A Dog’s Tale by Mark Twain. (ISBN:1591070643)

A Dog's Tale is a short story about the life of a Presbyterian dog. The story discusses true kinds of knowledge, and addresses class and slavery, as well as the worth of a person (or dog). It is a wonderful quick read, full of ideas and tragedy, and worth reading more than once.

(Molly Tretter*)

The Art of the Novel by Milan Kundera. (ISBN:0060093749)

In this extended essay, Kundera examines not only the role of the novel in art, but also as a player in history. Kundera reviews the work of classic European novelists, as well as his own work, to provide the reader with a better understanding of the novel. He will explain exactly why he believes the novel is "the imaginary paradise of individuals." (Patrick Steadman*)

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As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. (ISBN:067973225X)

The best book I've ever read. It inspired me to start writing.

(Chris Wheeler*)

Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen. (ISBN:039475929X)

Babette’s Feast, set against the bleak backdrop of a Norwegian fishing village, explores the conflict between the demands of the spiritual life and the longing and desires of the flesh. Martine and Phillippa reject their only suitors so that they might serve their father and their faith. From then on, they live simply without much to savor in either their food or their lives. When Babette comes to stay with the sisters, their world begins to broaden, and they enjoy the sensual flavors of her soups. The feast at the end of the book shows the way life can be transformed by an artist who loves her world and gives all to her work.

(Prof. McKenna)

Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich. (ISBN:0805076069)

The follow-up to Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch sees Ehrenreich under cover once again, this time as a college-educated mid-level manager. She encounters first-hand the ramifications of corporate downsizing and outsourcing as she vainly attempts to find white collar work. Written in the same entertaining style as Nickel and Dimed, this book again reveals far more about American society than the author attempted. (Dr. George)

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The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson. (ISBN:0375707573)

Is beauty truth? Discover Anne Carson's answer to Keats' enduring question. In The Beauty of the Husband, Carson challenges notions of genre. Though she calls this collection of poems "a fictional essay in 29 tangos" the book is more than an imaginary dance about marriage, love, betrayal and loss; it's a philosophical inquiry into what moves us, what draws us together and what rends us apart. (Dr. Braniger)

Black Elk Speaks by Black Elk. (ISBN:0803283857)

This is the story of a Lakota Indian prophet who lived from 1863-1950. He was interviewed by poet John Niehardt, and his story is told with the accuracy and immediacy of the first person narrative, but with the care and attention of the words of the poet. It is beautifully written, historically interesting, and an important perspective on recent American history.

(Toby Gwiazdowski*)

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Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Writers Running Wild in the Twenties by Marion Meade. (ISBN:0156030594)

Revisiting the 1920s through the experiences of four major writers of the time makes for an enjoyable reading experience. The lives of Edna Ferber, Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Zelda Fitzgerald interweave and overlap to create a vividly alive picture of the wild and prosperous 20s. These incredibly talented women, who traveled, drank, smoked, socialized, published, and paid, sometimes dearly, for their success, their money, and their love(r)s, show us that, in spite of the times, it was perhaps not quite so much a man’s world after all.

(Prof. Crowe)

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. (ISBN:0060929871)

If you haven't read this, you must. If you have, you must read it again. Huxley's 1932 novel flips our standard values and morals upside-down by transporting us to a world where humans are mass-produced, parents do not exist, and "love" is taboo. Huxley forces us to ask critical questions about society's past, present, and future. A provocative satire with exquisite language, Brave New World leaves you confused, uncomfortable, and full of questions. (Deanne Dreschler*)

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The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders. (ISBN:1594481520)

While not as compelling and complex as his firt two jaw-dropping short story collections (CivilWarLand in Bad Decline and Pastoralia), George Saunders' The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil opens on a familiar political and historical landscape, exploring the ways in which the communities there work both collaboratively and hierarchically. Saunders seeks to point out the dangers of both. His cartoon characters and allusive yet detailed illustrations represent his eclectic approach to the novella.

