Odum Library Blog

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.

When unattended environmental and economic crises lead to social chaos, not even gated communities are safe. In a night of fire and death Lauren Olamina, a minister’s young daughter, loses her family and home and ventures out into the unprotected American landscape. But what begins as a flight for survival soon leads to something much more: a startling vision of human destiny… and the birth of a new faith.

OCTAVIA E. BUTLER was a renowned African-American writer who received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. She was the author of several award-winning novels including Parable of the Talents, which won the Nebula for Best Novel. Acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future, sales of her books have increased enormously since her death as the issues she addressed in her Afrofuturistic, feminist novels and short fiction have only become more relevant. She passed away on February 24, 2006. ~Amazon.com

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

This is the way the world ends…for the last time.

A season of endings has begun.

It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world’s sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun.

It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter.

It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.

This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.

N. K. Jemisin is the first author in the genre’s history to win three consecutive Best Novel Hugo Awards, all for her Broken Earth trilogy. Her work has also won the Nebula, Locus, and Goodreads Choice Awards. She is currently a reviewer for the New York Times Book Review, and she has been an instructor for the Clarion and Clarion West writing workshops. In her spare time she is a gamer and gardener, and she is also single-handedly responsible for saving the world from King Ozzymandias, her dangerously intelligent ginger cat, and his phenomenally destructive sidekick Magpie. ~Amazon.com

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Nnedi Okorafor, born to Igbo Nigerian parents in Cincinnati, Ohio, is an author of fantasy and science fiction for both adults and younger readers. Her science fiction novella Binti won both Hugo and Nebula awards, her children’s book Long Juju Man won the Macmillan Writer’s Prize for Africa, and her adult novel Who Fears Death was a Tiptree Honor Book. She is an associate professor of creative writing and literature at the University at Buffalo. ~Amazon.com

The Future of Humanity by Michio Kaku.

Kaku tells us how science fiction is becoming reality: mind-boggling developments in robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology could enable us to build habitable cities on Mars; nearby stars might be reached by microscopic spaceships sailing through space on laser beams; and technology might one day allow us to transcend our physical bodies entirely.

“I did not expect to feel this much excitement out of this book. Like his pal, Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku has a wonderful ability of explaining complex topics in a down to earth manner. I’m glad that I’ve finally found another science book that I absolutely enjoyed reading from cover to cover.” – Erica, Amazon.com

The Big Picture: the fight for the future of movies by Ben Fritz

The future of Hollywood is being written by powerful corporate brands like Marvel, Amazon, Netflix, and Lego, as well as censors in China. This book shows the first glimmers of a new golden age through the eyes of the creative mavericks who are defining what our movies will look like in the new era.

“Insightful and thoroughly researched, it’s one of the few books I’ve encountered that both seems to understand where the industry has been and where it’s going. It’s a deep-dive that I was worried would be a little too “inside baseball,” but it’s written in a very accessible way. Great for people who want to understand the recent history of Hollywood and why things have been changing so much. Should be required reading for film students and anyone else trying to break into the business.” – F. Gilmore, Amazon.com

Empire in Retreat Edited by Victor Bulmer-Thomas

This book is a grand survey of the United States as an empire. Arguing that the move toward diminished geopolitical dominance reflects the aspirations of most U.S. citizens, he asserts that imperial retreat does not necessarily mean national decline and may ultimately strengthen the nation-state. At this pivotal juncture in American history, Bulmer-Thomas’s uniquely global perspective will be widely read and discussed across a range of fields.

“This is a comprehensive study of the United States as a long-standing empire and world power by a leading economic historian of Latin America and the Caribbean. It explains why its global leadership is increasingly challenged. It is a must read for those interested in the origins and causes of this change, notably in the Trump era.”—José Antonio Ocampo, Columbia University

Under Swiss Protection by Editors Agnes Hirschi and Charlotte Schallie.

Through the lens of Jewish eyewitness testimonies, this book retraces Carl Lutz’s diplomatic wartime extensive rescue operations in Budapest, Hungary between March 1944 and February 1945.

“It reads like a smooth page-turner, but it’s a piece of history. Very vivid pictures of the times and the mindset. As unbiased as possible without taking a stand of those confusing and unbelievable times!” – Eva Grausz, Amazon.com

The Rise of Victimhood Culture by Bradley Campbell & Jason Manning
This book offers a framework for understanding recent moral conflicts at U.S. universities, which have bled into society at large. They are clashes between a new moral culture—victimhood culture—and a more traditional culture of dignity. As students increasingly demand trigger warnings and “safe spaces,” many young people are quick to police the words and deeds of others.

“Fantastic overview of the changes to moral culture on college campuses. Campbell and Manning advance the fascinating and provocative thesis that the tantrum behavior we’re seeing on today’s college campuses reflects transition from a dignity culture to a self-obsessed victimhood culture.” – Consumer #142, Amazon.com

Cuba on the Verge Edited by Leila Guerriero

This book is an account of – and a unique glimpse at – Cuba’s moment of upheaval and reinvention whose effects promise to reverberate across years and nation. We know Cuba is changing, but from what and into what? What does this change mean for the Cuban people as well as for the rest of the world?

“One of the more comprehensive and impressive books to attempt to capture the mystery and paradox that is Cuba. The collection of voices in this book offer insightful perspectives into a country in transition and stasis.” Lagun NE, Amazon.com