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LIFE’S ACCESSORIES: A Memoir and Fashion Guide By Rachel Levy Lesser C’96 (She Writes Press, 2019, $16.95.) In each of these 14 intimate essays, Lesser relives a memory she has built around a piece of clothing or accessory—a scarf given to her by her dying mother, a bracelet purchased online by her widowed father. Charming and funny at times, each story is a poignant look at love, loss, and family. Buy this book

SHE CAME TO SLAY: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman By Erica Armstrong Dunbar C’94 (Simon & Schuster, 2019, $23.99.) Harriet Tubman is best known as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, but her legacy goes much further. This fresh take on Tubman’s life, richly illustrated with photos, artwork, and charts, portrays her as a bold and fiery activist, a fierce suffragist, an advocate for the elderly, and a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War. Buy this book

WILD GAME: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me By Adrienne Brodeur G’92 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019, $27.00.) When Brodeur was 14, her mother shared a secret that would bind the two in a web of deception against her father: her mother was having an affair with his closest friend. Eager for her mother’s affection, young Brodeur helped facilitate an elaborate smoke-and-mirrors routine with consequences that would reverberate far into her adult life. Buy this book

DESIGN WITH NATURE NOW Edited by Frederick Steiner, Richard Weller, Karen M’Closkey, and Billy Fleming, faculty (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2019, $80.00.) In celebration of the 50th anniversary of architect Ian McHarg’s seminal book, Design with Nature, a team of landscape architects and planners showcase some of the most advanced ecological design projects in the world today. Buy this book

ONE DISH FOUR SEASONS: Food, Wine, and Sound All Year Round By Jordan Zucker C’97 (Home Sauce Publications, 2019, $44.00.) This richly illustrated cookbook was a labor of love for the Zucker family, with contributions by Jordan’s parents, Betti and Jim Zucker W’70. Each dish comes in four seasonal variations, and each recipe has a wine and music pairing. Buy this book

MASSACRE AT DUFFY’S CUT: Tragedy and Conspiracy on the Pennsylvania Railroad By William E. Watson G’86 Gr’90 and J. Francis Watson (The History Press, 2018,  $23.99.) What really happened in the summer of 1832, when 57 Irish laborers died suddenly while building the first railroad in Pennsylvania? For more than 180 years, the railroad maintained that cholera was to blame and kept the historical record under lock and key. But there is now evidence that some of the laborers were murdered. (See “Bones Beneath the Tracks,” Nov|Dec 2010.) Buy this book

I AM NOT MYSELF TODAY By Jill Haber Pallone CW’73 G’76 GEd’77 (Jill Haber Pallone, 2019, $7.50.) Exploring themes of love, loss, friendship, joy, emotional illness, and recovery, these evocative poems capture Pallone’s most personal moments, from the pleasure of a light breeze to the anxiety of hospitalization. Buy this book

CONNECT FIRST: 52 Simple Ways to Ignite Success, Meaning, and Joy at Work By Melanie A. Katzman C’80 (McGraw-Hill Education, 2020, $26.00.) If technology enables us to be more interconnected than ever before, then why do so many feel isolated and undervalued at work? Katzman, a psychologist and executive coach, offers techniques for better human connection and shares the science behind why deepening relationships can make work more rewarding and productive. Buy this book

ELSEWHERE THAN VIETNAM: A Story of the Sixties By David Schwartz L’75 (Sticky Earth Books, 2019, $11.99.) This autobiographical novel tells the story of an anti-war protester who is drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam War. Conflicted, he joins as an interrogator for military intelligence and discovers a hidden world of resistance within the military when he begins writing for an underground newspaper. Buy this book

BREADCRUMBS ON MY JOURNEY: Celebrating Life in the City of Brotherly Love By Richard G. Krassen W’62 (Legacy Projects, 2019, $20.00.) In this memoir, Krassen, a lifelong Philadelphian, reflects on his love for music, basketball, and family. With original poetry, aphorisms, and stories from his career as a life insurance salesman, the book is arranged as a series of lighthearted vignettes. Buy this book

LIKE EATING JELLY WITH CHOPSTICKS: A Spiritual Journey By Jack Narvel ASC’71 (Jack Narvel, 2019, $14.99.) Narvel, an ordained minister, Vietnam veteran, and self-proclaimed “former hippie musician,” offers new takes on Bible teachings with a quirky sense of humor. Buy this book


Very Briefly Noted

PRIVATE GOOD LUCK By Sherwin Gluck EAS’92 (Tisza Publishing, 2019, $19.95.) Buy this book

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE: A Multinational Perspective Alvino E. Fantini C’58 (Routledge, 2019, $155.00.) Buy this book

PRIVATE PRACTICE By Steven Mollov C’70 (AuthorHouse, 2011, $15.00.) Buy this book

THE GOOD METROPOLIS: From Urban Formlessness to Metropolitan Architecture By Alexander Eisenschmidt GFA’04 Gr’08 (Birkhäuser, 2019, $64.99.) Buy this book

MY WORLD BOOK 2: Tramping the Globe on $10 a Day By Ben Batchelder WG’90 (Earthdog Press, 2019, $14.99.) Buy this book

IMPROVING ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: The Cube One Framework By Richard E. Kopelman W’65 WG’67 (Routledge, 2020, $44.95.) Buy this book

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