Ahh, summer. A time for relaxing, regenerating, and reading a good book. After a year filled with new reads from SOC faculty and alumni which included multiple author book talks on campus, there are plenty of of creative, investigative, and inspirational titles to catch up on! The selection below is not comprehensive, but we did include a range of styles and topics in the hopes everyone can find something to enjoy while kicking back this season. And if you don’t see anything that catches your eye, just wait — there are more releases coming this fall!

American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress by SOC professor and Pulitzer Prize Winner Wesley Lowery

In 2008, Barack Obama’s historic victory was heralded as a turning point for the country. And so it would be—just not in the way that most Americans hoped. The election of the nation’s first Black president fanned long-burning embers of white supremacy, igniting a new and frightening phase in a historical American cycle of racial progress and white backlash. In American Whitelash, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and best-selling author Wesley Lowery charts the return of this blood-stained trend, showing how the forces of white power retaliated against Obama’s victory—and both profited from, and helped to propel, the rise of Donald Trump. Interweaving deep historical analysis with gripping firsthand reporting on both victims and perpetrators of violence, Lowery uncovers how this vicious cycle is carrying us into ever more perilous territory, how the federal government has failed to intervene, and how we still might find a route of escape. Harper Collins

Combat Love by Alisyn Camerota (SOC/ BA ‘88)

“CNN Anchor Alisyn Camerota’s memoir Combat Love is her story of growing up longing for stability and attachment as the foundation of her family crumbled. Set on the Jersey Shore in the free-range 1980s, Camerota finds the belonging she craves courtesy of a local punk rock band named Shrapnel and their diehard fans. Combat Love chronicles her near-misses and misadventures at clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, coupled with the sex, drugs, and punk rock of 1980s New Jersey. By the time she leaves home at sixteen, it feels like home had left her long ago.” (Rare Bird Publishers)

The Everything War by Dana Mattioli (SOC/BA ‘06)

“From veteran Amazon reporter for The Wall Street Journal, The Everything War is the first untold, devastating exposé of Amazon's endless strategic greed, from destroying Main Street to remaking corporate power, in pursuit of total domination, by any means necessary… With unparalleled access, and having interviewed hundreds of people – from Amazon executives to competitors to small businesses who rely on its marketplace to survive – Mattioli exposes how Amazon was driven by a competitive edge to dominate every industry it entered, bulldozed all who stood in its way, reshaped the retail landscape, transformed how Wall Street evaluates companies, and altered the very nature of the global economy.” (Little, Brown and Company)

Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renee Rosen (SOC/BA ‘83)

“It’s 1938, and a young woman selling face cream out of a New York City beauty parlor is determined to prove she can have it all. Her name is Estée Lauder, and she’s about to take the world by storm, in this dazzling new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Social Graces and Park Avenue Summer. In New York City, you can disappear into the crowd. At least that’s what Gloria Downing desperately hopes as she tries to reinvent herself after a devastating family scandal… After landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York’s finest luxury department store, Gloria finds her voice, which proves instrumental in opening doors for Estée’s insatiable ambitions.” (Penguin Random House)

Harnessing Serendipity by David Adler (SOC/BA ‘75) with James Cornehlsen and Andrew Frothingham

“In a world that often feels divided and conflicted, the over 60 individuals and teams interviewed for this book have extraordinary success at getting people to gather and work together. Each of them works differently, but all excel at harnessing the serendipities that humans inevitably present. The book builds on the realization that together, we can be more powerful than we are individually, and the observation that collaboration is fast emerging as an essential critical skill in all walks of life and endeavors.” (Self-Published, Harnessing Serendipity)

Hedged: How Private Investment Funds Helped Destroy American Newspapers and Undermine Democracy by SOC professor Margot Susca

“This damning debut from American University communications professor Susca examines how “overharvesting profits, the debt born of mergers and acquisitions, and the greed of private investment funds” has hollowed out newspapers across the country over the past 20 years. She explains that private equity firms and hedge funds’ practice of purchasing companies by taking on exorbitant debt has disastrous consequences for employees; for instance, private equity billionaire Sam Zell’s 2007 purchase the Tribune Company, publisher of the Chicago Tribune, saddled the business with $13 billion in debt that it dealt with by laying off 5% of its publishing employees.” Publishers Weekly

Mayor of the Tenderloin* by Alison Owings (SOC/BA ‘66)

“In Mayor of the Tenderloin, journalist Alison Owings slips behind the cold statistics and sensationalism surrounding San Francisco’s Tenderloin to reveal a harrowing and life-affirming account of Del Seymour—whose addiction led him into eighteen years of homelessness, pimping, and drug dealing. Once sober, he started Tenderloin Walking Tours and later Code Tenderloin, the remarkable organization teaching homeless, recovering addicts, sex workers, dealers, ex-felons, and other marginalized people how to get and keep a job.” (Penguin Random House) *Coming September 10th, 2024

The Revolution Will Be Hilarious by SOC professor Caty Borum

The Revolution Will Be Hilarious offers a compelling insider’s look at how comedy and social justice activists are working together in a revolutionary media moment. Caty Borum invites readers into an expanding, enterprising arena of participatory culture and politics through in-depth interviews with comedians, social justice leaders, and Hollywood players. Their insights shed light on questions such as: What role does comedy play in helping communities engage the public with challenging social issues? How do social justice organizations and comedians co-create entertaining comedy designed to build the civic power of marginalized groups? And how are entertainment industry leaders working with social justice organizations to launch new comedy as both entertainment and inspiration for social change? NYU Press

A Second Chance for Yesterday by R.A. Sinn*

Nev Bourne is a hotshot programmer for the latest and greatest tech invention out there: SavePoint, the brain implant that rewinds the seconds of all our most embarrassing moments. She’s been working non-stop on the next rollout, even blowing off her boyfriend, her best friend and her family to make SavePoint 2.0. But when she hits go on the test-run, she wakes up the next day only to discover it's yesterday. She's falling backwards in time, one day at a time. Simon and Schuster *R.A. Sinn is a pseudonym for Rachel Hope Cleves and her brother, SOC professor Aram Sinnreich.

The Secret Life of Data: Navigating Hype and Uncertainty in the Age of Algorithmic Surveillance by SOC professor Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert

In The Secret Life of Data, Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert explore the many unpredictable, and often surprising, ways in which data surveillance, AI, and the constant presence of algorithms impact our culture and society in the age of global networks. The authors build on this basic premise: no matter what form data takes, and what purpose we think it's being used for, data will always have a secret life. How this data will be used, by other people in other times and places, has profound implications for every aspect of our lives—from our intimate relationships to our professional lives to our political systems… Cutting through the hype and hopelessness that so often inform discussions of data and society, The Secret Life of Data clearly and straightforwardly demonstrates how readers can play an active part in shaping how digital technology influences their lives and the world at large. MIT Press

The Visionary in Charge by David Noll (SOC/BA ‘94)

“Do you want to create something that sells to millions around the country? Or millions around the world? Are you the kid that creates the next legendary app? Or the woman who creates the next craze on Etsy? Do you want a hit podcast? YouTube Channel? Successful side hustle? Or do you simply want to be someone who has a great idea, pitches it up, executes it… and then that idea helps the company? Almost all of us has a moment where we MUST create. Knowing how to consistently unleash that level of creativity – again & again – can change your life.” (Inspired Girl Publishers Group)