GustavusReads

Jon Warling Jon is a sophomore communications major and a...

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 -0400

Jon Warling

Jon is a sophomore communications major and a possible music minor. This semester, he has been working to create a student-led vocal jazz group! Jon can also be found performing his Greeter duties, working for CAB and swimming for the Gustavus Swimming and Diving Team. Some favorite classes so far are Beginning Acting and Media & Society.

What is the most important book you’ve ever read?

This might be an obvious one, but I think it would have to be the Harry Potter series. We all grew up with it. And then the final movie came out my first year in college. It was the perfect timing in my own life.

What was your favorite book as a kid?

I had several—I read a lot of fiction. I liked imagination and how I could create the different worlds I was reading about. So Harry Potter, of course, and the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. He’s like a kid version of James Bond.

Do you have a favorite book character?

Well, I read the Hunger Games before they really took off, and Katniss was always a favorite. She sets aside so much of her own life for her family and the nation. Also, I can’t remember his name, but the main character from The Shadow of the Wind. It’s the story of this boy going out and pursuing something his father was passionate about before his father passed away. The sense of mission and accomplishment and purpose this character had was really inspiring.

Where is your favorite place to study or read?

It changes, to be honest. Most of the time I like to read outside in one of the adirondack chairs facing St. Peter. When there’s something I’m really interested in, I’ll try to find some place quiet, like the third floor of the library, facing Beck or the basement of a res hall. Sometimes I also like the Courtyard. It’s fun to have those distractions and interactions.

What book(s) would you recommend to Gusties?

The Shadow of the Wind. It was originally written in Spanish by Carlos Ruiz Zafón but has since been translated into many languages. It’s not a fast read. There’s multiple plot lines and it takes time to process, but it is a phenomenal story. Great for the college-age mind.

Right now I’m reading a non-fiction book—the Reading In Common book for next year, The Other Wes Moore. It’s amazing to see how differently the author’s life might have gone if a few things had turned out differently.

Also, Just My Type, by Simon Garfield. It’s a lighthearted, fun look at the history of fonts and font styles and what a font can say all on its own. Throughout, there are “font breaks” where you can see examples of the fonts the author is talking about.

Robert Holder Who are you? What do you do on campus? What are...

Mon, 07 May 2012 16:34:00 -0400

Robert Holder

Who are you? What do you do on campus? What are your hobbies? Interests? Favorite class?

I’m Robert Holder, a Geology and Scandinavian Studies major and co-president of Viking Society. I am pretty busy with class, but when I get some free time, I like to run, work out, read, sauna, rock climb and watch tv (it’s always sunny, x-files and futurama are the best). I works as a geology TA, Spanish tutor and academic assistant for Scandinavian Studies. My favorite class has been Geo322: Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology.

What is the most important book you’ve ever read? Why was it so influential/memorable?

I would have to say that it was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, by Robert M. Pirsig. This was the first book that I picked up and read for more than just entertainment, back when I was a junior in high school.

What was your favorite book as a kid? Why?

When I was really young I liked two books: Happy Birthday, Og!, by James Young, and Cars and Trucks and Things that Go, by Richard Scarry. In the latter, there was this little yellow beetle named “goldbug” hidden on every page, and I made my mom read it with me almost every day for a while as a toddler so that I could find him over and over again. I still try and find the little guy sometimes when I get bored over the summers.

Do you have a favorite book character?

Tough question…Mat from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.

Where is your favorite place to study or read?

I like to sit at my desk in my single room. It’s like my private office where I can just let my stuff sprawl out across my desk and floor. The library and other buildings are hard to work in because everything is so distracting (especially the books in the library) and you can’t just let your stuff go everywhere because the work spaces are smaller.

What book would you recommend to Gusties?

Barabbas, by Pär Lagerkvist. It is short and easy to read. It is a story of the life of Barabbas, the man who was freed in Jesus’s place, after the crucifixion. As someone who Jesus literally died for, he is shunned by the original Christian community and struggles to understand the significance of the Christian message “love one another.” While searching for meaning in his life after death row, he finds himself in repeated existential crises, simultaneously fearing death and unable to believe in salvation.

Laurel Boman Laurel is a sophomore Classics major from Saint...

