Summer Reading

What Houston Insiders are Reading, 2004

In her August 1, 2004 column, Chronicle columnist Shelby Hodge surveyed a number of "big readers and interesting folks" to find out what they're reading this summer.  Selections include both fiction and nonfiction.

Fiction

	Dan Brown. Angels & Demons Dr. Fred Aguilar, Plastic Surgeon A Harvard symbologist analyzes a mysterious symbol seared to the chest of murdered physicist and discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood to carry out its vendetta against the Catholic Church.
	Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason. The Rule of Four Brian Becker, Clear Channel Entertainment CEO Tilman Fertitta, Landry's CEO A stunning first novel in the vein of Umberto Ecco and Dan Brown. Two friends find the key to the labyrinth that holds the secrets of an ancient text called the "Hypnerotomachia." But when a fellow researcher is murdered, they suddenly realize they are caught in a web of great danger.
	Sarah Dunant. The Birth of Venus Nancy Kinder, Republican fund-raiser Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family's Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter's abilities. But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra's parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man.
	Charles Dickens. Great Expectations Andrea White, Houston's First Lady Great Expectations is generally considered the finest achievement of Charles Dickens' illustrious literary career. Abundant with wondrous coincidences, singular characters, and abrupt plot twists, it narrates the epic story of the orphan Pip, whose sudden rise from poverty, fueled by a mysterious source, gives birth to newfound opportunities and expectations. Its stark social realism is a profound meditation on the nature of goodness, and the illusions and desires that divert us from lasting happiness. Since it was serialized weekly in 1861, Great Expectations has become a timeless classic.
	Jasper Fforde. The Eyre Affair Andrea White, Houston's First Lady In Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career.
	Carl Hiaasen. Skinny Dip Brian Becker, Clear Channel Entertainment CEO Peter Marzio, Director, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Chaz Perrone might be the only marine scientist in the world who doesn’t know which way the Gulf Stream runs. He might also be the only one who went into biology just to make a killing, and now he’s found a way–doctoring water samples so that a ruthless agribusiness tycoon can continue illegally dumping fertilizer into the endangered Everglades. When Chaz suspects that his wife, Joey, has figured out his scam, he pushes her overboard from a cruise liner into the night-dark Atlantic. Unfortunately for Chaz, his wife doesn’t die in the fall.
	Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner Diana Untermeyer, Wife of the New Ambassador to Qatar Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan , the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.
	Barbara Kingsolver. The Poisonwood Bible Argentina James, Director of Public Affairs, Port of Houston Authority In her first novel since "Pigs in Heaven", Kingsolver offers a compelling exploration of religion, conscience, imperialist arrogance, and the many paths to redemption. An American missionary and his family travel to the Congo in 1959, a time of tremendous political and social upheaval. Web feature.
	Penelope Lively. The Photograph Dr. Fred Aguilar, Plastic Surgeon It opens with a snapshot: a young woman, Kath, at an unknown gathering, hands clasped with a man not her husband, their backs to the camera. Its envelope is marked DO NOT OPEN-DESTROY. But Kath's husband, Glyn, does not heed the warning. The mystery of the photograph, and of Kath herself and her recent death, propels him on a journey of discovery that sends shock waves through the lives of her family and friends.
	Francesca Marciano. Casa Rossa Alexandra Knight, Handbag Designer A mesmerizing story of three generations of a twentieth-century Italian family. Casa Rossa-a farmhouse in Puglia owned by the Strada family-is being sold. And as she packs up the house, Alina Strada pieces together the history of her family's past, and of the lives of three extraordinary Strada women.
	Ann Patchett. Bel Canto Andrea White, Houston's First Lady A novel that is as lyrical and profound as it is unforgettable, "Bel Canto" engenders in the reader the very passion for art and the language of music that its characters discover. A virtuoso performance by an important writer.

