At the end of June, I took a road trip from New York City to Cleveland and then on to Chicago for the American Library Association's Annual Conference. We toured a few libraries before and after, asking  what people were reading along the way to compile the ALAAC17 What Are You Reading Book List!

1. 

   Adam Jaenke of Cleveland Public Library is reading Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.

2. Olivia of Cleveland Public Library is reading Book Thieves by Anders Reidell.

3. My classmate and coworker from library school Amanda Koziura of the Kelvin Smith Library  at Case Western Reserve University has been reading nothing but literature about digital scholarship for a book chapter she is writing.  The last fun books were Carrie Fishers memoirs. "She was amazingly whitty, they are quick reads, very honest... just wonderful!" she said.

4. Kelly McElroy of Oregon State University Library is reading historical fiction set in Italy. At the moment it is Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant.

5. 

   C. Spike Trotman of Iron Circus Comics and author of the entertaining, useful and very timely Poorcraft just finished As the Crow Flies and is currently reading theglassscientists.com web comic and Vattu by Evan Dahn.

6. Chloe Ramos of Image Comics is reading Rock Art of the Caribbean by Michelle Hayward. "Caribbean lithic art, especially Pre-Columbian, is my jam!"

7. Abraham Lincoln, AKA Kevin Wood is fittingly reading James McPherson's most recent book on civil war, as well as First French Reader by Stanley Appelbaum. "I read my own blog at Mrlincoln.com too!" he said in his best Lincoln voice.

8. Richard Gilman-Opalsky of University of Illinois is reading Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood with his 3rd grader.

9. Lauren Comito of Queens Library is reading The Life Changing Magic Of not giving a f*ck by Sarah Knight.

   

10. Christian Zabriskie of Yonkers Public Library is reading The Throwback by Tom Sharpe.

11. Nicole Butler from T-Mobile is reading The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan.

12. Katherine Donahue of Colby College is listening to The girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer. "It's read by her and it's fantastic! She said some very real things."

13. San Francisco City Librarian Luis Herrera is reading Five Presidents: my Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford  by Clint Hill & Lisa McCubbin. "It is the best book I've read in a long time!" he said. 

14. Ben Bizzle, CEO of Library Market is reading Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. He was also sporting some excellent #LibrarianInk with this Mary Oliver tattoo! 

15. Our Lyft driver, Mike Reynolds, used to work doing conferences and is now a carpenter's apprentice.  Well spoken, and well read, he is reading book four of  Stephen King's Dark Tower series: Wizard and Glass, and is about to start book five: Wolves of the Calla. 

16. Substance by Peter Hook says Steven Phalen from of Maricopa County Community Colleges.

17. 

    Ryan Colpaert, of Mango Languages is wrapping up Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. "I'm always inspired by the person who's not the biggest and strongest but takes initiative and goes out and does it! It's OK not to be the big fish in the pond."

18. Andrew Hissett of Clermont County Public Library is reading  Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link.  "I love Haruki  Murakami and David Mitchell are some of my favorites!" she said. 

19.   Leigh-Anne Yacovelli, Director of the Union Library Company of Hatborough is reading Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali Vs. the United States of America, 1966-1971 by Leigh Montvill and listening to Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston and is about to start Ripper by Stefan Petrucha during her commute.

20. 

    Patti McCall of Rollins College is reading The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan.

21. Johannes Neuer from The New York Public Library is reading How to be Danish by Patrick Kingsley.

22. Jodie Borgerding from Amigos Library Services and Alexis (her daughter) are reading Dragons Love Tacos and its sequel.

23. John Chrastka from EveryLibrary is reading Words That Work by Frank Luntz.

24. 

    Erica Findley, Cataloging Meta-Librarian at Multnomah County Library is reading Librarians with Spines edited by Yago S. Cura, Max Macias and illustrated by Autumn Anglin. 

25. Peter Stern if Valiant Entertainment "I just picked up Beren and Luthian. Christopher Tolkien released a new collection of his father's work!"

26. Ellen Myrick of Publisher Spotlight is reading Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Shari green. She is listening to Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. "My God it's good!" she said. 

27. Vicki Williams at talonbooks out of Vancouver. Reading Anima by Wajdi Mouawad.

28. Dan Ramirez of Prince George Library Memorial Library System in Maryland just finished listening to The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. He is trying to get through The 80/20 Manager by Richard Koch.

29. 

    Lindsey Marlo of Oregon State University Libraries is reading Limbo: Blue collar roots white collar dreams by Alfred Lubrano. "It is about stradleing the class divide from working class, families, and culture to the middle class world often resulting from a college education. The book is from 2004, and I would love to see a new updated, however all of it still applies to today. Lubrano is a journalist who is the son of a Brooklyn brick layer and tells his story along with over 100 stradlers he interviewed from all over the country. I have been reading it slowly because it is one of those books that is exceptionally meaningful to me puts a finger on a niggling feeling that had been a swirling undercurrent of my life for many years now. That feeling turned into white water rapids when I higher education a field dominated by the middle and upper class. So for me being a stradler and a first generation college graduate it is a cathardic to say the least."

30. After the conference we visited the Art Institute of Chicago. On the way out I noticed that there was a library inside. The Ryerson & Burnham Library is small but beautiful and at the desk K.W. said that he had finished reading Saint Joan of the Stockyards by Bertolt Brecht right before we walked in. 

What celebrities or public figures are you curious about?
Whose book list would you like to read?
Let us know in the comments!