a publisher Tovey appreciates good writing. The first descriptive phrase she uses to explain why she recommends Ken Follett’s work is “beautifully written.”
The Pillars of the Earth, published in 1989, is a novel set in twelfth-century England. The action centers on the building of a cathedral and its effect on people’s lives. “I am absolutely stunned at how people lived back then,” says Tovey, “how people were treated by those in charge—the clergy and lords. The book really brings home how random events changed the lives of common people and the strength of people during that era. People’s lives could be turned upside down by the capricious personality of a lord or bishop. Still they endured.”
She looks forward to finishing Follett’s second book, a sequel set in the same town of Kingsbridge two centuries later. Published in 2007, World Without End focuses on the shift in belief systems between old and new, progressive approaches to medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. “I’ve learned more about that era of history by reading these books,” she says, “than I ever learned in school. They really bring that time period to life.”
Ginger Doyel—Local Author and Illustrator
The favorite book Doyel recommends is
Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, published in 1955. “My mother, grandmother, and I read it every summer,” she says, “because it reminds us of the importance of finding a balance in one’s life between work and family.”
The introspective writer, wife of the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh, used the metaphor of seashells to describe her spiritual journey through life. For decades this work has inspired readers to simplify their lives, through introspection and centering, to tranquilly cope with a world that moves at an increasingly frantic pace.
As Lindbergh wrote when describing the beach and the sea: “Patience, patience, patience is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choice-less as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.”
Janice Hayes Williams—Native and Local Historian
Janice Hayes Williams is often inspired by the writings of Frederick Douglass and her favorite book by Douglass is
My Bondage and My Freedom. Published in 1855, it is one of three books written by Douglass that document his life.
“It is the single most important slave narrative to read in order to gain an understanding of slavery in the state of Maryland,” says Williams. “The story includes accounts of life on the plantation and helps you to understand the relationships between slaves and their owners and familial relationships. He has helped me immensely in developing scripts for authentic first person interpretations.”
Dr. Martha Smith—President of Anne Arundel Community College
Dr. Smith is currently reading
Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education by Peter M. Senge, Nelda H. Cambron McCabe, Timothy Lucas, Art Kleiner, Janis Dutton, and Bryan Smith. Published in 2000, the book focuses on the importance of developing realistic personal goals, establishing a shared vision, cultivating awareness of attitudes and perceptions, practicing positive group interaction, and understanding interdependency of change, feedback, and complexity.
According to Smith, it tells the story about the ways that institutions of learning can become leading organizations in the revitalization of schools, classrooms, and even communities around the world.
See our editorial staff's recommendations for summer reading.
nadja maril
jun 08
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