Nonfiction

	Arthur Agatston. The South Beach Diet Nancy Kinder, Republican Fund-Raiser Dr. Agatston has developed an all-science, deliciously heart-healthy program that offers immediate results, helping dieters shed ten, 20, 30 pounds while radically changing their blood chemistry, reversing diabetes, and lowering high cholesterol.
	David Aikman. A Man of Faith: the Spiritual Journey of George W. Bush Dom Capers, Houston Texans' Coach More than any other world leader in recent times, George W. Bush is a man of faith...a conservative Christian who has brought the power of prayer and the search for God's will into the Oval Office. His faith has proven to be a bedrock of strength and resolve during two of the most tumultuous years in our nation's history. David Aikman, skilled journalist and former senior correspondent for TIME magazine, pens this dramatic and gripping account of Bush's journey to faith.
	Tom Brokaw. The Greatest Generation Tilman Fertitta, Landry's CEO One of NBC's most famous anchormen celebrates the greatest generation in history--Americans born in the 1920s who came of age during the Great Depression, fought in World War II, and went on to build America. "The Greatest Generation" will be also be the subject of a concurrent NBC-TV show.
	Geraldine Brooks. Nine Parts of Desire: the Hidden World of Islamic Women Diana Untermeyer, Wife of the Ambassador to Qatar An intimate portrait of the lives of modern Muslim women reveals how male pride and power have distorted the message of Islam to justify the subjugation of women and how a feminism of sorts has flowered in spite of repression.
	Bill Clinton. My Life State Senator Rodney Ellis, D-Houston Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, Precinct 2 Former president Bill Clinton's highly anticipated memoirs will be published in June. My Life, an account of Clinton's life through the White House years, is one of the most eagerly awaited books of recent years.
	Jim Collins. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't Jeff Love, Managing Partner of Locke, Liddell, & Sapp Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained them. Some of the key concepts discerned in this study, comments Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people".
	George Crile. Charlie Wilson's War: the Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History Mayor Bill White From an award-winning 60 Minutes reporter comes the extraordinary story of the largest and most successful CIA operation in history-the arming of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan.
	Charles Higham. Murdering Mr. Lincoln Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, Precinct 2 In this original work, Charles Higham addresses one of the greatest historical mysteries: did John Wilkes Booth act alone on the night of Good Friday, 1865 or was he part of a wide conspiracy?
	Paul Krugman. The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in a New Century US District Judge Vanessa Gilmore In this long-awaited work containing Krugman's most influential columns along with new commentary, he chronicles how the boom economy unraveled: how exuberance gave way to pessimism, how the age of corporate heroes gave way to corporate scandals, how fiscal responsibility collapsed. From his account of the secret history of the California energy crisis to his devastating dissections of dishonesty in the Bush administration, Krugman tells the uncomfortable truth about how the United States lost its way. And he gives us the road map we will need to follow if we are to get the country back on track.
	Steve Leder. More Money Than God: Living a Rich Life Without Losing Your Soul Brian Becker, Clear Channel Entertainment CEO In this beautifully written and moving book, author Steven Leder uses his 15 years of experience as a religious leader and spiritual counselor to tackle the questions with which all of us wrestle on a daily basis: How to keep money from being a focal point, how to understand the difference between wants and needs, what kind of moral code to live by while seeking the comfort that money brings, how to teach children about values involving money, and more.
	James & Jeffrey Lilley. China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia Chase Untermeyer, Ambassador to Qatar In China Hands , [Lilley] includes three generations of stories from an American family in the Far East, all of them absorbing, some of them exciting, and one, the loss of Lilley's much loved and admired brother, Frank, unremittingly tragic. China Hands is a fascinating memoir of America in Asia, Asia itself, and one especially capable American's personal history.
	David Osbourne & Peter Hutchinson. The Price of Government: Getting the Results We Need in an Age of Permanent Fiscal Crisis Mayor Bill White A clear, step-by-step roadmap for change, offering concrete solutions drawn from the author's combined thirty years of experience leading and advising public institutions. The authors begin by describing a radically different approach to budgeting - one that focuses on buying results for citizens rather than cutting or adding to last year's spending programs. They go on to show how leaders can use consolidation, competition, customer choice, and a relentless focus on results to save millions while improving public services, at all levels of government.
	Donald Phillips. Run to Win: Vince Lombardi on Coaching and Leadership Charley Casserly, Houston Texans General Manager Vince Lombardi, whom many believe to be the greatest football coach in the history of the sport, is both a household name and an icon. He is not only renowned in the sports world, but also in business and industry for his exceptional leadership skills. In Run to Win , acclaimed author Don Phillips examines Lombardi's famous coaching style by painting a picture of a fascinating individual, a man whose ingenious leadership helped lead his teams to nine playoff victories in a row, including wins in the first two Super Bowls.
	Samantha Power. A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide Edward Djerejian, Director of Rice University's Baker Institute In her award-winning interrogation of the last century of American history, Samantha Power asks the haunting question: Why do American leaders who vow "never again" repeatedly fail to stop genocide? Drawing upon exclusive interviews with Washington's top policy makers, access to newly declassified documents, and her own reporting from the modern killing fields, Power provides the answer in "A Problem from Hell" -- a groundbreaking work that tells the stories of the courageous Americans who risked their careers and lives in an effort to get the United States to act.
	David Sedaris. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim Bob Devlin, Neiman Marcus General Manager Sedaris returns to his deliriously twisted domain: hilarious childhood dramas infused with melancholy; the gulf of misunderstanding that exists between people of different nations or members of the same family; and the poignant divide between one's best hopes and most common deeds.
	Dean Smith. The Carolina Way: Leadership Lessons from a Life in Coaching Charley Casserly, Houston Texans General Manager The most successful coach in college basketball history, and among the most beloved, offers his comprehensive program for building and maintaining winning teams in sports, business, and life.
	Allister Sparks. Beyond the Miracle: Inside the New South Africa State Senator Rodney Ellis, D-Houston In Beyond the Miracle, a distinguished South African journalist provides a wide-ranging and unflinching account of the first nine years of democratic government in South Africa.
	Wilfred Thesiger. Arabian Sands Mayor Bill White The author recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950, and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedouins.