The Tufts community offer their favorite works of fiction and nonfiction—bestsellers, off-the-beaten-track wonders, and classics
Photo illustration: Momo Shinzawa
We asked members of the Tufts community for their book recommendations—not necessarily new releases, but what they might tell their friends about—and they came back with more than 30 suggestions for you this summer.
We have novels of many sorts—fantasy, literary fiction, sci-fi, Booker Prize winners, historical fiction, classics, and even a story narrated by an octopus. On the nonfiction side, we feature an explainer on blockchain, a compelling escape from slavery, an exploration of math and games, the life of comic strip Nancy’s creator, and travel with Nick Offerman.
Read on and enjoy. And for faculty, staff, and students, don’t forget that many of these books are available at the Tufts libraries.
If you have other suggestions for summer reading, let us know at now@tufts.edu, and we’ll post an update.
FICTION
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. I read this novel alongside my son, who had it assigned for school. Initially, he wasn’t enthusiastic about reading it, but I thought it would be fun to join him and see if we could both enjoy the story. This decision turned out to be immensely rewarding, as the book not only captivated me but sparked meaningful conversations between us about its characters and deeper messages. Set in the 1980s, this beautifully crafted coming-of-age novel explores the complexities of identity, friendship, and love through the lives of two Mexican-American boys, Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza and Dante Quintana. Ari is introspective and struggles with expressing his emotions, while Dante is open and unabashedly himself. Despite their differences, they form an unlikely friendship that evolves into something deeper as they explore their feelings and confront their fears together. Sáenz’s writing is poignant and lyrical, capturing the essence of teenage angst and longing with sensitivity and authenticity. The portrayal of Ari and Dante’s journey toward self-acceptance is both heartfelt and relatable, making it a compelling read for those of all ages, a moving story about the transformative power of friendship and love. —Helena Han, director, strategic initiatives, Office of the Vice Provost for Research
Family Photos, by Kate Anslinger. Set in the 1950s, this book follows detective Grace McKenna her and her boyfriend Mark, who move into a house that belonged to a wealthy family in Bridgeton, Massachusetts, a fictional town near Boston. Grace has a gift of seeing crimes in people’s faces, and when she sees a vision of a bloody boy in the face of John Walsh, the man selling the house, she decides to investigate. She and Mark find old photos that reveal the secrets of the Walsh family, which seems otherwise respectable and high-class. Anslinger vividly describes the town and the events in a way that you feel like you are right there. If you are looking for a light book to read this summer, try this one and you might be tempted to check out other books in her series. —Christine C. Fitzgerald, manager, service marketing and communications, Tufts Technology Services
First Lie Wins, by Ashley Elston. First Lie Wins is the platonic ideal of a con-woman thriller—the perfect beach or weekend read as long as you don’t plan to accomplish anything else, because you won’t be able to put it down. This novel is hard to talk about without giving away the plot, which is why you should get all your friends to read it at the same time. From the moment we meet Evie Porter, all is not what it seems. What appears to be a simple assignment from the mysterious Mr. Smith turns into a tangled web that goes back into Evie’s past—and will determine if she gets to have a future. The twists and turns in her relationships and sense of morality keep the story racing along. Suffice it to say that the characters are compelling, the writing makes the setting come alive, and the story is suspenseful without being violent, a rare combination. —Sally Brzozowski, EG23, senior project manager, University Communications and Marketing
Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros. Not since Bella Swan and Edward Cullen have I been so obsessed with a book. If Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and Fifty Shades of Gray had a baby, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros would be that baby. This book will have you instantly pulled into a world of danger, magic, romance, female badass-ness, and sarcastic dragons. The book follows Violet Sorrengail, the daughter of a powerful General, as she navigates her first year at a war college learning how to defend the realm against a mysterious threat—all while on dragon-back. While there, Violet is continually thrown together with a dangerous third-year who shows her that not everything she has been told is true (warning: not all the steam in this book is from dragon’s breath). I spent many nights staying up past my bedtime with my reading light devouring this tale that had me saying, “just one more chapter!” from start to end. — Jennifer Reilly, communications specialist, Office of Sustainability
Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell. Hamnet is a beautifully written, emotionally charged story about a marriage between two unconventional, passionate, and flawed people; the fierce and often terrifying love of parenthood; and the devastation of loss. It also follows a narrative that sounds much like the early life of a certain extraordinarily famous English bard and his wife. A great deal of the attention paid to the novel has centered on how closely—or not—it hews to the historical record. But that’s not the point. Put aside whatever you may think you know about Shakespeare—there, I’ve said it!—and immerse yourself in this moving novel of a woman here called Agnes and her unnamed husband (a brilliant move on O’Farrell’s part). While the narration’s point of view moves among several characters, the heart of this story is the mystical Agnes (pronounced ann-yis). With her herbal potions and deep connection to nature, Agnes is a healer in all senses of the word. Yet when tragedy strikes, Agnes and her husband each find very different paths toward healing. The details of their life are grounded firmly in Elizabethan England, but their feelings are universal. —Helene Ragovin, senior content creator/editor, University Communications and Marketing
