Page Turners -- From The Nightstands Of Ruby Montana, Bill Gates And Others
SOMEWHERE, 4,000 MILES and 70 degrees due south of here is a tropical island overpopulated with English professors debating which classics are the most classic out of all the books left behind in their dusty studies. May they enjoy pounding the topic into the sand under the beating hot sun.
Meanwhile, we'll stick it out here in breezy Puget Sound, where last summer there were only five clear days in all of June and July, and our shores are known less for snuggle-your-toes beaches than for sharp stones and huge logs. At least we've got plenty of books.
To be exact, the Seattle Public Library has 2,205,836 books, and they are well used. Last year, on average, each Seattle resident borrowed nine books.
Add that to Seattle's 116 bookstores and its zealous literati, who in recent years spent nearly twice as much on books as the average American household, and we're talking one reading city.
But what? Which titles? Which authors? Because it's tempting to fib to the question: What book would you take to a desert island?, we instead asked: What are you reading NOW? What was the last paperback you read?
Here's a selection straight from Puget Sound bedtables, bathrooms and beach loungers:
Most predictable: Bill Gates, billionaire co-founder of Microsoft Corp.:
"The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham (with forward by Warren Buffett, the only man in America with more money than Gates). Non-fiction, securities and investments.
"I actually don't recall him reading paperbacks," Gates' assistant says. "He usually gets the books right when they come out."
Liz Stroup, City Librarian, a charming and powerful Seattle doyenne who is negotiating hard for a bigger home for the Seattle Public Library's main building (she says an accessible downtown library is central to healthy urban life):
"Eleanor Roosevelt" by Blanche Cook, a biography.
"Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs, a humanistic look at urban planning.
"East is East" by Emma Lathen, a mystery.
What authors read when they're not writing Charles Johnson, University of Washington professor, author of "Middle Passage," winner of the 1990 National Book Award:
"On Writers and Writing" by John Gardner, a collection of essays and book reviews.
"The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton, Oakland, and the Price of Power" by Hugh Pearson, a study of the Panthers and the black-power movement.
"Black Betty" by Walter Mosley, a detective novel.
"Daughters: On Family and Fatherhood" by Gerald Early, nonfiction.
Currently writing: A two-page cartoon about the late martial-arts master Bruce Lee for "Seattle Laughs," a compilation of strips by local cartoonists.
Jonathon Raban, British author, travel writer and essayist who lives on Queen Anne Hill:
"Millroy the Magician" by Paul Theroux, a novel.
"Called Out" by A.G. Mojtabai, a novel set in Texas about a plane crash.
"The Lure of the Sea: The Discovery of the Seaside in the Western World" by Alain Corbin, an intellectual history from the mid-1600s to the mid 1800s.
"Man and the Natural World: A History of Modern Sensibility" by Keith Thomas, an intellectual history of the Middle Ages focusing on man's relationship with animals and nature.
"Animal Happiness" by Vicki Hearne, animal trainer, an essay about the relatiohship between man and animals.
Last paperback: "Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene, a novel.
Currently writing: Essay about fishing for steelhead for Esquire.
Ann Rule, true-crime author:
"The Good Times" by Russell Baker, autobiography.
"The Book of Guys" by Garrison Keillor, humor.
"First, Do No Harm" by Lisa Belkin, true account of a young pediatrician's practice.
Rule likes to read gentle, funny novels by wonderful writers. "When you write true crime all day, you don't want to spend your evening reading more crime."
Currently writing: "You Belong to Me," a true-crime anthology including five Northwest murder cases.
John Saul, best-selling author of 17 psychological thrillers:
"Natural Causes" by Michael Palmer, a medical thriller.
"Devil's Juggler" by Murray Smith, "a crashingly boring" thriller.
Currently writing: "The Homing," a thriller about a woman in L.A. who falls in love with a guy at her high-school reunion and moves back to her hometown, which turns out to be something of a mistake.
Berkeley Breathed, cartoonist:
"Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William Shirer, about World War II.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, a novel which had a profound impact on Breathed.
Currently writing: "Red Ranger Came Calling," a children's picture book about Breathed's father on Vashon Island in 1939, the hero he grew up with (the Red Ranger of Mars) and a mysterious stranger who stuck a bicycle through a tree.
Current literature in no way measures up to the old, Breathed says. " `Bridges of Madison County' is already being laughed at. There are no classics anymore . . . "
Should get together with Breathed to talk about Bridges Cliff McCrath: Seattle Pacific University men's soccer coach:
"The Bridges of Madison County" by Robert James Waller, a novel.
"Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man" by Sam Keen, psychology.
"A Thousand Acres" by Jane Smiley, a novel.
Should join a book club in Lynden, Wa., with McCrath Sue Tupper, consultant for Gogerty and Stark, former campaign managers for Gov. Mike Lowry and Mayor Norm Rice:
Rereading "A Thousand Acres" by Jane Smiley, because she heard community activists threatened failure of a school levy if teachers in Lynden didn't take the title off college preparatory reading lists.
Cathy Mickels, Lynden community activist, President of Washington Alliance of Families, a conservative education group, and weekly host of a radio show that supported removal of "A Thousand Acres":
"Inside American Education: The Decline, the Deception, the Dogmas" by Thomas Sowell, a critique of the educational establishment.
"The Way Things Ought To Be" by Rush Limbaugh, non-fiction essay on social problems.
"Children at Risk: The Battle for the Hearts and Minds of our Children" by Gary Bauer and James Dobson, a discussion of child-rearing, religion and traditional values.
