Daily News

McMaster librarians share their favorite summer books

The summer months are known for their opportunities for curling up under a shady tree and spending a quiet hour with a good book. But how do you find that 'good book'? What are the best 'summer reads'? McMaster librarians, one of the campus' most voracious groups of readers, often act as reader advisory groups for family and friends. Vivian Lewis, an associate university librarian in Mills Memorial Library, says, "People will call you up to see what's worth reading. I sometimes feel like we have a responsibility to read all the new things that are coming out and let people know what's good." Below, Lewis and other McMaster librarians share their picks for good summer reads.

Hollywood comes to the Hollow

"Not so exciting, is it? Very boring," shouts Rosie O'Donnell to a curious afternoon crowd trying to figure out why the TV and film star is sitting on a blanket in the middle of McMaster's Faculty Hollow surrounded by a film crew and cameras. Turns out O'Donnell, along with actress Andie MacDowell and actress-turned-director Angelica Huston were on campus this summer to film Slow Ride. The CBS-TV movie is based on the book Riding the Bus With My Sister and stars Andie MacDowell as a New York photographer who makes an effort to bond with her mentally handicapped sister Beth (Rosie O'Donnell) after the death of their father.

Engineers in Guatemala practice what they teach

When five years of studying finally come to an end next year, 24 Engineering & Society students will be putting their education to the test. They're planning to incorporate the engineering theory and practices they've learned into an applied situation thousands of kilometres from home, in rural Guatemala. It's called "Society's Challenge," and it's a new student-initiated group that hopes to apply what they've learned while studying the "human side of engineering." In the next two semesters the students will use their undergraduate thesis projects as an opportunity to study and implement solutions to specific challenges encountered within El Matatazanos, a town with a population of 40,000 people.