The Henna Artist, by Alka Joshi. This novel, the first in an outstanding trilogy, is set in 1950s India. Once I read this one, I couldn’t get to the next two books soon enough. The protagonist is a 17-year-old girl named Lakshmi, who rebels against her presumed destiny and rewrites her story. She makes her way to the city of Jaipur on her own, where she becomes a highly respected and sought after henna artist by those in high society. The Henna Artist gives a view into the culture, class, and gender norms of that time and place. The writing is compelling and allows you to really imagine the places, colors, and textures. Because I tend to like strong characters, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Lakshmi and her ability to create a path for herself despite the odds she faced. I love that she not only dared to dream a different dream, but had the courage to go after it. So many don’t. She had courage, strength, and perseverance—a potent combination. —Maribel Blanco, executive associate dean, The Fletcher School
Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi. This is a profound and expansive debut novel that spans 300 years and two continents, tracing the divergent paths of two half-sisters and their descendants. Gyasi’s skill as a storyteller is manifest in the tapestry of interconnected narratives that she weaves, exploring the impact of slavery on generations of a Ghanaian family. The novel deftly addresses the complexities of identity, heritage, and the enduring consequences of historical trauma. Gyasi renders the characters vividly, giving each one a chapter that in turn offers a snapshot of a different era with its distinctive struggles and triumphs. Gyasi's exploration of the African diaspora is both poignant and enlightening, shedding light on the lasting scars of slavery while also celebrating the resilience of the human spirit. The narrative’s scope and emotional resonance make Homegoing a powerful and thought-provoking read, leaving a lasting impression on readers who want to face the haunting legacy of the past. During the pandemic, Gyasi participated in a Q&A with readers on the BBC’s World Book Club podcast. When asked by a reader why she wrote the novel, she explained that she had grown up with just a small nuclear family, so Homegoing gave her a chance to invent a more complete family tree than the one she knew herself. The rest of us are lucky she did. Hers is a literary triumph that transcends time and geography, offering a meditation on the interconnectedness of humanity that will stay with you long after you turn the last page. —Dave Nuscher, executive director, content and planning, University Communications and Marketing
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, by Lisa See. This historical novel is inspired by a true story of a woman physician living in 15th century Ming Dynasty China. The main character, Tan Yunxian, is born to a noble family and sent to live with her grandparents. Her grandmother, one of only a few female doctors, teaches her the pillars of Chinese medicine—looking, listening, touching, and asking. Yunxian becomes friends at an early age with Meiling, a midwife-in-training, and the friendship lasts throughout their lifetime. One of the most striking aspects of the novel are the details of the constricted lives of the women born to elite families—lives lived within the confines of a home. Their work consists of embroidering foot slippers for bound feet, reciting poetry, painting, and producing children, preferably sons. Contrasted with this circumscribed life, Yunxian finds a way to lead a life of purpose practicing medicine to treat women and girls of all levels of society. She keeps a journal of patients she treats and publishes 31 cases in Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor, originally published in 1511. This is a compelling read. I couldn’t put it down. —Alicia Morris, assistant director, Tisch Library Resource Management and Repository Services
The Mimicking of Known Successes, by Malka Older. Recommending this as a summer read might be a seasonal misstep, seeing as life on a freezing gas giant of a planet does not in any way evoke beach umbrellas or fireflies pulsing on humid nights. But for the descendants of those who fled a dying Earth for Jupiter, life is warm and cozy. Think gas lights, scones, and soup. We travel this world with Mossa, an investigator looking into a missing persons case, and Pleiti, a scholar devoted to reconstructing Earth’s ecosystems through depictions of flora and fauna found in a piece of 20th-century British fiction, Watership Down. Older’s book is fast-paced, smart, heartfelt. The understated rekindling of a university romance, the Holmes-and-Watson style mystery with a twist, and mechanics that sustain life on an inhospitable planet intertwine seamlessly to deliver a light and bright narrative for summer reading without sacrificing any of the bigger questions we will always face as humans. The questions Older asks in such a short work—The Mimicking of Known Successes is a novella—resonate beyond its scant 220 pages. In this Hugo-nominated story we traverse through the landscapes of petty academic politics, inequitable class systems, technology that could either be handwaving magic or inspired possibility, and a consistent questioning of what it means to be human, and how to live, love, and survive. It is a short work that will leave you hungry for more and there is more, never fear. —Sheila Cail, web services coordinator, Office of the Trustees
book cover
