Great SUmmer Reads 2016: Recommendations

Should be read by everyone every couple of years. Summertime is perfect!
-- Edward Burger, SU President and Professor

The whole Hemlock Falls Mysteries series is great, but this installment is a fun summer read. The Quilliam sisters of Hemlock Falls Inn are in a slump, until Helena Houndswood, who has her own TV show about stylish living, checks in. But when one of the winners of a design contest sponsored by Helena's show winds up dead, the Quilliam sisters wonder how far she will go to make a statement on style.
-- Theresa Zelasko, Outreach & Information Literacy Librarian

This novel, by one of the most famous contemporary Chinese novelists, has been adapted for screen and stage in Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan. This is one of her most popular novels, which was first written in the 1950s and rewritten (and substantially changed) after the author fled to the United States. Chang died in 1995, and although she sometimes wrote in English, this is the first time this novel was translated. It's a quick and compelling read.
-- Allison Miller, Assistant Professor of Art History

Set in post World War II Italy, My Brilliant Friend is the first of The Neapolitan Novels: four engrossing novels that follow friends Lila and Elena from their childhood in an impoverished neighborhood in Naples through the latter half of the 20th century as their lives diverge on very different, yet intertwined, paths. Their stories are raw and immediate, and completely gripping. Once you are hooked, you will have to read all four!
-- Carol Fonken, Information Services

I highly recommend the series. Ferrante's style is direct and honest, and she has been dubbed "the most ­important Italian writer of her generation."
-- Allison Miller, Assistant Professor of Art History

This is a children's fantasy book written in a Victorian style by an author no one reads, which is nearly three strikes against reading it. But it is one of the major inspirations for both Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. What I find compelling are the unexpected turns of the narrative, not so much in terms of plot, but in recognitions or realizations by the protagonists. Like Tolkien and Lewis, MacDonald may seem to be hinting at preaching-like ideas, or, in a word, allegory, but I think that in all three writers the story actually comes first. You may have to exercise some imagination and suspend suspicions to get the sense of mystery and wonder of another world. That in itself is worth the effort, which is not great. It is a quick and enjoyable detour into this other world, done with good writing and a sense or feel that we seldom experience these days.
-- Carl Robertson, Associate Professor of Chinese

This book is written on compelling events and issues in a clean, direct and precise style. It is a story of family history and of personal integrity during dangerous and turbulent events. It is exceptionally alive to the characters, their lives and thoughts, their various values and personal stories. I feel it is valuable as an account of family and of relationships even more than as an account of history, but it does tell the events of a climactic time in a critical place in the world, namely the internal and external conflicts of China during the twentieth century.
-- Carl Robertson, Associate Professor of Chinese

Davis' voice is one of dry wit and that makes her minimalist storytelling sharp and engaging. This is the perfect book for the often distracted car trip or afternoon by the pool. I love it and think you will love it too.
-- Taylor Kidd, University Relations, Gift Programs

_Winter’s Tale_ is a sprawling, gorgeous, mysterious, (seriously) flawed, and (deeply) mad magical-realist exercise by a conservative political hack and truly talented writer replete with forking paths, mystical spirits, and things not what they seem. Set in New York at the beginning AND end of the twentieth century, the story is driven--for wont of a better term--by a timeless love and timeless political intrigue, marked by the co-occurrence of realism with the fantastic, the mythic, and the magical all made commonplace and (surrealistically) authentic.
-- Eric Selbin, Professor of Political Science & Holder of the Lucy King Brown Chair

This is the first of a series of "cozy" mystery novels that's sweet and easy-going. Down-on-her-luck Lori Shepherd thought Aunt Dimity was a pretend character in her mother's bedtime stories ... until the Dickensian law firm of Willis & Willis offers the possibility of large inheritance -- if she can discover the secret hidden in letters between Dimity and her mother. A little mystery, a little romance, a little English cottage: perfect beach reading.
-- Theresa M Zelasko, Outreach & Information Literacy Librarian

What would life look like if time’s arrow went backwards – if conversations unfolded from end to beginning, if garbage trucks spread refuse rather than collecting it, if romances blossomed and decayed in reverse order? Most provocatively, what would be revealed if we could trace the life of a respected and dedicated physician backwards from death into the recesses of a past that cradled secrets of unsurpassed horror – all the while thinking that time’s arrow was moving forward, not backward? This short reverse narrative is at turns amusing and shocking, and consistently revelatory: it’s a book I will never forget.
-- Michael Cooper; Professor of Music and Margarett Root Brown Chair in Fine Arts

A very good fiction book about international financial markets. Although it was written more than 30 years ago, all the terms and dynamics of the markets are still relevant.
-- Hazel Nguyen, Assistant Professor of Business

All of the Caro books on LBJ are great, but this one has some of the most fantastic writing ever done on the Hill Country and Central Texas of the period. Not a beach read, but compellingly written - a much faster read than you might expect.
-- Jason Dean, Director, Special Collections

