With close to a million books published in the U.S. each year, how can you possibly know which to choose? Well, look no further than the acclaimed writers of the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). These recent works by A&S faculty and alumni will help you see the different sides of love, history, identity, family, economics, myth, algebra and more. And no matter which you settle down with this fall, we promise it will go perfectly with a warm sweater and a cup of hot chocolate.

The Cemetery of Untold Stories: A Novel

Julia Alvarez G’75

Whose stories get to be told, and whose buried? Julia Alvarez reminds us that the stories of our lives are never truly finished, even at the end.

A Sense of Arrival

Kevin Adonis Browne, Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric

A singular meditation on the art and process of Caribbeanness, A Sense of Arrival is a statement on how the Black Caribbean self comes to be.

Blessed Are the Rest of Us: How Limits and Longing Make Us Whole

Micha Boyett G’05

Beautifully reassuring and liberating, this book calls readers to rest in God's rich and abundant love.

Their Divine Fires: A Novel

Wendy Chen G’17

A captivating and intimate debut novel interwoven with folktale and myth, Wendy Chen’s Their Divine Fires tells the story of the love affairs of three generations of Chinese women across one hundred years of revolutions both political and personal.

Making Algebra Meaningful: A Visual Approach to Math Literacy for All

Nicole L. Fonger, Associate Professor of Mathematics

In this book, award-winning researcher Dr. Nicole Fonger addresses the issue of how to support all learners to experience algebra as meaningful.

Sex Cells: The Fight to Overcome Bias and Discrimination in Women’s Healthcare

Phyllis Greenberger ’64

Sex Cells is a clear-eyed report on the still-pitched battle to get the scientific and medical world to recognize that women are not small men.

The Strange God Who Makes Us

Christopher Kennedy G’88, Professor of English

An exploration of memory, mourning and humanity’s precarious relationship to the Anthropocene, The Strange God Who Makes Us documents our fragile relationship with time and the imperfect ways in which we document our lives.

Dumb Luck & other poems

Christine Kitano G’10

These poems delve into how the otherwise mundane questions of selfhood and identity for a gendered and racialized body take on greater urgency during times of increased social unrest, panic and violence.

Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery

Annie Liontas G’13

A powerful and deeply personal memoir in essays that sheds light on the silent epidemic of head trauma.

The Swan’s Nest: A Novel

Laura McNeal G’90

An engrossing novel about the unlikely love affair between two great 19th-century poets: Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning.

Feeding the Ghosts: Poems

Rahul Mehta G’03

This debut poetry collection from the Lambda Literary Award–winning writer is a magnificent celebration of our own ordinary yet miraculous daily lives—an acknowledgement of the "messy beauty... ugly beauty" in the world.

This Strange Eventful History: A Novel

Claire Messud G’90

An immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history, from one of our most celebrated contemporary novelists.

Butcher

Joyce Carol Oates ’60

In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents, we follow the career of Dr. Silas Weir, “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry,” as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown.

Last Acts: A Novel

Alexander Sammartino G’18

A riotous, irreverent yet big-hearted debut novel about a broke father-son duo who go all-in on some of America’s deadliest obsessions.

Two Women Walk into a Bar

Cheryl Strayed G’02

Cheryl Strayed, the bestselling author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things, finds humor and connection in a poignant short memoir about love, family secrets and reconciliation.

Shocks, Crises, and False Alarms: How to Assess True Macroeconomic Risk

Paul Swartz ’05

Shocks, Crises, and False Alarms speaks to the key financial and macroeconomic controversies that define our times - and provides a compass for navigating the macroeconomy. (Don't miss Swartz's upcoming Alumni Academy talk on September 26.)

Looking for even more excellent book recommendations? Check out the 50 most recent Creative Writing M.F.A. alumni books here.