Did you know that Cornell has an online book club? Check it out!<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For more titles by Big Red authors, peruse our previous round-ups<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you published a book you’d like to submit? Scroll down for details!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Joe Fassler \u201906<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kirkus <\/em>calls Fassler\u2019s debut novel<\/a> \u201ca thrilling, hopeful retelling of the myth of Daedalus and Icarus\u201d and lauds its \u201cdazzling\u201d prose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Set in the early 2000s, the tale follows a computer science grad student who\u2019s frustrated and unhappy. After dropping out of Cornell and fleeing Ithaca, she meets a father and son living off the grid in the northernmost region of Upstate New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The elder man enlists her in his passion project, which springs from Greek myth.<\/p>\n<\/div> <\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019s obsessed with designing a pair of wings that would allow humans to fly, promoting global unity and erasing borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFassler\u2019s audacious premise is buoyed by pristine prose and vibrant characterizations,\u201d says Publishers Weekly<\/em>. \u201cThe result is a captivating fairy tale of the slippery line between fanatic and genius.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A College Scholar and English major<\/a> in Arts & Sciences, Fassler has contributed to the New York Times<\/em>, Wired<\/em>, the Guardian<\/em>, the Atlantic<\/em>, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sami Fishbein Sage \u201911<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The ILR alum<\/a> is chief brand officer of Betches Media<\/a>, a news and culture company she co-founded with two fellow alums as undergrads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, she has co-authored a self-help guide<\/a> subtitled How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAmericans are woefully disengaged in the politics of our own towns, cities, schools, and courts,\u201d she and her coauthor write in the intro.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd our policies and systems continue to be shaped by those who are most engaged, the loudest, and the already-powerful. For democracy to function, we need more people who care about their communities to step up and help shepherd our country into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The volume offers a roadmap to becoming more involved\u2014including an analysis of the deeply divided status quo; a grounding in how government works; and exercises to help the reader asses their own potential contributions, temperament, and bandwidth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost valuably, the authors frame political participation as a form of self-expression that must be rewarding to be sustainable,\u201d says Publishers Weekly<\/em>, calling the book \u201ca solid guide for those who already feel overwhelmed by the 2024 presidential election news cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Henry Neff \u201995, BA \u201996<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The former history major<\/a>, who previously worked in the YA fantasy genre, turns to the adult audience for his seventh novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result is what Publishers Weekly<\/em> calls an \u201cincandescently funny glimpse of hell on Earth, starring Paul Newman look-alike and 800-year-old demon Laszlo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plot<\/a> involves an urgent attempt by Laszlo\u2014who\u2019s something of a satanic slacker and bon vivant<\/em>\u2014to become a more effective demonic curse-keeper, as he faces potential liquefication for poor performance. <\/p>\n<\/div> So he teams up with Maggie, a 19-year-old whose family curse he\u2019s responsible for managing (and which kicks in at age 20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMaggie and Laszlo quest across Europe and back to the Catskills amid both belly laughs and heart-tugging moments as Laszlo, aided by an Italian priest, gradually becomes more human and Maggie takes on magical energies to protect her family,\u201d says Publishers Weekly<\/em>. \u201cThe result is a glorious romp that\u2019s clever enough to keep readers infernally entertained.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neff\u2019s previous work includes \u201cThe Tapestry<\/a>,\u201d a five-book fantasy series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sarah Sutro \u201972<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese poems are guides to seeing up close,\u201d states the publisher, Finishing Line Press. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey move throughout a year, tempered by the fundamentals of sun, rain, snow, darkness as the basis of human survival, and the re-creation of beauty thanks to a poet\u2019s eye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Sutro writes in a poem titled \u201cExplanation\u201d: \u201cIf night is a pearl, \/ where is the oyster? \/ If the moon is a worn \/ shoe, who is wearing it? \/ If the trees against a \/ violet sky are scratchy \/ fingers, \/ Where is the handwriting, \/ on the sky?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n The volume is the second poetry collection<\/a> for Sutro, an AAP alum who\u2019s also a painter<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Natural Wonders<\/em> was blurbed by classmate and fellow author Peter Fortunato \u201972, who calls it \u201ca record of diverse experiences lived deeply, poems that continually surprise us with images and metaphors drawn from the natural world and connected to our hearts and imaginations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deborah Lee Rose \u201977<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rose\u2019s many previous children\u2019s books<\/a> include several devoted to nature and STEM topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among them are Swoop and Soar<\/em>, Beauty and the Beak<\/em>, Scientists Get Dressed<\/em>, and Astronauts Zoom!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div> <\/p>\n\n\n\n (A copy of the latter was launched to the International Space Station, where a crew member read it aloud<\/a> as part of the \u201cStory Time From Space\u201d series.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, Rose explores the frozen world of Antarctica\u2019s Emperor penguins. The volume\u2019s many photos, taken by scientists and explorers, show the lovable creatures sliding on the ice, jumping into the water, cuddling their chicks, huddling together against the snow, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book<\/a> offers numerous facts about the penguins, including how scientists study them and the threats they face from climate change. It also has QR codes that readers can scan to access online videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Philip Lewis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A past dean of Arts & Sciences, Lewis is a professor emeritus<\/a> of French literature on the Hill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n His nonfiction book<\/a>\u2014published by Johns Hopkins University Press and subtitled The University as an Instrument of Cultural Transformation<\/em>\u2014promotes the role of the humanities as a force for public good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As he argues, it\u2019s an essential mission in the current era, as climate change threatens to make the planet uninhabitable for future generations.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFar from reinforcing divisions between the humanities and the sciences, the point here is to promote their complementarity and interaction,\u201d he writes in the preface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is to recognize that the advance of scientific understanding confronts human society with vitally important problems, possibilities, and choices on which science itself, as a mode of inquiry and constantly expanding body of knowledge, does not readily pronounce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book boasts a blurb from fellow emeritus prof Richard Klein \u201962, who calls the volume \u201cthe most important book you\u2019ll ever read,\u201d as it \u201caims to impel the public humanities to confront the imminence of the doom we face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To submit your book for consideration, email cornellians@cornell.edu<\/a>. Please note that to be included in our listings of new titles, books must be recently published by a conventional publisher\u2014not self published, pay-to-publish, publish on demand, or similar\u2014and be of interest to a general audience. Books not featured will be forwarded to Class Notes<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n Published August 2, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n This month’s featured titles include a novel drawn from the Icarus myth, a poetry collection, and a kids’ book about penguins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":10399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alumni_hub_syml_posts":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[],"cornell_year_post":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-38533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Sky Was Ours<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>Democracy in Retrograde<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Witchstone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>Natural Wonders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nPenguins Ready to Go, Go, Go!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>The Public Humanities Turn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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