Here are just some of the books CLA faculty and staff couldn’t put down in 2025!
The Door by Magda Szabó
Hannah Ariesen, Instructor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“I was sad to finish such a masterpiece and will be thinking of this one for a long while. An excellent translation from Hungarian, this novel depicts the strange and powerful relationship between a writer and her cleaning woman in 1970's Hungary. An excellent account of historical fiction, it also poetically conveys what the frailties and powers of love can compel us to do. Perhaps it leads us to open doors we shouldn't, or ones we should. It is left for the reader to decide and discover what is hidden behind 'The Door.'”
A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging by Dionne Brand
Surabhi Balachander, Assistant Professor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“It's impossible to pick a single favorite book that I read this year, but as soon as I read A Map to the Door of No Return, Dionne Brand's genre-defying work of memoir/travelogue/theory, I added it to the syllabus for my graduate seminar this fall. I loved rereading it alongside our brilliant M.A. students and discussing how Brand explores colonialism, geography, and the afterlives of transatlantic slavery. ”
Material World: The Six Raw Materials that Shape Civilization by Ed Conway
David Bernell, Associate Professor of Political Science, School of Public Policy
“The book talks about six raw materials that civilization depends upon. You might not think that 450 pages on sand (in glass, concrete, computer chips), salt (in more than you ever thought), iron (in every building, car, bridge), copper (in every wire), oil (like I need to tell you), and lithium (the next great thing?) would hold your interest, but it's riveting. ”
Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly
Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager
“Pelly provided a fantastic under-the-hood examination of Spotify that I never considered before. The data-heavy exposé presented how the application is more of an algorithmic advertising machine than music platform, all the while capitalizing on user data and seemingly under-compensating artists.”
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Raven Chakerian, Senior Instructor of Spanish and Italian, School of Language, Culture, and Society
“Despite the complex plot that weaves together stories from three centuries and multiple locations (including outer space), the writing was so good that I never lost track of the threads of this engrossing read as it unfolded before my mind's eye in intensely vivid color and detail. Though you may expect the themes of war, greed, climate destruction, mental health crisis and poverty to paint a dreary picture, this book was full of beauty, hope, joy and glimpses of humanity at its most connected and kindest moments.”
The Book Club for Troublesome Women: A Novel by Marie Bostwick
Erin Cook, Senior Instructor, School of Communication
“The Book Club is an interesting look at women and their place in society both historically as well as presently.”
The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs
Erin Cook, Senior Instructor, School of Communication
“The Retirement Plan is a funny, murder for hire, miscommunication, tale full of plot twists.”
The Boomerang by Robert Bailey
Angela Cordova, Senior Instructor, School of Communication
“The Boomerang is a little suspenseful and a lot thought-provoking with a little conspiracy theory thrown in for good measure! What happens when the government is harboring the secret to curing cancer and you accidentally discover it? You'll have to read to find out!”
The Girl Behind the Gates by Brenda Davies
Angela Cordova, Instructor, School of Communication
“The Girl Behind the Gates reflects a very sad time in history when young women were placed in insane asylums because they were morally defective according to church leaders. This book is based on a true story and follows one young woman who was committed due to said 'morally defective behaviors.' The story is heart wrenching in so many ways and will stay with you long after you finish the book.”
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Sarah Cunningham, Senior Instructor, School of Language, Culture, and Society
“I wish I knew who recommended I add this book to my TBR list so I could thank them. I loved everything about this 'nothing happens' sort of story. There's no journey and no stranger coming to town; it's just a series of vignettes about a grandmother and granddaughter as they summer on a small island in the Gulf of Finland. I think what I liked best about it was how the grandmother used exploring the island and surrounding area as a way of instilling in her granddaughter the same appreciation of nature the grandmother has.”
Woodworking by Emily St. James
Liz Delf, Senior Instructor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“A warm, funny, and insightful debut novel about trans identity, solidarity, and community. The characters were well developed (Abigail is such a snarky teen, her eye-rolling disdain and simultaneous need for connection and protection perfectly captured), and I especially appreciated how this book handles relationships between characters at different stages of self-acceptance. I loved the shifts in point of view across the book, including one that packed real emotional weight. A great surprise from a new author! ”
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Jessica Dietch, Assistant Professor, School of Psychological Science
“This book (a debut novel), arguably classifiable as time travel sci-fi, romance, historical fiction, or spy thriller, transcended genre in a way that certainly irritated an impressive range of wonks. For me, it was just the right mix to keep me up late into the night finishing it (and lightly weeping, by the end).”
