100 books like Poison Ivy

Though set less than a century ago, the world of Steinbeck’s novel is so very different from our own. This masterpiece follows the Joad family as they head west to California, escaping the hardship and poverty of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl.

Depression-era America is described with such detail and emotion that the reader feels almost like a companion of the Joads, each of whom are rendered with precision and depth. In other hands, this might have been a grim, gloomy tale, but Steinback evokes themes of loyalty, kindness, and pride with peerless power and skill.  

Often hailed as the greatest book on cities ever, Jane Jacob’s critique of modernism and the rapid spreading out of the city through urban sprawl goes to the heart of what cities are all about. Her description of New York and other North American cities in terms of their diversity and cultural richness elevates the way we build our cities from the bottom up in the face of modernist planning that imposes an artificial order from the top down.

Her book is not only a critique of planning but a logic of how we should understand the complexity of cities as they continue to evolve and embrace new technologies.

This is the first of four book recommendations that may not be as inspirational as The Grapes of Wrath, but which make up for that by providing real-world information that can be useful to people trying to improve our world. This book shows how fresh thinking about economics can help solve some of the world’s most intractable problems. Innovative research, careful observation, and plain common sense enable these two Nobel Prize-winning MIT economists to upend a lot of conventional wisdom and develop interesting and compelling policy proposals, which they discuss in a particularly accessible way.

This book brings together economics, education, and urban development by showing how our public policies advantaged wealthy suburbanites over less wealthy urban dwellers after World War II. Many people think there is a natural migration to the suburbs after couples have children. Jackson does a masterful job of showing why that is not the natural order of things. It is the result of specific policy choices such as how we fund infrastructure, what tax incentives we provide, who has access to credit, and how we draw political boundaries. His insights offer a blueprint for a more equitable society.

Before delving into the business and culture of college radio, I had to think through the complicated relationships between universities and their surrounding communities. Davarian Baldwin helped me do just that.

The FM signals emanating from inside the walls of the ivory tower occupied the public’s airwaves, and so surrounding residents not affiliated with institutions had legitimate claims to these signals, which usually operated on licensed signals requiring public service and educational functions. While these signals often did provide valuable culture and information for wide and diverse communities, they sometimes replicated the more complicated politics of these institutions and the destructive role they played in communities.

Baldwin’s engaging and enraging exploration of town and gown provides a critical lens to use when thinking through the relationship between universities, nearby music scenes, cultural service, and radio.

When I became a dean in 1997, much of my serious reading moved from my discipline to higher education.

It made sense to me that the differences between chairperson, dean, provost, and president had more to do with demands on one’s time than the kind of work one needs to do, and indeed, I learned much from this book, which makes the case for strong and charismatic leadership.

While it is among the most compelling books on presidential leadership and its possible impact on a campus, much of the advice is transferable to persons in less senior positions.

After more than thirty years of teaching college students, Dr. “Tony” Fredericks put pen to paper to create a practical and solution-based guide for adjunct professors.

First, the reader is guided to establish best teaching practices for this specialized group of students. The author also provides countless tools as he details how to select a textbook and design a syllabus, define first-day teaching expectations, pose effective questions to propel stimulating discussions, and teach diverse populations of students.

Meticulously constructed, the author composes the text in a well-organized and easy-to-read format. As an aside, Dr. Tony Fredericks currently is the author of over one-hundred-seventy books, comprised as adult non-fiction books, children’s books, pre-service teacher books, and teacher resource books. Not too shabby. 

This book is the one furthest from my own interests. Instead of articulating a vision, it includes the results of interviews with senior administrators across more than 30 campuses. But it is important to know not only what should be, but also what is. 

The authors’ conclusions about the current landscape of Catholic higher education are sobering. The most prominent finding, is that many lay leaders have insufficient vision and knowledge of the Catholic intellectual tradition.

When you enter higher administration, you need a vision and you need the people and resources to realize that vision.

Most books for chairpersons and deans are about vision and about hiring and mentoring faculty and staff, but how to garner resources is perhaps the area that is addressed the least. I found this book helpful as an initial guide.

Basically, it offers a comprehensive account of academic fundraising, with practical advice and detailed examples from academic leaders and senior development professionals. The introduction and first two chapters provide a superb introduction for persons new to academic fundraising.

Joy Williamson-Lott has a powerful voice and perspective the permeates every sentence in this book. She doesn’t waste a word. And, her research skills are superb. For anyone wanting to learn how to write beautiful history, this book is a model. She is also particularly good at showcasing the voices of African American students who were instrumental to the Black freedom struggle. You can feel their energy and frustration in her passages, and their commitment to freedom and justice comes alive.