You Should Read....: 2018 - Fiction

Recommended by: Cecilia Slane, Class of 2020
It explores the horrors of war in a very graphic and thorough way, through the eyes of a young soldier.

Recommended by: Marnie McInnes, English
You step right into another world in this book, the first of a trilogy. The film version has gotten bad reviews, but don’t be deterred. The main character, a biologist, and her team try to decipher what’s going on in an abandoned lighthouse and along a beach — so perfect for spring break.

Recommended by: Alicia Suarez, Sociology
Juan Diego is the protagonist whose name is an homage to the first indigenous Catholic Saint who encountered the Virgin of Guadalupe. He spends much of the novel remembering his unusual childhood in Oaxaca. The characters are rich and the story captivating.

Recommended by: Suzanne Sim, Class of 2018
Refugee narratives, political exile, Asian-American perspective and voice and representation. You will cry probably.

Recommended by: Jeannette Johnson-Licon,
Sophomore and Junior Class Dean
Can't get enough of Afrofuturism? Me, neither. Both source material and companion for Ryan Coogler’s film Black Panther (2018), Ta-Nehisi Coates's and artist Brian Stelfreeze's collaboration with Marvel Comics, Black Panther (2016), is now available in trade paperback. Among many other things, Coates wrote #1 New York Times bestseller Between the World and Me (2015). A comic series spin-off called World of Wakanda (2016-17) followed, written by The New York Times best-selling writer of Bad Feminist (2014), Roxane Gay, poet Yona Harvey, and artists Alitha E. Martinez and Afua Richardson. According to the source of all knowledge (Wikipedia), Coates personally recommended Roxane Gay and Yona Harvey to pen the spin-off series. Unfortunately, last summer, the comic series was cancelled after only six issues hit shelves, but the run is available in trade paperback under the title, Black Panther: World of Wakanda (2017).

Recommended by: Kasia Pukala, Class of 2020
It offers an interesting take the adverse effects technology and social media may have and the ramifications of complacency. However, it is far from the typical dystopian novel, as its protagonist is not akin in the slightest to the likes of YA revolutionaries.

Anne Mason thinks she'll be safe living in the Midwest building a wind farm. She may be dead wrong. Someone is dumping bodies in her corn field and telling Anne they are gifts-for her! As the body count rises, Anne realizes a cold-blooded serial killer is patiently waiting and watching her every move. And he won't stop until he ends her life. It is clear there are no limits to this killer's thirst for revenge or how far he will go to get it.Michael Brandt, the ruggedly handsome new County Prosecutor is the last person Anne can trust, but may offer her only chance at survival from a psychopathic killer. But will she survive the passion that rages between them?

Recommended by: Anna Werkowski, Class of 2019
This was my favorite book growing up. You don't even have to be a kid to enjoy it. If you like fiction (and libraries!!) this is the book for you.

Recommended by: Scott Thede, Computer Science
A science-fiction classic! Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Science Fiction Novel of 1966, it is also frequently challenged for removal from school and public libraries. An excellent implementation of how the intelligence of the narrator can be reflected in the writing of the book.

Recommended by: Nicole Lobdell, English
Published in Arabic in 2013 and now available in English (January 2018, translated by Jonathan Wright), Saadawi's novel offers a dark allegory of US-occupied Baghdad. The Creature, stitched together from the body parts of bombing victims, comes to life and seeks revenge on those responsible for the bombings. Full of dark magic and dark humor, Saadawi's novel is part war story, part Gothic novel, and completely terrifying.

Recommended by: Carol Smith, Information Services
How could you not love a story about two kids hiding out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? And they solve a mystery, to boot. I first read this book as a kid growing up in the country and it seemed so magical that this sister and brother could so easily take a cab ride through the city to steal away to a museum on their own. I have since pulled it off the shelf many times to get lost again in the magic of Claudia’s and Jamie’s adventure.