Miss Pearly’s Girls, by ReShonda Tate Billingsley. Allow me to introduce you to a captivating read, Miss Pearly’s Girls. This novel is an emotional read that many families can relate to. Its family had many secrets, and when the matriarch, Miss Pearly, fell ill, her dying wish was to release her girls from all the family’s secrets, anticipating that it would start the healing process. The setting is deep South, in Arkansas, and the author does an excellent job of creating a vivid and rich setting. I honestly could envision the rural town. Miss Pearly has four daughters, each with her own ax to grind with her siblings. Only through the journey of honesty and honoring their mother can they begin the reconciliation dialogue. This book may have some triggers for some readers, but the author does an excellent job of digging deep to address the trauma and the ways to cope. It’s a swift and memorable read. I was left thinking that forgiveness is not for the other person, but for the person affected by another person’s actions. —Yolanda L. Smith, executive director, Department of Public Safety, and chief of police, Tufts University Police Department
Orbital, by Samantha Harvey. A day in the life of four astronauts and two cosmonauts aboard an international space station in low-Earth orbit might not sound promising for a novel, but British writer Harvey puts us right there in zero gravity, our muscles slackening from lack of tension, as the space station zips around the planet below, making 16 full orbits. The inner lives of Nell, Shaun, Roman, Chie, Anton, and Pietro are closely observed in this short book, with their daily concerns, long-held memories, and the ambitions that led them to this point in space. Mission control imposes a workday schedule on them, which is good since they see the border between day and night every hour as they loop around Earth (as you can from the International Space Station in real time). As their workday ends, they shut the proverbial blinds and tether themselves so they will sleep in place and not float off, and Orbital turns meditative. “In time we come to see that not only are we on the sidelines of the universe, but that it’s a universe of sidelines, that there is no centre, just a giddy mass of waltzing things, and that perhaps the entirety of our understanding consists of an elaborate and ever-evolving knowledge of our own extraneousness, a bashing away of mankind’s ego by the instruments of scientific enquiry until it is, that ego, a shattered edifice.” —Taylor McNeil, senior news and audience engagement editor, University Communications and Marketing
Paradais, by Fernanda Melchor. Paradais—Páradais in the original Spanish—is a very engaging read—I finished it in a single sitting. The novel, which was long listed for the 2022 Booker Prize, introduces us to two teenagers—Polo and Franco (aka fatboy)—from highly contrasting socioeconomic backgrounds. Their lives intersect in a very wealthy gated housing community, called Paradise, in a small town in Mexico. The town, ironically named Progreso, has been taken over by poverty, drug traffickers, and organized crime. Polo is a high school dropout who works at Paradise as a gardener. He ends up in that job after his mom finds him the position, frustrated by his drinking and lack of direction in life once he drops out of school, and needing his income to make ends meet at home, where Polo and his mom live with his pregnant cousin. Franco lives in Paradise with his very wealthy grandparents, and fills his days eating corn puffs, watching porn, and lusting over his neighbor, Señora Marián. Entirely told from the point of view of Polo, Paradais highlights Polo and Franco’s common threads of despair. Despite the stark differences in their access to everyday luxuries, wealth, and income, Polo and Franco have a shared story of loneliness, lack of direction, and outlier status in their communities. Melchor’s novel reminds us of the depths of despair one can find oneself in when everything in life seems to be going wrong, and the extremes one might turn to when finding oneself in those dark and desperate places. I can’t wait to read the original in Spanish, as well as Melchor’s other works: Temporada de huracanes (Hurricane Season), Falsa Liebre, and Aquí no es Miami.—Bárbara Brizuela, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; professor of education, School of Arts and Sciences
Player Piano, by Kurt Vonnegut. This novel, published just short of three-quarters of a century ago, is particularly apropos today. It imagines, to the extreme, the ills and class inequalities triggered by the rapid mechanization of society, leading to the wholesale elimination of jobs. As the book opens, to address the labor shortage brought on by the need for soldiers during the third world war, the development of automated systems staffed by a minimum number of workers was encouraged. A main protagonist’s thinking evolves as he deals with the changes as they occur, and importantly, his role. The reason Player Piano is worth a read (or reread) today is our current need to reconcile the role of AI in contemporary life with its impact on society. A recent estimate from Goldman Sachs suggests generative AI could automate activities equivalent to about 300 million full-time jobs globally. Concerns have been raised about whether AI is a “tech elixir” or not. Good, bad, or benign? Can those people displaced from jobs shift their efforts to other, perhaps better, endeavors? Throughout history we have survived and benefited from innovation—witness the introduction of the printing press, assembly lines, televisions, and mobile technology, all with early naysayer concerns. Vonnegut gives us something to think about, with the benefit of hindsight, regarding AI. —Alice H. Lichtenstein, Stanley N. Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy, Distinguished Professor, and director, Cardiovascular Nutrition Team, HNRCA
Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch. Prophet Song is fiction but—egregiously—too real. In Ireland, the Stack family is navigating a country as a totalitarian government slowly, then quickly, changes everything they know about their life. The narrative structure is unorthodox, with no paragraph breaks, but the insistent text lends itself to the feeling of the book. I’ll warn you, I’m still haunted by the scenes of subtle and overt violence and the incredible heartbreak of the characters losing their normalcy, their safety, and, sometimes, each other. But I also keep recommending it. You have to wait until the very end to understand where the title comes from and why it has earned so many accolades, but it’s worth it. I can almost guarantee you will be compassionately changed by every page of this novel. —Nora K. Bond, associate director for programs, University Chaplaincy
