I like to stop and remember that I work on a vibrant campus, with so much knowledge and interesting people everywhere you go.  People in facilities seem to speak of pipes, schedules and HVAC units but I like to work where one can stretch one's mind with different ideas.  One of my favorite Stanford programs that reflects this is the Three Books program, assigned to all transfer students and incoming freshmen.  The selections for the 2015-2016 school year are The Innovators, by Walter Isaacson; Cane River, by Lalita Tademy; and This Boy's Life, A Memoir by Tobias Wolfe.   Selections this year were chosen by Stanford University President John Hennessy, in celebration of Stanford's 125th convocation.  Hennessy was invited to be the faculty moderator for Three Books 2015 by the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education.

Hennessy admitted the difficulties of choosing the books for the program before settling on his final decision.  "I spent a long time pondering what sort of books to choose when I was asked to lead the program this year, and I chose three books about people: a biography (actually a collection of short biographies), a memoir, and what we might call a book of biographical fiction," Hennessy wrote. "They are stories about people, the challenges they face, and how they deal with adversity."

Here is a brief description of each book.

Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, The Innovators is Walter Isaacson's revealing story of the people who created the computer and the Internet. It is destined to be the standard history of the digital revolution and an indispensable guide to how innovation really happens.

Cane River combines painstaking historical reconstruction with unforgettable storytelling.  Lalita Tademy presents an all too rarely seen part of American history, complete with a provocative portrayal of the complex, unspoken bonds between slaves and slave owners. Most of all, she gives us the saga of real, flesh-and-blood women making hard choices in the face of unimaginable loss, securing their identity and independence in order to face any obstacle, and inspiring all the generations to come.

This Boy's Life by American author Tobias Wolff was first published in 1989. This unforgettable memoir introduces us to the young Toby Wolff, by turns tough and vulnerable, crafty and bumbling, and ultimately winning. Separated by divorce from his father and brother, Toby and his mother are constantly on the move, yet they develop an extraordinarily close, almost telepathic relationship.

I also like to read these books so I have a few things to reference with the new students coming to Stanford for NSO - Class of 2019.  Summer's almost over, so grab a book and head to your favorite reading spot.