Friends book recommendations

Book recommendations from the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries Board

March-April 2023

“An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us” by Ed Yong


“Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel” by Bonnie Garmus

Pink book cover featuring an illustrated woman with the title


“Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Book cover featuring a child sitting on the steps of a building with the title


“Anywhere You Run: A Novel” by Wanda M. Morris

Blue book cover featuring two women with the title


January 2023

“Candide” by Voltaire

“Candide” by Voltaire


“America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States” by Erika Lee

“America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States” by Erika Lee


“The Cultural Toolbox: Traditional Ojibwe Living in the Modern World” by Anton Treuer

“The Cultural Toolbox: Traditional Ojibwe Living in the Modern World” by Anton Treuer


“An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States” by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

“An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States” by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz


“Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan

“Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan


“The Violin Conspiracy: A Novel” by Brendan Slocumb

“The Violin Conspiracy: A Novel” by Brendan Slocumb


“Harlem Shuffle: A Novel” by Colson Whitehead

“Harlem Shuffle: A Novel” by Colson Whitehead


September 2022

“The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller

Song of Achilles


“Lemons In The Garden of Love: A Novel” by Ames Sheldon


“The Last Bookseller: A Life in the Rare Book Trade” by Gary Goodman

The Last Bookseller thumbnail cover image


“The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood” by Sy Montgomery

The Good Good Pig cover image


“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart cover image


“Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray” by Rosalind

The Life of Paul Murray cover image


Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant” by Daniel Tammet

Born on a Blue Day cover image


“Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America’s Heartland” by Jonathan Metzl

Dying of Whiteness cover image


“Beautiful Country: A Memoir” by Qian Julie Wang

 

Beautiful Country cover image


“Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson

“Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” cover image


“Fathers and Sons: by Ivan Turgenev, translator Richard Freeborn

Fathers and Sons cover image


“A small town in Germany” by John Le Carré

A Small Town in Germany cover image


“We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption” by Justin Fenton

We Own This City


“Red Lip Theology” by Candice Marie Benbow

Red Lip Theology cover image


“Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass


“The Seed Keeper: A Novel” by Diane Wilson

The Seed Keeper cover image


“The Anomaly: A Novel” by Hervé Le Tellier

The Anomaly cover image


April 2022

“The Sweetness of Water” by Nathan Harris

"The Sweetness of Water" by Nathan Harris

“A Reader on Reading” by Alberto Manguel

A Reader on Reading

“The Sentence” by Louise Erdrich

The Sentence

“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owen

Where the Crawdads Sing

“State of Terror” by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton Clinton

State of Terror

“Half A Life ” by Darin Strauss

Half a Life

“The Woodcut Art of J. J. Lankes” by Welford Dunaway Taylor

JJL Lankes

“Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know” by Malcolm Gladwell

Talking To Strangers

“The Round House” by Louise Erdrich

The Round House

“Somewhere in the Unknown World” by Kao Kalia Yang

Somewhere in the Unknown

“Milkman” by Anna Burns

Milkman

“Libertie: A Novel” by Kaitlyn Greenidge

Libertie

“The Cooking Gene” by Michael W. Twitty

The Cooking Gene

“The Bombay Prince” by Sujata Massey

The Bombay Prince


December 2021

“The Matter of Black Lives: Writing from The New Yorker” by Jelani Cobb and David Remnick

A Matter of Black Lives book cover

“Deacon King Kong: A Novel” by James McBride

Deacon King Kong book cover

“The Between” by Tananarive Due

The Between book cover

“Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry” by Randolph M. Nesse M.D.

Good-Reasons-for-Bad-Feelings book cover

“How Democracies Die” by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

How Democracies Die book cover

“Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil” by Susan Neiman

Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil book cover

“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing book cover

“A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith” by Timothy Egan

A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith book cover

“The Debt to Pleasure: A Novel” by John Lanchester

"he Debt to Pleasure book cover

“The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois book cover

“Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson

“Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood” by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood book cover

“Things We Lost to the Water” by Eric Nguyen

Things We Lost to the Water book cover

“Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir” by Ashley C. Ford

Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir book cover

September 2021

“The Color of Law: A forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America” by Richard Rothstein

Cover: The Color of Law

“The Way of Integrity” by Martha Beck

“The Way of Integrity” by Martha Beck

“The Other Black Girl” by Zakiya Dalila Harris

The Other Black Girl cover

“Heat and Alterity in Contemporary Dance” by Ananya Chatterjea

“Heat and Alterity in Contemporary Dance” by Ananya Chatterjea

Louise Penny mystery series!

Louise Penny mystery series

“Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernadine Evaristo

“Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernadine Evaristo

“The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois” by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

“The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois” by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

“Becoming” by Michelle Obama

Becoming by Michelle Obama

“The Library Book” by Susan Orlean

“The Library Book” by Susan Orlean

“Homeland Elegies” by Ayad Akhtar

“Homeland Elegies” by Ayad Akhtar

“Abundance” by Jakob Guanzon

“Abundance” by Jakob Guanzon

“Somebody’s Daughter: A memoir” by Ashley C. Ford

“Somebody’s Daughter: A memoir” by Ashley C. Ford

“Furiously Happy” by Jenny Lawson

“Furiously Happy” by Jenny Lawson

“Dune” by Frank Herbert

“Dune” by Frank Herbert

“Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer“All That She Carried” by Tiya Miles

“All That She Carried” by Tiya Miles

“The Night Watchman” by Louise Erdrich

“The Night Watchman” by Louise Erdrich

Selected Poems by James Wright

Selected Poems by James Wright

“Moloka’i” by Alan Brennert

“Moloka'i” by Alan Brennert

“American Founders: How People of African Descent Established Freedom in the New World” by Christina Proenza-Coles

“American Founders: How People of African Descent Established Freedom in the New World” by Christina Proenza-Coles

“Circe” by Madeline Miller

“Circe” by Madeline Miller