Recommended by: Katie O'Laughlin, Class of 2018
The Girl on the Fridge was my first introduction to short story collections and remains one of my favorites of all time. It sparked my love for short stories through its brevity and quirkiness. In half a page, Etgar Keret will leave you sitting on your futon rethinking some part of your life. His stories will make you snort with laughter, make your heart drop with empathy, and make you rethink fiction altogether.

Recommended by: Jeannette Johnson-Licon,
Sophomore and Junior Class Dean
I haven't seen the film version of The Girl with All the Gifts, by M.R. Carey, but I was initially drawn to the book because of it's pilous, syncytial connection to the epic, post-apocalyptic shooter game,The Last of Us (2013), developed by Naughty Dog. The more you read, the more you find yourself caught in the threads of other YA and horror stories. Not sure how the movie will compare since what makes the story so compelling is the narrow vision of the point of view character, Melanie. You discover the world of hungries with her, at first in dribbles and drabbles, until you're all gobbled up and ready to re-animate.

Recommended by: Nicole Brockmann, School of Music
For people who played The Last Of Us and haven't had their Cordyceps itch completely scratched, this dystopian novel about a post-infected world will do nicely. Strange children, evil scientists, a mobile lab that moonlights as a flame-throwing tank, and humanity's last colony gone suddenly, frighteningly silent -- what's not to like?

Recommended by Kappy Mintie, Art and Art History
Set in 18th century New York, this novel is rich in historical detail and has both a juicy plot and sentences that jump off the page. Addictive!

Recommended by: Rosalie Blankenship, Development
I could not have told you what Biafra meant before I read this book. Couldn't have placed it anywhere in the world. This book beautifully weaves stories of the lives led and lost during the struggle to establish an independent Nigeria.

It reminds me of a lunch conversation I once had. We were reminiscing about the 80s. Big hair. Great music. Madonna. MTV. Then, we asked our friend from South Korea if she had fun in the 80s. She said, "um, things were different. We had a military coup and war." Well, aren't we big jerks?!? It made me realize that as much as I try to pay attention to world events, I have *no clue* about the history of world events outside of Europe.

Books like this can help. Historical fiction by non-western writers: it's a good thing.

Recommended by: Jeannette Johnson-Licon, Sophomore and Junior Class Dean
Junot Díaz, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) describes Damian Duffy and John Edward Jennings graphic adaptation of Octavia Butler's Kindred as, "A glorious tribute to Octavia Butler's masterpiece. Extraordinary." If you've read any of her other guy wrenching sci-fi, you can imagine that it would not be difficult for Duffy and Jennings to put the "graphic" in this novel. Even more than her Earthseed series, Kindred (1979) is arguably Butler's most disturbing treatise on violence, power and resistance, but the visual and textual choices Duffy and Jenning's make are subtle, nuanced and complimentary of the source material. If you're not familiar with graphic novels, reading Kindred (2017) will challenge your preconceived notion of "comic books." If you're a hardcore, silver-age collector with an insured, near-mint American edition of Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug 1962), Duffy and Edward's treatment of Butler's story will challenge your preconceived notions of "super heroes."

Recommended by: Maggie, DePauw Student
When we think about Native American literature, we must also take into account who it has been written by. This book is written by a Native American and demonstrates the complexity of growing up with his identity and sheds light on the trials and tribulations of his life.

Recommended by: Common Read Committee
Written in 1909, Forster's work tells of a society completely dependent on machines to provide what they need. The first-year class coming into DePauw this fall will all have read this over the summer, so read it with them, so you can be part of campus conversations about its current relevance.

Recommended by: Caroline Smith, Information Services
Atwood’s Oryx and Crake is a great read if you enjoy dsytopian literature. It presents a future where genetic engineering has altered the world. Told from the perspective of perhaps the last remaining original human on earth, “Snowman” recalls a former life with his friend Crake and his lover Oryx as he navigates the world of new species and creatures that remains. The story provokes questions about ethical implications related to contemporary bio-engineering and what rights humans have to alter the cycle of natural evolution.

