WRW02

DEAR READERS,

This year’s Who Reads What? list is different from the past 14 annual lists. Anthrax insertions into the nation’s mail disrupted services, and there were announcements to discard mail when the recipient did not know the sender. As a result, most of the celebrities on the 2002 list were contacted by e-mail, which is a much more informal communication means. I sincerely believe, however, you will enjoy the responses just the same.

There is an interesting mixture of reading on the list and an appreciation for the value of books. Charles Todd attributes his success as a writer to his parents who read to him, and to his helpful hometown librarian. Lily Tomlin declares that The Shipping News is amazing and affirming; Matthew Modine writes that The Man Who Planted Trees reminds us that each of us can make a difference; Clive Barker calls T.S. Eliot’s works "boundless" and Mira Sorvino claims Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History Of Time has had a lasting influence on the way she thinks.

Please read some of the books on our list and recommend the ones you enjoy to your friends and neighbors. I hope you will help libraries promote reading.

Regards,
Glenna Nowell
"Who Reads What?" Editor
Gardiner Public Library

Oksana Baiul || Clive Barker || Governor Gray Davis || Sharon Davis || Janet Evanovich || Tara Lipinski || Randolph Mantooth || Mathew Modine || Deborah Norville || Haley Joel Osment || Anne Perry || Heather Pringle || Mira Sorvino Mike Stewart || Charles Todd || Lily Tomlin ||