A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers. This is one of the few books I’ve read in the past several years that soared immediately to a top five spot on my all-time favorite list. It’s a philosophical sci-fi novella that takes place generations after the robots that dominated much of the economy of Panga gained consciousness and went on strike, ending society as humans knew it. The robots chose to remove themselves from human society, and as a result, the humans of Panga largely shifted their societal priorities away from technology. The story’s primary characters are Sibling Dex, a tea monk in an order of the hospitality deity who is trying to find fulfillment and happiness in their life, and Splendid Speckled Mosscap, a sentient robot sent on a mission to answer the question, “What do humans need?” A peaceable adventure ensues when it turns out that Mosscap and the other robots aren’t the only ones wondering about this question. I love Chambers’ different approach to the idea of the “post society-changing event” world, and her writing is captivating, gentle, and beautiful. The world is somewhat alien and yet deeply familiar. The story’s meditation on what we as humans need, and how and if we obtain it, is incredibly profound and thought-provoking. The sequel novella, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (2022), is similarly thought-provoking. —Cecelia “Cece” Lasley, research librarian for the social sciences, Tisch Library
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. If you like ’80s culture and/or nerd culture, you’ll like Ready Player One. The book came out in 2011 and the movie came out in 2018, but the themes of virtual reality and societal destruction are more relevant now than ever before. The year is a dystopian 2045, and the world is suffering from an energy crisis, starvation, and widespread poverty. To escape their terrible reality, people spend most of their time logged into the OASIS, a virtual reality environment where they can do everything from consume media to attend school. The creator of the OASIS, James Halliday, creates a contest to start upon his death to find an Easter egg hidden in the OASIS and win his vast fortune, with complete control of his company and the OASIS. Everyone becomes consumed with the contest and laboriously studies all of Halliday’s obsessive interests in ’80s pop culture—video games, movies, television shows, music, and technology. After five unsuccessful years, protagonist Wade Watts becomes the first person to find the first key, which will unlock the first of three gates that lead to the egg. But he and his fellow egg hunters (“gunters”) are in a desperate race to find the egg before the evil Innovative Online Industries corporation does. The book is full of pop culture references and quotes, and even if you don’t catch all of them, you’ll likely still enjoy the thrilling action and suspense of the hunt and Wade’s ingenuity. —Melissa Lee, senior communications specialist, Dean of Students Office
The Reformatory, by Tananarive Due. The Reformatory is a gripping novel about a twelve-year-old boy sent in 1950 to a notorious “school” in northern Florida called the Reformatory for kicking the son of a wealthy landowner while standing up for his sister. The school is haunted by “haints,” children who died there under suspicious circumstances. The main character, Robby, has a gift of seeing the haints, some of whom help him to survive the school. and some that seek to harm him. Meanwhile, on the outside, his sister Gloria works tirelessly to free him from his unjust imprisonment. The book explores themes of racism, fear, and the injustice of the Jim Crow South, but also offers supernatural and spiritual themes. Although the book is a work of fiction, the basis of the story is real, based on research done by the author on a reformatory school where her great-uncle died. The story is touching, scary, and achingly painful as the author portrays friendship, love, evil, and betrayal. It kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what would happen next, but also piqued my interest to learn more about that time period in northern Florida, reform schools, and the real-life people in the book—a true hallmark of a good book. —Julie Beach, senior programmer / analyst, Advancement Information Systems
Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt. As a summer read, you really can’t go wrong with a book narrated by an irascible octopus struggling with his mortality. The resident Houdini of an aquarium in the northwest, Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus, makes nightly escapes from his tank to explore the building and munch on other fish in the displays. During one of his nightly forays, he runs into trouble and is discovered by the after-hours cleaner, Tova, who helps him get safely back to his tank. After this initial encounter, these two unlikely protagonists develop a relationship built on trust, the shared experience of aging, and a mutual acceptance of the fact that everyday life is about playing the hand that you’ve been dealt. Marcellus knows that he is reaching the end of a life that has been spent entirely in captivity at the aquarium. He is bored and trapped in a world in which humans don’t understand or appreciate his intellect or emotions, and he is counting down the days until he reaches the average lifespan of an octopus. Tova, a widow whose son mysteriously disappeared 30 years prior, has been emotionally confined by grief. Her life is small and lonely, and friends and family who imply that she should retire and take it easy are kept at arm’s length. However, it is her work that gives her life meaning, and as she diligently cleans, she recalls bringing her son to the aquarium for visits when he was a child. The characters have been developed in such a way that makes them—and the challenges they face—accessible to the reader. Despite the backdrop of tragedy, Remarkably Bright Creatures is about a universal need for connection, regardless of species. —Laura C. McDonald, manager of collections and registrar, Tufts University Art Galleries
