Books Your October 2024 Reads Stories You May Like Take Note: Popular Study Method has ‘Cornell’ Written All Over It Alison Napjus ’99 Helps Oenophiles Decide What to Uncork Sgt. Scott Grantz ’99 Serves His Alma Mater on the CUPD This month’s featured titles include a sci-fi novel, a kids’ book about gravity, and an anti-aging guide—plus a Halloween horror pick! Did you know that Cornell has an online book club? Check it out! For more titles by Big Red authors, peruse our previous round-ups. Have you published a book you'd like to submit? Scroll down for details! Invisible Labor Rachel Somerstein ’04 Kirkus calls Somerstein’s nonfiction work—subtitled The Untold Story of the Cesarean Section—“a sharp account of an agonizing experience of childbirth.” The Arts & Sciences alum is an associate professor of journalism at SUNY New Paltz. She was inspired to write the book after the birth of her first baby—during which she labored more than 24 hours and ultimately underwent an unplanned C-section without pain control due to an anesthesia failure. “As part of my healing, I also wanted to understand more about C-sections as a phenomenon: how they came to be the most common operation in the world,” Somerstein writes in the introduction. “To my surprise, I found that although they may be a relatively simple operation for a new doctor to learn, the forces that have increased their numbers are incredibly complex.” The book has earned raves in the media and garnered Somerstein an appearance on NPR’s “Fresh Air.” Says Library Journal: “This inciting, empowering book shows the clear need not just to improve women’s access to healthcare but also to shift the paradigm about the restrictions placed on reproductive rights.” The Armageddon Protocol Dan Moren ’02 This sci-fi novel is the fourth and final installment in Moren’s series—which began with The Caledonian Gambit—chronicling a galactic cold war. The book follows two plot threads, as one set of characters goes on the run after being accused of treason, and another is coerced into pulling off a train heist. “Moren gives each team member a moment in the spotlight, demonstrating their individual skills, styles, and quirks, while still showcasing the mutual and near-familial commitment among them through plenty of satisfyingly coordinated action sequences,” says Publishers Weekly. “The two subplots run in parallel until the very end, when Moren ties things up in a way that feels both plausible and rewarding. Series fans will leave with a solid sense of closure.” Also a tech writer and podcaster, Moren penned the demon private eye novel All Souls Lost. How Not to Age Michael Greger ’95 A New York Times bestselling author, the CALS alum is a physician and the founder of the website NutritionFacts.org. Having previously published the self-help guides How Not to Die and How Not to Diet (plus their associated cookbooks), he has turned his attention to aging. “Readers who agree that anti-aging books are largely ‘hype and lies’ may perk up to learn that Greger not only proclaims that he is a scientist, but he writes like one,” says Kirkus. “The author delivers a lengthy, encyclopedic account of life-extenders that explains how they work and examines research supporting them, and he is not shy about expressing skepticism.” In addition to addressing ways to extend longevity, Greger discusses how people can improve their odds of remaining physically and mentally fit as they get older. The How Not to Age Cookbook will publish in April 2025. I Am Gravity Henry Herz ’82 Gravity itself is the first-person narrator in this picture book aimed at kids aged seven to nine. “You feel me but cannot see me," it says. "I reach everywhere, touching everything / a butterfly landing on your outstretched palm, a whale diving deep, the moon far above.” The volume follows Herz’s I Am Smoke. I Am Wind and I Am Light are set for release in 2026. Stories You May Like Take Note: Popular Study Method has ‘Cornell’ Written All Over It Alison Napjus ’99 Helps Oenophiles Decide What to Uncork “Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground,” says Kirkus, calling the book “an in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.” Herz has published a dozen children’s books and edited several anthologies including The Festival of Lights: 16 Hanukkah Stories and Coming of Age: 13 B’nai Mitzvah Stories. The Law of Fraternities and Sororities Gregory Parks, JD ’08 Published by Carolina Academic Press, this guide offers a lay-friendly overview of legal issues pertaining to Greek organizations and their operations. It’s edited by Parks, a professor and associate dean at Wake Forest’s law school; he also contributes a chapter on the role of legal counsel at fraternities and sororities. The volume covers a wide range of legal standards and liability issues around such topics as taxation, zoning, intellectual property, fair housing, governance, freedom of speech, search and seizure, hazing, and sexual assault. Parks previously coedited several volumes on Black fraternities and sororities. They include Alpha Phi Alpha: A Legacy of Greatness, the Demands of Transcendence, about the Greek organization—founded at Cornell in 1906—that has counted Martin Luther King Jr., Cornel West, and Thurgood Marshall among its members. From Conflict to Convergence Robert Fersh ’72 The ILR alum is the founder of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, a nonprofit that aims to strengthen democracy and our society through bridge-building and collaboration. His co-authored nonfiction book offers hands-on advice on de-escalating conflict and solving problems by finding constructive ways to reach people with whom you disagree. The book garnered a blurb from Leon Panetta, who served as secretary of defense and CIA director under President Obama and White House chief of staff under President Clinton. “This book is an essential antidote to gridlock and dysfunction,” he wrote. “It is intended to inspire people in the various sectors of our society to get back to the job of building trust, relationships, and consensus in order to save our democracy. Like the authors, I have experienced Washington at its best. We know what works. The lessons are in this book.” Halloween Horror Pick Cavern of the Damned Russell James ’84 James titles his author website “A Home for Dark and Scary Things”—so October is a fine time to check out his work, which includes short stories, character-driven series, and standalone novels such as 2022’s Demon Dagger. Cavern of the Damned, from 2017, launches the adventures of intrepid paleontologist Grant Coleman. It starts with the hero, down on his luck, jumping at the chance to explore a sealed cave that—per local legend—contains giant, terrifying creatures. After a park ranger tracks the blood of a slaughtered bull back to the cave and finds a party of trespassers, a collapse traps them all inside, Coleman included. “Their only way out is at the cave system’s far end,” says the book’s description. “But an ecosystem of terrifying megafauna stands between them and freedom. Death, double-crosses, and a slew of monstrous cave creatures take their toll as the group battles to what they pray is an exit. Will anyone survive this cavern of the damned?” James has followed up with six more Coleman tales, including Monsters in the Clouds, Desolation Canyon, Forest of Fire, and Curse of the Viper King. To submit your book for consideration, email cornellians@cornell.edu. Please note that to be included in our listings of new titles, books must be recently published by a conventional publisher—not self published, pay-to-publish, publish on demand, or similar—and be of interest to a general audience. Books not featured will be forwarded to Class Notes. Published October 15, 2024 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. 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