(Dr. Braniger)

Cell: A Novel by Stephen King. (ISBN:0743292332)

While I’m not usually a huge fan of King’s horror fiction (yet wind up reading much of it anyway), this story is definitely worth the time. King raises serious questions about, as well as illustrates (often quite graphically) the shocking consequences of technology and our blind dependence upon it, as cell phones become the instrument of our almost near destruction. Without going into details, it’s an entertaining yet unsettling tale in a very this-could-happen kind of way and will make you think twice about not only using your cell phone but also the question, “Can you hear me now?” (By the way, King doesn’t own a cell phone…)
(Prof. Crowe)

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The Collector by John Fowles. (ISBN:0316290238)

Fowles shows a kidnapping from the perspective of both the captive and the captor. The psychology of the captor is chilling, but there are times when some readers feel sorry for him and hate his captive for how she treats him. This book allows us into the mind of a developing serial killer.

(Nichole Coers*)

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. (ISBN:0679774386)

Many recognize Boris Pasternak as the most lyrically gifted of a brilliant generation of Russian poets. After years of earning a living as a translator (when he was unable to publish his own work, deemed counter to state-approved standards), Pasternak wrote the novel Doctor Zhivago. First published in Italy in 1957, Doctor Zhivago was translated and published in nearly twenty languages within a year. In 1958, Pasternak won the Nobel Prize for Literature, an honor he had to decline, because Soviet officials made his life too difficult at home. The main character’s life as a physician and poet alters frightfully during the mayhem of the Russian Revolution. His attempts to save his family and preserve his love for two women when he has little agency over his own life illustrate a deeply personal struggle in the midst of the public, collective, political one. I read this book on the couch the week after school ended last year. It will take you away, and the sparkling, brilliant winter landscapes of Russia feel very much alive on the skin as we move through our own changing season.
(Dr. Frech)

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Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. (ISBN:0375713344)

From the back cover: “Geek Love is the story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater—and paterfamilias set out—with the help of amphetamine, arsenic and radioisotopes—to breed their own exhibit of human oddities. There’s Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniacal ambition worthy of Genghis Khan…Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins…albino hunchback Oly…and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family’s most precious— and dangerous— asset.” I can guarantee that this novel is unlike anything you’ve ever read. It’s at once disturbing and engrossing. Hunchback Oly narrates, weaving seamlessly between her past life at the Binewski “Fabulon” and her present life’s attempt to reconnect with her estranged daughter. Dunn’s writing style is completely engaging, leaving the reader hungry for more of both stories.

(Molly Burns*)

Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris. (ISBN:0060559144)

From the author of Chocolat, this murder mystery takes place at St. Oswald’s School for Boys. Narrated alternatively by an elderly professor at the school (an “institution” himself) as well as an “outsider” student, the former attempts to maintain the diehard traditions of the school while the latter seeks to quietly and methodically unravel and destroy (for quite intriguing reasons) the elitism and old school values which have held the institution together for hundreds of years. It’s a nicely crafted story, and as carefully as you think you’re reading, you may not be prepared for what happens in the end. I hope not. It’s what makes this novel worth reading. (Prof. Crowe)

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The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. (ISBN:074324754X)

In The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls tells the story of life on the road with her alcoholic father and eccentric mother. Her father, an engineer by trade, hangs on to his delusional dream of creating a mansion for the family even when he can’t find the money to pay the bills. The family moves from town to town until it’s time “for the old skedaddle”. Her mother, a teacher and artist, believes children should be free to make their own mistakes and her very young children are often neglected and endangered by her free-spirited philosophy.. It is easy to get caught up in the parent’s pipe dreams—just as the children do when they are young. It is also easy to understand the shame and frustration of the children when they have no food or decent clothes and have to handle the problems of the adults in their lives. The story is compelling and impossible to put down. (Prof. McKenna)

Heaven Lake by John Dalton. (ISBN:0743246357)

