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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

President's Wednesday Message


We’re almost half way through the summer, so I thought I’d check in to see what everyone’s been reading.

I know a lot of you have picked up next year’s Title III Common Read, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. I read it several years back, and it’s joined a very short list titled “Books That Have Made Me Cry on a Plane While Sitting Next to a Complete Stranger.” If you haven’t yet picked up the book, please do; it’s amazing. MCC is working to bring members of the Lacks family and Ms. Skloot to campus, which will be a remarkable opportunity for our students and community. (And, I promise not to cry in any open forum on the topic.)

Honestly, this summer, I’ve not been as “reading productive” as I would have liked, which is never a new story. My expectations bar was likely set too high by a novel a week Victorian Literature seminar in graduate school, so I never think I get enough read. So far, I’ve finished Meg Wolitzer’s "The Interestings," Ruth Ozeki’s "A Tale for the Time Being," Lily Koppel’s "The Astronaut Wives Club," and am halfway through J. Courtney Sullivan’s "Engagements." The last two are very much “beach books,” and I tend to alternate more literary fiction with books that are considerably less so.

I still want to get to Jean Thompson’s "The Humanity Project" because her novel "The Year We Left Home" was simply wonderful, and need to find time for Colum McCann’s "TransAtlantic" because "Let the Great World Spin" was so dizzyingly engaging.

On more professional ground, Jeffrey Selingo’s "College (Un)Bound" is also up for another read, as I’ve committed to reviewing it for a “Books Sandwiched In” at the Rochester Public Library this fall.

So, what have you been reading this summer? What would you recommend? Let us all know on the blog.


Anne M. Kress
President's Office
07/24/2013