Bookshelf

(Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland Publishers, 2021)
Described by one reviewer as a “meticulously researched love letter to horror hosts and the films they show,” this book takes readers on a journey through the best TV horror films, beginning with the 1930s black-and-white classics and ending with the grislier color films of the early 1970s. The author also explores the horror hosts, who introduced the films and offered insight into the plots, actors, and directors.

(New York: Bloomsbury, 2022)
In this sequel to the New York Times bestselling House of Earth and Blood, the Crescent City series continues the story of a world about to explode and the people who will do anything to save it. According to the publisher, “Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal — they may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the future holds.

“The Asteri have kept their word so far, leaving Bryce and Hunt alone. But with the rebels chipping away at the Asteri’s power, the threat the rulers pose is growing. As Bryce, Hunt, and their friends get pulled into the rebels’ plans, the choice becomes clear: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight for what's right. And they’ve never been very good at staying silent.”

(Washington, D.C.: National League of American Pen Women, 2021).
This collection of 45 essays by Kirkland College alumnae, faculty, and administrators addresses subjects as wide-ranging as aging, loss, parenting, feminism, place, and the Kirkland experience.

Kirkland, the last private women’s college created in the United States, merged with Hamilton in 1978. The college fostered independent learning and creativity, with academic disciplines such as American studies, visual arts, dance, and history of science. Kirkland also offered one of the first undergraduate creative writing majors at a four-year college. Lost Orchard II captures the reflections and talents of those who knew it best.

“This collection of writing is a window into the minds and souls of the women Kirkland students became,” Christie Bell Vilsack K’72 notes. “What we did in the years we spent together is reflected in the words collected here. I read every word with the growing awareness that what we created together — founders, teachers, students, administrators — in rural upstate New York during the 12 years Kirkland existed, changed the trajectory of our lives and the many we’ve touched.”

This book follows Lost Orchard: Prose and Poetry from the Kirkland College Community (SUNY Press, 2014), which featured a diverse collection of poems, short stories, novel excerpts, creative nonfiction, and one-act plays by the Kirkland community. All proceeds from the sale of Lost Orchard II support the Samuel & Natalie Babbitt Kirkland Scholarship Fund.

* Special thanks to associate editors Nancy Avery Dafoe K’74, P’04, Liz Horwitt K’73, and Jo Pitkin K’78. Cover illustration by Linda Branch Dunn K’77.

(Bloomington, Ind.: Westbow Press, 2020)
Since 1999, the author has had a houseful of critters, mostly dogs, and mostly adopted rescues. As is noted on the book jacket, “God makes dogs to come in all shapes, sizes, and ages; and He does the same with dog lovers. This book is for all of them — the dogs, the people, and, especially, for God.”

(Georgetown, Ky.: Finishing Line Press, 2021)
Described by the publisher as “[a]n anti-war novella/contemporary fable written for YA and adults,” this book tells the story of a mother and son torn apart by war. According to reviewer and author Janine DeBaise, “In her compassionate telling of a heart-breaking (and yet sadly familiar) story — a mother cruelly separated from her child in wartime — Nancy Dafoe challenges her readers with a thought experiment about peace, a fable filled with wisdom and insight. The baby, swept away from the violent human world, grows up in a magical realm where spirit creatures teach him through story and song, encouraging him to listen beyond language. We follow the separate journeys of two people with an unbreakable bond: a mother transformed by pain, who realizes her vocation is to awaken in men the need for peace, and a son who never forgets the sound of his mother’s heartbeat.”

This is Avery Dafoe’s fourth book of fiction and her 11th published book.

(Atlanta: Peachtree Publishing, 2021)
In this middle-grade novel, orphans Mari, 15, and her stepbrother Conor, 9, set out on a cross-country journey to find their grandmother, hoping she will take them in. Along the way, they encounter many strangers, some helpful, some predatory and threatening. As one reviewer notes, “But more important than the engaging physical journey is Mari’s deeper journey of ingenuity and courage and empathy. An adopted child with a history of abusive foster homes, suddenly orphaned, she discovers her own strength and strategic power. Expertly accommodating her brother's beautifully portrayed character — his intellectual brilliance, his inflexible obsessions — she works through her own frustration and anger and grief to discover the complex power of love.”

Harley is a two-time Grammy award-winning artist. Recipient of the lifetime achievement award from RI Council for the Humanities “for building community; promoting our common humanity; and encouraging lifelong learning, exploring and growing,” he tours nationwide as an author, performing artist, and keynote speaker.

(New York: Knopf/Random House, 2021)
“Out of Office is a book for every office worker – from employees to managers – currently facing the decision about whether, and how, to return to the office,” the publisher notes. “The past two years have shown us that there may be a new path forward, one that doesn’t involve hellish daily commutes and the demands of jam-packed work schedules that no longer make sense. But how can we realize that future in a way that benefits workers and companies alike?”

From interviews with workers and managers around the world, the authors maintain that companies need to listen to their employees as that this will promote, rather than impede, productivity and profitability. “As a society, we have talked for decades about flexible work arrangements; this book makes clear that we are at an inflection point where this is actually possible for many employees and their companies. Out of Office is about so much more than Zoom meetings and hybrid schedules: it aims to reshape our entire relationship to the office,” the authors write.

(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2021)
The U.S. Supreme Court has numbered nine justices for the past 150 years. But that number is not fixed. “With Democrats controlling the House and Senate, they could add justices to the Supreme Court. But would court-packing destroy the court as an apolitical judicial institution?” This is the question that Feldman, the Jerry W. Housel/Carl F. Arnold Distinguished Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Wyoming, addresses using a historical, analytical, and political argument to justify court-packing in general and Democratic court packing more specifically.

According to Mark Tushnet, professor emeritus of Harvard University Law School, the book “develops a clear and cogent argument, accessible to non-specialists, that law and politics always interact with constitutional law, both in the large — as when justices are appointed — and in the small — as in every decision interpreting the Constitution. Feldman shows court-packing wouldn’t politicize a nonpolitical institution devoted solely to ‘law,’ but would respond to the form that politicization has taken on the Roberts Court. This book is an important contribution to public debate and the understanding of our Constitution and the Supreme Court.”

(Edinburgh, Scotland: Blue Diode Publishing, 2021)
The author’s debut poetry collection “gets close up with human intimacy. What’s really important in human relationships? Kerper’s startling imagery and diction never settle for easy, conventional answers. Love, faith, sex, identity, queerness — all come under her microscope, and are viewed with precision, rigour, and tenderness,” according to the publisher.

(Castroville, Texas: Black Rose Writing, 2020)
The author’s first novel begins with this line: “No one, let alone me, realized it at the time, but April 19, 2011, was the most important day in the history of the world.” After his only friend and colleague disappears, Dave Randall goes quietly about this life until he begins to understand what happened. That’s when he embarks on a journey not only to uncover the deeper meanings and implications of his friend’s fate, but also his own journey of self-discovery will have ramifications far beyond his own little life.

A five-star review in Indies Today noted, “Daniel Maunz is an exceptionally talented writer who has taken on the monumental task of not only asking, but answering, some of life’s biggest questions.”