Summer Reading

Still searching for a good book to take to the beach, the country, or just a secluded corner? In a summer of the Olympic Games, tight baseball pennant races, and other high-profile sporting events, even the most dedicated athletes and executives find time in their busy schedules for some quiet reading. Here are books that several sports and business personalities have been reading, or plan to read, in their spare moments this summer.

Billy Beane

President & General Manager

Oakland A’s

I am reading the George Martin series of books that the HBO show “Game of Thrones” is based on. They are not brief, so I’m sure they will fill the summer months.

Natalie Coughlin

11-time Olympic medal winner for USA Swimming 

“Drop Dead Healthy,” by A.J. Jacobs

I love reading about food, cooking, and nutrition. This book looks at all sorts of diets, workout regimens, and health ideologies in an interesting, light-hearted way.

Sunil Gulati

President

U.S. Soccer Federation

“Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman

“Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo
“The End of Illness,” by David Agnus
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot

Armen Keteyian

Chief Investigative Correspondent 

CBS News

“The Passage of Power,” by Robert Caro. Lessons in how to really report, by the master of the sentence.

“Creole Belle,” the latest from the incomparable James Lee Burke.

“The Inquisitor,” by Mark Allen Smith. Unique character meets spellbinding story.

Anything and everything by recent discovery Thomas Perry, including all of the celebrated Jane Whitefield series.

“Faithful Place,” by Tana French, a recommendation from good buddy Harlan Coben.

Phil Knight

Co-Founder & Chairman

Nike

“The Orphan Master’s Son,” by Adam Johnson

Christopher Ramsey

CEO

USA Water Polo

“Unbroken,” by Laura Hillenbrand.

“The New Cathedrals: Politics and Media in the History of Stadium Construction,” by Robert Trumpbour.

“How Will You Measure Your Life?” by Clayton Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon.

“Migration: New and Selected Poems,” by W.S. Merwin.

Harvey Schiller

Chairman of the Board & CEO

Global Options Group

“It Worked For Me,” by Colin Powell

“A Universe From Nothing,” by Lawrence Krauss

“The Candy Bombers,” by Andrei Cherny

“The Passage of Power,” by Robert Caro

Still trying to finish “Steve Jobs,” by Walter Issacson.

Mary Wittenberg

President & CEO

New York Road Runners

“Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn.  A New York Times review landed this thriller on my list.

“Steve Jobs,” by Walter Isaacson. I know, I am behind in getting to this one, but it’s a must read I have been saving for the summer.

“Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman. My management-type book for the summer.

The Rewards of Teaching Children

Ever since I started a second rewarding career as a substitute teacher, I have often been asked if I prefer one age group (elementary school, middle school, or high school) over another. It’s an easy question for me. I enjoy working with the younger children. It’s simple: They try. That cannot be said of every middle- or high-school student, some of whom are maddeningly indifferent to learning, including a few who benightedly wear their ignorance as some kind of badge of honor.

I love second-graders best. Already in their third year in the school, they are fairly comfortable in their environment and routine and, up to a point, understand and try to fulfill what is expected of them. Not mature by any measure, at the same time they have passed beyond babyishness while retaining the best qualities of childhood--curiosity, overexuberance, innocence, honesty, and happiness.  

And, so, I was never disappointed to get the call to sub for one of the district’s excellent second-grade teachers. I began this day as I always did by greeting the children: “Good morning, boy and girls.”

“Good morning, Mr. K!”

What a glorious way to start any day, facing so many open and smiling faces.

“How is everyone today?”

“Good.” A universal response every single time I ask that question.

“Before we begin, I have to take attendance,” I told them. “If you’re not here, please raise your hand.”

Thankfully, a few students caught the joke immediately. Their hands shot up.  A few other hands were raised tentatively, those children unsure that they had heard the question correctly.

Without fail, someone could be counted on to say, “I’m not here, Mr. K.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” I said.