The new faculty's booklist!
Michael Black (Physics, Honors Physics):
Recent/Favorite books: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach; The Survivors Club by Ben Sherwood; Chasing Space by Leland Melvin; Cosmos by Carl Sagan
Favorite snacks: fruit, veggies, chips and sour cream and onion dip
Favorite wise sayings:
“Take two minutes and breathe.”
“Life is not easy, folks, so relax.”
Favorite potato-related product: Clearly it’s fries. All of them. Slice them, fry/bake them, salt them, done.
Dimitri Dounas-Frazer (Physics, Advanced Calculus-Based Physics, Accelerated Calculus AB):
Recent/Favorite books: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemison; The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi; Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor
Favorite snacks: Chocolate; popcorn; dried seaweed with wasabi
Favorite wise sayings:
“Nothing works the first time.”
“It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.”
“Everything worthwhile is done with other people.” –Mariame Kaba
Favorite potato-related product: Potatoes au gratin
Eshwar Ramanan (Chemistry, Honors Chemistry):
Recent/Favorite books: The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien; Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Favorite snacks: Roasted peanuts; dried mangoes
Favorite wise sayings: “It is very simple to be happy, but very difficult to be simple.” –Rabindranath Tagore
Favorite potato-related product: Indian style roasted potatoes.
Katie Piper (The Modern World and You, United States History)
Recent/Favorite books: The Buried by Peter Hessler; Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
Favorite snacks: Haribo Star Mix
Favorite wise saying: “How we spend our days, is, of course, how we spend our lives.” –Annie Dillard
Favorite potato-related product: Well, that would have to be fries…
Jiabang Wu (Chinese I, Chinese V)
Recent book: Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
Favorite potato-related product: I guess curry?…
Kyle Lawhead (Wellness, Games and Movement)
Recent/Favorite book: Talking to GOATs by Jim Gray
Favorite snacks: Chips and popcorn. I’m a salt lover although I do my best to eat them in moderation. I can go without dessert easily, but salty snacks are hard for me to say no to.
Favorite wise saying: “You can’t win them all if you don’t win the first one.”
Favorite potato-related product: I wish it wasn’t, but french fries
Tom Campbell (College Counseling)
Recent/Favorite book: Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be by Frank Bruni
Favorite snacks: Pretty much anything Mexican. If I’m really feeling indulgent and salivating for some sweet, sweet sodium: Takis. I’m also a sucker for some warm baked gooeyness that have a heavy dose of cinnamon sugar. Y’all should try monkey bread with Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Get this: cinnamon rolls in a pan with a – wait for it – WHOLE STICK of butter sliced on top, dusted with a ¼ cup of cinnamon sugar and baked in a greased pan. Incredible.
Favorite wise sayings: Really any of the poetry that comes from Kacey Musgraves’ brilliant songwriting. This one always stands out to me: “Favors for friends will get you in, they’ll get you far; but when did it become about who you know and not about how good you are?”
Favorite potato-related product: Totchos (aka tater tot nachos).
Erin Foster (College Counseling)
Recent/Favorite books: The Changeling by Victor LaValle; The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin; Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Favorite snacks: Pineapple, pita chips and hummus, and all things salted caramel.
Favorite wise sayings:
“Don’t avoid trying new things because you’re afraid of the ‘what ifs.’” – my mom
“When things don’t go as expected, trust the reroute.” – Lalah Delia
Favorite potato-related product: I truly love any potato-related product, but if I must choose one, my favorite is the waffle fry.
Frances Nan (College Counseling)
Recent/Favorite books: My StoryGraph app tells me I mainly read “nonfiction books that are reflective, informative, and emotional. Typically chooses medium-paced books that are <300 pages long.”
Favorite snacks: Kombucha, if it’s not too sweet.
Favorite wise sayings: ”The only way to survive is by taking care of each other.” – Grace Lee Boggs
Favorite potato-related product: Waffle fries for life! The perfect combo of crunchy and chewy. Maximum surface area for any sauce or topping of your dreams. What’s not to like?