2024 Berkeley Law Library
Holiday Reading List

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Levi Cohen, Student Academic Advising and Support Services (SAASS) Administrator

Destined to be remembered as one of the best books to come out this year. This is a gorgeous coming-of-age novel that manages to balance granularity of detail with an all-embracing humanity. Here's a blurb from Goodreads: "At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different: She possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of Earthlings.”

The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald

Charlotte Daugherty, Foreign and International Librarian

Penelope Fitzgerald is an author you might not know, but she was nominated three times for the Booker Prize and won it for her novel Offshore. Her stories typically follow characters who are unusual in some way, or who live on society's periphery. The main character of The Beginning of Spring is Frank, an Englishman born and raised in Russia, who is raising his own family in Russia in the years just before the Russian Revolution. But there isn't much discussion of impending revolution; the book focuses on Frank's everyday efforts to take care of his three children while running the family's printing press business after his wife mysteriously abandons the children at a railway station for no clear reason on a trip home to England. The story unfolds in a series of quietly humorous episodes that paint vivid pictures of Russian society and culture over the course of a typical Moscow winter and ends with the beginning of Spring. The book is short, the writing is concise, and many of the plot's surprising main events are described in fine detail without ever being fully explained.

Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir by Ina Garten

Edna Lewis, Reference Librarian

Thanks to a birthday gift from my friend Carole, I recently attended Ina Garten’s book tour appearance at the SF Opera House for her memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens. It was like being at a Taylor Swift concert, except this time it was a crowd of primarily middle-aged women meeting their idol - there was literally a roar from the crowd when she appeared on stage. I can report that in person Ina (I feel we are on a first name basis) is as charming and likable as you would expect. The evening was married women porn (Jeffrey makes her coffee every morning - crowd swoons, Jeffrey empties the dishwasher - crowd sighs). Always bring a hostess gift - the crowd goes wild in approval. I still start laughing when I think about it.

But don’t underestimate Ina’s massive success or put too much emphasis on luck. She is one very smart cookie who had a passion for cooking, left a White House job to open the Barefoot Contessa deli in the Hamptons, worked incredibly hard, and some years into it began publishing the ridiculously successful cookbooks we all own and swear by. I always find the stories of successful people interesting and took several lessons from her book: 1) know what you want to do and pursue it, but first double check and make sure it’s something you actually have a talent for, 2) be willing to work very, very hard for a long time to achieve it, 3) be open to new opportunities, 4) don’t have kids or pets, and 5) marry Jeffrey (an incredibly successful person in his own right).

In what I would say was a massive over promotion of her memoir many of its details have already appeared in the media which is too bad since it is an interesting story and should be read as a whole. She also doesn’t sugarcoat her life and the time, energy and toughness it took to get where she is now. And she continuously evolved to embrace new opportunities as the world around her changed - the cookbooks, her food network show, social media, podcasts. She has an interior design book in the works.

And please note that In the book Ina mentions one of my all time favorite recipes - Coconut Cupcakes. Please make them ASAP and don’t forget to drop one off for me. Yum.

Box Office Poison by Tim Robey

Andrew Bradt, Shannon Cecil Turner Professor of Jurisprudence; Faculty Director, Civil Justice Research Initiative

Do you like movies? Do you like debacles? Do you like stories about movies that were debacles? Then this light read might be the book for you -- it's a history of Hollywood told through the industry's biggest flops, from Intolerance all the way to Cats. Written by the film critic for the Daily Telegraph, these hilarious histories make not only for great stories, but also insights into the careers of some of the movies' great stars and directors, and the evolving business of the movies. Robey avoids some of the most obvious choices here (e.g., Heaven's Gate, Ishtar) and focuses on some films that you can't believe got made and actually redeems others that were victims of bad press or their particular historical moment. Does Gigli deserve a second (or first?) look? How did the failure of the The Hudsucker Proxy lead the Coen Brothers to Fargo and The Big Lebowski. Find out in this consistently fun, and funny, book.

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki, translated from Japanese by Polly Barton

Kathy Hashimoto, Copyright Law Fellow

Inspired by the real-life sensational case of a convicted serial killer in Japan in the 2000s, Butter depicts the increasingly uneasy relationship between a woman who has been convicted of conning and killing men and the journalist who becomes obsessed with her. The novel is concerned not with the actual crimes, nor of any of the men, but with the psychological interplay between the two central women and their friends and families. As the journalist identifies more and more with her subject, who apparently partly lured her victims with gourmet cooking, the journalist begins to discover herself through the joys of good food and good eating, leading to episodes of body shaming and questions about identity and worth. The story seems to stall at certain points, and certain characters remain undeveloped, but overall it’s an interesting look at attitudes toward feminism in modern Japanese society. It was a huge bestseller in Japan.

