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 Nicole Graev Lipson \u201998<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnchored by topics such as motherhood and daughterhood, friendship and marriage, beauty, aging, and gender stereotypes, the essays cohere into a revealing memoir,\u201d says Kirkus<\/em>, observing that the works are \u201cdeftly crafted\u201d and \u201clikely to resonate with grateful readers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A winner of the Pushcart Prize, the Arts & Sciences alum<\/a> has been included in the annual Best American Essays<\/em> volume and has been published in the Washington Post<\/em>, Boston Globe<\/em>, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n<\/div> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In her essay collection<\/a>, she contemplates being a woman in the modern age\u2014pondering such topics as marital fidelity, female friendship, assisted reproduction, and the need for solitude even within a happy marriage. Along the way, she draws perspective and inspiration from literature\u2014from Shakespeare to Virginia Woolf to Alice Munro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLipson\u2019s prose isn\u2019t only gorgeous, it\u2019s skillful\u2014dare I say masterful,\u201d says the Chicago Review of Books<\/em>. \u201cEach sentence sculpted with grace, each paragraph constructed with careful planning. Each essay using a range of literary techniques, stunning in their execution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drew Harvell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Harvell, a renowned marine ecologist, is a professor emerita<\/a> of ecology and evolutionary biology in CALS. Her latest book<\/a> is subtitled How Earth\u2019s Strangest Creatures Reshape the Rules of Life<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In it, she chronicles the remarkable undersea world of marine invertebrates\u2014whose evolutionary history stretches back some 700 million years\u2014and the lessons they offer to help improve life on terra firma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPlenty of time and circumstance allowed these animals to perfect staggering biological feats unlike any we see on land,\u201d she writes in the preface. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are animals that photosynthesize like plants, animals that transform wavelengths of light with engineering precision, animals that build castles of glass or limestone using seawater.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Harvell takes readers around the globe, she describes not only the remarkable creatures under the sea, but the increasing threats to their habitats, including from human-driven climate change. \u201cBuoyed by fascinating trivia and lay reader-friendly science,\u201d says Publishers Weekly<\/em>, \u201cthis should be a no-brainer for nature lovers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Susan Holcomb, Grad \u201910\u201311<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Holcomb is an L.A.-based writer<\/a> who began PhD studies in physics on the Hill before leaving to work in the tech industry. She led the data science team at the world\u2019s first smartwatch company\u2014then shifted gears and earned an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her chapbook<\/a>\u2014a collection of \u201cflash fiction\u201d (very short stories)\u2014was the winning entry in a small press\u2019s annual competition.<\/p>\n<\/div> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Says the publisher, the Cupboard Pamphlet: \u201cThis is not the pastel coming of the stork\u2014this is the wolf. In this collection \u2026 remnants of bloody bible pages, bathtubs of black oil, and biting teeth are the truth of what it means to mother. Who was the woman you were before your matrescence? What shape did she take after?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joy Lin, MMH \u201910<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hotelie<\/a> wrote and illustrated this children\u2019s book<\/a>, aimed at readers around ages 4\u20138, under her pen name, Regina Linke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a prequel and companion piece to her web comic and book The Oxherd Boy<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n That project gathers inspiring tales\u2014based on principles of Chinese philosophy\u2014about the relationship between a young boy named Ah-Fu, his family\u2019s ox, and a rabbit living in their garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Big Enough<\/em> describes the first time Ah-Fu was tasked with bringing the ox home from the woods\u2014and his fear that he wouldn\u2019t be up to the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe illustrations, painted digitally using traditional Chinese techniques, are by turns realistic and minimalist, then fantastical and lush, capturing an agrarian countryside filtered through the unbridled imagination of youth,\u201d says Kirkus<\/em>. \u201cThis tale of quiet persistence, enhanced by the ox\u2019s impressively expressive eyebrows, will strike a chord with young readers looking for their own burst of courage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michael Greger \u201995<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Greger is a physician and CALS alum<\/a> who frequently appears in the national media, spreading his message about the key role that diet and nutrition play in health and longevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has published a trilogy of self-help books on the topic\u2014How Not to Die<\/em>, How Not to Diet<\/em>, and How Not to Age<\/em>\u2014each of which has a companion cookbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His latest<\/a> is the cookbook follow-up to How Not to Age<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Library Journal <\/em>calls it \u201can accessible, information-packed guide demonstrating that it is never too late to take steps toward a healthier lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The volume gathers more than 100 recipes, with photos, showcasing the diet Greger recommends to promote longevity and wellness\u2014with an emphasis on plant-based foods and wholesome ingredients like nuts, greens, berries, beans, and legumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recipes include Singapore-Style Noodles with Tempeh; Baked Carrot-Cake Oatmeal; Lentil-Walnut Burgers; Barley Risotto with Artichokes and Mushrooms; and Banana-Walnut Cake with Blackberry-Almond Butter Sauce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iris Mwanza, <\/strong>LLM \u201992<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Set in Zambia in 1990, Mwanza\u2019s debut legal thriller<\/a> follows a young attorney named Grace Zulu who takes her first pro bono case, defending a 17-year-old boy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Her client, who faces a harsh sentence for homosexual acts, has been beaten in prison, and eventually vanishes into the carcel system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s up to Grace to get justice for him\u2014battling an autocratic government, institutional homophobia, corrupt police and judges, and the tragic impacts of the HIV\/AIDS crisis.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Lions\u2019 Den<\/em> is an angry and heartrending novel, told with verve and a deep understanding of systemic cruelty,\u201d says a review in Foreign Policy<\/em>. \u201cMwanza, a corporate lawyer-turned-novelist<\/a> who has worked in both Zambia and the United States, conveys her young heroine\u2019s disillusion and powerlessness with sororal intuition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To submit your book for consideration, email cornellians@cornell.edu<\/a>. Please note that to be included, books must be recently published by a conventional publisher<\/strong>\u2014not self published, pay-to-publish, publish on demand, partner-published, 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 May 14, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n This month\u2019s featured titles include essays on womanhood, an anti-aging cookbook, and a debut legal thriller set in Zambia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":10398,"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-51973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"yoast_head":"\nMothers and Other Fictional Characters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>The Ocean\u2019s Menagerie<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWolfbaby<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>Big Enough<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe How Not to Age Cookbook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>The Lions\u2019 Den<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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