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
Emily Elbom, Senior Instructor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“Originally published in 1934 and republished this last year, the novel charts the very different paths an ordinary German family takes during the rise of the Nazis in 1932 and 1933. With the political and social landscape of Bavaria as the backdrop, the novel focuses on the unbreakable relationship between the daughter of the family and her Jewish fiancé. As a contemporary reader, we live with the heartbreaking knowledge of what happened after the novel ends, and the questions Carson raises seem just as relevant now as they did when she posed them in 1934.”
Hunting in America by Tehila Hakimi
Gilad Elbom, Senior Instructor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“A strange, fast-paced, unsettling novel about a young Israeli woman who joins an American man on multiple hunting trips during a long winter. Both are corporate employees, navigating the treacherous terrain of the business world on workdays, the frozen outdoors on weekends. I appreciate the inherent ambiguities of the novel. Events and emotions are never fully explained, never fully clarified. Every shot is meticulously documented, yet the reader remains, along with the narrator, mostly in the dark.”
The Book of Love: A Novel by Kelly Link
Evan Gottlieb, Professor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“Link was already well known for her wonderfully unpredictable short stories, so expectations were high for her first novel—and The Book of Love still exceeded them in every way! Despite its overly generic title, it is an uncategorizable blend of fantasy and realism in its depiction of several friends in a seaside town who must try to negotiate simultaneously finishing high school and becoming guardians of an interdimensional portal. If this sounds ridiculous, then perhaps it would be so in the hands of a lesser author—but in Link's hands, it becomes a mind- and genre-expanding experience like few others. ”
Life with Picasso by Françoise Gilot
Kristin Griffin, Senior Instructor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“Françoise Gilot's memoir about her ten-year relationship with Picasso is fascinating not just because of all the 20th century titans of the art world who appear, fully formed, on the page. It’s also a compelling story about Gilot’s development as an artist in her own right and what it means to lead a creative life. Not a new release (it was first published in '61), but in so many ways as relevant as ever. I'm still thinking about it!”
The War on Tenure by Deepa Das Acevedo
Sebastian Heiduschke, Professor of German, School of Language, Culture, and Society
“I read this book in reaction to the attack on tenure. It is informative, very well written, jargon-free, and it equipped me with answers, provided data, and made me think about strategies to respond to the war on tenure. If you read only one book next year, this should be it.”
Tom's Crossing: A Novel by Mark Z. Danielewski
Tim Jensen, Associate Professor and Director, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“I am currently enthralled by Danielewski’s latest novel, Tom’s Crossing. Haven’t been gripped by a book so holistically in a long, long time.”
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Kara Keller, Academic Advisor, School of Public Policy
“I've spent a good part of this year recommending it so I can have others to talk to about it. Not for the faint of heart or those that don't want to be thinking about it months and months later.”
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kills Us All by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares
David Kerr, Professor, School of Psychological Science
“This book is a short and accessible explanation of why doomers argue AI super intelligence will not be controllable or even understandable once it is grown, and why it will lead to human extinction. The book made me wonder why we are talking about anything else. Perfect holiday gift!”
They Flew: A History of the Impossible by Carlos Eire
Amy Koehlinger, Associate Professor, School of History, Philosophy, and Religion
“They Flew is a historical exploration of seemingly-impossible religious phenomena in early modern Europe—stories of saints who levitated or were able to bi-locate, witchcraft and demonic possession—by award-winning Yale historian Carlos Eire. The examples are fascinating in and of themselves, but Eire uses them as lenses to explore the period when the miraculous and the impossible fit comfortably within the structure of reality, even as Newtonian principles presented the world as knowable and predictable. Planting his feet firmly in ontologies of the early moderns, Eire illuminates how categories of "natural" and "supernatural," "normal" and "paranormal" determined what was considered real in the 17th and 18th centuries and, by extension, how these categories function in the contemporary moment. Eire challenges readers to ponder whether there is more to reality than fits within present day categories of scientific materialism.”
The Bear by Andrew Krivak
Amy Koehlinger, Associate Professor, School of History, Philosophy, and Religion
“A tender post-apocalyptic novel about the last human living and dying in an Edenic future. Beautiful writing, gentle story, a thoughtful and thought-provoking meditation on human fragility. As the last human learns that she is not truly alone—and never has been—the reader is invited to also ponder the interconnectedness of their own life with all things. The last scene had me weeping at the sheer beauty of it.”
James: A Novel by Percival Everett
John Larison, Senior Instructor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“I just read the last line of this fiery, magnificent novel this morning. The final word lands like a hammer on a cauldron. As humming filled my ears, my mind traveled backward through 300 beautiful and brutal pages of shape-shifting adventure, hidden truths and conflicted loyalties. Everett has succeeded in producing a triumph that stands on its own two literary feet, while also adding urgent complexity to Twain's most enduring work.”
