Beach Reading from the Board

We asked the MIT Alumni Association Board of Directors the following question: what one book, in these waning days of summer, would you have us read?

President Don Shobrys ‘75:

If want some quasi-serious or serious reading, my recommendations would be The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver or Engineering a Safer World by Nancy Leveson. If you want a break from serious reading, I would suggest the most recent Ian Rankin book that you have not read.  His Inspector Rebus series, set in Edinburgh, starts with Knots and Crosses.  I'm currently enjoying his latest, Saints of the Shadow Bible. 

Chiquita White ‘85:

Here's what I just finished: Big Little Lies by Liana Moriarty. A great fiction book that deals with some serious issues in an engaging way. It's not depressing or heavy but made me think. Starting now: Think like a Freak. By the authors of Freakonomics, Stephen Levit and Steven Dubner. I enjoyed Freakonomics and looking forward to this one. Also on deck: The Target by David Baldacci.

Aliki Collins PhD ‘87:

I am reading The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis.

Laurie Baird SM ‘92:

The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, Chris Yeh.  Haven't read it yet, but am about to start.  I have high hopes it will be great--and useful for business owners, managers, employers as well as folks just interested in understanding work force relationships are evolving. It's about finding a middle ground between 'work is a family' and 'everyone looks out for themselves' and how creating an alliance can represent the best interests of both employers and employees. Happy to provide an update once I finish!

Steve Baker ’84, MArch ‘88:

I just finished The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 by Margaret MacMillan. With the centenary of the start of World War I this month, this very well-reviewed and well-written book seemed like a good fit for my interest in European history. And it provides something for all Americans to ponder: the economic, political, and military relationship between Britain and France on one hand and the United States, Germany, Japan on the other at the turn of the 20th century. There are a great many parallels to the present relationship between America and China, Brazil, and India. We all must hope that 21st-century statesmen do a better job of managing the rise of the so-called BRICs than their late-19th century peers did with the rising powers of their day.

Adina Gwartzman ’82, SM ‘82:

The Giver by Lois Lowry (who is a Cambridge resident).  My son's summer reading requirement. I also just finished 10% Happier by Dan Harris but it's hardly gone unnoticed, and The Giver is a higher recommendation (did you read it when you were in middle school?)

In case  you've finished all of the above, consider tackling the comprehensive list that John Jarve ’79, SM ’79 sent along:

• Einstein:  His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson.  Isaacson is the master biographer and this is one of his best. The book was a New York Times #1 Bestseller. Amazing story of the life of Einstein and a clear layman’s overview of the theories of relativity and Einstein’s other work.  Strongly recommended!
• The Prize:  The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power, by Daniel Yergin. This book won the Pulitzer Prize and is about the history, politics, and, to a much lesser extent, the technology of oil. Superbly written and well researched! I am currently reading this book.
• When Genius Failed:  The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Markets by Roger Lowenstein. How can a bunch of Nobel Prize winning economists and PhD arbitrageurs (many from MIT) lose billions of dollars in a hedge fund? Terrific prose and a really great read.
• The Boys in the Boat:  Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics, by Daniel James Brown. Okay, this book has nothing to do with technology, but every MIT person has watched crew boats on the Charles. This book is New York Times bestseller, compelling read, a great overview of the world of crew, and has a happy ending.
• Our Mathematical Universe:  My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality, by Max Tegmark. Max is an MIT professor and this is his new book. I wish I could recommend this book, but the more you read the weirder it gets. If you like multiple parallel universes with different laws of physics, this is the book for you! Hard to recommend because I was plodding through at the end.'
• A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race, and Human History, by Nicholas Wade. Very controversial book. The reviews are extremely biased and are almost as much fun to read as the book.
• The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein, The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach, Flash Boys, by Michael Lewis, The Son, Philipp Meyer.

If you've already read all these selections, check out our list of faculty picks from last summer!