Small World, by Laura Zigman. Joyce Mellishman lives in a world that’s familiar to many of us: a Cambridge apartment outside of Harvard Square, with frequent trips to Cardullo’s, neighbors whose postings on a local blog called Small World cover topics like wondering what makes a Halloween treat acceptable, dissing neighbors who take a bag of ripening avocados off their stoop, or debating what to do about the wild turkeys wandering the streets. Joyce takes the listings from Small World and turns them into ironic, sometimes sharp poems that point out the PC-bougie sentiments of her larger world. Joyce’s own small world has recently changed. She invites her older sister, newly divorced like herself, to return from LA and move in with her as they both navigate mid-life and singlehood. It turns out that while Lydia and Joyce share a childhood, they don’t share a lot else. And living together in the present, they find themselves dealing with conflicts about an upstairs yoga studio, questions of how to make work fulfilling, and how to get along with each other when their sensibilities (and aesthetics) are so different. But most of all, they must navigate their collective past. They are unable to shed the huge presence of a younger sister, born with cerebral palsy and dead too young, and the dysfunctional ways their parents dealt with this. If this book sounds like an emotional slog, it’s not. It’s very funny. Laura Zigman’s crisp writing, acerbic observations on contemporary life, and thoughtful pondering of familial secrets and relationships, make this an upbeat and engaging read. —Julie Dobrow, director, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies; senior lecturer, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development
Stepsister, by Jennifer Donnelly. Stepsister is a rendition of Cinderella like none of the other variations of the story I have read. The events in this novel take place after the royal marriage, and Cinderella is not the main character. The hero of the story is one of the stepsisters, Isabelle. The novel is about autonomy and empowerment, owning one’s own destiny and seeing and nurturing one’s own beauty, with a healthy amount of fairytale, adventure, and glorious—and in the end victorious—fighting. I loved Isabelle’s character arch and enjoyed following her as she nurtured her fierceness and independence. —Zoya Davis Hamilton, associate vice provost, Research Administration and Development, Office of the Vice Provost for Research
Such Kindness, by Andre Dubus III. I was so caught up with Tom Lowe’s fictional life in Such Kindness that I read straight through the night to mid-morning to see how it all resolved. Tom is a carpenter who has fallen on hard times. Very hard times. He’s also fallen from a ladder, which left him disabled, led to opioid addiction and losing his marriage, his son, his business, and his car. When the novel opens, Tom is living alone in subsidized housing, surviving off disability checks and selling off his tools, EBT cards, and anything else he can to raise a little cash. Though he’s gotten off opioids, he drinks heavily to dull the many pains in his life. The only things that seems to keep Tom going are a desire to see his son on his 20th birthday, and the protective stance he takes toward his neighbor Trina, a single mom who sells her plasma to buy food and video games for her sons and has a propensity for making bad decisions about her abusive boyfriends. Through a series of unfortunate events, Tom seems just about ready to hit bottom, but then he doesn’t. Something changes and he starts seeing the world differently, through kindness instead of blame. These are characters and circumstances about as bleak as you can imagine, and yet through Dubus’ masterful and elegiac writing, the book turns out to be about hope. I know some reviewers panned this novel, labeled it “cloying” or “a depressing bummer,” or thought its ground too well-trodden, including by Dubus himself (a former creative writing instructor here at Tufts). But I loved it, enough to give up the few scant hours of sleep I get. And I’m not sorry I did. —Julie Dobrow, director, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies; senior lecturer, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development
Together Tea, by Marjan Kamali. I tend to gravitate toward books that have strong female leads, and an added bonus is a setting in a foreign country. Together Tea hits both of those points. It is Kamali’s debut novel, and I read it a couple of years after reading her more famous novel, The Stationery Shop. Don’t be dissuaded by this book sometimes being labeled as chick-lit (an unfair category if there ever was one), though given the arranged marriage theme at the beginning, it could be labeled a romance. But it goes so much further, describing life in Iran before and during the 1979 revolution, life in America as an educated immigrant family fleeing Iran, and finally a return visit to Iran for the two main characters, Darya and her daughter Mina. Given the political tensions between the U.S. and Iran, learning about Iran—especially its culture and traditions—is not something that we can readily find. These two books were the first time that I had read about life in modern day Iran without a political spin on it from the media. Kamali was born to Iranian parents in Turkey and lived in Iran for a couple of years post-revolution before coming to America. Although the book is not strictly autobiographical, Kamali draws upon her time in Iran as well as a new immigrant in the U.S. —Nora Moser McMillan, associate director of veterans affairs, The Fletcher School
Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett. When we were in college, my good friend went on spring break to northern Michigan—not a tropical destination like most kids visit—and she said it was one of the most beautiful places she’d ever been. If her encouragement to get there someday wasn’t enough, now that I’ve read Tom Lake, the region is on my wanderlust wish list. Ann Patchett has been one of my favorite writers for years, and her most recent work is no exception. Tom Lake chronicles the life of Lara Nelson, born Laura Kenison in a small New Hampshire town, as she shares stories with her three grown daughters during the early, uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In high school, she tried out for a local production of Our Town, a spur-of-the-minute decision while helping check-in hopeful actors at an audition. The choice set her on a path of finding and losing fame, finding and losing love, and ultimately, creating a life she now can’t imagine any different, among the cherry trees of her husband’s family’s farm in northern Michigan. It’s a wonderfully fast summer read, and the audiobook is a special treat, performed by Oscar-winning actress, Meryl Streep. —Emily Brognano, senior content creator/editor
