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What books would you recommend to somebody who wants to learn more about Egypt and exploration?
Fortunately, nearly all 19th-century explorers wrote books about their travels. Richard Burton alone wrote more than a dozen. For secondary sources, Alan Moorehead’s two-volume classic – “The White Nile” and “The Blue Nile” – is as fascinating today as it was when it was first released more than 60 years ago. I would also recommend “Africa and Its Explorers,” edited by Robert I. Rotberg, and “East Africa and the Indian Ocean,” by Edward A. Alpers.
What moves you most in a work of literature?
I hate to feel manipulated by a book, as if the author is trying to make me cry or elicit some strong emotion, but if it happens honestly and naturally, then that book will stay with me for a long time. I have to care about the characters, whether they are real or fictional; to recognize in them something of myself or the people around me; and to become completely lost in the story.
Which genres do you especially enjoy reading? And which do you avoid?
I read a lot of nonfiction for work, which I love. It is the best part of the job, but when I am home, with time to myself, I usually turn to fiction. To me, the best of all worlds is a well-written page-turner of a novel that teaches me something new or makes me re-examine old assumptions.
How do you organize your books?
I have given up trying to organize my books. My family has too many, and they are everywhere. We built our house about 20 years ago, and we had bookcases built into almost every room, but there’s still not enough shelf space. Books are stacked on coffee tables, night stands, the kitchen counter, bathroom sinks, the bench in the laundry room, occasionally the floor. I do borrow books from the library, but if there is one that I really want and the hold time is longer than a week, I am not going to wait. Life is too short.
What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?
I realized recently that I had not read much poetry in a long time, so I bought a few poem-a-day books. I have friends I could turn to for advice, but I think that, even more than most kinds of reading, reading poetry is very personal, so I wanted to try to find my own way. I did not hold out much hope for these books, but I have been surprised by how carefully and thoughtfully curated they are, at least in my humble opinion. Not all of the poems are for me, but I was reintroduced to several poets who felt like old friends, from Gerard Manley Hopkins to Christina Rossetti, and I fell in love with others whose names I had never even heard. Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” instantly stole, and broke, my heart.
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