Tue, 01 May 2012 15:31:00 -0400

Laurel Boman

Laurel is a sophomore Classics major from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is a part of the Gustavus Wind Orchestra, the Crossroads program and Building Bridges. This J-term, she spent the month studying local history in the class Commemorating Controversy: The US-Dakota War of 1862. Laurel described this as more than a class; they read history books and novels, took field trips to historical sites, heard lectures, and created exhibit panels on the war that are now touring locally!

What is the most important book you’ve ever read?

Persuasion, or more generally, Jane Austen. She is such an astute observer of human nature. Although set in a very distinct time period, the social situations Austen explores are not confined to that time. I think her writing speaks to a universal element of human nature.

I read Emma in 8th grade. Emma, the main character, is a confident matchmaker for all of her friends but then ends up with someone she didn’t expect—Emma never saw him as a potential husband. But I read it and thought, “He’s so old!” I got freaked out and stopped reading Austen. But then a few years later I watched the movie Pride and Prejudice and I got back into it.

What was your favorite book as a kid?

I was really lucky—my dad would read to me before bed. The first series we read together was the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. Then when he found out the Lord of the Rings movie was coming out, he said, “Well, you have to read the book first!” So we did those. After that my mom tried to read Nancy Drew with me, but I was not having it.

Do you have a favorite book character?

Anne Elliot from Persuasion is a favorite. She is not your typical main character or heroine. She’s quieter, smart but not brilliant. She stays on the sidelines, but I think she is one of Austen’s most mature characters. The subtle representations of her own emotions are just powerful. When I’m reading, sometimes I like to imagine what characters’ modern day professions would be. I think Anne would be a nurse—she’s very caring and nurturing.

Where is your favorite place to study or read?

When it’s nice out, I go to the arb. There’s the rock garden, of course, and near the Interpretive Center, but I also like sitting on the benches that are further out. If there’s not bugs or ticks!

If it’s not nice out, the third floor of Old Main. It’s small, but it has a nice feel.

What book would you recommend to Gusties?

During the school year, check out a book of poetry. It’s hard to read a continuous story like a novel, but you can sit down with some poems for 20 minutes. I really like going back to Sappho. She was a Greek poet—maybe the first female poet. Or try Ovid if you’re looking for something raunchy.

Also, The Night Birds by Thomas Maltman. It is historical fiction about the Dakota-U.S. War and the ties to the Civil War. It is first set in 1862 but then moves on to the feelings and reactions of the generations to come. I think it is an important book for people living in this area to read.

Rikka Holiday Rikka Holiday is a senior history major from...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:00:00 -0400

Rikka Holiday

Rikka Holiday is a senior history major from Bozeman, Montana. She’s a member of the Women’s Golf Team, and this semester she’s the library’s intern. (Yay!) She’s been involved with History Club and the Student Senate Ethics Committee and enjoys participating in campus events. Favorite classes so far: Adolescent Literature and Modern East Asia!

What is the most important book you’ve ever read?

One is Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams. It is an emotional roller coaster. It makes you think about life, government, religion and family, and it is all packed into one memoir.

Also, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It’s a book that makes you interested in other books. It was the book that sparked my interest in reading, anyway. I read it in 8th grade, I think, and was really impressed. “Wow, I need to read more!” I thought.

What was your favorite book as a kid?

The Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I read them with my dad. He would read a page and then I would read a page. These books were how I became a stronger reader. And I saw those books as being about me. I thought, “I’m from the West! This is what my life would be like if I lived when Laura did!”

Do you have a favorite book character?

Yes, I do…This is going to sound cheesy but Georgia Nicolson from Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. It’s a British book. It’s about boys. Georgia is just great. It’s hilarious.

The other would be Grandma Chapman in Blind Your Ponies by Stanley West. She’s a really interestingly developed character. I’ve never had a grandmother but I think she’s a character I’d want a grandmother to be like.

Where is your favorite place to read or study?

I always study on the 3rd floor of the library, in a cubbie on the Chapel side. Last year, when Beck was being built, I always sat on that side to watch! If I’m reading for pleasure, I read in my room.

What book(s) would you recommend to Gusties?

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. It’s a quick, pleasure read. We read it in Adolescent Lit, and I loved it.

And The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell—It’s nonfiction. It makes you think about the world in such a different way.