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
Shirley Mann, Student Success Coordinator
“Clytemnestra, the retelling about the most notorious heroine and favorite villain of the Ancient World who reined as an unforgettable and ruthless queen, faced the men who wronged her, and forged a treacherous path to ensure everyone would know her name.”
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Shirley Mann, Student Success Coordinator
“Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, Pino Lella, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours. Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.”
The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
Andy McNamara, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications
“Erik Larson writes painstakingly researched historical accounts in novel form. The Demon of Unrest is my favorite Larson book to date, bringing to life the five-month period between Abraham Lincoln's presidential election victory and the start of the Civil War. The parallels between certain events from 1860 to 1861 and today felt a little too on the money, which made this an even more compelling read.”
The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur by Lev Grossman
Rebecca Olson, Professor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“I have heard this book described as being a fresh take on Arthurian legend / the Knights of the Round Table (and it opens with a quote from Monty Python). But for me, someone who loved studying Malory's Morte d'Arthur in depth in graduate school (and who wept at its conclusion), it felt more like a return to a weird, wonderful, medieval world full of complex characters. ”
Human Nature by Kate Marvel
Ed Ray, Professor of Economics, School of Public Policy
“A great primer on climate change and historical events as well as personal reflections of a climate scientist.”
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
Jennifer Reimer, Assistant Professor of American Studies, OSU Cascades
“This is less a book about Gaza (Palestine) than it is about the West, about the craft and politics of writing, about love, about terror, about how power threads and winds, grasps and clutches, until it is inextricable from nearly every aspect of Western life and we from it. It is a book that asks: 'The moral component of history, the most necessary component, is simply a single question, asked over and over again: When it mattered, who sided with justice and who sided with power?' (El Akkad 62).”
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
Ana Milena Ribero, Associate Professor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“It's a romance. It's a war novel. It has vampires! This spooky novel is set during the Mexican-American War. It follows a young Mexican couple—star-crossed lovers—as they try to avoid the US troops invading their land. Cañas' take on vampires is unique and brutal. This isn't your mother's vampire novel!”
In Kiltumper: A Year in an Irish Garden by Niall Williams
Larry Rodgers, Professor of English, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“It’s pre-COVID 2019. Niall Williams, one of contemporary Ireland’s most lyrical (and prolific) novelists, moved to a small farm with his wife, Christine, near Ireland’s west coast 35 years earlier to pursue a shared writing life. Christine is in recovery from cancer and construction of a nearby turbine wind farm is bringing to a close the rural idyll they’ve shared. Amid this loud and very real metaphor for the intrusions of the modern world, Williams’ book chronicles the month-by-month means by which their home and, especially, their garden have remained touchstones for bringing meaning to their writing lives. ”
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez
Morgan Ross, Assistant Professor, School of Communication
“I've been on a Sigrid Nunez kick for a few years now. Her books are smart, funny, and short, with a wry and approachable writing style. This book takes place during the pandemic but speaks far beyond it.”
Lapvona: A Novel by Ottessa Moshfegh
Sam Schwartz, Senior Instructor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
“The novel's setting is medieval, but it's not an historical novel, per se. The characters, thoroughly un-modern, are stripped down to their bare humanity, dwelling on the oldest themes: power, birthright, jealousy, desire. Moshfegh never repeats herself. I think she's one of the more interesting novelists working today.”
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Keith Van Norman, Web and Digital Communications Specialist
“This book was a wonderful and hopeful companion piece to Braiding Sweetgrass. I appreciate how Kimmerer advocates for reimagining economic systems based on Indigenous wisdom, emphasizing gratitude, abundance, and mutual care rather than individualism and resource hoarding. The illustrations by John Burgoyne were a welcome addition!”
Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict by Donna Hicks
Corrina Ward, Senior Instructor, School of Communication
“This phenomenal book explains how all conflict centers around violations of dignity, what the essential elements of dignity are, what the temptations to violate dignity are, and how we as people can learn to resolve conflict using this knowledge and the tools provided. Dr. Hicks is a highly accomplished international conflict negotiator and associate at the Weatherford Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and an advisor to the Center for Humanistic Management at Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business."
Speculative Relations: Indigenous Worlding and Repair by Joseph M. Pierce
Luhui Whitebear, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies, School of Language, Culture, and Society
“This book is really amazing and was hard to put down. Understanding kinship, connection to place, and Indigenous futures through critical analysis and art as beneficial to everyone was a beautiful part of this book. I appreciate Pierce's approach and centering his own Cherokee knowledge systems which helped me reflect on my own specific Tribal frameworks I use to navigate a colonized world. I'm looking forward to using his book in my classes, especially as well all look towards a world more healed than the one we are currently living with. "
