What are you reading?

I like Lisa Scottoline, a mystery writer who wrote "Dirty Blonde." It's very fast reading, but the basis of it is a real-life experience. Another is Steve Barry's "The Romanov Prophecy." He gets into the history of the Romanovs and the burials after the revolution, but makes a good story resurrecting the Tsar. ... I'll also pick up books occasionally to get into the heads of people involved in war, like Pierre Frei's "Berlin." ... Stuff I pick up just because I'm interested in our times are "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Paul Krugman, Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope," and I just started "Our Endangered Values" by Jimmy Carter. ...

How did you discover them?

I don't buy a lot of books, because if I went into a store I'd go crazy buying everything, so people give me books if they know I'm interested in a subject. ... We also exchange books here at the museum among our staff; we're real recyclers.

Does reading about the lives of ordinary people in history help you devise new ways to reveal the past and present to Lyman visitors?

That's exactly the reason I do most of my reading. ... I try to get into the multiplicity of life in any given time and any given culture, and I'm really interested in documenting ordinary people's lives. At the Lyman, we like to show insights into life, local people and their culture and values, so by finding places where those stories are it allows me to work with my staff and lead better — to look at people holistically and at the fullness of their lives.