John Dalton, featured fiction writer for Millikin’s 2006 Literary Festival, says he knew Heaven Lake was nearing completion when he could open the manuscript to any page and the language was gripping, the voice and characters immediately accessible. That rigorous attention to language and to the high level of writing at any and all stages of the book results in a finely textured and lovely, readable prose. The novel follows Vincent’s journey across mainland China and from his early, easy righteousness to a more difficult character: flawed, uncertain, desperate, and willing to take extensive, dangerous measures to distance himself from trouble he’s created. Heaven Lake is a rite of passage story, but not of a boy or adolescent. Vincent is a young man, so his struggles and his growth feel much nearer to our own, the peace he’s looking for much nearer the one we’d wish for ourselves. (Dr. Frech)

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The House by the Sea by May Sarton. (ISBN:0060565500)

The House by the Sea is one of several journals that Sarton published in her lifetime. Her stories of life in her new home, the antics of her animals, her work in the garden she nurtures and loves, could have been boring and mundane. But Sarton’s descriptions of her days by the ocean and the deep introspection of her life and experiences, provide a fascinating portrait of the writer as a woman and an artist. She invites her reader to sit with her by the fire in her parlor and doze lazily there with the cat. You see how the demands of her writing and speaking schedule both enliven and exhaust her as she moves through her sixties. Reading Sarton is like curling up with a good book on a blustery day—comfort and serenity in the midst of life’s storms. (Prof. McKenna)

Incendiary Circumstances: A Chronicle of the Turmoil of Our Times by Amitav Ghosh. (ISBN:0618378065)

This is a collection of essays by Amitav Ghosh about his perception of some of the crucial global events of the last two decades. The book takes us on a complex personal/public journey of a whole spectrum of human experiences. We join the author as he recounts his visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Island, just days before the devastation of the 2005 Tsunami. In horror, we witness the unfolding of September 11, 2001 incidents through the eyes of a father, who rushes over to collect his daughter from a New York City school. We stand with him on the icy peaks of the mountain range on the contested border between India and Pakistan. In absolute elation, we join the author in the Egyptian celebration for Naguib Mahfouz’s Nobel Prize win. This book is a product of a prescience born out of intelligent humanity, as Ghosh “illuminates the human drama behind the headlines” (Publishers Weekly). Amitav Ghosh is one of the best know Indo-Anglian authors of our generation. He was born in Calcutta, India and grew up in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Iran. He has a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Oxford University. Ghosh has contributed his journalistic work in venues such as The Nation, the New Republic, The New Yorker, and Granata. Some of his other bestselling novels are The Circle of Reason (1986), The Shadow Lines (1988) The Calcutta Chromosome (1996), The Glass Palace (2000), and The Hungry Tide (2005). He is also a prolific travel writer. He divides his time between Harvard University, where he is a visiting professor, and his homes in Kolkata, India, and Brooklyn, New York. (Dr. Banerjee)

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The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History by Brian M. Fagan. (ISBN:0465022723)

What do the great famine of 1315-17, Napoleon's defeat in Russia, Valley Forge, and the Irish potato famine have in common? They all occurred during a climatic period known to many as the little ice age, a period of vast fluctuations in temperature and weather patterns. Fagan traces the impact of these weather patterns on human history. With the current concern over global warming, the book is timely and illustrates what average fluctuations of just a couple of degrees can do to weather patterns, and human existence. You'll learn a good bit about history, but you'll also learn about our fragile ecosystem and how climate impacts it. (Dr. George)

Marxism and Literary Criticism by Terry Eagleton. (ISBN:0520032438)

For those interested in literary theory, this one's a must read. At a mere 87 pages (that includes the bibliography), it's a short book, but it presents the reader with a firm foundation for Marxist literary theory. (Dr. George)

The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. (ISBN:0812968255)

