Madeline Crocenzi
Summer Director
Although the summer is winding down, there’s still time to pick up a good book. If you don’t know where to start, the Murray Library Staff has a few great recommendations for you. In the final part of this series, Alison Williams, Glen Pierce, and Beth Mark share several must-read books.
Catalog Technician Alison Williams
Alison Williams
Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans
Searching for Sunday is a memoir about Evans’ experience with the Church. After becoming frustrated with “the hypocrisy, the politics, the gargantuan building budgets, and the scandals” sometimes associated with churches, Evans begins a mission to understand the Church.
“It’s her story of getting frustrated with the Church and leaving it and coming back to it. All of her books are great but this is her new one and it’s really great too.” – Williams
Jasper Fforde
Williams also recommends anything by author Jasper Fforde. He is the author of the Thursday Next series and the Nursery Crime series. His novels are listed as a part of the alternate history and comic fantasy genres.
Williams says of Fforde, “He writes fun literary. He plays around with other people’s stories in his books. They’re very fun.”
Glen Pierce
Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein
Brethren in Christ Archives Director Glen Pierce
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy has long been a popular series of fantasy novels. Also adapted into a movie series, readers
can still find delight in the fantastic plot.
“I actually got started with the first one when I was a student
here. It was required reading for one of my courses. I read it and finished the other two. I don’t know how many times I’ve re-read that series, at least 3 or 4 times. I space them out every 5 to 10 years. You do see different things in it every time you read them.” – Pierce
Many Mansions: Lessons of Faith, Family, and Public Service by Kathryn Boyer
Although Pierce has not yet read Many Mansions, he recommends it to the Messiah community. Author Kathryn Boyer was the wife of the late Ernest L. Boyer, who was a prominent figure both at Messiah and nationwide. Many Mansions is a “heart-warming memoir of the life Boyer shared with her highly regarded husband.”
Beth Mark
Instruction Coordinator Beth Mark
Glitter and Glue: A Memoir by
Kelly Corrigan
Glitter and Glue is a New York Times Bestselling memoir by author Kelly Corrigan. The book focuses on Corrigan’s travels to Australia and her subsequent job as a nanny. W
hile working as a nanny, Corrigan begins to reevaluate her relationship with her mother and examine the impact the relationship left on Corrigan’s life.
“This is a book about a daughter and her mother and how their relationship changed over time. After college, Kelly left home to spend a year traveling. In Australia, she ran out of money and got a job as a live-in nanny for two children who had recently lost their mother to cancer. Through this experience, Kelly’s view of her own mother changes.” – Mark
This concludes our series of Murray Library summer reading recommendations. If you want more to read, head to Murray Library this fall and check out their selection of great titles.