Free Food for Millionaires
Min Jin Lee
Set in 1990s New York, *Free Food for Millionaires* follows Casey Han, a Princeton graduate from a Korean immigrant family in Queens. As she navigates the competitive world of post-college career choices and grapples with her identity, class distinctions, and familial expectations, Casey strives for success and respectability while yearning for glamour and insight. This sprawling novel explores the universal clash of cultures, intergenerational struggles, and the complexities of love and ambition within the Korean American community.
The Fifties
David Halberstam
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam offers a panoramic and incisive view of the 1950s, a pivotal decade he argues was seminal in shaping modern America. This sweeping history delves into the social, political, economic, and cultural transformations of the era, from the Korean War and the rise of McCarthyism to the birth of Levittown, rock and roll, and the invention of the birth control pill. Through vivid portraits of both titans like Eisenhower and Nixon, and lesser-known figures who profoundly influenced the nation, Halberstam reveals a time of astonishing material affluence alongside deep political anxiety, exploring the undercurrents that led to the social upheavals of subsequent decades.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus
Set in the 1950s and 60s, this captivating novel follows Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist whose scientific career is derailed by the pervasive sexism of her era. When she finds herself a single mother and the unexpected star of a hit television cooking show, 'Supper at Six,' Elizabeth uses her platform to teach women far more than just recipes, subtly challenging the status quo and inspiring a nation to question their roles. A story of resilience, intellect, and the fight for equality, it blends wit, heart, and a sharp critique of societal norms.
Unflattening
Nick Sousanis
Challenging conventional scholarly discourse, 'Unflattening' is a groundbreaking work presented entirely as a graphic novel that explores the profound connection between words and images in constructing knowledge. Nick Sousanis invites readers on an intellectual journey to break free from 'flatness' – a narrow, rigid way of thinking – by embracing visual thinking and diverse perspectives drawn from science, philosophy, art, and mythology. This book will transform how you perceive, learn, and understand the world around you.
Small Things Like These
Claire Keegan
Set in an Irish town in 1985, this poignant novella follows Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, during the busy weeks leading up to Christmas. As he navigates his daily rounds, Bill confronts the complicit silences of a community deeply influenced by the Church and the haunting specter of the past, particularly the injustices of Ireland's mother and baby homes and Magdalen laundries. It is a powerful story of quiet heroism, moral awakening, and the enduring search for tenderness amidst hardship.
Counting Feminicide
Catherine D’Ignazio
In 'Counting Feminicide,' Catherine D’Ignazio unveils the powerful world of grassroots data activism, where individuals and collectives in the Americas are meticulously documenting feminicide—the gender-related killing of women and girls—to challenge state negligence and reshape public narratives. The book introduces 'restorative/transformative data science,' an approach that centers care, memory, healing, and justice, detailing the intricate processes of resolving, researching, recording, and strategically refusing and using data. Through compelling case studies and a deep dive into co-designing technology with activists, D’Ignazio offers a profound vision for a data science that actively defends life and transforms structural inequalities, leaving readers inspired to rethink the role of data in social change.
Confessions
Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine's 'Confessions' is a profound spiritual autobiography detailing his tumultuous youth, intellectual struggles, and eventual conversion to Christianity. Written as a prayer to God, it explores themes of sin, grace, memory, time, and the nature of God, culminating in a deeply personal and philosophical reflection on faith and existence. This timeless classic offers an intimate look into the mind of one of history's most influential thinkers, chronicling his journey from Manichaeism and Neo-Platonism to the Catholic faith.
Madame President
Helene Cooper
Helene Cooper's 'Madame President' chronicles the extraordinary life of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female elected head of state and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. From a Liberian mother of four to an international banking executive, and from a victim of domestic violence to a political icon, Sirleaf's journey defies centuries of patriarchal rule. This intimate and gripping narrative weaves her personal struggles and triumphs with the larger story of Liberia, offering universal lessons from an 'oracle' of African women.