Rec's by Avis C. Vidal: Your Natural Gifts

From The Harvard Guide to Influential Books:

Avis Vidal is an associate professor of city and regional planning at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and specializes in urban economic development, housing and urban policy. Her current research focuses on the effectiveness of public–private partnerships formed to promote urban development by supporting the activities of community-based organizations.

• J. D. Salinger. Franny and Zooey: Two Novellas (1961). New York: Bantam, 1969. (Pb) Buddy's letter to Zooey is the best and most enduring reminder I have had of the importance of discovering the things that really matter to you, and then doing them with zest because that's the way they deserve to be done.

• Chaim Potok. My Name Is Asher Lev (1972). New York: Fawcett, 1978. (Pb) A powerful exploration of the clarity of purpose that a natural gift or calling makes possible, and of the anguish that comes with being forced to choose between two highly valued claims on one's identity.

• Anthony Lewis. Gideon's Trumpet. New York: Random House, 1964. (Pb)

• Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong. The Brethren (1979). New York: Avon, 1980. (Pb)

Two very different accounts of the wonder and power of the law and the people who make it work—when it works.

• Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre (1847). New York: Putnam, 1982. My former husband and I read this book aloud. When we finished I asked him whether he liked it. "It's good . . . okay. . . but it gets a little tiresome because it's all from her point of view."

• Chaim Potok. The Book of Lights. New York: Fawcett, 1981. (Pb) A book that illustrates the potential power of religious and cultural tradition in helping one come to terms with the inescapable presence of death and evil.

• Willa Cather. My Antonia (1918). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1926. (Pb) The only thing I ever read that helped me understand why people like the Midwest.