In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward. ‑Velda Love, Justice and Intercultural Learning

Read about what might happen if Plato visited the twenty-first century. Travel with him as he debates semantics on The Real McCoy, participates in a panel discussion on how to raise children at the 92nd Street Y, guest lectures at the Googleplex, philosophizes with technicians that assist him in getting an MRI, and googles Socrates. If you identify more with the ancients than today’s youth, this book will make you laugh. If you have an affinity with the young generation today, this book will help you understand ancient philosophy. ‑Melissa Pavlik, English as a Second Language

Tolstoy is known for his lengthy diatribes and deep character developments, usually taking chapter upon chapter to get details of his fictional scenes just right. But in this relatively short novel, Tolstoy takes his time to develop just one character—Ivan Ilyich. You’ll journey with Ivan through the questions of life, money, possessions, family, and the reality of death that surely come to us all. ‑Donielle Alicea, School of Adult Learning

There are some books in the Christian faith that bless and encourage you momentarily because they seem to be rightly timed for the thing you’re wrestling or struggling with. This is not one of those books. Desiring God will not just bless you for the moment, it will give you new eyes and new ways to see and savor our Savior, Jesus Christ, in all of life’s circumstances. Piper develops ideals of Christian Hedonism, asserting that every human is meant to live for personal good and satisfaction. But he doesn’t stop there. He goes on to explain that our ultimate good is uniquely and mysteriously intertwined with giving all glory to God in everything that we do. ‑Donielle Alicea, School of Adult Learning

This novel, set in Edgewater, outlines a history of gang violence and racial tensions on the far north side of Chicago, the repercussions of which are still experienced today. The language is gritty and the scenes are graphic, but narrator Joe Walsh’s voice engages to make the pages turn fast and the reader want to know how the choices Walsh makes will shape his coming of age. Author Bill Hillman is a Chicago native; he is also known for his recently published memoir, Mozos: a Decade of Running with the Bulls in Spain. ‑Melissa Pavlik, English as a Second Language

This novel is a love story, social commentary, and great read. Adichie uses her unique experience as a Nigerian-born, black African living in the United States as a springboard to explore race as a social construct. She tells the story of a young Nigerian couple's reunion in their native land after years living separately abroad in the United States and England. ‑Melissa Pavlik, English as a Second Language

Why was it so hard to be an atheist in the Middle Ages? Why is it so hard to believe in God today? Smith probes the disenchantment of modernity to see it as not just the subtraction of religion but the creation of a new frame with which to understand reality. This frame impacts people inside and outside the church. Thought-provoking on its own, this short work is also a commentary on and introduction to Charles Taylor’s seminal work A Secular Age. Highly recommended for understanding the underlying assumptions and conflicts of our age while avoiding the shallow reductionist stories of science vs. religion or progressive vs. conservative.‑Matt Ostercamp, Brandel Library

This is an “adult book” from a writer traditionally associated with adolescent fiction. It’s a novel based on real events of the early 1950s, specifically a two-month period when three planes crashed in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Quite a story! We follow a number of characters whose lives are touched, connected, traumatized, devastated, and forever changed by these events. A real page-turner! ‑Linda Craft, Spanish Department

This is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read—LOL hilarious! A detective thriller set in Key West, this is the story of a policeman demoted to roach patrol (restaurant inspector), who refuses to give up sleuthing and the hunt for clues to a grisly murder. He’s aided by a cast of outrageous characters who will keep you entertained as you sit on the beach or lounge by the pool this summer. ‑Linda Craft, Spanish Department

From essays by Bebe Moore Campbell and W.E.B. Du Bois to speeches by Toni Morrison and Mary McLeod Bethune, this collection of writings celebrates different aspects of love in the African-American community. A brilliant tapestry tenderly pieced together, made up of essays, fiction, and poetry, embellished with outstanding artwork by modern masters, this is an inspiring anthology that affirms the power of love and its capacity for strengthening bonds among African Americans. The concept of self-love is luminously proclaimed in an interview with Brenda Tapia, a minister and the director of the Love of Learning Program at Davidson College, while the book's second section celebrates familial love. Other sections praise romantic love, the value of love in the community, and love of the land. ‑Velda Love, Justice and Intercultural Learning

The 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, an African-American teenager in Florida, and the subsequent acquittal of his killer brought public attention to controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws. The verdict, as much as the killing, sent shock waves through the African-American community, recalling a history of similar deaths and the long struggle for justice. On the Sunday morning following the verdict, black preachers around the country addressed the questions, "Where is the justice of God? What are we to hope for?" This book is an attempt to take seriously social and theological questions raised by this and similar stories, and to answer black church people's questions of justice and faith in response to the call of God. Kelly Brown Douglas also brings another significant interpretative lens to this text: that of a mother. ‑Velda Love, Justice and Intercultural Learning

In a literary world full of post-apocalyptic teen tales, this one is entirely different. Jumping around the years before and after a flu pandemic that nearly ended civilization, this novel digs deeply into what makes humanity real, the value of history and art, and connections to the past that cannot be broken. It’s the sort of book that sticks with you long after you turn the last page. ‑Megan Gilmore, University Marketing and Communications

I intended to borrow this book from my public library to read about my people, the Norwegians. Having just come back from Norway, Booth is spot on with his highlights of the reality and the myths. Because of the author’s style, research details, quirky tidbits, humor, and zingers, I am now reading it all. Booth, from Great Britain, lives in Denmark with his Danish wife and their young children. The Danish narrative is his point of departure for subsequent chapters on Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Few books make me LOL but this one has. ‑Ellen Kogstad, Seminary

Intelligent, energetic, let-me-read-that sentence-aloud novel about consumerism, garbage, desire, and human fulfillment (or lack thereof). Highly recommended. ‑Nancy Arnesen, English Department

Lyrical coming-of-age story; immigrant farmers make their way on the tall-grass prairie of Nebraska. A lovely summer read. ‑Nancy Arnesen, English Department

If you are interested in food and where it comes from you will get a lot out of this book. Pollan’s writing style is easy to read while still being well researched and thoughtful. Next time you go to the supermarket, farmer’s market, or McDonalds you will be much more aware of where that food came from and how. ‑Joanna Wilkinson, Brandel Library

I recently read Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, about end-of-life issues including improving nursing homes, problems with treating terminal illness, importance of hospice care, etc. The beginning of this book isn't as fast-moving and attention-grabbing as his previous books like Complications, but it's still full of real and personal stories. Gawande approaches the topic both from a physician's point of view and from the elderly patient's family's point of view. Many of our students are interested in going into health care and will benefit from learning about end-of-life issues. It's also a pretty easy read (Gawande is an excellent writer, a physician who's been writing for the lay audience since his med-school years), suitable for the summer. ‑Yoojin Choi, Biology Department

Chandra, a novelist whose computer programming skills funded his MFA, interweaves the stories of learning to write fiction and learning to write code, and discovering the beauty in each. Whether he's describing high-level programming languages or Sanskrit literary aesthetics, his warm, graceful prose invites you to see the beauty he has found. ‑Sarah Thorngate, Brandel Library