Spring Break
Committee chooses Fall's university-sponsored book
Kimberly Tsao
Issue date: 3/18/08 Section: News
The circus is in town. Annette Nellen, director of the campus reading program committee, revealed that the committee chose the book "Water for Elephants: A Novel" by Sara Gruen for the next school year.
The novel chronicles Jacob Jankowski's life in the circus as he takes care of the animals, falls in love with Marlena and meets quirky characters along the way.
For the committee's pick, some restrictions apply, Nellen said. The book shouldn't have been adapted for the big screen yet. Also, it should have been published in the past four years, be available in paperback and be fewer than 400 pages.
Nellen said the committee, composed of employees and students, started with a long list of books last year and narrowed it down to a short list of six. That list included "The Glass Castle: A Memoir" and "Color of the Sea," which were voted by two committee members, Nellen said. The 16 other members vouched for Gruen's novel.
The other books on the shortlist were "Jesus Land: A Memoir," "Run" and "The Whistling Season," Nellen said. They previously selected "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America," "The Kite Runner" and "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" since 2005 in that order.
Sokha Sou, a senior business management major, said she had heard about the 2005 book choice, "Nickel and Dimed" in high school.
"It was something the teacher said, 'You should read this during your leisure time,'" she said. "I remember reading an excerpt from it. It was pretty interesting."
For the committee's future choices, students have their own suggestions.
"The first book that pops into my mind is probably 'A Child Called 'It,'" said Caroline Nguyen, a senior nursing major. "That's one of my favorites; I guess because it's a true story, and it's really interesting."
Mabruka Abudra, a junior English major, suggested, "Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail."
"I think it's really interesting," she said, "because you get both a political view and a historical view of a whole different, another culture."
Nellen said "Banned Books Week" was popular last year, so the committee plans to have that again in the first week of October.
Other events include group discussions and professors' lectures on topics related to the book. Nellen said the committee usually approaches the professor, but interested faculty is more than welcome to approach them.
Nellen said the Center for Literary Arts is in charge of having the author come to campus.
On whether Gruen will come next year, Nellen said, "Probably not."
The committee will also coordinate with the Steinbeck Center for Spring 2009 events. They've also enlisted an SJSU advertising intern to help promote the book.
They came to a decision early on to start giving copies of the book to incoming freshmen. Nellen said that while most colleges limit their reading programs to freshmen, this one is open to the all SJSU students and employees.
They are encouraged to read Gruen's book over the summer. Several professors have required the committee's pick in their classes, which range from sociology to international business.
More information can be found on sjsu.edu/reading.
The novel chronicles Jacob Jankowski's life in the circus as he takes care of the animals, falls in love with Marlena and meets quirky characters along the way.
For the committee's pick, some restrictions apply, Nellen said. The book shouldn't have been adapted for the big screen yet. Also, it should have been published in the past four years, be available in paperback and be fewer than 400 pages.
Nellen said the committee, composed of employees and students, started with a long list of books last year and narrowed it down to a short list of six. That list included "The Glass Castle: A Memoir" and "Color of the Sea," which were voted by two committee members, Nellen said. The 16 other members vouched for Gruen's novel.
The other books on the shortlist were "Jesus Land: A Memoir," "Run" and "The Whistling Season," Nellen said. They previously selected "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America," "The Kite Runner" and "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" since 2005 in that order.
Sokha Sou, a senior business management major, said she had heard about the 2005 book choice, "Nickel and Dimed" in high school.
"It was something the teacher said, 'You should read this during your leisure time,'" she said. "I remember reading an excerpt from it. It was pretty interesting."
For the committee's future choices, students have their own suggestions.
"The first book that pops into my mind is probably 'A Child Called 'It,'" said Caroline Nguyen, a senior nursing major. "That's one of my favorites; I guess because it's a true story, and it's really interesting."
Mabruka Abudra, a junior English major, suggested, "Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail."
"I think it's really interesting," she said, "because you get both a political view and a historical view of a whole different, another culture."
Nellen said "Banned Books Week" was popular last year, so the committee plans to have that again in the first week of October.
Other events include group discussions and professors' lectures on topics related to the book. Nellen said the committee usually approaches the professor, but interested faculty is more than welcome to approach them.
Nellen said the Center for Literary Arts is in charge of having the author come to campus.
On whether Gruen will come next year, Nellen said, "Probably not."
The committee will also coordinate with the Steinbeck Center for Spring 2009 events. They've also enlisted an SJSU advertising intern to help promote the book.
They came to a decision early on to start giving copies of the book to incoming freshmen. Nellen said that while most colleges limit their reading programs to freshmen, this one is open to the all SJSU students and employees.
They are encouraged to read Gruen's book over the summer. Several professors have required the committee's pick in their classes, which range from sociology to international business.
More information can be found on sjsu.edu/reading.
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