WGBH - WGBH Summer Reading RSS http://www.wgbh.org/ WGBH Content Relevant to the Topic of: WGBH Summer Reading RSS en-us Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EST Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:16 AM +0000 <![CDATA[What We're Reading ... from Host Jordan Weinstein]]> http://www.wgbh.org//articles/What-Were-Reading--from-Host-Jordan-Weinstein-6760 http://www.wgbh.org//articles/What-Were-Reading--from-Host-Jordan-Weinstein-6760 When he's not reading the news, WGBH's All Things Considered host Jordan Weinstein is reading nonfiction and historical novels. Here's his suggestions for books to pack on your vacation, weekend beach day trip or just your back porch.

Recently read and loved:

"The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Reads like an exciting novel and will really elevate one's understanding of a very complex collection of diseases. Includes the politics of research and vested interests in the U.S. and U.K. and how this has influenced treatments.

"The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" by David Mitchell. Brilliant historical novel about a Dutch 18th-century island trading outpost just off the coast of Japan. Extremely funny and diabolical with clever use of cutting language that will shock you as if impaled by a knife.

"Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond. Another of Diamond's amazing 50,000-foot views of human behavior. This time he explores and explains how and why certain societies (like Japan and others) have been able to persist over the eons ... while others fail. Very accessible and science-based.

Now reading: "In One Person" by John Irving. So far so good, but not as enjoyable, so far, as "The Cider House Rules."

What are you reading this summer? Let us know in the comments and we may use your answer online or on-air. ]]> Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:21 PM +0000 <![CDATA[A Summer Book List]]> http://www.wgbh.org//articles/A-Summer-Book-List-6483 http://www.wgbh.org//articles/A-Summer-Book-List-6483 What are you reading this summer? These are some recommendations from Emily Rooney's panel — including your input.

 

JOCELYN KELLEY’S PICKS

wild book cover
FICTION
  • The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
  • The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
  • Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon
  • Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead
  • The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. by Nichole Bernier

NON-FICTION
  • Wild by Cheryl Strayed
  • The Mansion of Happiness by Jill Lepore
  • Quiet by Susan Cain
  • Imagine by Jonah Lehrer
  • Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
  GUILTY PLEASURE: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
 
YOUNG ADULT: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 

ELIN HILDERBRAND’S PICKS
arcadia book cover
FICTION
  • This Bright River by Patrick Somerville — This I have not actually read but I'm dying to read.
  • Arcadia by Lauren Groff
  • The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
  • The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

NON-FICTION
  • Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
  • Island Practice by Pam Belluck
  • Townie by Andre Dubus III
  • Mrs. Nixon by Ann Beattie — Technically this is fiction, but if anyone's read it, it sort of defies category.

 
GUILTY PLEASURE
Lulu Powers Food to Flowers: Simple, Stylish Food for Easy Entertaining
 
YOUNG ADULT
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

 
OTHER GUESTS' PICKS
kissing list book cover
Steve Almond picked Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.

Donna Eden Cohen recommended Bottom of the 33rd by Dan Barry.
 
Kathryn Flynn says The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is a great non-self-help book for people who want to take better care of themselves.

She also picked The Kissing List by Stephanie Reents.

Casey Sherman suggested both James Bradley's The Imperial Cruise and The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva.

YOUR PICKS
poisonwood bible book cover
Margaret Howell, via Twitter
Drift by Rachel Maddow 
 
Elisabeth, Arlington
Birth 2012 and Beyond by Barbara Marx Hubbard

Tom, Lynn
Was by Geoff Ryman

Louis, Swansea
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

Peter, Yarmouth
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
 
Lauren, Newton
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein 
 
Pete, Marlborough
The Vegas Knockout by Tom Schreck
 
Emma
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
 
Eric, Boston
Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross
 
Warren, Lowell
The Brass Bonanza Plays Again by Robert Muldoon

Nancy, Leicester
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje

Eileen, Arlington
The Temporary Detective by Joanne Sidney Lessner

Donna, Marion
Louis D. Brandeis: A Biography by Melvin Urofsky

Mark, Arlington
In the Blue Light of African Dreams by Paul Watkins

 
]]>