The Otis Library Asks:
What are you reading?

Book reviews and best sellers lists are all well and good, but sometimes the best books are those you hear about from word of mouth. With that in mind, the Otis Library asks “What are you reading?” Add their recommendations to your own reading list! Remember to ask at the Information Desk if you need help locating one of these books.

Our reader this month is:
Bassem Gayed
Otis Library Reference Librarian

I’m often asked about the way I choose a book to read. I always say that I like to check book reviews and what friends are reading, but my final decision would be always based on the topic and the author’s writing style. History, geography, sports and biographies have been always my favorite topics (genres).

Kenneth Davis, Paulo Coelho and Marina Nemat have a very interesting and simple writing style.

I recently tried to keep a record of all the books that I read or would like to read in the future. Www.weread.com is a very good and organized website to create a list of books and rate them. The website offers a good opportunity to get in touch with thousands of readers and get to know what they are reading.

Here is a list of some of the books that I have enjoyed:

Sports:
  • In a Single Bound: Losing My Leg, Finding Myself, and Training for Life by Sarah Reinertsen
  • A History of the World Cup: 1930-2006 by Clemente Angelo Lisi
  • Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher Mcdougall
  • Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
History and Geography:
  • Big history
    by Cynthia Stokes Brown
  • Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion
    by David Gelernter
  • The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century
    by Steve Coll
  • America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation
    by Kenneth C. Davis
  • Don't Know Much About Geography
    by Kenneth Davis
Biographies:
  • My Remarkable Journey by Larry King
  • Prisoner of Tehran: A Memoir by Marina Nemat
  • The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World by Lucette Lagnado
Spiritual:
  • The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For? by Rick Warren
  • Become a Better You by Joel Osteen
Fiction:
  • The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho
  • The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  • Life of Pi by Yann Martel

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