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Jody Collova, Director of L.L.M. Legal Writing

By Any Other Name is a novel that explores the theory that Emilia Bassano may have written some of Shakespeare’s works. It also follows a contemporary female playwright and explores diversity issues in theater.

Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp

Michael Lindsey, Director of Library Web Development

This is my second review that originated from the NYT "Read Like the Wind" newsletter. Popular fiction written for an audience out of my time and place, but in my language. Some anachronistic idioms, but not so many as to impede the flow. The kind of fare that was syndicated in domestic weeklies. And, as it happens, the first book in a spontaneous personal project to keep a companion "reading log", which I've learned is crucial. I kind of space out, reading. Reading was recommended to me by my parents as something to do when I'm bored, or can't sleep. But with a small, smart notebook and your favorite pencil (jetpens.com, both) and I'm 100% engaged with my reading. Each new person or place gets a jot. A map takes shape. An intention to consolidate it all later, comes and goes, as it should. At the end of the book, I still have all the characters straight--a miracle! So, now I've read four Margery Sharp novels. They're on the inside of the action, paced for a long pleasant walk around the outside of the plot. Characters are rich and illustrated. The prose is smartly dressed. I feel like I've taken a wrong turn and found the day room where the TV is set to Turner Classic Movies, and I realize I can just stay here until the next election. Don't mind if I do.

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson

Charles McClain, Lecturer in Residence

This 2021 book traces the long and somewhat tortuous path that led Berkeley scientist, Jennifer Doudna, and her collaborator, Emmanuelle Charpentier to discover how a method that bacteria use to ward off viruses could be modified to target and edit an organism's DNA. For this pioneering work she and Charpentier received the Nobel prize in chemistry in 2020. The book is in part an engaging biography of Doudna, in part a discussion of the process of scientific discovery. It highlights how cumulative the process is (much work had been done on what was known as CRISPR beforehand), how chance can play a role in shaping one's academic career (Doudna knew nothing about CRISPR research until she learned about it in a meeting over coffee on campus with another Berkeley colleague), and how fiercely competitive the world of high level scientific research is. Isaacson, a prolific biographer, has a talent for writing lively, illuminating accounts of the lives and work of large figures in science and the arts (DaVinci, Einstein). He demonstrates the same talent here.

Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney

Mel Eisenberg, Jesse H. Choper Professor of Law (Emeritus)

Sally Rooney’s Conversations With Friends is a good novel about the interactions between the members of a married and a binary couple.

The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin

Hunter Schiff-Welsh, Senior Development Associate

Le Guin's masterpiece cuts to an essential core of what it means to be human: language, knowledge, identity, and systems of governance. It is an allegory of the US and Russia post WWII. The novel explores the journey of Shevek, a famous physicist (based on Robert J. Oppenheimer), from the moon Annares. Shevek travels to the planet Urras in order to share his knowledge for the betterment of all. As the world of Urras, its people, its customs, and its culture unfolds through the eyes of Shevek, Le Guin alludes to the seemingly invisible force and notion of power. She suggests some tantalizing ideas; the idea of what it means to be a utopia and anarchy as a way to govern.

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein

Joe Cera, Data and Digital Initiatives Librarian

If you have ever read a book by Naomi Klein, you will already have an idea of what to expect from this book. It is well-researched, thoughtfully written, and covers many different topics with an unexpected thread of doppelgangers. The book starts off with a discussion about the frustrations of being mistaken online for someone who is expressing views very different from your own. While this book is about sharing knowledge and interesting information, this should all make us stop and think about the way we consume information online. It is often fast and self-centered. We are quick to respond to things we strongly disagree with and also things we are in complete agreement with. Many mistakes made online come from not taking a moment to, for example, note that two different people who share the same first name and look alike as long as you don't actually look at them are actually two different people.