The emperor Marcus Aelius Aurelius Antoninus, who reigned from 161-180 A.D., was the only Roman emperor besides Julius Caesar whose writings were to become part of the canon of Western classics. His Meditations are a loosely-organized set of thoughts relating to the stoic philosophy, which had been popular among the better-educated citizens of Rome for some centuries. It stressed self-discipline, virtue, and inner tranquility. Aurelius was also a social reformer who worked for the improvement of the lot of the poor, slaves, and convicted criminals. He was a fierce persecutor of Christianity, doubtless because he felt that the religion threatened the values that had made Rome great. Aurelius was not an original or brilliant thinker, but his Meditations reflect well the stoic strain in Greco-Roman civilization. The emphasis on morality, combined with emotional detachment, is strongly reminiscent of Buddhist thought, with which Stoicism has often been compared. This book will open your mind to so many different thoughts about life, love and the world around you. I would recommend this book to anyone who has the courage to explore their soul. (Jody Cox, Student Assistant, English Department)

The Mermaid’s Chair by Sue Monk Kidd, the author of Secret Life of Bees. (ISBN:0670033944)

Jessie Sullivan is forced into an extended stay back at her home town to care for her troubled mother, Nelle. Though happily married with a grown daughter, she becomes attracted to Brother Thomas, who is about to take his final vows a monk. Kidd's descriptions of the environment of Egret Island, a barrier island off the coast of South Carolina, are detailed and enthralling. This is a riveting story of self-discovery. (Prof. Dwiggins)

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Moby Dick by Herman Melville. (ISBN:0553213113)

Nils Michals, featured poet at Millikin’s 2006 Literary Festival, says he reads Melville’s Moby Dick every year, a tall order for such a substantial book, but one of the few books I can imagine sustaining an annual read. Per his endorsement, I’m rereading it and am reminded what a wonderful book it is, in the true sense of prompting wonder. The book encyclopedically chronicles 19th century marine life and trade, whaling tools and tactics, Melville’s own cetological schema (one that insists the whale is a fish), all woven into a narrative not only of Ahab’s mania, but Ishmael’s witnessing of Ahab’s decline and its effect on the crew. The simple “fish” story as a result feels unusual at every turn of narrative, of structure, of voice. Commit to it again, the whole thing, and enjoy. And as a complement, read Michals’ book of poems Lure to see if overt influences reveal themselves. (Dr. Frech)

My Journey by Lidia Rozmus. (ISBN:1929116136)

My Journey is a beautiful story of Lidia Rozmus’ journey “into time and space, to the deep north and south, the west and the east.” Through haibun (a combination of prose and haiku) and haiga (a combination of sumi-e painting and haiku) Lidia takes us back through memories of growing up in Poland, traveling the world in pursuit of her art, concluding with her fingerprints in the immigration office in Chicago. This is a beautifully designed and produced book, with continuous sumi-e painting borders, photographs and haiku scattered throughout. Lidia’s paintings were exhibited at Millikin in November 2005, and she taught a master class on sumi-e painting and haiku on campus. (Dr. Brooks)

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Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. (ISBN:0805063897)

Ehrenreich goes under cover to determine if a person can survive on minimum wage. She reveals far more than the inadequacy of our minimum wage. She reveals larger issues of predation, business practices as she attempts to make it in the world of fast food and house cleaning. Ehrenreich has a solid, entertaining writing style that makes this book a very quick read. (Dr. George)

One Bullet Away : The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathaniel C. Fick. (ISBN:0618556133)

After graduating from Dartmouth as a classics major, Nathaniel Fick joined the Marine Corps and completed Officer's Candidate School. As an officer in the Marine Corps he was deployed to Afghanistan and then led missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lt. Fick's own personal mission was to bring every one of his men home from Iraq alive and in this he was successful. Lt. Fick focuses on the reality of his personal experiences and on the men fighting the war.

(Cindie Zelhart, Office Manager, English Department)

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Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. (ISBN:0385721676)

This 2003 novel reminded me much of The Handmaid's Tale, replacing warnings about misogyny and the religious right with warnings about gene splicing, over consumption, and the growing gulf between the rich and poor. Themes aside, the novel also shines with stylistic vigor and polish. Oryx and Crake is a splendid novel, well worth your investment.

