Chase Alumni Association

 

(new suggestions are added to the top of the list)

 

Peter Lighte: Currently taking great pleasure in reading Charles Dickens’ last novel, Our Mutual Friend – both complex and, at times, comical. I find myself laughing aloud as I read out here on Shelter Island beneath an umbrella at Stars, our local coffee shop. When I am asked about my public giggling, people are incredulous when I respond ‘Dickens,’ which is only compounded when I hold up a book unknown to them. Give it a go!

 

Eric Salat: The Gilded Age (From Amazon: The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today is a novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner first published in 1873. It satirizes greed and political corruption in post-Civil War America. Although not one of Twain's best-known works, it has appeared in more than 100 editions since its original publication. The book is remarkable for two reasons—it is the only novel Twain wrote with a collaborator, and its title very quickly became synonymous with graft, materialism, and corruption in public life. The novel gave the era its name: the period of U.S. history from the 1870s to about 1900 is now referred to as the Gilded Age. Although more than a century has passed since its publication, the novel's satirical observations of political and social life in Washington, D.C. are still pertinent.)

 

Bob Mitchell: Taking Manhattan by Russell Shorto – a ‘sequel’ to Shorto's The Island at the Center of the World. The first book was about the Dutch and New Amsterdam. The second one is about the English and the transition from New Amsterdam to New York. There are companion exhibitions at The New York Historical (78th Street and Central Park West).

 

Luis Rojas: I have had the pleasure of going through some great books in the last 18 months. It's been a truly enriching period of learning and reflection for me. Here are three that I would particularly recommend: The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu: Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson ("a clarion call to end mass incarceration in America"); and Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, by Ethan Mollick.

 

Paul Simpson: I still get the paper versions of books, mostly hardback. I like the feel of them and I find it more convenient to pick up the physical version. I find it easier to read, make notes if I care to do that, and skim. It is primarily a personal preference. If I am going to travel and wish to take a number of books with me, I will use the eBook versions.

     My book suggestion is Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon, by Joe Dispenza.

 

Sabra Purtil: Recently retired, I decided to tackle Ron Chernow’s biography of Mark Twain.