Oksana Baiul Olympic figure skater	Never die easy: the autobiography of Walter Payton by Walter Payton and Don Yaeger
Clive Barker Author	Collected works of T.S. Eliot	I've been reading these poems and plays for twenty years; they're boundless.
Gray Davis Governor of California	Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt John Adams by David McCullough	*Governor Davis' favorite book is A Man for All Seasons. The Governor is currently reading John Adams* by David McCullough**
Sharon Davis First Lady of California	Angle of Repose by Wallace Earle Stegner **Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain** Americans and the California Dream Series by Dr. Kevin Starr	Angle of Repose - This is a story that will keep you turning pages well after you should have turned out the light. Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain - This inexpensive book of over 600 pages offers an incredible value for anyone who enjoys Mark Twain's quintessential humor. It is one of those books that you cannot put down once you get started on it. A great way to whittle away a hot summer afternoon. Series on California history by Dr. Kevin Starr including: Americans and the California Dream, *1850-191Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920’s* Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California (Americans and the California Dream) The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s (Americans and the California Dream) This series of books offers a great insight to the history of our Golden State.**
Janet Evanovich Author	Comics featuring Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck, and Uncle Scrooge	I read comics when I was a kid and my life was shaped by Donald, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Uncle Scrooge. My favorite stories were by Carl Barks and Don Rosa and they gave me the life-long love of adventure tales that eventually led to the Plum series.
Tara Lipinski Olympic figure skater	All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot	*Tara's favorite book is All Creatures Great and Small* by James Herriot.**
Randolph Mantooth Actor	Centennial by James Michener	My "favorite all-time" book
Matthew Modine Actor	The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono	A book that reminds us that each of us can make a difference. That we can leave the world a better place for the future generations of life on this little blue ball!
Deborah Norville Journalist and author	Villard by Alexandra de Borchegrave On Writing by Stephen King For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway	Of course...every night I read "I Can Fly" my new children's book to my kids...it's a pop-up, lift-the-flap book, encouraging children to find their own special gift!
Haley Joel Osment Actor	Sphere by Michael Crichton The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara	Sphere is a suspenseful, exciting adventure and manages to make advanced science very interesting, thought-provoking, and important to the plot! The Killer Angels brings history to life, and is written like you are inside the minds of the heroes of Gettysbury. I highly recommend these novels!
Anne Perry Author	Inferno by Dante Alighieri translated by Dorothy Sayers Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton	The ONE book that has influenced my thinking most is Dante's Inferno, translated into English by Dorothey L. Sayers, but you must read all the footnotes to see how brilliant and timeless it is. It is incidentally a pretty good story, as well as poem, philosophy etc... Other than that, my favorite of all to read is G K Chesterton's poetry, particularly The Ballad of the White Horse, and all his fantasy books - for his love of life and humanity. For present day mysteries, I like Reginald Hill, -any Dalziel and Pascoe.
Heather Pringle Author	Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy	Thanks very much for your notes and your kind words about [my book] The Mummy Congress. It really is a lovely mystery, isn’t it? Those European nomads in China…[a]nd I do so love mysteries. I'm honoured that you asked me to recommend my favourite book, but also a bit stumped by your request. I have three recent favourites, and I can't for the life of me pick out one. I think it would take the wisdom of Solomon to select one, and I'm far from possessing that kind of judgment. All of these novels are set in the past and all explore truly epic person journeys, intimate explorations of self, society and the meaning of honour. And all are miracles of writing. I love these three books: They sent shivers down my spine. (And each made me cry.) I do hope people that read your website will give them a try.
Mira Sorvino Actor	A Brief History of Time by Stephen J. Hawking Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison	I found this [A Brief History of Time] to be utterly fascinating, if extremely challenging reading. It expands one's vision of the universe we live in and our place in it. I believe it has had a lasting influence on the way I think. *One of my favorite books is Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina* - a brilliant American coming of age novel about a young girl.**
Mike Stewart Author	Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway “Powerhouse” by Eudora Welty	Thank you for the kind invitation to list some of my favorite books. I am pleased to know that readers in Maine liked Sins of the Brother. I hitchhiked all over your state when I was fourteen years old. It's a beautiful place. In interviews, I have always dodged the what's-your-favorite-book question. I do this for the simple reason that I don't have an answer. It's a little like being asked to choose a favorite dog. I've come across a lot of mean, ugly dogs in my life, but the best dogs (almost always labs) seem to touch you in their own unique ways. Anyway, while I have no idea what my favorite book is, I can list three books that changed my life. (This is not an exaggeration.) I read Huckleberry Finn when I was twelve and found not only adventure, but also social commentary and an indefinable depth that I loved without fully appreciating. Two years later, Catcher in the Rye seized my thoughts like nothing else I'd ever read. It was Salinger's writing that made me first start dreaming of writing fiction myself. At eighteen, I first read The Old man and the Sea. That's when I knew I'd become a writer. Finally, as an adult, I have come to value Eudora Welty over most any other writer of the century. I would particularly recommend "Powerhouse". It is the most perfectly crafted short story that I know of.
Charles Todd Author	Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James Tony Hillerman's early mysteries	I think my success as a writer stems from parents who read to me and a librarian in my home town who had what I thought at the time was an amazing gift for reading my mind. She knew a budding reader when she saw one, and took the time to steer me to some very good books. Between the two, my tastes were shaped early, and it has been one of the rich resources of my life, not just my writing career. You asked Who Reads What. Well at the moment, I'm reading P.D. James's latest, Death in Holy Orders. As for favorite books, that's a harder choice to make. I enjoy mysteries, and certainly Tony Hillerman's early books have always been favorites. I like suspense, and Rogue Male, by Geoffrey Household, probably tops that list, because of the beautifully drawn duel between two clever men. I also read fiction and nonfiction, with tastes ranging from books on the Civil War and 19th century India to A Beautiful Mind. If I had to categorize my interests, I'd say omnivorous, because I'm always trying new authors, in the mystery field and elsewhere. These will be--some of them--tomorrow's great names in literature, and I enjoy seeing how they develop. I think if I had to offer one piece of advice to readers, it would be this: Never get in a rut. Walter Crokite said once that he never read fiction - this was on a TV program about his river barge cruise in France. I've always thought he missed half of the wonder of reading. Fiction offers the best that creative minds can devise, and truth should always be savored with the piquant sauce of imagination.
Lily Tomlin Actor	Shipping News by Annie Proulx	Amazing! And, ultimately affirming.

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