SCALAWAG: A White Southerner’s Journey through Segregation to Human Rights Activism By Edward H. Peeples G’63 with Nancy MacLean (University of Virginia Press, 2014, $30.00.) In chronicling his own journey through the civil-rights movement—from his working-class upbringing in white-supremacist Virginia to organizing sit-ins and challenging racism in the US Navy—Peeples tells a larger story about that era. He is professor emeritus of preventive medicine and community health at Virginia Commonwealth University. BUY THIS BOOK
TROIKA By Adam Pelzman C’87 (Putnam, 2014, $25.95.) Perla is a beautiful young Cuban-American dancer in a Ft. Lauderdale nightclub when she meets Julian, a Russian who was abandoned in an orphanage as a child. Their relationship seems to be transcendent until Julian’s darker past begins to emerge. In his debut novel, Pelzman tracks the lives of three broken individuals through Siberia, Havana, and New York. BUY THIS BOOK
RECOVER: Stop Thinking like an Addict and Reclaim Your Life with The PERFECT Program By Stanton Peele C’67 (DaCapo Press, 2014, $24.99.) Addiction is commonly likened to a disease, a powerful biological force that many people cannot control. Peele, the author of more than a dozen books on the subject, makes the case that such a model leads to feelings of helplessness. In his program he applies techniques common to psychology and Buddhist meditation, and advocates an active and mindful approach to overcoming addiction. BUY THIS BOOK
THE PRACTICAL PROF: Simple Lessons For Anyone Who Works By Santo D. Marabella GrS’91 (Hollis Media Group, 2013, $19.95.) Based on articles originally written for The Reading Eagle, Marabella (professor of management at Moravian College) advises working readers on subjects ranging from workplace bullying and “diversity dancing” to the perils of mixing work and romance. In doing so, he offers practical strategies for lifting employee satisfaction and productivity. BUY THIS BOOK
ALENA: A Novel By Rachel Pastan, staff (Riverhead Books, 2014, $27.95.) Two years after the death of Alena, curator of the Nauk art museum on Cape Cod, a nameless young curator from the Midwest is offered the plum position. She soon finds herself entangled in the museum’s obsessively preserved past and its artistic, erotic, and emotional skeins. Pastan is editor-at-large at the ICA. BUY THIS BOOK
MY YEAR AS A JEW By Shelley Kirilenko Gr’95 (CreateSpace, 2013, $12.99.) After growing up as a Norwegian Quaker in the blue-collar neighborhood of Target Range in Missoula, Montana, and relocating 20 years later to Washington, Kirilenko made a sudden decision to take a course in Hebrew at a Jewish outreach center. Her memoir chronicles the next year of her life as she immerses herself in Jewish culture, studying the Torah, discovering Shabbat, and celebrating Jewish holidays. BUY THIS BOOK
