Bookshelf

(New York: Knopf/Random House, 2021)
“Out of Office is a book for every office worker – from employees to managers – currently facing the decision about whether, and how, to return to the office,” the publisher notes. “The past two years have shown us that there may be a new path forward, one that doesn’t involve hellish daily commutes and the demands of jam-packed work schedules that no longer make sense. But how can we realize that future in a way that benefits workers and companies alike?”

From interviews with workers and managers around the world, the authors maintain that companies need to listen to their employees as that this will promote, rather than impede, productivity and profitability. “As a society, we have talked for decades about flexible work arrangements; this book makes clear that we are at an inflection point where this is actually possible for many employees and their companies. Out of Office is about so much more than Zoom meetings and hybrid schedules: it aims to reshape our entire relationship to the office,” the authors write.

(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2021)
The U.S. Supreme Court has numbered nine justices for the past 150 years. But that number is not fixed. “With Democrats controlling the House and Senate, they could add justices to the Supreme Court. But would court-packing destroy the court as an apolitical judicial institution?” This is the question that Feldman, the Jerry W. Housel/Carl F. Arnold Distinguished Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Wyoming, addresses using a historical, analytical, and political argument to justify court-packing in general and Democratic court packing more specifically.

According to Mark Tushnet, professor emeritus of Harvard University Law School, the book “develops a clear and cogent argument, accessible to non-specialists, that law and politics always interact with constitutional law, both in the large — as when justices are appointed — and in the small — as in every decision interpreting the Constitution. Feldman shows court-packing wouldn’t politicize a nonpolitical institution devoted solely to ‘law,’ but would respond to the form that politicization has taken on the Roberts Court. This book is an important contribution to public debate and the understanding of our Constitution and the Supreme Court.”

(Edinburgh, Scotland: Blue Diode Publishing, 2021)
The author’s debut poetry collection “gets close up with human intimacy. What’s really important in human relationships? Kerper’s startling imagery and diction never settle for easy, conventional answers. Love, faith, sex, identity, queerness — all come under her microscope, and are viewed with precision, rigour, and tenderness,” according to the publisher.

(Castroville, Texas: Black Rose Writing, 2020)
The author’s first novel begins with this line: “No one, let alone me, realized it at the time, but April 19, 2011, was the most important day in the history of the world.” After his only friend and colleague disappears, Dave Randall goes quietly about this life until he begins to understand what happened. That’s when he embarks on a journey not only to uncover the deeper meanings and implications of his friend’s fate, but also his own journey of self-discovery will have ramifications far beyond his own little life.

A five-star review in Indies Today noted, “Daniel Maunz is an exceptionally talented writer who has taken on the monumental task of not only asking, but answering, some of life’s biggest questions.”

(self-published, 2021)
With its subtitle “How a $10 Horse Became an Eventing Champion,” this inspirational story tells of the author’s lifetime journey with horses, and with one mare in particular. “The detail Tootie Anderson goes into about her chosen equine sport of eventing, the care it takes to create and maintain an equine athlete, medical situations she encountered, and the thoughtfulness she puts into being a true partner with her horse will delight any ‘horse person,’” one reviewer wrote. “Have a tissue ready for the last chapter, but by the last page Anderson’s commitment to horses and her sport will fill readers with great optimism.”

(New York: Oxford University Press, 2021)
According to the publisher, “While levels of religious belief and observance are declining in much of the Western world, the number of people who identify as ‘spiritual but not religious’ is on the rise. Practices such as yoga, meditation, and pilgrimage are surging in popularity. ‘Wellness’ regimes offer practitioners a lexicon of spirituality and an array of spiritual experiences. Commentators talk of a new spiritual awakening ‘after religion.’ And global mobility is generating hybrid practices that blur the lines between religion and spirituality.”

The essays collected in this book examine not only individual engagements with spirituality, but also show how seemingly personal facets of spirituality are deeply shaped by religious, cultural, and political contexts.

(Duke University Press, 2021)
Part of the Refiguring American Music series, this book builds on archival research and oral history interviews, conducted in France, Senegal, and the United States, that examine the popularization of African American music in postwar France and the Francophone world where it signaled new forms of power and protest. By showing how the popularity of African American music was intertwined with contemporary structures of racism and imperialism, the author demonstrates this music's centrality to postwar France and the convergence of decolonization, the expanding globalized economy, the Cold War, and worldwide liberation movements.

One reviewer notes, “Celeste Day Moore takes us on a dazzling and deeply researched tour through the soundscapes and multisensory experiences of the Francophone Black world.”

(Middletown, Del.: BestSellingBook.com, 2021)
Often people realize that a lack of diversity is a problem in their companies, but they don’t have the vocabulary, or tools, to address it effectively. An organizational development expert and consultant, the author explains how middle managers are key to achieving more inclusive, welcoming, and productive workplace environments.

“[Managers] hire new employees, push for their promotions, liaise with senior executives, and affect who decides to stay and leave,” Kalaw writes. “Unlike the executive suite, they’re interacting with employees at various levels and can directly take part in bringing in more diverse employees or carrying out a company’s DEI vision.”

Written in a straightforward, conversational tone, the book includes best practices, helpful exercises, and strategies that managers can put into place immediately to mitigate implicit bias and encourage a culture of active allyship.

(Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 2020)
Little Ernestine is getting ready to go camping for the first time. It’s going to be great … isn’t it? In this delightful children’s book, both written and illustrated by Jennifer Mann ’85, we are all reminded that opening our minds to new experiences, no matter how challenging, can lead to great memories. Described by the author as a hybrid picture book/comic, The Camping Trip has received numerous honors ranging from the Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best List to the Washington State Book Award. The author lives in the Pacific Northwest.

(Oakland, Calif.: University of California Press, 2020)
According to the publisher, this book offers “a new history of what it meant to shoot, edit, and sell news images after World War II” and unravels the mythology surrounding Magnum Photos, a photographers’ cooperative founded in the middle of the 20th century.

“Bair shows that between the 1940s and 1960s, Magnum expanded the human-interest story to global dimensions while bringing the aesthetic of news pictures into new markets” and “made photojournalism integral to postwar visual culture,” the publisher adds. “By unpacking the collaborative nature of photojournalism, [the] book shows how picture editors, sales agents, spouses, and publishers helped Magnum photographers succeed in their assignments and achieve fame.”

The book, the author’s first, was named winner of the Association of American Publishers’ 2021 PROSE Award.