Bearkats Read to Succeed Program
Previous Books
Our Book
Isaac's Storm
September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history--and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devestating personal tragedy.
Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful, Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature.
Guides
Check out Newton Gresham Library's Research Guide for Isaac's Storm for awesome resources and further reading.
Save and/or print the Discussion, Resources, and Learning Activities Guide for Isaac's Storm.
About the Author
Erik Larson wrote Isaac's Storm, published in August 1999. In addition to becoming an immediate Times bestseller, the book won the American Meteorological Society's prestigious Louis J. Battan Author's Award. The Washington Post called it the ''Jaws' of hurricane yarns.''
Erik graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Russian history, language, and culture. He received a master's in journalism from Columbia University. After a brief stint at the Bucks County Courier Times, Larson became a staff writer for the Wall Street Journal, and later a contributing writer for Time. He has written articles for The Atlantic, Harper's, The New Yorker, and other publications.
(Book information, biography, and author photo from Random House Speaker Bureau)
Our Book 2010: China's Son
A common reader program is more than just reading a common book over the summer. The objectives of Bearkats Read to Succeed are to create a common academic/intellectual experience for incoming freshmen, facilitate a campus-wide cross-disciplinary conversation, and enhance the community among students, faculty, and staff.
Why was China’s Son chosen as this years common reader?
International theme
Coming of age story in which freshmen will relate
China, then and now.
Exposure to other cultural and political structures
Value of an education
Author Biography
Da Chen grew up in the deep south of China. As the grandson of a disgraced landowner, he was a victim of communist political persecution and hollowing poverty during the Cultural Revolution. His family was beaten, his father thrown in reform camp, and young Chen, at the age of nine, was threatened with imprisonment.
Our Book 2009: The Fly in the Ointment
Aphrodisiacs, bottled waters, vitamins, plastic wrap, DDT, Alzheimer's, and smoked meat: little escapes Dr. Joe's critical eye. From pesticides and environmental estrogens to lipstick and garlic, Dr. Joe focuses on the science of our everyday world in The Fly in the Ointment. Although proper scientific investigation gives us tremendous advantages, he reminds us that there is often “a fly in the ointment.” Learn about the benefits of broccoli and the pitfalls of "natural " remedies. Explore the science of Agatha Christie, Harry Potter, and Erin Brockovich, and find out how a chemical error nearly led an unfortunate Patricia Stallings to be found guilty of murdering her son. On the heels of his previous best-sellers, award-winning author Dr. Joe Schwarcz once again demystifies the science that surrounds us with The Fly in the Ointment.
Authors' Biographies
Dr. Joe” has appeared hundreds of times on the Canadian Discovery Channel, TV Ontario, Global Television, CBC-TV, CTV-TV and various radio stations. He hosts the "Dr. Joe Show" on Montreal's CJAD and Toronto’s CFRB every Sunday from 3-4 PM. He hosted “Science To Go,” a 13 episode show on the Discovery Channel that focused on common foods. Dr. Schwarcz writes a weekly newspaper column in the Montreal Gazette entitled “The Right Chemistry” as well as a monthly column in Canadian Chemical News. He was the chief consultant on the Reader’s Digest best sellers “Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal” and “The Healing Power of Vitamins, Minerals and Herbs” and contributed the chemistry chapter to the best-selling “Mental Floss.” His books “Radar, Hula Hoops and Playful Pigs,” “The Genie in the Bottle,” “That’s The Way The Cookie Crumbles,” “Dr. Joe and What You Didn ’t Know,” “The Fly in the Ointment” and “Let Them Eat Flax” have been best sellers. The books have been translated into five languages and are sold around the world. His recent work are "An Apple a Day" and "Brain Fuel".
