MY LIFE IN PAPER: Adventures in Ephemera by Beth Kephart C’82 (Temple University Press, 2023, $30.00.) This memoir follows Kephart’s obsession with paper, which emerged in the wake of her father’s death. In it, she explores the paper legacies we forge and leave behind, in baby books, diaries, resumes, sewing patterns, recipes, and more. Buy this book
NEW GROWTH: The Art and Texture of Black Hair by Jasmine Nichole Cobb Gr’07 Gr’09 (Duke University Press, 2022, $25.95.) Through close readings of slave narratives, scrapbooks, travel illustrations, and other artwork, Cobb, a professor at Duke University, traces the history of Afro-textured coiffure, exploring it as a visual material through which to reimagine the sensual experience of Blackness. Buy this book
WALK ME THROUGH YOUR RESUME: Essays by Martha Cooney C’05 (BookBaby, 2023, $14.99) Cooney’s hilarious collection of essays describes how she tries to make ends meet in the gig economy through a series of increasingly odd jobs. At what point does a resume go from well-rounded to bizarre? Buy this book
SPYING: From the Fall of Jericho to the Fall of the Wall edited by John D. Woodward Jr. W’81 (Waynesburg University Press, 2023, $49.95) Woodward—a Boston University professor, retired CIA operations officer, and former Department of Defense official—offers a comprehensive study of the history of intelligence activities through these lectures by his late Boston University colleague Arthur Hulnick, who was also an intelligence officer for the CIA and US Air Force. Buy this book
ENVIRONMENTAL BANKRUPTCY LAW: A Practice Guide by Jeanne T. Cohn C’78 and Alan S. Tenenbaum (ABA Book Publishing, 2023, $129.95.) A practical guide to how the courts have dealt with environmental bankruptcy issues since the 1980s, this book provides the history and development of case law on the subject. Buy this book
BECOMING POETRY: Poets and Their Methods by Jay Rogoff C’75 (Louisiana State University Press, 2023, $29.95). This close inspection of the work of two dozen poets, from the author’s forebears to his contemporaries, reveals how their poetry achieves its impact upon readers. His essays, drawn from more than 20 years of literary criticism, explore the staying power of a poet’s work. Buy this book
HOW’D THEY DO THAT? Grandparents Answer Questions about the Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart by Joseph H. Cooper W’69 L’72 (FriesenPress, 2023, $29.99.) Using a series of grandparent–grandchild conversations, this nonfiction picture book teaches children about the courage and dedication of aviation pioneers Amelia Earhart and Orville and Wilbur Wright. Buy this book
