Orange County Register

Jim Doti, president of Chapman University in Orange, just emailed out the annual summer reading and movie list he sends to students and graduates. By the way, Doti is currently writing a children’s book that’s beingillustrated by former Orange County Register artist Lisa Mertins.

Here are Doti’s recommendations:
“I found the wonderfully accessible “Why Evolution Is True” by the evolutionary geneticist at the University of Chicago, Jerry Coyne, an informative and fascinating read.  It’s also timely given the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species.”

This book is a work of non-fiction.

“On the lighter side is “The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective” by Kate Summerscale.  What I particularly enjoyed is the way she explains how this incredible yet true crime mystery served as the inspiration for some of the great literary works by the likes of Wilke Collins and Charles Dickens.

“While David Sedaris may not be for everyone, one of the funniest books I read this year is his “When You Are Engulfed in Flames.”  The essays are even better when you listen to Sedaris narrate them.  You can purchase the audible version of the book on CD or download it from Audible.com.

“A woman I met on a flight to Sacramento described “What Is the What” by Dave Eggers as one of the most moving books she ever read, and I have to agree.  It’s a heartbreaking yet uplifting story of the civil war in Sudan as seen through the eyes of an American immigrant.  You may recall Eggers’ name from a previous summer reading recommendation of mine, “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.”  That book, though, is completely different in style and tone.

"The Band's Visit"

“Finally, two foreign films that definitely warrant a larger audience are “The Band’s Visit,” about a police band from Egypt that takes the wrong bus and gets left off in a small backwater town in Israel; and “12:08 East of Bucharest,” about how various hapless residents of a small town recall the Romanian Revolution and the overthrow of Nicolae Ceauşescu.  While I found both films very funny, they are also moving and perceptive portrayals of our common humanity.

“If you take me up on any of these recommendations, please let me know what you think.  You can e-mail me at doti@chapman.edu.”

Chapman gets $25 million gift for performing arts center

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