Faculty Reading Lists: Dr. Lynne Raschke

Really, I could list any of Allende’s works. My other favorites include Daughter of Fortune, Island Beneath the Sea, or her memoir, Paula. I lived in California for 11 years and every time I read Allende (in English), I desperately wish I had learned Spanish while I was living there.

This was the first book by McCullough I read and devoured it in a way that I
usually only do with novels. It was so engaging! I’ve also enjoyed some of his other books.

This is the only book on my list that was an assigned book. I took a poetry
writing class my freshman year of college and it was this book that introduced me to so many 20th century poets I had never read before, including one of my favorite poets, Marilyn Hacker.

Even though most graduate students in science have aspirations of becoming a faculty member at a college or university, it is very rare that they receive any instruction in teaching during their graduate training. After being thrown into my first TA position with no training, I sought out opportunities to learn more about how to teach. (I come from a family of K12 educators so I knew there was a wealth of knowledge on pedagogy out there!) I was so fortunate to get connected with a number of incredible science educators willing to teach a cohort of science grad students about cognitive science, pedagogy, and educational research. This book was one of the first I read on the topic and it still has a big impact in how I think about my teaching.

I have to admit – I love these books. I started reading the series in 2000 when a 14-year old I was tutoring lent me her first 3 books. I have tended to reread the whole series every year and now, I’m really happy I get to read them with my 7-year old! But we’re taking it slowly – we just finished The Prisoner of Azkaban this summer and I think I’ll wait a year before we get to The Goblet of Fire. The books start to get pretty dark and mature at this point and I need to give him time to grown into them.

So, I’m the type of person who starts lots of books and reads them all over a long period of time – which one I decide to read on any given day depends on my mood. (Though, occasionally, I’ll power through a single book and finish it in a day. I just did that with The Cursed Child a couple of weeks ago.) But here’s what I’m in the middle of right now:

The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon Reed

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim

Hmm…House of the Spirits is pretty good for desert island reading – but so are the Harry Potter books. Could I take my Kindle with a solar-powered charger? I’m not good at making choices like this.