(Dr. O'Conner)

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell. (ISBN:0060787120)

A vivid and well-organized epic taking place somewhere around the ninth-century I believe, that follows the exploits and ambitions of Vikings. Or rather, how the only remaining English kingdom Wessex, fights the Danes in an attempt to retain whatever is left of the integrity and character that is, or was, England. The book follows Uhtred, a Saxon, who, as a brash, battle-experienced and oftentimes too adventurous young man fights for what he himself believes to be his "home," and not what King Alfred declares to be the home of all English. Uhtred knows the world of fire and sword and isn't afraid to go into battle in order to rescue or defend his pride; unfortunately for him, his arrogance as a warrior and understanding of his shadowed upbringing will, among other things, find him at the side of his most hated enemies. (Aaron H. Bynum*)

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The Priest’s Madonna by Amy Hassinger. (ISBN:0399153179)

This is a novel that takes us back to 19th century France, where a priest has suddenly come into a great deal of wealth. Where this money came from is a mystery. Is it hush money, a bribe, a secret love? You’ll have to read the novel to find out.

(Dr. Brooks)

The River of Doubt by Candice Millard. (ISBN:0767913736)

This is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt's exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth. In 1913 Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, traveled to South America to explore the Amazon delta region. The narrative describes the series of hardships; losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, enduring starvation, Indian attack, and disease. Very good reading! (Jacque Wrigley, Executive Secretary to VP, Academic Affairs)

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The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. (ISBN:0199291152)

It's an excellent book that makes difficult scientific concepts available to readers in accessible language and metaphor. It takes the difficult information of scientific journals and allows people without any training in science to achieve a reasonable degree of scientific literacy on the subject of evolutionary theory. (Toby Gwiazdowski*)

Seven Types of Ambiguity by Eliot Perlman. (ISBN:0571207227)

Australian writer Eliot Perlman’s second novel traces the story of a man who kidnaps his ex-lover’s son from seven different perspectives including the kidnapper, his psychiatrist, his ex-lover and her husband. Each part of the book brings a new narrator, and Perlman only reveals parts of the larger story at a time. How the characters appear to each other sometimes differs vastly from how they seem to see themselves. This is a hefty book (over 600 pages), but I just couldn’t put it down. The larger story of the kidnapping and its aftermath has the qualities of a thriller, but the narrators’ digressions on love, politics, and literary theory also make good reading. (Dr. Poitevin)

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Small Steps by Louis Sachar. (ISBN:0385733143)

This young adult novel is a sequel to Holes and features Armpit, one of the former residents of Camp Green Lake. Living in Austin, Texas, Armpit has stayed clean for two years doing landscaping when he meets up with another former resident, X-Ray. Armpit's new life is turned upside when X-Ray involves him in a ticket scalping scheme.

(Prof. Dwiggins)

Tell Them I Didn't Cry : A Young Journalist's Story of Joy, Loss, and Survival in Iraq by Jackie & Jenny Spinner. (ISBN:074328853X)

One of our Millikin writing major alums, Jenny Spinner (’92) and her twin sister, Jackie Spinner, have written TELL THEM I DIDN’T CRY. This book, published by Scribner, is about the experience of being a journalist for the Washington Post in Iraq. The book is a gripping narrative about daily life in the war-torn Iraq and the challenges of journalism coverage in an environment where you could get killed just buying groceries. The Spinner twins were featured readers at Millikin in March 2006, and the reading was broadcast on C-Span.
(Dr. Brooks)

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Three Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger and Tony La Russa. (ISBN:0618710531)

Not just another nonfiction baseball book, this well-written prose analyzes a single three-game series played between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs in August of 2003. Bissinger is given amazing access to the clubhouse, the players and Tony La Russa's thinking, planning and style of management. For the dedicated fan and novice alike, this book takes a peek behind the scenes of how major league baseball works in the twenty-first century. Highly recommended. (Dr. O'Conner)