NONFICTION
Alfie & Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe, by Carl Safina. This is a book for lovers of the natural world and wildlife photography and for anyone curious to learn more about the mysterious lives of owls. Ecologist and writer Carl Safina begins this account with the moment he and his wife Patricia were alerted to the discovery of a baby Eastern Screech Owl that was near-death. She didn’t seem to have long to live, but as experienced wildlife rehabilitators, they agreed to take her in. Ultimately, they helped her regain strength and observed her flight feathers emerge (which were put to the test in and around their Long Island home) and slowly transitioned to an outdoor enclosure on their porch as part of a planned “soft release.” What ensued next was nothing short of miraculous, as they witnessed this owl they affectionately named Alfie—a deliberately gender-neutral choice since initially they couldn’t tell if she was female—begin to explore her rapidly expanding wooded territory on powerful new wings. This all occurred at the same time that Carl and Patricia’s world was reduced to their home and backyard with the sudden onset of the COVID pandemic. In the end, the pandemic gave them the rare opportunity to watch and capture Alfie’s new life far more completely than if they’d been going about life as usual. I’ll save some of the surprises of how Alfie’s journey unfolds for when you pick up this charming book, but expect to fall in love with a fascinating feathered creature who will surely capture your imagination. —Julia Keith, program coordinator, International Center
American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work, by Susan Cheever. As the subtitle reveals, this is a biography of five writers of the mid-19th century who initiated the philosophical and literary movement termed Transcendentalism. It also offers a portrait of a place, Concord, Massachusetts, which, like London’s Bloomsbury district, was the locus of intellectual ferment and literary blossoming. America’s version, a little hamlet in a bucolic setting less than 15 miles from Tufts�� Medford campus is, in fact, the progenitor of the American literary tradition. The town came to the public’s attention most recently in Greta Gerwig’s remake of the film Little Women, based on Louisa Mae Alcott’s famous novel, which is itself loosely based on the author’s life as an adolescent in Concord. The subjects of Cheever’s biography were not only thinkers but activists pursuing abolition, women’s rights, educational reform, and temperance. Other important figures of the time, such as Louisa’s father, Bronson, Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Walt Whitman, Henry James, and Edgar Allen Poe, make appearances in the book. Their interweaving lives were reflected in their works. For example, Hawthorne drew inspiration for his character Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter from the fiercely independent Margaret Fuller and James for Isabel Archer in Portrait of a Lady from Alcott’s depiction of her character Jo March. The book offers a fascinating entry into an understanding of the figures who feature so prominently in the national intellectual and cultural consciousness. —Vickie Sullivan, Cornelia M. Jackson Professor of Political Science, School of Arts and Sciences
Around the World in 80 Games: A Mathematician Unlocks the Secrets of the Greatest Games, by Marcus du Sautoy. OK, maybe this tells you a little too much about me, but I secretly do math in my head during long plane rides, so when Marcus du Sautoy, a frequent contributor to Brady Harun’s Numberphile Youtube series, wrote a book on math and games, it was a must-read for me. Rambling through some games from around the world and across time, the book is more about the math of fun than the fun of math, and is written in his typical conversational and accessible manner. Games both popular (why a computer can play a good game of chess, but almost always lose at Go) and unfamiliar (like Chocolate Chili Roulette) are discussed, preparing you for your next rainy Saturday. If you’ve ever wondered what is the best property in Monopoly, how to play a really good game of Rock Paper Scissors, or you just want to get a new appreciation for play, this book is a must read no matter whether you love or hate math.— Jesse Anderson, associate director, AV Architecture, Tufts Technology Services
Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990, by Katja Hoyer. This could have been a dry history, but instead is engaging and personal, focusing on the lives of the silent majority of residents of the (wildly misnamed) German Democratic Republic, who just wanted to get on with their lives and ignore politics, as most people do everywhere. Hoyer begins each chapter at a specific place and date, recounting stories of individual lives before tying them to larger history in the GDR. After the defeat of the Nazis, Stalin wasn’t even sure he wanted his quarter of Germany to be a separate country, let alone a communist one. But Walter Ulbricht, a German communist who sat out World War II in Russia, convinced him otherwise, and took over as leader of the GDR. It was much smaller and poorer than West Germany, bled by reparations to the USSR and suffering from a shortage of natural resources. An uprising by dissatisfied citizens in 1953 led to repression and the growth of the Stasi, the secret police. Ever after, the GDR was torn between trying to control its population and provide consumer goods and some measure of freedom, a tension that continued until 1990. The GDR, Hoyer shows, offered things the West did not: free childcare meant women made up half the workforce; everyone had low-cost (if substandard) housing; no one went hungry. But the untenable cost of providing services in what was essentially a poor country largely led to its downfall, and its unequal merger in 1990 with West Germany. Hoyer shows what was lost with the demise of the GDR, too, which goes some way to explaining discontent in that region that lingers to this day. —Taylor McNeil, senior news and audience engagement editor, University Communications and Marketing
