Don't Miss Lists and Other Reading Resources

Off the Beat: Book Recommendations from Madison Police Officers

Ever wonder what Madison police officers do when they're not on duty?  Sometimes they read!  From Mary Doria Russell to J. K. Rowling, John Hersey to Greg Mortenson, officers on the downtown beat read a little of everything. 

These 2008 recommendations are from Madison Police Department officers who work the downtown beat: Jean Papalia, Meredith York, Mindy Winter, Paul Dailey and Brian Chaney. Thanks for keeping us safe!

Children’s and Teen Books

• Letters from the Corrugated Castle: a Novel of Gold Rush California 1850-1852 by Joan Blos
• I Am the King by Nathalie Dieterle
• The Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln by Mike Reiss
• The Monument by Gary Paulsen
• Seeing Redd (the Looking Glass War Series) by Frank Beddor
• One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones
• I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Fiction

• The Agnostics by Wendy Rawlings
• The Attack by Yasmina Khadra
• Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott
• A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
• Church of the Dog by Kaya McLaren
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey

Nonfiction

• The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy 1943-1944 by Rick Atkinson
• Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel
• I Hear Voices: A Memoir of Love, Death and the Radio by Jean Feraca
• Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker by Stacey Cordery
• Phantom Warrior: the Heroic True Story of Pvt. John McKinney’s One Man Stand Against the Japanese in World War II by F.B. Johnson
• Here If You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup
• A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Big Horn: The Last Great Battle of the American West by James Donovan
• Truth and Consequences: Special Comments on the Bush Administration’s War on American Values by Keith Olbermann
• Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson
• The Mayor of Castro Street: the Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts
• Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air by Kathleen C Winters
• Mercury 13: the Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight by Martha Ackmann
• Watching Baseball Smarter: a Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-Experts and Deeply Serious Geeks by Zack Hample
• Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager’s Story by Said Hyder Akbar
• American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers and the Making of a Nation by Jon Meacham
• Shipwrecks at Death’s Door by Cris Kohl and Joan Forsberg

DVD

• Cinema Paradiso
• Once
• The Namesake

Last revised: 11/4/08 tk/te