Facaulty and Student Reviews
Your cell phone will not fry your brain. Teflon dishes are safe. You can eat DDT by the spoonfuls because ‘Silent Spring’ was wrong. It is OK to microwave your food covered with Saran wrap. Dr. Schwarcz has a gift for unveiling hoaxes and reassuring us, should we begin to crumble under the weight of modern-day anxieties about all the stuff humankind has collectively fabricated. He is also given to enough historical investigation to verify certain things we may have doubted – Seinfeld was right about poppy seeds, for instance. And even outside of food items, he tells convincing stories of, amongst other things, hormones in the water supply, lipstick, hair dye, and the scummy ring in bathtubs. He is a master of creating the ‘wow, I didn’t know’ moment. He backs it up with science. I think. You see, I am the farthest thing from a scientist in the natural science sense. I stand a good (or really bad) chance of believing scientific accounts as they come. True, these days, the idea that the Earth is flat would not go over well with me. (Long stream of different stories…)
The ultimate success of “The Fly in the Ointment” hinges on being accepted as more authentic than any other story. It is most likely more authentic than any other story. The catch is this: the people who can decide if that is the case, are the hard-core scientists. Not the bumbling totally untouched outsiders like me – which is not about me being all those things, but about me being the intended audience. You see, I am the type of person the book was written for: if our colleagues in chemistry and their students set in front of me an elegantly-shaped glass container in which a liquid bubbles and changes color from magenta to amber, I find my delighted inner four-year-old and I am set. When they kindly try to explain to me what is happening inside the container, the only coherent thought in my mind is ‘well, that gives new depth to saying ‘this is pretty basic”.
This book is entertaining and engaging. It will give us a great opportunity to pull our students closer together in shared campus-wide discussions (of DDT and lipstick) and if we are attentive enough and pick up on the ongoing threads in the book, we may be able to use it to teach a more environmentally conscious ethos (and if after all of that, your method of choice for ending world hunger is Bono as opposed to genetically modified foods, oh well…). However, the greatest opening that the book provides is one into the exciting, beautiful and treacherous terrain of epistemology. Dare we be open to the seduction of asking how we know the theories in Dr. Schwarcz's book are it? Do we care that this seduction is for very few among us?
Melinda Kovács, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Political Science
Students of all ages will enjoy Dr. Schwarcz's casual style and straight-forward explanations of everyday science in The Fly in the Ointment. His positive approach offers insight into historical scientific magic as well as modern myths and media claims. Readers will find this book full of useful knowledge and even a few aha! moments.
Donna Artho, Assistant to the Vice President for Student Services
I have read several of the commentaries. I personally find this book to be fascinating, and informative. Many of the “little things” if you will that he addresses are very relevant to everyday life while others are just absolutely intriguing. I know that any student willing to take the time to read two or three commentaries a day will be able to finish this book in no time and will benefit from the content.
Renae Rowe, Administrative Assistant, Student Success Initiatives
Our Book 2008
Af-flu-en-za - n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.
"Now revised and expanded, this bestselling classic shows how problems ranging from loneliness, longer work hours, and family conflict to rising debt, environmental pollution, and rampant commercialization are all symptoms of the disease of affluenza.
Extensively updated, this new edition offers solutions for today's problem, including new ways of perceiving wealth. Engaging, fast-paced, and accessible, Affluenza reveals ways of living and working that make more sense and are, ultmately, more satisfying. After all, the best things in life aren't things."
Authors' Biographies
John de Graaf, sociologist, has been writing and producing award-winning television programs for twenty years. Over twenty programs have been aired on PBS including Affluenza, Running Out of Time, For Earth's Sake, and Green Plans, among many others. He is a frequent speaker at colleges & universities and has been a visiting scholar at The Evergreen State College.
David Wann, environmental scientist, left the Environmental Protection Agency to concentrate on producing articles, books, and videos about sustainable lifestyles. He is the author of five books including Biologic: Designing with Nature to Protect the Environment, Deep Design: Pathways to a Livable Future, and Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle.
Thomas Naylor is a Professor Emeritus of Economics at Duke University where he taught for 30 years. As an international strategic management consultant, he has advised governments and corporations in over thirty countries.
Facaulty and Student Reviews
The book lays bare many of the aspects of one of the most serious and pervasive issues of modern society and that is preoccupation with affluence and material possessions. It helps to bring perspective to that materialistic orientation and talks about some possible ways of dealing with it. I think that's a very useful topic for our students to think through as they prepare for life: what kind of role that should play or shouldn't play in their plans for the future.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs David Payne
I love how the book addresses the issue of overconsumption in America as a disease. It addresses the symptoms, causes and treatments in a very stimulating manner through catchy chapter titles, humorous illustrations, and a test to see how sick each of us is with affluenza.
Dr. Keri Rogers
The Office for My First-Year Experience
202 Academic Building IV | Box 2335 | Huntsville, Texas 77341-2335
Phone: 936.294.3422 | FAX: 936.294.2232 | Email: fye@shsu.edu