Blockchain: The Next Everything, by Stephen P. Williams. Ever wonder what the real excitement is around Bitcoin? Sure, we’ve all heard the stories about the incredible price volatility, but what is so convincing about this digital currency, based on “nothing,” that millions are willing to own a piece of? Blockchain: The Next Everything, helps lay the foundation for what makes things like Bitcoin so powerful. Whether you’re Bitcoin-curious, or already blockchain-savvy, this read offers perspective for all audiences. It covers the technical makeup of blockchain projects, as well as the culture surrounding and influencing their adoption. It’s an easy read, even if you aren’t especially technical. What’s interesting is that some of the content is already dated, the book having been published in 2019 (five years being almost one-third of the entire history of blockchain)—but the principles remain. It’s great food for thought and will help you carry on a conversation with your cyberpunk cousin at the next family gathering. —Ben Roberts, marketing operations manager, University Communications and Marketing
Glad to the Brink of Fear, James Marcus. A cross between literary criticism and biography (with perhaps a little cultural history thrown in), James Marcus’ new book about Transcendentalist writer/philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson is fascinating. The biographer in me was deeply intrigued and touched by Marcus’ discussions of Emerson’s relationships with various family members (his brothers William, Edward and Charles, his aunt Mary Moody Emerson) and with people he deeply cared for (his college friend Martin Gay, his protégées Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller, his first and second wives Ellen Tucker and Lidian Jackson, and his eldest son, who died at age 5). Partially through comparing Emerson’s life to his own life in deeply personal moments like the death of a father, Marcus details these often reported-upon parts of Emerson’s life with depth and feeling. The part of me that’s been immersed in Concord history through my own work was also quite interested in Marcus’ contextualization of Emerson’s lack of alacrity getting on the abolition bandwagon, or his convening of a “salon” in Concord. Marcus often puts parts of Emerson’s life and sometimes difficult to parse philosophies more within our reach by comparing them to contemporary issues, like discussing his ideas about individualism by pairing this with the various ways people responded to government actions (or inactions) around COVID. Some may find Marcus’ interjections of 2024 into the 19th century jarring, or find sentences like “That sounds like Thanksgiving dinner at the Emerson household, to be honest, with a pitched battle about predestination over the cranberry sauce” too light given the heft of his subject. But I found Marcus’ colloquialisms helped enliven the book, his writing fresh and pungent. I respect Marcus’ own complex relationship with a subject, whom he found complex. Glad to the Brink of Fear is a welcome addition to the oeuvre of hefty tomes—this book is hefty in thought, not in page number—about Emerson and his world. —Julie Dobrow, director, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies; senior lecturer, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom, by Ilyon Woo. The true story of William and Ellen Craft, two enslaved people in the antebellum South who made their way North by disguising themselves as a wealthy white man and his manservant, is breathtaking by itself, without any literary embellishment. Ilyon Woo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning account preserves the significance of the Crafts’ considerable accomplishment and their individual bravery, in a gripping, edge-of-your-seat narrative. I—and all other readers—knew from the very beginning that the Crafts manage to complete their escape. Yet Woo’s skillful retelling of the many obstacles that threatened that freedom at every turn created a tension that that grabbed me, and pulled me through the story, along with the Crafts. The depth of historical detail is remarkable, and even if you think you know a lot about life north of the Mason-Dixon line in the years leading up to the Civil War—you probably don’t. I was surprised I had never heard of the Crafts before this book, if only because Boston, which likes to boast of its abolitionist heritage, is the setting for a key episode when the Crafts briefly settled there. When slavecatchers arrived, residents from all walks of life delivered a 19th century version of “This is our (bleeping) city” and joined forces to drive them away empty-handed. —Helene Ragovin, senior content creator/editor, University Communications and Marketing
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, by Peter Attia. This is the ultimate guide for those determined to outwit Father Time with a kale smoothie in one hand and a dumbbell in the other. In this book, Attia, a doctor who clearly didn’t get enough homework in med school, dives deep into the science of living longer and better. He argues that modern medicine is more about reacting to disease rather than preventing it—like trying to fix your car only after it’s already broken down on the side of the highway. Attia covers everything from the importance of exercise and nutrition to the need for better sleep (that I can do), all while debunking common myths that seem to linger in our wellness-obsessed culture. He tackles subjects like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases with the fervor of someone who really, really hates getting old (don’t we all). But it’s not all doom and gloom; Attia’s writing is peppered with enough humor and personal anecdotes to keep you entertained, even if you have to Google every other term. Whether you’re a fitness fanatic or someone who just wants to keep the Grim Reaper at bay a little longer, Outlive serves up the science of longevity with a side of sass. A good read, with great advice. Now back to work with my green matcha smoothie. —Yanina Hillion, events manager, The Fletcher School
