Isn’t it the worst when you’re back at school after summer break and you’ve forgotten how to hold a pen and can’t even remember how to spell your name?  According to Elgin Community College Professors, the solution is easy: pick up a book.

As the Spring semester draws to a close in these next few weeks, ECC teachers offer their recommendations for a summer reading list.  Instead of only teachers in the English department offering their suggestions, teachers from different departments have offered some of their favorite books as recommendations.

Frederick Vogt, Associate Professor I of Biology, offered his input.  “Stiff” by Mary Roach was the first on his list.  “Stiff” is a 2003 non-fiction novel where the author writes about the history of cadavers and what they are used for.  The novel touches on topics such as body snatching, the nature of decomposition, and army tests. Vogt’s second recommendation was a 1994 non-fiction novel titled “The Beak of the Finch” by Jonathan Weiner.  Weiner writes about the Galapagos Finches in the Galapagos Islands and how Charles Darwin found, studied, and analyzed them.

Professor II of English, Rachael Stewart had the novel “Housekeeping” by Marilynne Robinson at the top of her list, saying that it is one of the most beautiful books she has ever read.  “Housekeeping” was named one of the 100 greatest novels of all time in the Guardian Unlimited in 2003 and it was also named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.  Stewart also suggested “A Brief History of the Dead” by Kevin Brockmeier.

“It is so inventive, and imaginative, and bold,”  Stewart said, regarding the novel. “I stand in total admiration of this book.”

Literature professor Lori Clark mentioned two novels that she feels are very important and powerful.  The first was Alice Walker’s novel, “The Color Purple.”

“The first time I read “The Color Purple”, I was blown away by just how powerful this story is,”  Clark said. “In fact, it had such an impact on me that I read it on an almost-yearly basis, and I incorporate it into a couple of the Literature courses I teach.  The reason I enjoy this book so much is that it shows how the main character, Celie, is able to overcome almost any type of adversity a person can imagine.”

Clark’s second suggestion was a graphic memoir, “Fun Home,” by Alison Bechdel.  The book is focused primarily on the author’s relationship with her father.

“What I like about this book is that it has so many different layers and so much symbolism and literary allusion,”  Clark said. “It is a story about struggling with identity and coming out. It also provides a commentary about the gender binary that society has created in regards to what is masculine and what is feminine.  Bechdel’s novel resonates with me on a personal level in regards to coming out and in regards to having lived a lot of my life outside the societal binary or gender. I think the themes that Bechdel illustrates in regards to identity, coming out, and family are ones that many readers could connect to, which is what makes it so powerful and important.”