GINGKO SEASON by Naomi Elegant C’19 (W.W. Norton & Company, 2025, $19.99.) Penelope Lin spends her days cataloging the Penn Museum’s collection of Qing Dynasty bound-foot shoes. A chance meeting with Hoang, who confesses to releasing mice from the cancer research lab where he works, causes her carefully constructed life to unravel in a debut novel that limns the anxiety of contemporary courtship and the thrill of blossoming love. Buy this book
CENSORED LANDSCAPES: The Hidden Reality of Farming Animals by Isabella La Rocca González C’84 (Lantern Publishing & Media, 2024, $39.95) Through evocative photographs, poetry, personal narrative, and factual research, González unveils the hidden lives of farmed animals—drawing connections between animal agriculture, environmental devastation, human health, and workers’ rights. Buy this book
CLASH OF DYNASTIES directed by Ben Hatta C’98 (multiple streaming platforms, 2024, $10.99.) This four-part docuseries from the team behind acclaimed wrestling documentaries Team Foxcatcher [“Grappling With Tragedy,” Jul|Aug 2016] and Angle examines the fierce rivalry between two Ohio high school wrestling powerhouses in the 1990s: the St. Edward Eagles and the Walsh Jesuit Warriors.
POISONING THE WELL: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America by Sharon Udasin C’07 and Rachel Frazin (Island Press, 2025, $32.00.) Two climate reporters trace an ugly history of corporate greed, military impunity, and community devastation, based on original reporting in four regions highly contaminated with PFAS—a set of toxic chemicals most people have never heard of. Buy this book
TWELFTH NIGHT: Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition, edited by James Schiffer C’73 (2025, Bloomsbury Publishing, $175.00.) Featuring criticism from key literary figures, this volume makes a major contribution to our understanding of Twelfth Night and of the traditions of Shakespearean criticism surrounding it as they have developed from century to century. Buy this book
EPHEMERAL CITY: A People’s History of Chicago’s Century of Progress World’s Fair by Lindsay Fullerton W’06 (University of Illinois Press, 2025, $29.95.) Less celebrated than the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, the 1933–1934 Century of Progress Exposition brought visitors face-to-face with gleaming American consumerism in the midst of the Great Depression. Historian Lindsay Fullerton illuminates the fairgoers’ experiences through oral histories, personal photographs, scrapbooks, and more. Buy this book
TRANSIT TOURISM: The Iconic Art and Design of 22 Subway Systems Around the World by David Seltzer WG’76 (Schiffer Publishing, 2025, $34.99.) This illustrated set of essays reveals how a subway system can reflect its city’s character through architecture, art, and design. Buy this book
DANGEROUS DANNY GARDELLA: Baseball’s Neglected Trailblazer for Today’s Millionaire Athletes by Rob Elias C’72 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025, $39.00.) Danny Gardella, a little known yet remarkable ballplayer, stood up to Major League Baseball and laid the foundation for free agency when he sued the league in 1947. Buy this book
LOUIS GRAVERAET KAUFMAN: The Fabulous Michigan Gatsby Who Conquered Wall Street, Took Over General Motors, and Built the World’s Tallest Building by Ann Berman CW’74 G’74 (Wayne State University Press, 2025, $28.99.) This biography brings to life a great American bank titan who was nearly forgotten by history. Buy this book
REPARATIONS AND THE HUMAN by David L. Eng, faculty (Duke University Press, 2025, $25.95.) A professor of English and Asian American studies investigates a history of reparations in the Transpacific, showing how the concepts of reparation established during the Enlightenment shape contemporary configurations of human rights, establishing who can be recognized as victims, who must be seen as perpetrators, and who deserves repair. Buy this book