This 2016 Pulitzer-Prize winning memoir uses surfing as one way into the ineffable. Finnegan channels Melville and Kerouac as he describes growing up in California and Hawaii in the Sixties; traveling through Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia in the Seventies; and becoming a (still-surfing after all these years) journalist who has written about apartheid in South Africa, civil war in Mozambique, drug wars in Mexico, and then-state senator Barack Obama's 2004 United States Senate campaign. Barbarian Days is honest, beautiful, rich, amazing stuff.
-- David Gaines, Professor of English

Furst writes about espionage in pre-WWII and WWII Europe, mostly Paris and Eastern Europe. He evokes mid-century Europe like no other writer I've ever read. His novels are character studies of both the unlikely spies who find themselves working against Hitler as he rises to power, and also the cities and life-ways of a Europe fading into the contemporary era. His prose is beautiful, his insight into human nature astute and profound. There is little action, but a broad and deep understanding of both human weakness and human nobility. Night Soldiers is the first in the series, and is very good, but my favorite so far is the second novel, Dark Star.
-- Phil Hopkins, Philosophy

As with many Amy Tan novels, it was interesting to read about the mother / daughter relationship, this time in a historical setting. Although some scenes in the courtesan houses were a little graphic, I thought the read was worth it.
-- Katy Ross, Spanish

This book delves into the frightening amount of data that are amassed on each of us in our daily lives. It's important to understand the limits to our privacy and security based on the rapid evolution of technology and explosion of data collected in our new information age. An eye-opening read that I highly recommend!
-- Todd Watson, Senior Director, Information Technology

Edward Glaeser is a contrarian who moves beyond the voguish “cities are hip” narrative to argue that they are pivotal to social, cultural and economic innovation and growth. His premise is that cities make us "Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier." He also thinks that cities should be denser and cheaper; the more people, the better. He is an economist, and not a sentimentalist. The reader will have reasons to protest at times but the clarity of Glaeser’s argument, the power of his evidence, and his willingness to confront conventional wisdom makes this both an engaging and a thought provoking study. You may not come away agreeing with all he says but you will see the world differently. This book will keep your mind sharp during the doldrums of a Texas summer.
-- Tim O'Neill, Professor of Political Science

I really enjoyed this book. Author is a former Navy Seal, Rhodes Scholar & Humanitarian and is currently running for political office in Missouri. His approach to life.
-- Curt Snyder, Athletic Trainer

The winner of the 2015 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, Jenny Nordberg, a New York based journalist, speaks to a cultural practice that restricts the female movement and liberties of Afghan girls. The practice is called the bacha posh, a girl temporarily raised and presented as a boy." Afghanistan's bacha posh are evidence of the daily struggle women face in a world that continues to oppress girls just because of their gender.
-- Joan Parks, Head Research & Instruction Librarian

Besides being a best seller and highly recommended, it will be a great way to get geared up about our upcoming summer abroad course in Cuzco (which includes a trip to Machu Piccu) in 2017!
-- Patrick Hajovsky, Associate Professor of Art History

A gleeful and exhilarating tale of global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, high-tech data visualization, young love, rollicking adventure, and the secret to eternal life--mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall San Francisco bookstore. A great read that cleverly highlights the technological disruption of the book/publishing industry.
-- Debika Sihi, Department of Business & Economics

This book is the best read for summer because it is a perfect blend of easy-to-read and informative. Roxane Gay is relatable, funny, and has very thoughtfully summarized analyses of pop culture, her own childhood stories, and what it means to be a feminist. Nothing I say can do this book justice, you'll have to discover it for yourself.
-- Laurie Avery, Coordinator for Civic Engagement

Kantner was raised in a sod igloo above the Arctic Circle in Alaska. His book contains incredible essays about what life in Alaska is like when one lives the Inupiat way of life in the vast Alaskan wilderness, hunting and gathering. He writes about how the land has changed in recent years and how he and his family subsist. He is also a commercial fisherman, journalist, and photographer and the book contains some of his photographs. What is it like living in Alaska? These essays describe it in vivid detail. It was a fascinating read.
-- Norma Gaines, Exec. Admin. Assistant to VP for Finance & Admin.

Very Powerful and Moving! Rich use of language and narration of the story of three generations of Gullah Women.
-- Terri Johnson, Assistant Dean for Student Multicultural Affairs

A beautifully crafted tale that (even in the English translation) is as thought-provoking as it is brief and snappy; my candidate for the greatest twist ending in decades. Georgetown, TX makes a cameo appearance, and Company has a personal and professional connection with Southwestern – she has been here several times already and will be returning in Fall 2016 to speak at Language and Revolution: How Words Change the World , the keynote colloquium for Brown Symposium XXXVIII.
-- Michael Cooper; Professor of Music and Margarett Root Brown Chair in Fine Arts

A sweeping narrative history of a terrifying serial killer--America's first--who stalked Austin, Texas in 1885. I love the subject and that it has a fast paced narrative style.
-- Jason Dean, Director of Special Collections