The topics covered in this book are far reaching from the expected - Naomi Klein and Naomi Wolf are not the same person - to discussions about how our online identities are doppelgangers, how the food we consume or the products we buy involve a sort of doppelganger in all of the different processes and people involved in the act of consumption, and the way people act and react to wars as a form of doppelganger (as well as much more in between all of these). Much of this was a fascinating read simply for the storytelling of the different doppelganger scenarios and the unexpected directions the storytelling took. One unexpected thought that came out of this was the idea that doppelgangers are almost always thought of as negative things - bad omens, evil twins, etc. but we can also think of doppelgangers as people who do the same jobs as us or have the same interests as us. While these people may not be apparent doppelgangers, they carry out many of the same actions in similar, but different, ways.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis

Joe Cera, Data and Digital Initiatives Librarian

Have you ever experienced toxic masculinity? Probably yes. I discovered this book through a serendipitous search for a different book at my local library. I started listening to it as an audiobook but it was read by a male voice about (as the title suggests) an absolutely dreadful character - truly a terrible person. At this point, I turned the audio book off and decided that I couldn't go any further until I read a bit about the idea behind the book since there are enough dreadful male characters in everyone's life. It turns out that this fictional book is about toxic masculinity but it is set in a fantasy realm (think dark wizards, magic, dragons, etc.) and written by a woman. I decided I would read it but not listen to it as an audio book. This turned out to be the right idea because I could make it through the entire book and I didn't have to listen to an excellent voice actor do a really good job of giving a voice to a terrible character. The book was excellent and I may go back to listen to the audio book because the voice actor was so good. In many ways, the theme of this book fit with the other book I was reading at the same time about doppelgangers.

This book does a really good job of challenging many of the ideas that we hold about ourselves (and others) as being set character traits. What is the motivation for our actions? Why do we care about the things that we care about? When you really mess up a situation, how do you respond? The main character is able to evaluate his previous decisions as a dreadful human being after a major memory loss. In the process of realizing he is experiencing the life of a terrible person, he questions that person's motivation for various choices that were clearly made prior to the memory loss but have set a series of unavoidable events in motion. Through the internal dialogue we can enjoy a detached evaluation of previous actions and how those should inform current actions but don't have to. While it is a work of fiction and fantasy, I enjoyed the ideas that inspire hope and optimism that dreadful people could decide to change and make decisions that may make them vulnerable but less terrible. Change is always just a decision away.

Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession by Craig Childs (Audiobook, narrated by the author)

Marlene Harmon, Reference Librarian

The archeology of the American Southwest and the Southwest itself is Craig Childs’s wheelhouse. This is one of several books he’s written about the ancient and current inhabitants of that region. Childs tells the stories of some of the crimes and obsessions of the interesting, and sometimes very odd people inspired to collect and steal the art, artifacts, and other remains of those ancient peoples - some of whom you wish could be hauled off to jail. Childs passes on his respect, even reverence for the land, those who once lived there and what they left behind. He leaves the reader feeling they’ve hiked through the desert with him and maybe come across some ancient find. A find that Childs would probably lovingly examine, leave just as he found it, and never disclose it or its location.

Fluke: Chance, Chaos, And Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas

Oliver Kay, Acquisitions/Serials

One line from the 1973 film Sleeper has stuck with me: “Do I believe in God? I'm what you would call a teleological, existential atheist. I believe that there's an intelligence to the universe, with the exception of certain parts of New Jersey.”

For various reasons, that quote and its notion that, no matter how absurd, there must be an intelligence to the universe have stuck with me. Things happen for reasons. Logic and understanding are progressive, and thus, so are the events that make up life, eras, even millennia.

This amazing book turned my conception of why things happen on its head, specifically as well as generally. The author argues that life and the conception of one’s existence is a formula of happenstances, a collection of swerves and tiny choices made, and not made. Flapping butterfly wings in the Amazon do indeed have the power to cause tornadoes in Missouri….

His use of true stories (his life’s unlikely trajectory) and history (why was Nagasaki bombed and not Kyoto?) will strongly challenge the reader’s perceptions. Using an apocryphal story about Ernest Hemingway, he explains how humans are storytellers and rely, insist even, on making narratives where none properly exist and how writers use this to their advantage. (Hemingway supposedly made a bet at a party that he could cram a tale worthy of a novel into just six words. He won the bet: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”)

To say the author Brian Klaas covers a lot of ground would be an understatement, but his prose is very approachable as he brings the reader through the social science that is his area of study, and leaves you to wonder if you can really believe that changing anything changes everything.

Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade (Podcast, available on various platforms)

Edna Lewis, Reference Librarian

The 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live (SNL) is in 2025 and this podcast, hosted by former SNL cast members Dana Carvey (the Church Lady, Garth from Wayne’s World) and David Spade (Tommy Boy, Emperor’s New Groove) is a tremendously entertaining look at SNL, chockablock with appearances from SNL cast members throughout the years. The podcast features everyone from original cast member Dan Aykroyd to current cast member Bowen Yang and everyone in between as well as others talking about SNL’s impact (e.g. Jerry Seinfeld, Fortune Feimster, Melissa McCarthy, Luke Wilson). There’s a tremendous amount of respect all around in the interviews and tons of backstage lore. I discovered this podcast only recently and there’s a lengthy back catalog of episodes so you can pick and choose what interests you.

I suspect all of us have watched SNL over the years and have our favorite bits and casts. If, like me, you have enduring memories of the show you will also enjoy Live from New York: The Complete Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by its Stars, Writers, and Guests by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales which was first published in connection with the show’s 30th anniversary but has been updated to include recent years.

This fall also saw the release of the movie Saturday Night which recreates the 90 minutes preceding the groundbreaking debut of the show in 1975. SNL will celebrate its 50th with a three hour prime time special on February 16, 2025.

And don’t forget all the SNL cast members from the Bay Area! Dana Carvey got his start in the Bay Area comedy clubs (I saw him way back when at the Other Cafe in the Haight when he was workshopping the Church Lady) and has a place in Mill Valley. Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island boys hail from Berkeley. Will Forte grew up in Lafayette. Current cast member Chloe Fineman is from Piedmont. New 2024 featured player Ashley Padilla also comes from the San Francisco area.

If, like me, you still check out YouTube for skits from the previous Saturday night’s show and look forward to SNL's take on whatever crazy thing is happening out there, you will enjoy this podcast. And you will find yourself laughing out loud - not a bad thing these days.

I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everett

Paul Clark, Lecturer, Senior Counsel, Seward & Kissel LLP

Everett is the acclaimed author of Erasure, which was made into the recent film American Fiction, and James, this year’s “It” book that tells the story of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim. But in 2009 Everett published this original and damn funny novel about a young man whose mother named him I am not Sidney Poitier. So, yes, there is obvious humor in the circumstances where he introduces himself to someone, a type of Who’s on First routine.

Among the main characters are Ted Turner (yes, that one) and a college professor named Percival Everett. Not Sydney goes to live with Turner after his mother dies (made somewhat plausible in the book) and Turner surfaces periodically to provide life advice in a manner that perfectly captures Turner’s expression of his thoughts in non sequiturs. Professor Everett teaches a class at Morehead College called the Philosophy of Nonsense. Sir, he is not.

Familiarity with the real Poitier’s filmography is helpful. The Defiant Ones, Lilies of the Field, To Sir, With Love, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night are all included, some more obviously than others. The plot line that tracks Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is perhaps the most intriguing.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Catherine R. Albiston, Jackson H. Ralston Professor of Law, Professor of Sociology, Faculty Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Society

A twist on the Faustian bargain, this novel follows Addie through the centuries after she discovers that her bargain to live forever and be free in exchange for her soul means no one remembers her once she leaves their presence, even for a few seconds. This story reflects on the meaning and value of human connection, how our personhood and identity rely on how (and even whether) others see us, and the Faustian theme of the danger of wishing for more without appreciating what we have. Schwab develops compelling characters with ordinary but rich lives, while capturing the unmoored sensation of an involuntary life alone.

James by Percival Everett

Savala Nolan, Executive Director, Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice

I recommend James for its witty, commanding inversion of Huckleberry Finn, but also for its merits as a standalone work. The writing is crisp, the humor incisive, the irony high, the bitterness finely wrought, the heartbeat steady, and the sadness so very familiar but, somehow, rendered freshly. Everett knows what to leave unsaid and when to speak with point-blank potency. I couldn't put James down, didn't want it to end, and am still thinking about it months later.

Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial that Riveted a Nation by Brenda Wineapple

Paul Clark, Lecturer, Senior Counsel, Seward & Kissel LLP

Wineapple’s account of the so-called “Scopes Monkey Trial” places the trial into a social and political context that is frightening, but important for understanding the current fissures in American society. In 1925 Tennessee passed a statute that prohibited the teaching of “any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach that man has descended from a lower order of animals”, i.e., evolution. John Scopes, a high school biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, using a state approved text that briefly mentioned evolution, was indicted. Then the circus began.