Mickels almost never reads fiction, calling it a waste of time because it's pretend, but did read "A Thousand Acres," a hard book to come by in Lynden because the controversy made the 1992 Pulitzer Prize-winner a bestseller.
Out of World War II came babies and books Rebecca Roe, King County senior deputy prosecuting attorney:
"The English Patient" by Michael Ondaatje, a novel about a burn victim and a nurse at the end of WWII.
Sandy Bradley, host of KUOW's "Potluck':
"The Secret Diaries" by Albert Speer, memoirs of the most eloquent and contrite of Hitler's top officers, the architect who designed Hitler's Berlin.
"Auto-da-Fe" by Elias Canetti, a Kafka-esque novel.
"The River Why" by David James Duncan, a funny philosophical novel about fly fishing.
Bob Santos, Northwest/Alaska representative for the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development:
"The Hunt for Red October" by Tom Clancy, paperback fiction rescued from a neighbor's recyling bin.
"Cebu" by Peter Bacho, a novel about a young priest in the Philippines.
Ed Cooke, senior bridge operator of the Spokane Street Bridge:
"MacArthur" by Clay Blair Jr., World War II, non-fiction.
"Beyond Obsession" by Richard Hammer, a true, chilling account of love, abuse and murder. (The Spokane Street Bridge is not among the most frequently raised bridges.)
Archbishop Thomas Murphy, head of the Catholic Church in Western Washington:
"Schindler's List," by Thomas Keneally, based on a true account of a Nazi businessman who rescued Polish Jews during WWII.
"The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of the World's Greatest Moral Stories" edited by William Bennett, anthology.
Searching for justice in the animal kingdom Judge William Dwyer, federal judge who has ruled on forests, spotted owls, term limits:
"The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals" by E.P. Evans, animal welfare.
Last paperback, "Memories of the Ford Administration" by John Updike, a novel.
Kathleen Taylor: executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington state:
"Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn, a novel about a gorilla who teaches a man the meaning of the world.
Nightstands with the most eclectic stacks Andrew Ratshin, folk/pop singer-songwriter for Electric Bonsai Band and Mel Cooleys:
"The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception" by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, a historical look at the Dead Sea Scrolls.
"May It Please the Court," transcripts of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
"The Late Shift: Letterman, Leno and the Network Battles for the Night" by Bill Carter.
Bookda Gheisar, training coordinator for cross-cultural health-care programs at Pacific Medical Center:
"Your Blues Ain't Like Mine" by Bebe M. Campbell, a novel.
"Race Matters" by Cornel West, non-fiction race relations.
"Technical Difficulties: African American Notes on the State of the Union" by June Jordan, non-fiction about African-Americans, politics and government.
James Kelly, executive director of the state commission on African-American Affairs:
"Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover" by Anthony Summers, steamy biography about power and spies.
"The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran, thoughts and meditation.
"Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice, a novel.
Julio Romero, President of the United Farmworkers of Washington:
"La Biblia" (The Bible).
"Conquering Goliath: Caesar Chavez at the Beginning" by Fred Ross, biography.
"Beauty and the Beast" (reading to his children), fairy tale.
"Los Osos" (The Bears), children's story.
"Clifford the Big Red Dog" by Norman Bridwell, children's fiction.
And the most homogenous William Goodloe, retired judge and crusader against condoms in public schools:
"Book of Virtues: A Treasury of the World's Greatest Moral Stories" edited by William Bennett, anthology.
Last paperback, "See, I Told You So" by Rush Limbaugh, non-fiction.
Alison Pember, editor of the Flavor, a nationally distributed hip-hop magazine:
The Source, a national hip-hop magazine.
One Nut Network, another hip-hop magazine.
Straight No Chaser, a British magazine of acid jazz, hip-hop and soul.
Would skip the movie on a long airplane flight in order to read Lara Lavi: attorney for Muckleshoot Indians and a singer-songwriter for Red Dog Zen and The Song Catchers.
"Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, novel.
"The Bone People" by Keri Hulme, novel set in New Zealand about an artist and an abused child.
"Pigs in Heaven" by Barbara Kingsolver, novel in which the lead character is a lawyer for Indians.
Ruby Montana, owner of Ruby Montana's Pinto Pony:
"Robber Bride" by Margaret Atwood, a novel.
Last paperback: "Animal Dreams" by Barbara Kingsolver, a novel.
Rob Bursmith, performer in the Pleasure Elite, a local grunge band:
"Koko" by Peter Straub, a novel.
"Generation of Swine" by Hunter Thompson, history.
Allison Narver, artistic director of Annex Theater:
"Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner, fiction.
Last paperback, "City of Night" by John Rechy.
Last airport paperback, "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt, fiction.
After the game Chris Gobrecht, coach of University of Washington women's basketball team:
"The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, religious.
Dan Wilson, rookie catcher for the Mariners:
"I Love This Game: My Life and Baseball" by Minnesota Twins outfielder Kirby Puckett.
Rich Amaral and Mike Blowers, second and third basemen for the Seattle Mariners:
"The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players" by New York Knicks Coach Pat Riley.
Amaral also has read all of John Grisham's novels except "The Client."
Ray Roberts, Seattle Seahawks tackle:
"Race Matters" by Cornel West, non-fiction race relations.
Last paperback: "Inadmissible Evidence" by Philip Friedman.
Tom Flores, Seahawks coach:
"Disclosure" by Michael Crichton.
Last paperback: "Chiefs" by Stuart Woods.
Barbara Flores (Tom's wife and an avid reader):
"Alex Haley's Queen" by Alex Haley and David Stevens.
Last paperback: "The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914" by David McCullough, about the construction of the Panama Canal.
Paula Bock is a Pacific staff writer.