menu
Skip to main content

Friends of the Libraries

Quarterly, we ask our Friends Board of Directors (and Friends!) about the books they’ve been reading. Here are some of the titles they recommend.

March-April 2023

Book cover for Whiteness in Plain View, by Chad Montrie

“Whiteness in Plain View” by Chad Montrie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book cover for Immense World by Ed Yong

“An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us” by Ed Yong

“In this incredibly detailed and wide-ranging book, Yong explores the sense faculties of other species and allows us to imagine how the universe is perceived by such creatures as birds, beetles, dogs, dolphins and more. In the process, Yong reminds us that as humans, our own perception of ‘reality’ is necessarily filtered by the reach and limitations of our own sense of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. A fascinating book!” – JW

“I can’t say it better than this reviewer [Siddhartha Mukherjee]: ‘A stunning achievement — steeped in science but suffused with magic.’” – PG

 

Book cover for Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

“Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel” by Bonnie Garmus

Quirky characters and laugh out loud internal and external dialogue. Easy vacation read.” – LS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book cover for Race for Profit by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

“Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

“If you watch TPT’s Jim Crow of the North, you will get a fuller picture by following this up with Taylor’s book. It explains the depth and persistence our stratified segregated society and how easy it is to perpetuate poverty for segments of society, divided by race.” – CW

 

 

 

Book cover for Anywhere You Run, by Wanda M. Morris“Anywhere You Run: A Novel” by Wanda M. Morris

“I love suspense novels with a twist of historical fiction. This, Wanda’s second novel, is set in the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s.” – EF

 

 

 

 

 

 


January 2023

Book cover for Candide, by VoltaireBook cover for America for Americans, by Erika LeeBook cover for The Cultural Toolbox, by Anton TreuerBook cover for An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-OrtizBook cover for Small Things Like These, by Claire KeeganBook cover for the Violin Conspiracy, by Brendan SlocumbBook cover for Harlem Shuffle, by Colson Whitehead


September 2022

Book cover for Song of Achilles, by Madeline MillerBook cover for Lemons in the Garden of Love, by Ames SheldonBook cover for The Last Bookseller, by Gary GoodmanBook cover for The Good Good Pig, by Sy MontgomeryBook cover for Things Fall Apart, by Chinua AchebeBook cover for Jane Crow, by Rosalind RosenbergBook cover for Born On a Blue Day, by Daniel TammetBook cover for Dying of Whiteness, by Jonathan M MetzelBook cover for Beautiful Country, by Qian Julie WangBook cover for Caste, by Isabel WilkersonBook cover for Fathers and Sons, by Ivan TurgenevBook cover for A Small Town in Germany, by John Le CarreBook cover for We Own This City, by Justin FentonBook cover for Red Lip Theology, by Candice Marie BenbowBook cover for Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall KimmererBook cover for The Seed Keeper, by Diane WilsonBook cover for The Anomaly, by Herve Le Tellier


April 2022

Book cover of The Sweetness of Water by Nathan HarrisBook cover of A Reader on Reading by Alberto ManguelBook cover of The Sentence by Louise ErdrichBook cover of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia OwensBook cover of State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton & Louise PennyBook cover of Half a Life by Darin StraussBook cover of The Woodcut Art of J. J. Lankes by Welford Dunaway TaylorBook cover of Talking to Strangers by Malcom GladwellBook cover of The Round House by Louise ErdrichBook cover of Somewhere in the Unknown World by Kao Kalia YangBook cover of Milkman by Anna BurnsBook cover of Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge Book cover of The Cooking Gene by Michael W. TwittyBook cover of The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey


December 2021

Book cover for The Matter of Black Lives, edited by Jelani Cobb and David RemnickBook cover for Deacon King Kong by James McBrideBook cover for The Between by Tananarive DueBook cover for Good Reasons for Bad Feelings by Randolph M. Nesse, MDBook cover for How Democracies DieBook cover for Learning from the Germans by Susan NeimanBook cover for Homegoing by Yaa GyasiBook cover for A Pilgrimage to EternityBook cover for The Debt to Pleasure by John LanchesterBook cover for The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne JeffersBook cover for Caste, by Isabel WilkersonBook cover for Born a Crime by Trevor NoahBook cover for Things We Lost to the Water by Eric NguyenBook cover for Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford 


September 2021

Book cover for "The Color of Law" by Richard RothsteinBook cover for "The Way of Integrity" by Martha BeckBook cover for "The Other Black Girl" by Zakiya Dalila HarrisBook cover for "Heat and Alterity in Contemporary Dance" by Ananya ChatterjeaBook cover for "Still Life" by Louise Penny Book cover for "Girl, Woman, Other" by Bernardine EvaristoBook cover for The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne JeffersBook cover for "Becoming" by Michelle ObamaBook cover for "The Library Book" by Susan OrleanBook cover for "Homeland Elegies" by Ayad AkhtarBook cover for "Abundance" by Jakob GuanzonBook cover for Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. FordBook cover for "Furiously Happy" by Jenny LawsonBook cover for "Dune" by Frank HerbertBook cover for Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall KimmererBook cover for "All That she Carried" by Tiya MilesBook cover for "The Night Watchman" by Louise ErdrichBook cover for "Selected Poems" by James WrightBook cover for "Moloka'i" by Alan BrennertBook cover for "American Founders" by Christina Proenza-ColesBook cover for "Circe" by Madeline Miller

Join or renew your membership now

Interested in serving on the Friends board?

If you are interested in learning more and being considered for the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries Board of Directors, please visit our webpage that explains the purpose, duties, and expectations of the board of directors.

Subscribe to news & events

Enter your email address below to receive news and information on upcoming events.

Support the Friends of the Libraries

Contact Information

Lanaya Stangret
309 19th Ave. S.
499 Wilson Library
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612-624-9339
stangret@umn.edu

© 2024 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Privacy Statement | Acceptable Use of IT Resources