Academic

The University of Illinois has a very nice tradition of selecting a book for the library in honor of recently tenured professors.  I have to say that I missed the first deadline because I was paralyzed at having to pick just one book!  Anyway, I have chosen my book now and a book plate will be placed in this book with my name on it.  I am very appreciative of this honor.

So, what book did I choose?  My kids guessed (wrongly) that I chose either "Guess How Much I Love You" or "Love You Forever."  (The letter I received said I could choose "anything from a children's book to a treatise.")  However, although I do fuss over these books at bedtime, I don't generally read them in my spare time.  (If I had chosen a children's book, it would have been "I Love You the Purplest."

Instead, I chose Clarence Darrow For the Defense by Irving Stone.  I was required to read it in American History, 11th grade, and I think I adopted the principles embodied in the stories there as my polestars.  Like Atticus Finch, but rumpled and real.

What would you have picked?