Recommended by: Rebecca Hebb, Daughter of Librarian
Red Queen is a dystopian novel that will grab ahold of you and refuse to let go. It’s a bit cliche perhaps, a girl finds out she is special and must save the world, but the concept behind the universe is creative and immersive. In Mare's world, it is separated into magical and wealthy Silvers, and ordinary and poor Reds, based on the color of their blood. Mare throws a wrench into the works, and her world plunges into chaos. There is plenty of romance, a male best friend that actually isn't really a love interest, and plot twists galore. There is lots of action, as well as slower scenes, but this book always keeps you on your toes as for what's to happen next.

Recommended by: Sylvia Yang, Music Librarian
Six of Crows is an epic tale following a gang of teen criminals that features multiple perspectives, complex and detailed world-building seamlessly integrated into the story, and a masterful blend of grimy criminal enterprise, magic, action, humor and romance.

Recommended by Tiffany Hebb, Libraries
The novel begins as the sad tale of Jack and Mable, a couple who moved north to homestead in 1920s Alaska, to attempt to escape the pain of a stillborn baby, but face new hardships of silence and cruel weather. But then it turns into a fairy tale when, in a rare whimsical moment, they create a child out of snow, and then begin seeing a young girl running through the woods with a pet fox. Is she real? Or are they going mad from the difficult winter? The book remains magical as the mysteries unfold.

Recommended by: Light Laleye, Class of 2021
It is an amazing, beautiful work that is written by a Nigerian author and published by a small Nigerian press. It addresses the strains that are put on a marriage when a couple struggles to bear children in a culture where a woman's worth in a marriage is placed in her ability to bare offspring. It accurately portrays Nigerian, specifically Yoruba culture in a way that resonated with me.

Recommended by: Rick Provine, Dean of Libraries
Hilariously imagined text conversations—the passive aggressive, the clever, and the strange—from classic and modern literary figures, from Scarlett O’Hara to Jessica Wakefield

Mallory Ortberg, the co-creator of the cult-favorite website The Toast, presents this whimsical collection of hysterical text conversations from your favorite literary characters. Everyone knows that if Scarlett O’Hara had an unlimited text-and-data plan, she’d constantly try to tempt Ashley away from Melanie with suggestive messages. If Mr. Rochester could text Jane Eyre, his ardent missives would obviously be in all-caps. And Daisy Buchanan would not only text while driving, she’d text you to pick her up after she totaled her car.

Recommended by: David Gellman, History
A deceptively wise, insistently funny read. 22 middle-aged men gather once a year to reenact a single football play, the career ending sack of Joe Theismann by Lawrence Taylor. Football is not the point, as Bachelder brilliantly weaves 22 separate internal monologues into a tapestry of anxiety and friendship.

Recommended by Kappy Mintie, Art and Art History
Brilliant book of interlocking short stories that spans 20th-century Russian history. Both funny and moving, it feels particularly pertinent given our current news cycle.

Recommended by Meru Sharma, Class of 2021.
It is an anthology of poetry and fiction written by women of color. DePauw student, Greisy Genao, is published in it!

Recommended by: Jeannette Johnson-Licon,
Sophomore and Junior Class Dean
Can't get enough of Afrofuturism? Me, neither. Both source material and companion for Ryan Coogler’s film Black Panther (2018), Ta-Nehisi Coates's and artist Brian Stelfreeze's collaboration with Marvel Comics, Black Panther (2016), is now available in trade paperback. Among many other things, Coates wrote #1 New York Times bestseller Between the World and Me (2015). A comic series spin-off called World of Wakanda (2016-17) followed, written by The New York Times best-selling writer of Bad Feminist (2014), Roxane Gay, poet Yona Harvey, and artists Alitha E. Martinez and Afua Richardson. According to the source of all knowledge (Wikipedia), Coates personally recommended Roxane Gay and Yona Harvey to pen the spin-off series. Unfortunately, last summer, the comic series was cancelled after only six issues hit shelves, but the run is available in trade paperback under the title, Black Panther: World of Wakanda (2017).