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 And did you know that Cornell has an online book club? Check it out!<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas Perry \u201969<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFew crime-fiction authors are as skilled as Thomas Perry at keeping readers off balance and in suspense,\u201d says the Wall Street Journal<\/em>. \u201cMr. Perry\u2019s Pro Bono<\/em><\/a>, a cutthroat caper of embezzlement and revenge, repeatedly shifts direction as its unpredictable plot unfolds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest from the prolific mystery writer<\/a> follows a lawyer named Charlie, who specializes in retrieving stolen assets for victims of fraud and other financial crimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a topic close to his heart, because his mother was defrauded by her late husband.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n Charlie\u2019s current case involves Vesper, a woman whose husband vanished and whose investment accounts are inexplicably shrinking. Meanwhile, he\u2019s menaced by a pair of ex-convicts with dangerous knowledge about his past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPro Bono<\/em>, in which Vesper\u2019s travails become entangled with Charlie\u2019s backstory, has more twists than Topanga Canyon,\u201d the WSJ<\/em> observes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTime and again, when the case seems all but settled, unexpected players pop up to create a new crisis. What makes this book especially enjoyable is the care with which Mr. Perry sketches his characters, who run the gamut from caring to callous and saintly to sinister.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donna Tesiero \u201976<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A former government major in Arts & Sciences, Tesiero holds a JD and two master\u2019s degrees from other institutions. Her latest book<\/a> combines biography and military history in delving into an Indigenous woman\u2019s role in the American Revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A member of the Mohawk tribe, Molly Brant had a 15-year relationship\u2014and eight children\u2014with Sir William Johnson, Britain\u2019s superintendent for Indian affairs. Sir William, a French and Indian War hero, had been the lead negotiator between Molly\u2019s Six Nations (Iroquois) confederacy and the British colonies.<\/p>\n<\/div> After his death, and with the Revolution dawning, Molly must decide whether to throw her considerable influence behind the Colonial rebels or the British loyalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Says the publisher, McFarland: \u201cDrawing heavily on primary sources, this biography of the Mohawk leader chronicles her task to carve out a promising future for her children and her people in a world that threatens to make homeless refugees of them all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tesiero\u2019s previous books include A Revolutionary Woman: Elizabeth Freeman and the Abolition of Slavery in the North<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Victor LaValle \u201994, BA \u201995<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The acclaimed writer<\/a> of literary horror made his Marvel debut in 2022, penning comics centered around the villainous X-Men mutant Sabretooth. Now, the entire story arc\u2014written by LaValle and others\u2014has been compiled into an omnibus version<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The drama centers on Sabretooth\u2019s exile, and his ultimate return to battle his arch-enemy, Wolverine. And while Sabretooth\u2014a killer-for-hire\u2014has historically been written off as a one-dimensional bad guy, LaValle deepens the character by viewing his wickedness through the lens of his lifelong imprisonment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n The Arts & Sciences alum has garnered numerous awards and honors, penning such novels as The Ballad of Black Tom<\/em>, The Ecstatic<\/em>, Big Machine<\/em>, and The Devil in Silver<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His 2017 horror-fantasy tale The Changeling<\/em>\u2014which Kirkus<\/em> lauded as a \u201csmart and knotty merger of horror, fantasy, and realism\u201d\u2014was adapted into a series on Apple TV+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Valerie Bunce, Thomas Pepinsky, Rachel Beatty Riedl & Kenneth Roberts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Four Cornell government professors co-edited this scholarly volume<\/a> from Cambridge University Press, which explores the ways in which democracy is under threat in numerous countries around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subtitled Comparative Perspectives on Backsliding, Autocracy, and Resilience<\/em>, the book was inspired by a conference held on the Hill in 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Its essays include several by Arts & Sciences faculty members.<\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cAlthough this topic has received a lot of attention in recent years, we were struck by the lack of a comprehensive, global study that provides a comparative perspective on the dynamics of backsliding across different world regions,\u201d Roberts, the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government, told the Cornell Chronicle<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis book aims to fill that gap by helping scholars understand why democracy is in retreat across so much of the world, but also to recognize the bold and creative ways in which political actors and civil society networks are working to defend democracy and make it more resilient in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Denise Robbins \u201912<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Robbins\u2019s debut novel<\/a> is a work of literary speculative fiction; it imagines the chaos that strikes NYC when the city is inexplicably rearranged\u2014leaving its inhabitants bewildered and throwing Gotham into disarray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is no flash of light, no crumbling, no quaking,\u201d says the publisher, Bindery Books, going on to observe: \u201cEach person in New York wakes up on an unfamiliar block when the buildings all switch locations overnight. The power grid has snapped, thousands of residents are missing, and the Empire State Building is on Coney Island\u2014for now. The next night, it happens again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n The protagonists, Esme and Arjun, are staffers in the city\u2019s emergency management department who are tasked with disaster response as the city continually reshuffles\u2014and thousands of residents (including Esme\u2019s fianc\u00e9) go missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now based in her hometown of Madison, WI, Robbins is a CALS alum who spent more than a decade working in climate activism on the East Coast. Her writing<\/a> has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and appeared in numerous journals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elizabeth Bews, MA \u201918<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bews recently earned her PhD from the University of South Florida in biological anthropology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Her co-edited book<\/a> explores bioarcheology\u2014the study of bones and other remains, found at archaeological sites, that shed light on the people who lived there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cResearch on the Roman Empire has long focused on Rome\u2019s legendary leaders, culture, and conquest,\u201d says the publisher, University of Florida Press.<\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cBut at the empire\u2019s peak, tens of millions of ordinary people coexisted in its territories\u2014people who built the structures, wrote the literature, and transformed the landscapes we study today. In Roman Bioarchaeology<\/em>, researchers use human skeletal remains recovered from throughout the Roman world to portray how individuals lived and died, spanning the empire\u2019s vast geography and 1,000 years of ancient history.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having earned a master\u2019s in archaeology on the Hill, Bews published the book while still a doctoral student, and is now a visiting assistant professor<\/a> at the University of Montana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As she and her co-editor write in their introduction: \u201cRather than prioritizing objects speaking for others, bioarchaeological perspectives invite the people in the Roman period to speak for themselves.\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 August 15, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n This month\u2019s featured titles include the latest from a top mystery writer, a Marvel omnibus, and a look at challenges to democracy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":10396,"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-56874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/pro-bono-A.jpg\")
<\/figure>Pro Bono<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSix Nations Diplomat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/six-nations-diplomat-A.jpg\")
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<\/figure>Wolverine: Sabretooth War<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nGlobal Challenges to Democracy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/global-challenges-to-democracy-A.jpg\")
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\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/unmapping-A.jpg\")
<\/figure>The Unmapping<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRoman Bioarcheology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/roman-bioarcheology-A.jpg\")
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