While the “Dean’s List” is meant to provide recommendations of reading material to undergraduates and others, do students really have time, or want to make the time, to read books other than the material assigned in classes?
Neenan suggests they make an effort.
He doesn’t say it in a didactic way; he simply advises that taking the time to read a good book, or even just reflecting on what you’ve read in the past is an occupation well worth its while. Besides, you probably have the time and just don’t realize it, he says.
“If you always have a book or two beside you, it’s amazing how many spare moments you really have,” Neenan says.
However, the Jesuit also admits that as a student of economics he didn’t have a lot of extra time to read either. But he’s quick to add that it was that kind of literary drought that inspired him to make reading an intregal part of his life.
“When I first started my graduate studies in economics I was reading a lot of technical journals and those kind of things,” he says. “For a few years there, I really didn’t read a novel or a historical book on anything and I said, ‘I don’t want to live like this.’ So, I started to read 20-25 minutes before going to bed.”
He hopes that students would get into the habit of reading books other than those required for class. Additionally, he stresses that looking back at what you have read and what you would like to read is part of the self-reflection emphasized in the Jesuit education offered here at BC.
“That could mean looking back and asking yourself what ten books have I read in the past ten years that I would hand to someone on answer to the question, ‘Have you read a good a good book lately?’”
Neenan’s list tries to provide a few answers for anyone who might be pondering that question.
In terms of the works he chooses, they need only be material he has enjoyed, although some common themes do appear. Three Jesuit authors show up, several books on Catholic themes, many titles are about Boston and a few works are by faculty authors.
Spring Break
