|
What books are Virginians reading
in their leisure time?
Virginia Business
March
2006
Virginia Business editors asked people throughout
the state what they are reading in their spare time.
Here are their responses:
Virginia First Lady Anne
Holton received Empire
Falls as a Christmas gift from her
son Nat, a high school
student. The novel by Richard Russo is set in a small
town in Maine. “I’m enjoying it — the
characters are realistic, poignant and funny,” Holton
says. “I particularly enjoy reading something
Nat has given me. For years, the book recommendations
in our family have been from parent to children, but
in the last couple of years we have gotten some great
book suggestions going from the children to us as well.”
Brett
Schoenfield, president of The Homestead, has a special
reason for reading Marley & Me: Life and Love of
the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan. "I have
an incorrigible 2-year-old Great Dane that is currently
going through obedience school,” he says. “Someone
gave me this book as encouragement."
David
R. Barrett,
the past chairman of the Virginia Council of CEOs,
says he doesn’t have time to read much fiction,
but he enjoys reading all types of business, nonfiction
and history books. “Two years ago, a lot of us
at Virginia Council of CEOs read Good
to Great by Jim
Collins,” says Barrett, the president and CEO
of Barrett Capital Management LLC in Midlothian. “Some
of us actually used it as a study and discussion starter.” Among
Barrett’s other recently read books are Just
As I Am by Billy Graham, A
Deficit of Decency by Zell
Miller, The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, Stress
for Success by James Loehr and Mind Siege by Tim LaHaye
and David Noebel. Packed in his suitcase for a recent
vacation were The World
Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
and The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong.
Eva Teig
Hardy, senior vice president of external affairs and
corporate communications for Dominion Resources in
Richmond, likes to read a mystery every night before
bed. Lately, she has been reading The
Lighthouse by
P.D. James. “I find that a mystery really takes
me out of my everyday kind of existence, but at the
same time it’s challenging because your mind
is still working, trying to work and figure out the
whodunit aspect. I’ve been reading mysteries
since I was about 14 years old. I think mysteries are
my all-time favorite way to relax.”
James
Davis,
president of Shenandoah University in Winchester, is
reading Leap of Faith: Memoirs
of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor. "I'm just starting the biography
of the wife of the former King of Jordan, and looking
forward to it," he says.
James
C. Cherry, CEO of
Mid-Atlantic Banking for Wachovia Corp. in Richmond,
recently finished a book about the early days of Julius
Caesar, Emperor: The Gates
of Rome by Conn Iggulden. “I'm
getting ready to read the next book in that series – Emperor:
The Field of Swords," he says.
Stacked on Elissa
Mast’s bedside table recently were a stack of
magazines, including Fast
Company, Inc., People, Parenting and Scrapbook
Retailer. “I’ve got a trip
coming up, and I’ll go through them all on the
plane,” says Mast, “head coach” of
E&R Sales and vice president of marketing of Memories
Galore, both in Midlothian. (Mast reads Parenting,
by the way, because she is the mother of two children,
ages 6 and 2.) She recently finished reading A
Million Little Pieces by James Frey and is trying to find time
to read I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
E&R is a balloon and pen wholesaler serving supermarkets,
hospitals, florists and Hallmark shops. Memories Galore
is a scrapbook store.
Margaret
G. Lewis, president of
HCA’s HCA Central Atlantic Division, is reading
Are Men Necessary? When
Sexes Collide by Maureen Dowd. “I
just started this book, which was given to me by my
daughter for Christmas,” says Lewis. “She
said it was a must-read.” Quick takes:
- Robert T. Skunda, president and CEO, Virginia BioTechnology
Research Park, Richmond: The
Camel Club by David
Baldacci.
-
Fred Whyte, president of Stihl Inc., Virginia Beach:
Think Big, Act Small:
How America's Best Performing Companies Keep the
Start-up Spirit Alive by Jason
Jennings.
- Anthony M. Vincent, president, Alpha Omega Capital
Partners, Richmond: Blue
Ocean Strategy by Renee
Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim.
-
Charles F. Bryan Jr., president and CEO, Virginia
Historical Society, Richmond: Team
of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns
Goodwin.
|
