Throughout my life, reading has had a significant impact on me. It has allowed me to connect more deeply with friends, family, and colleagues. I eagerly anticipate Read with Ross, my new book club at Bryant University, where we will share our joy in reading and exchange thoughts and ideas within our community. We will embark on this by immersing ourselves in Adam Grant's Think Again. 

Reading is something I do to expose myself to new ideas, perspectives, and ways of thinking. It enables me to learn more about myself and the people I read with. I enjoy reading a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction and exploring works by my favorite authors, and discovering new authors. My book choices are either recommended by friends, based on intriguing book reviews, or chosen while browsing at bookstores. 

I grew up in a family that read a lot and talked about books and reading. When I was young, I was not much of a reader, but the bar was high; my mother, father, and sister all read a lot. I did most of my reading during my one-hour commute each way to and from school on the subway in New York City from fourth grade through high school. 

These days, some of my favorite moments are weekends or vacation time when I am with my wife, Jody, and daughters, Grace and Rose, and we are all reading. Family reading time also includes my sister, Amy, and her family on the back lawn of our shared family house on the water in New York. We all bring books, and often, the entire family spreads across different areas of the lawn, reading in the afternoon. We talk to each other about the books we are reading and engage in free-flowing conversations about how they relate (or not) to our own lives. 

I also enjoy reading books “together” with college and graduate school friends, suggesting books to each other to read, and engaging in lively literary discussions via email.  

Bookish Conversations: Celebrating Favorite Reads  

I became a more active and engaged reader in high school, benefiting from strong literature courses and teachers. The first book we read in my 10th-grade American Literature course was Moby Dick by Herman Melville. While I thought I would never get through it, I did, and it opened my world to the joy of reading. For the first time, I could not wait to get on the subway and be transported to the Pequod in pursuit of the great white whale. 

My American Literature class had about fifteen students, and we sat in a small circle and discussed the book as we read. We explored the text, read passages, and made our interpretations. We discussed the author's perspective and intent and debated the book's meaning both at the time Melville authored the book, and contemporarily. In that class, we also read books that challenged the social norms of the time they were written and impacted my worldview, including Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.  

Other books I have read that shaped my thinking about history, politics, leadership, and organizations include:  

• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky 
• The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides 
• The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez 
• Change Masters: Innovation for Productivity in the American Corporation by Rosabeth Moss Kantor 
• The Systems Approach by C. West Churchman 
• Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition by Ronald Burt 
• Making Democracy Work by Robert Putnam 
• Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128 by AnnaLee Saxenian

The Power of Pages: Books Drive Passion 

I particularly enjoy autobiographies because they are a way to engage with someone and learn about them and from them. Some of my favorite autobiographies are Justice Sonia Sotomayor's My Beloved World, Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run, and Herbert Simon's Models of My Life. 

Sotomayor's autobiography highlights the transformational power of education, the importance of family support, and personal perseverance, particularly as a member of an under-represented group confronting discrimination. Springsteen's autobiography speaks to pursuing your passion with high energy and gaining perspective about your family and who you want to be. Herb Simon is not as well known as the previous two authors. He received a Nobel Prize in Economics and had a strong impact on many fields, notably artificial intelligence and decision science. In Models of the Mind, his intellectual explorations and applications, and his love of learning are inspiring.

Two books that have had a strong influence on me professionally are An Academic Life by Hannah Gray and Love Your Enemies by Arthur C. Brooks. Hannah Gray was the first woman president of a major research university. I was a student at the University of Chicago when she became president, and she handed me my diploma when I graduated. An Academic Life highlights her own academic path, describing the joys and challenges, particularly as a woman, of achieving success in academics. The book also provides insights into how she drew on her passion and love of education to become an influential leader.  

Governor Chris Sununu gave me Love Your Enemies when I worked as the Chancellor of the Community College System of New Hampshire. Gifted to me during a challenging time when I had to lead in the face of partisan politics, Arthur Brooks describes the importance of listening to those who oppose you and trying to find something to agree on. This exercise of focusing and acting on what you agree on can lead to mutually beneficial results and more productive relationships and outcomes. 

I enjoy reading fiction, particularly historical fiction, that exposes me to different and often challenging and disturbing insights and perspectives. In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, I read two books that provided powerful insights into the African-American experience in the United States: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  

Currently, I am reading books about the current state of affairs in Ukraine, the country from which my grandparents emigrated. In the past months, I read two books written by the Ukrainian author Andre Kurkov, Death and the Penguin and Diary from an Invasion. Both speak to Ukrainian culture and history and the country’s complex and often tragic relationship with Russia. In the latter, Kurkov writes about the fine line between fiction and non-fiction, an idea that reflects my own view.  

The final book I would like to share is very special to me because I received it as a gift from my two daughters on Father’s Day several years ago. My Father is a Book: A Memoir of Bernand Malamud, by Janna Malamud Smith, tells the story of the relationship of a father with his daughter and the role that books and reading played in making their connection special and meaningful. 

I am excited to connect with fellow Bryant community members and dive into Adam Grant's Think Again together this semester. Here is to the joys of reading and the power of shared experiences! 

The Read with Ross book club will meet on Tuesday, November 14, at 4 p.m. in the Krupp Library. The book club and discussion are open to all students, faculty, and staff. There are several copies of Think Again available for checkout. Click here for more information and to register.