Having just celebrated National Book Lovers Day in the U.S. on August 10, we asked our staff about their favorite books; we hope what they shared will inspire you!
“Our team is committed to continual learning and growth,” said Dara Rudick, Management HQ CEO. “What better way to grow and explore than through books?”
Rebecca Merrill
Events and Outreach Coordinator
“As a former bookstore employee, picking just one favorite book seems tough. I read a lot: more than 300 books in 2019, even before social distancing. This is my shameless plug to support your local library; having access to thousands of digital books daily really helped me get through the last year.
I cannot select just one favorite book so I offer up these top five: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, the Jurassic Park series by Michael Crichton, The Forger’s Spell by Edward Dolnick, Ghost Horses by Pamela Smith Hill , and the Orphan Train series by Joan Lowry Nixon.”
Mackenzie Kelley
Events Manager
“My favorite book series is the Harry Potter series. I’ve re-read it so many times over the years. My brother and I used to go at midnight to get the newest book and stay up all night reading it. It’s just such a fun story – so much imagination and creativity went into bringing it to life. The characters are great. You find yourself wanting to go to Hogwarts and be part of Harry’s world!”
Kent Fordyce
Accountant
“My favorite book is Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Reading this short book in the early 1980s, I became ‘Kent Livingston Seagull’, crashing into the ocean and pulling myself up again, and again, and again. It gave me hope and helped me begin on a journey for deeper meaning in life.”
Leslie Johnson
Credentialing and Operations Manager
“I am a huge reader, and it is tough to pick an overall favorite book. I’m more likely to have favorite books for certain emotions I want to evoke, or genre. But if forced to choose, I choose The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I’ve always been a fan of the 1920s, perhaps because my great-grandmother was a true flapper, so being set in 1922 fits the bill. Although it is set 100 years ago, it is written on universal topics and timeless themes, including a tragic love story and the ultimate corruption of the American Dream. If you only read this book in high school, I highly recommend you read it again!”
Dara Rudick
CEO
“Pulitzer Prize and National Humanities Medal winner Isabel Wilkerson creates such powerful and engaging narratives of history that many of us did not learn in school. Her most recent book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an absolute must-read, as is The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, which Wilkerson dedicated 15 years to researching and writing.
Another incredible work of science fiction is N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth Series, including The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, and The Stone Sky.”
Check out these must-visit independent bookstores from the team:
A Bit of Book History
Long used as a status symbol indicating wealth, books first became more readily available to the masses in the mid-1800s with the rise of “Penny Dreadfuls” (although the printing press in Europe with movable type was invented in 1454, allowing books to be printed may times over instead of copied by hand). The rise of the paperback in the 1920s further cemented the importance of the written word, giving way to recorded books in the mid-1980s, and then digital books in the late 1980s. Read more about the history of books.
About MHQ
Management HQ (MHQ) is an accredited, full-service association management company. Our diverse team does our work through a lens of equity. We support boards so boards can focus on mission. MHQ manages the full business of client membership-based organizations, including providing each client an executive director and a full management and operations team. MHQ serves associations and their members in these sectors: Government, Information Sciences / Education, Human Services, and Identity-based Associations. For more about MHQ, visit https://www.management-hq.com/.
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