Rememberings, by Sinéad O’Connor. My librarian husband is patient with my requests for books to bring home. On the bedside table are Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, Erasure by Percival Everett, Jim the Boy by Tony Earley, The Lost City of Z by David Grann, True Grit by Charles Portis, and Rememberings by Sinéad O’Connor. I started with Sinéad. If her memoir were a song, it might be a rock ballad. It is raucous and funny. Born in Dublin in 1966, Sinéad’s granddad nicknamed her “scamp” because she was such a bold child. By the time she was 20, she had a number one record with The Lion and the Cobra. Her 2021 memoir, which became a bestseller, reflects on her childhood, art, and fame. “A lot of people say or think that tearing up the pope’s photo derailed my career,” Sinéad writes. “That’s not how I feel about it. I feel that having a number-one record derailed my career and my tearing the photo put me back on the right track.” Read it and cry-laugh. —Nancy Mehegan, director of stewardship and donor relations, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller, the Man Who Created Nancy, by Bill Griffith. I would never have pegged Zippy the Pinhead creator Bill Griffith with being a fan of the comic strip Nancy, but he clearly is, and has created a wonderful graphic biography of comic artist Ernie Bushmiller and his creations Nancy and Sluggo. In 1919, at the age of 14, Bushmiller convinced his parents to let him drop out of high school and get a job. He landed as a copy boy at the New York World newspaper, and was quickly drawn to the bullpen—the paper’s art department. He took on whatever work there he could, and at 15 published his first comic strip. He took art lessons and kept grabbing more opportunities at the paper, taking over the popular Fritzi Ritz comic when its artist left for greener pastures. Nancy first made her appearance as Fritzi’s visiting niece—a completely incidental character. But soon enough spike-haired Nancy and her pal Sluggo had their own comic strip, which under other hands continues to this day. In the book, we get to know Ernie well; he’s singularly focused on his comic strip, every day coming up with what he calls the slapper, the final panel in the strip—the punchline—and then working his way back to create the beginning. He marries and moves to the suburbs of New York, and grows into a sometimes grouchy conservative, making fun of beatniks and then hippies, overseeing the comic until his death in 1988. This impressive book is very generously filled with Nancy strips from the 1920s on, too, illustrating Ernie’s talent over the years. —Taylor McNeil, senior news and audience engagement editor, University Communications and Marketing
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, by Sebastian Junger. In a time when the divisions of society seem to be more prevalent than the unity of society, Sebastian Junger examines why there is sometimes a disconnect between comfort and the sense of belonging. By looking at examples such as Native American tribes, military combat veterans, and civilians, Junger finds that ironically “war feels better than peace and adversity can turn out to be a blessing.” For anyone looking for a fresh perspective on why we feel and act the way we do in society, Tribe offers a succinct view using anecdotes, case studies, and statistics. A common term coming out of the pandemic was “better together.” Tribe answers the question of why we are better together, what causes us to come together, and what the potential destruction of our society, community, or neighborhood could be without unity. —Frank Roche, civic life coordinator for athletics, Tisch College of Civic Life
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside, by Nick Offerman. Actor Nick Offerman (from Parks and Recs) discusses all thing politics and environmental while on three separate quests. The book begins with a hiking trip with two close friends, musician Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and writer George Saunders, as they clumsily navigate an advanced hike in Glacier National Park, followed by an extended visit to his friend James Rebanks’ English farm, where he reflects on the hard work of farmers and the fruits of the their labor. Offerman then embarks on a cross-country camping tour with his wife, actor Megan Mullallay, in a newly purchased Airstream camper during COVID, experiencing both the challenges of a piloting new camper and the intricacies of polarized America. Both humorous and observational, he scrutinizes our current divisive political climate as well as our engagement with nature and our often-excessive use of natural resources. His liberal-leaning viewpoints are ironically balanced with acknowledgements of Hollywood privilege, but his self-deprecating wit and folksy charm puts a light spin on relatively serious subject matter. Sometimes rambling, the stories meander through simple light-hearted observations to serious relevant topics about threats to our democracy and the planet. —Greg Gonyea, creative director, University Communications and Marketing
The World of Yesterday, by Stefan Zweig, translated by Anthea Bell. Zweig’s work regained attention recently as inspiration for one of Wes Anderson’s twee films, The Grand Budapest Hotel. His memoir, The World of Yesterday (in a new translation) carries Zweig’s wit and sophistication as a leading man of letters in the early 20th century. Yet, even as the story recaptures Zweig’s growth as a man of letters and the textures and possibilities of the Vienna that was his home, it is framed as a tragedy. It was completed shortly before Zweig and his wife took their own lives in 1942, enveloped by a darkness that suffused his recollections as well. Every part of his autobiography is stalked by the fact that the good times and security he recounts are on marked time. The World of Yesterday is a rare thing, a lively but haunting read. —David Ekbladh, professor, Department of History, School of Arts and Sciences
