GOBSMACKED!: The British Invasion of American English by Ben Yagoda G’91 (Princeton University Press, 2024, $24.95.) Language commentator and professor emeritus of English at the University of Delaware Ben Yagoda G’91 traces scores of Britishisms that have made their way into America’s vocabulary, such as one-off, go missing, curate, early days, kerfuffle, easy peasy, and cheeky. Buy this book
EDISON by Pallavi Sharma Dixit C’99 G’99 (Third State Books, 2024, $29.95.) This debut novel is a Bollywood-style love story brimming with song and dance, set in the eponymous New Jersey township known as “Little India.” Buy this book
THE GHOSTS OF IRAQ’S MARSHES: A History of Conflict, Tragedy, and Restoration by Steve Lonergan Gr’81, Jassim Al-Asadi, and Keith Holmes (The American University in Cairo Press, 2024, $45.00.) A gripping history of the devastation and resurrection of the Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq, once the largest wetland system on the planet, later drained in the early 1990s by the Saddam Hussein regime, and now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Buy this book
UNJUST DEBTS: How Our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal
by Melissa Jacoby C’91 L’94 (The New Press, 2024, $27.99.) A law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explains how the bankruptcy system fails to help people get back on their feet, and how the rich and powerful manipulate it to their advantage while perpetuating race, gender, and financial inequality in America. Buy this book
THE ART AND HISTORY OF THE TOOTHPICK: A Catalog of the World’s Largest Collection by Dr. Steven Potashnick GD’78 (Henschel Haus Publishing, 2023, $125.00.) Referencing over 1,500 toothpicks dating from classical antiquity to the Victorian era, this book is based on the largest collection of toothpicks that presently exists and is illustrated with nearly 2,800 high quality images. Buy this book
CONFLICT: In My City of Brotherly Love by Roger Colley W’60 (Self-published, 2024, $16.99.) Joe Robinson, a child in the Philadelphia public school system, overcomes many challenges while growing up in one of the poorest big cities in the nation to ultimately achieve success. Buy this book
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE STUDENT NONVIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE by Martin Oppenheimer Gr’63 (self-published, 2024, $14.99.) A short history of one of the largest student civil rights organizations in the 1960s and early ’70s, evaluating its successes and failures with attention to current developments today. Buy this book
BEYOND THE SHORES: A History of African Americans Abroad by Tamara J. Walker C’00 (Crown Publishing Group, 2023, $28.00.) Part historical exploration and part travel memoir, this book reveals poignant histories of a diverse group of African Americans who escaped the racism of the United States to try their hands at life abroad, such as Florence Mills in Paris and Richard Wright in Buenos Aires. Buy this book
