Recommended Reading for NPC's Month of the Scholar

February is NPC’s Month of the Scholar, and we asked some of our staff members and volunteers to share their favorite and most influential books. Many of the titles selected were important to them because of their coming-of-age theme, inspirational messages, or simply just exciting and fun!

Mary Jane Beach added Pride and Prejudice because “women were rarely published and some wrote under a pseudonym. How brave Jane was much like our founders. Stepping out to publish such a fine example of what daily life was like for women with no rights to own property, little freedom to marry for love and how society was so rigid.” Erica Ochs loved The Secret History because “it accurately captures the intense friendships and the need to fit in that characterizes the college experience of so many.” Maggie Harris recommends Perseverance, and not just because any Theta would be attracted to the title! She gives this book to friends who need a little inspiration, guidance and support.

Are any of your personal favorites on this list? What titles would you recommend to members? Let us know in the comments area below.

Katharine Murphy, assistant director of chapter services:

• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan
• Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte

Mindy Marshall, director of administration:

• A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
• My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud’Homme

Mary Jane Beach, NPC delegate:

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
• The Firm by John Grisham
• John Adams by David McCullough

Noraleen Young, staff archivist:

• The Dollmaker by Hariette Arnow
• The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

Erica Ochs, college compliance committee chairman:

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by John Krakauer
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Cindy Thoennes, Theta Foundation manager of operations:

• Sensible Shoes by Sharon Garlough Brown
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Leah Logan, alumnae district director:

• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Lauren Palmer, FHC property manager:

• Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
• Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
• My Antonia by Willa Cather

Maggie Harris, college district director:

• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
• Perseverance by Margaret J. Wheatley
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Remember too to join our Reading Women online book club! Upcoming book selections are listed on the Reading Women web page. Several books in the list below have been featured as Reading Women book selections!