The Readers’ Edition
Shaker Reads…
and Shaker Recommends
As the Library signs proclaim,
“Shaker Reads,” and a sure-fire way
to strike up a conversation with a
friend or neighbor is to ask them
what they’re reading or what they’d
recommend. Almost everyone has
something to say on this topic. We
asked a number of Shaker readers
what they choose to read and why.
Donna Whyte, former Library Board
president and part-time instructor
in CSU’s Black Studies Department, looks for a book that’s
“culturally enriching and unpredictable.” She is currently
recommending Homecoming by Yaa Gyasi. “You must always ask
yourself, whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so
that this voice could come forth?”—Yaa Gyasi
Kamla Lewis, director of Neighborhood Revitalization
for the City, looks for “ethical dilemmas” such as those in The
Sparrow by local author Mary Doria Russell. “Tradition was safety;
change was danger.”—Mary Doria Russell
David Glasner, superintendent of the Shaker Schools, looks
for books with “captivating story lines and a deeper message.” He
recommends A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. That book
was also a favorite of Alex Nichols, Shaker grad and director
of the City’s Recreation Department, who appreciates “good
character development and a story that makes me feel like I know
all of the characters in the book.” “It’s a no-win argument – that
business of what we’re born with and what our environment does to
us. And it’s a boring argument, because it simplifies the mysteries that
attend both our birth and our growth.”—John Irving
22 FALL 2019 | WWW.SHAKER.LIFE
Michelle Jones,
Lomond Association
president, prefers
nonfiction to learn
through another
person’s experiences.
She recommends
Becoming by Michelle
Obama. “There’s power
in allowing yourself to be
David Glasner
known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic
voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others.”—
Michelle Obama
Lynn Lilly, Lomond Association’s communications officer,
cites a family tradition of reading books about places they travel.
David McCullough’s best-selling page-turner on the Revolutionary
War, 1776, was her pick for a New England trip. For a trip to
China, she recommends Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler’s fascinating
memoir. “From Beijing to Anyang —
From the Modern Capital to the
city known as the cradle of ancient Chinese civilization — it takes six
hours by train… If one defines history as written records, this part of
Henan is where it all began for China.”—Peter Hessler
David Weiss, mayor, looks for a good book to “move me
in my heart, mind, and soul” and recommends Man’s Search for
Meaning by Viktor Frankl. “A man who becomes conscious of the
responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits
for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away
his life. He knows the ‘why’ for his existence, and will be able to bear
almost any how.”—Viktor Frankl
Brandon Chrostowski, EDWINS Restaurant and
Leadership Institute founder, reads for “the truth,” and is
currently recommending Fearless Speech by Michel Foucault.
“What is the relation between the activity of truth-telling and the
exercise of power? Should truth-telling be brought into coincidence
of the exercise of power, or should these activities be completely
independent and kept separate?—Michel Foucault
Lisa Vahey, co-chair of the Shaker Schools Equity Taskforce,
likes to read young adult nonfiction because it helps “broaden
her perspective of the world and of the experiences of young
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Donna Whyte
Alex Nichols
Kamla Lewis
Michelle Jones Lynn Lilly
/WWW.SHAKER.LIFE
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