Two Lives by Vikram Seth. (ISBN:0060599669)

Renowned for his bold hybridization of the novelistic genre (his best known work being The Golden Gate, written in 1986, is a novel composed entirely of rhyming tetrameter sonnets—690 of them to be precise—is a satirical romance describing the stories of young professionals in San Francisco), Seth writes the Two Lives as both a history of a century seen through the eyes of two survivors and an intimate narrative of the friendship and love that flourishes between them. For Seth this is also a personal family memoir that he confesses to have written at the behest of his mother. The narrative deals with lives of his great uncle (Shanti Behari Seth) and German-Jewish great aunt (Henny Caro), who met in Berlin in the early 1930s. When attending Oxford University, at the age of 17, Seth stayed with this couple and came to know of their complex love-story. His German-Jewish great aunt Henny’s first reaction to his Indian great uncle Shanti’s request for lodging in pre-war Berlin was to state, “Don’t take the black man!” But when Henny escaped from Hitler’s Germany for England only one man met her at Victoria Station, Shanti. Born in 1952 in Calcutta, India, Vikram Seth earned a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics (a PPE degree) from Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He also enrolled in the PhD program in Economics at Stanford University, but never completed his study. While at Stanford, Seth was also the Wallace Stegner Fellow in Creative Writing. In just six-months learned Mandarin (well enough to both translate and written poems in that language) and researched extensively at Nanjing University. Seth's books of poetry include Mappings (1980), From Heaven Lake (1983), The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985), All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990), Beastly Tales (1991), and Three Chinese Poets (1992). His novels include The Suitable Boy (1993) and An Unequal Music (1999). He has also written many one travelogue, one children’s book, and one libretto. (Dr. Banerjee)

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The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. (ISBN:0060932139)

At the center of Kundera’s novel is a question about how we choose to think about and to live life itself: do we see our actions as meaningful and important, or as “light” and inconsequential? How does that choice affect the way we live our lives? The characters in the book who seem to struggle with this question-some are drawn to lightness, while others struggle under weight. This is a novel of ideas as much as (or more than) it is a novel about its characters. It’s written in a series of vignettes that engage the reader with philosophical questions and the inner lives of characters. I read this book for the first time as an undergraduate-it filled me with new questions and ways of thinking about the world. I know it’s influenced many others, too. (Dr. Poitevin)

Wartime Decatur by Dan Guillory. (ISBN:073853997X)

Wartime Decatur 1832-1945 is the second Arcadia Press photo history book about Decatur by Dr. Dan Guillory, Emeritus Professor of English, Millikin University. The photos in this collection take us back to times of war including six campaigns: the Black Hawk War (ISBN:1832), the Mexican War (ISBN:1846-1848), the Civil War (ISBN:1861-1865), the Spanish-American War (ISBN:1898), World War I (ISBN:1917-1918), and World War II (ISBN:1941-1945). Dr. Guillory’s narrative opens our eyes to details and significance of things we might not notice in the photos without such a thoughtful guide. (Dr. Brooks)

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White Noise by Don DeLillo. (ISBN:0140077022)

A novel contemporary with our times. The main character is the Chair of Hitler Studies at a small Midwestern American university. In a world where fear paralyzes the masses, yet creates a sense of urgency for life, Professor Jack Gladney struggles to come to terms with his suffering in waiting for death. Yet he is full of hope.

(Dr. Braniger)

Who Murdered Chaucer: A Medieval Mystery by Terry Jones. (ISBN:0312335873)

Drawing upon the knowledge of medieval scholars Robert Yeager, Alan Fletcher, and Juliette Dor, Terry Jones of “Monty Python” fame pulls together circumstantial evidence for Chaucer's murder in 1400. The book is well-researched, and as one would expect from the person who played Sir Bedevere and Prince Herbert, it's a really good read.

(Dr. George)

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