Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

Over the course of a year, Professor of Creative Writing, Jay Fitger, is asked to write numerous Letters of Recommendation for students and fellow faculty members. Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher is an acerbically funny novel told exclusively through these letters. Being a creative writing professor, Fitger can write skillfully and passionately about the qualities and accomplishments of his students and former students, whether they are applying for scholarships, fellowships, internships, or jobs as nannies, grocery clerks or RV park attendants. Conversely, he can also use his writing skills to cleverly damn, with faint praise, fellow, undeserving (in his mind) faculty members seeking promotions or new positions. Disgruntled with the modern world, he inevitably strays off point in these letters to complain about the state of higher education, the lack of respect for the English Department (as compared to the Economics Department), remodeling projects on campus, the difficulty of using modern technology and the unhappy state of his private life. Although he appears to be a relentless curmudgeon, Professor Fitger is actually a man who simply cares too much. As one colleague explained: “Fitger behaves like more of an ass than he actually is.”

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That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo

In That Old Cape Magic, Richard Russo steps away from his usual working class towns in upstate New York, focusing instead on college professor Jack Griffin and his relationships with his wife, daughter, parents and in-laws. Trips to Cape Cod to attend two weddings, a year apart, mark the beginning and end of this story.  Cape Cod had played a big part in Griffin’s life. He’d spent his childhood summers there with his horrible parents, both college professors at a Midwestern public university. Incompatible and snobby, thwarted in their ambitions to teach at a more prestigious Eastern college, these two were experts at making themselves, their son and everyone else around them miserable. Yet Griffin loved the Cape all his life. He and his wife honeymooned, took jobs, bought a house and started a family in the area. The first wedding is that of his daughter’s best friend. In the second Griffin’s own beloved daughter marries. But a lot happens between weddings.  Griffin and his wife attend the first as a couple, a couple that has been married for thirty years. To their own daughter’s wedding, they each bring a date.  Griffin uses his time driving to and from his daughter’s wedding to examine how his own shortcomings have brought him to this state of affairs. With a little introspection, he realizes that he has not fallen as far from the family tree as he previously thought and admits to his own fault in his damaged relationships. Skilled writer that he is, Russo is able to turn all this family angst and anger into a very funny book. 

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Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot

Heather Wells is a former pop idol whose mom ran off with her fortune.  She now works at a private New York college as an assistant dorm director.  Her dorm is soon nicknamed “Death Dorm” because of the many suspicious deaths that have taken place in it.  She triumphs over cheating boys, bad luck, and her so called imperfections to solve mysteries and keep her students safe.  This funny and entertaining series, now including five titles, features memorable characters and is an enjoyable light read.  

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