What To Read Now
We asked Hood faculty to give us their summertime or anytime reading recommendations, and here they are!
Recommended Reading from Hood Faculty
Elizabeth Knapp, Ph.D. (she/her/hers), associate professor of English and chair of the Department of English and Communication Arts
Title: Romantic Comedy
Author: James Allen Hall
Why I like it: James Allen Hall’s second collection of poems, winner of the 2020 Four Way Books Levis Prize in Poetry, is a devastatingly beautiful book about surviving trauma, both personal and historical, and the narrative of selfhood in queer American life.
Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D., president of Hood College and professor of psychology
Title: Cloud Cuckoo Land
Author: Anthony Doerr
Why I like it: The writing is so well done—it captures your imagination, and you feel you really know the characters, they are so richly drawn. The story is about how children who do not quite “fit in” are the heroes; inspiring and heart-warming. Not to mention a heavy dose of world history thrown in for good measure.
Susan M. Ensel, Ph.D., professor of chemistry
Title: Lessons in Chemistry
Author: Bonnie Garmus
Why I like it: Look at the title—need I say more?! (Have no fear—it is not really about chemistry.)
Author: Merlin Sheldrake
Why I like it: This book made me step back and really think about how truly interconnected our world is.
David Hein, Ph.D., professor emeritus of religion and philosophy and distinguished teaching fellow of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal
Author: Roger Kimball
Why I like it: A vibrant and insightful collection of timely essays by the renowned editor of America’s leading cultural review, this book addresses a range of issues in public policy, ethics, philosophy, recent history and literature, always with wit, wisdom and verve.
Laura Moore, Ph.D., professor of sociology and chair of the Department of Sociology and Social Work
Author: Katherine Boo
Why I like it: It made me appreciate the invisible social structure needed to yield individual success and the consequences of its absence.
Author: Bryan Stevenson
Why I like it: This book is a great example of social activism to address major flaws in the judicial system related to race and income, and it’s a real-life story that was made into a movie.
Title: On Chesil Beach
Author: Ian McEwan
Why I like it: This author likes to offer moral conundrums for his characters. This book outlines the consequences of a couple’s silences on their relationship.
Title: Olive Kitteridge
Author: Elizabeth Strout
Why I like it: I read everything this author writes. The characters’ lives are simple yet unique in their depth, and one has to reflect on the consequences of each of our interactions. Another book to film adaptation (but the book is better).
Author: Jennifer Boylan
Why I like it: A nice introduction to understanding the lived experiences of someone transitioning. Very readable and relatable.
Author: Maya Rodale
Why I like it: One of the few books exploring where the bias against this genre comes from.
Michelle Gricus, DSW, associate professor of social work
Why I like it: A compelling story about the intersections of race, class and gender, this novel really made me think about the “business” of oppression.
Title: Hidden Valley Road
Author: Robert Kolker
Why I like it: I loved the integration of science and family history throughout this book!
Robert Kambic, assistant professor of biology
Title: The Remains of The Day
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Why I like it: Ishiguro is a master of telling stories about memory and meditating on life. This book (about an aging English butler considering his life) is less dream-like and a quicker read than Ishiguro’s others but still moving.
Title: Ancillary Justice
Author: Anne Leckie
Why I like it: A superb example of great modern science fiction: interesting ideas filled with fleshed out and compelling characters featuring themes like what it is to be human. First in a trilogy.
Author: Ted Chiang
Why I like it: Every story in this collection of shorts has a new and compelling idea driving it, none outstaying its welcome. The worst story is good, the best are great.
Melissa Carter, adjunct professor of chemistry
Title: Lessons in Chemistry
Author: Bonnie Garmus
Why I like it: Funny yet relatable (even today!) story about a woman fighting inequality in science in the 60s.
Amy Gottfried, Ph.D. (she/her), professor of English and director of the creative writing concentration
Title: The Benedictines
Author: Rachel May
Why I like it: The story of a young artist working at a religious school on the coast of Maine: it has art, theology, passion and a powerful sense of place all in one. And it’s very short!
From summer 2023 e-news: The Four Columns: Hood News is Good News
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