For the 14th consecutive year, first-year students enrolled in the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service’s Master of Public Service degree program have compiled a list of books they recommend others to read.
The books will be on display at a drop-in reception on Monday, September 9 at WordsWorth Books (5920 R Street) in Little Rock from 5:15-6:30 p.m. All are welcome to visit with the students and hear about their wide range of reading selections.
“This always interesting and diverse book list has become a much-anticipated tradition here at the Clinton School,” said Dean James L. “Skip” Rutherford III. “We have requests for it from individuals, teachers, book clubs, libraries, and bookstores from all over the country.”
“This year’s list includes titles that span genre, place, and time,” said Fred McKindra of WordsWorth Books.
“Together, these works comprise a canon that looks soberly at our contemporary, global moment while also interrogating the antecedents by which we have arrived here.”
Of the 41 books, 37 are first-time selections in the 14-year history of the school’s recommended reading lists.
The books will be on display at Sturgis Hall throughout the 2019-20 school year and will be added to the school’s permanent collection. Printed lists will also be available at WordsWorth Books and at the Central Arkansas Library System’s main library.
Wordsworth Books is an independent book store and a long-time Clinton School community partner. It regularly handles book sales and orders for authors who speak as part of the Clinton School Speaker Series.
Letter to His Father by Franz Kafka
Nikki Anderson
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Marlie Ball
13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do by Amy Morin
Tamara Bates
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Farrah Beck
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Ryan Bell
Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Samantha Black
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
Mackenzie Bolt
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Jennifer Browne
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Tim Campbell
Food and Faith by Norman Wirzba
Abigail Carlson
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Drew Coker
Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count by Phil Buchanan
Linda Dipert
Destroying the Root of Racism by Dr. Ron Webb
Taylor Donnerson
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
Blake Farris
The Art of Communication by Thich Nhat Hanh
Kam Gomez
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Lydia Grate
Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the World by Shannon Watts
Liz Hall
Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History by Eduardo Galeano
Nada Hamida
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Courtney Heptig
The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South by John T. Edge
Brock Hyland
Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy
Patrick Isokpunwu
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Kate Jenkins
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome by Dr. Joy DeGruy
Abraham Kahasay
So Long A Letter by Mariama Bâ
Baraka Kengwa
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
Abigail Lee
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton and Lara Love Hardin
Corrinne McClure
The Antichrist by Friedrich Nietzsche
Jacob McGuire
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy D. Snyder
Cody McKinney
What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding: A Memoir by Kristin Newman
Cassidy Mitchell
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
Brittany Moody
Readings in Arkansas Politics and Government by Janine A. Parry and Richard P. Wang
Michael Morrison
Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli
Katerina Noori
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Aisosa Osaretin
The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson
Leslie Parker
Them: Why We Hate Each Other–and How to Heal by Ben Sasse
J. Dillon Pitts
Night by Elie Wiesel
Jaylin Sprout
New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
Connor Thompson
The Holy Bible (King James Version)
Bréjai Washington
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Michael Webb
1984 by George Orwell
Jacey Winn
How to Fight Presidents: Defending Yourself Against the Badasses Who Ran This Country by Daniel O’Brien
Alec Zills