The main protagonists are Williams Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic Party nominee for President, who volunteered his services to the prosecution and Clarence Darrow, the outspoken sometime defender of left wing lost causes, who worked with the recently-formed ACLU to defend Scopes. Wineapple demonstrates how Bryan’s progressive political positions were limited to economic issues. He wholeheartedly embraced Fundamentalist Christianity and rejected any suggestion that the White and Black races could have descended from a common ancestor. While not a member of the Klan, which was ascendant in the 1920’s, he was a fellow traveler in many ways.

Darrow, the most famous trial lawyer of his day, was a non-believer, if not an atheist. Though usually aligned with organized Labor, to support his lifestyle he would take on cases adverse to Labor. He also liked the limelight, which put him at odds with the ACLU during the course of the case. Nevertheless, he was a spellbinding orator and produced soaring rhetoric in defense of Scopes: “Ignorance and fanaticism is ever busy and needs feeding. Always it is feeding and gloating for more.”

Darrow was able to maneuver Bryan to testify as an “expert” on the Bible. Under cross examination Bryan wavered on certain points, including that God created the Earth in 7 literal days (since there was no Sun at the beginning, how was a “day” measured?). While the outcome of the trial was not affected, a point was made.

According to a recent Gallup poll, 37% of Americans are pure creationists with only 24% believing in the scientific theory of evolution. Maybe Scopes II is in our future.

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie

Sue Schechter, Field Placement Program Director and Lecturer-in-Residence

Salman Rushdie is a learned man, and honestly, I did not understand or at least was not familiar in any real way to many of the references in the book. His ability to put Dunkirk and Groucho Marx and so many other seemingly unrelated references in the same paragraph, if not in the same sentence, is just remarkable. On some level, the book was a bit weird in that while it is a work of nonfiction, it reads with almost too much distance for me in terms of the actual act. On another level, perhaps because he is such a gifted writer, the book allows him and us to get distance to try to make some sense of a senseless and cruel act. It is remarkable observing how Rushdie works through his 'relationship' (his word) with his attacker. It is not a story of forgiveness, it is a rumination, deliberation, or wait, a meditation on a life changing and life embracing event. What comes through throughout the book is his relationship with his partner/wife and what a source of strength and love, a love from her and their families and friends (Martin Amis, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, wow!) that carried him through difficult, if not impossible, moments. Having not read Satanic Verses, but remembering that moment, I guess it is reasonable to believe that he would have learned how to have and keep some distance from this brutal experience. The religious intolerance discussed in the book is a scary reminder of the importance of love and the need to live and let live in a peaceful and caring way. If one can enjoy a book like this, I did, and I really learned a lot.

The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt

Kathy Hashimoto, Copyright Law Fellow

This book has a troubled history, debuting in 2000 only to see its publisher go out of business, then finding reissue with a new publisher in 2016. It sat on my shelf for years before I was reminded of it when I saw the title listed (#29) on the NYT 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. If you haven’t read it yet, don’t delay: This is a great book. It has little to do with Japan and is definitely not related to the Tom Cruise movie. Instead, The Last Samurai is about a brilliant American named Sibylla who is barely making ends meet as a typist and is sinking deeper into despair while raising her son, Ludo, in 1990s London. Partway through the book, the narrative shifts to Ludo, who has mastered classic Greek and several other languages, along with mathematics, physics, art history, etc. as a very young boy before going on his own quest of sorts, inspired by Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. It’s difficult to neatly summarize this novel. And it’s not an easy read. But DeWitt’s singular voice is funny and playful as well as deeply thoughtful and engaging, a compassionate consideration of the genius in all of us. It’s probably not for everyone, but it’s one of those books that makes you feel smart just for reading it and appreciating it. Warning: The story includes scenes and discussion of suicide.

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts by Oliver Burkeman

Kristie Chammoro, Technology and Instructional Services Librarian

Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman is an insightful guide to embracing imperfection in a messy, uncontrollable world. As a follow-up to his bestselling Four Thousand Weeks, this book takes a more accessible format, with 28 short chapters designed for a month-long “retreat of the mind.”

Much like Four Thousand Weeks, Burkeman tackles our complicated relationship with time and control, but this time through bite-sized wisdom drawn from philosophy, psychology, literature, and religion. He offers practical insights on dealing with endless to-do lists and addressing everyday challenges with clarity and calm.

I enjoyed the one-essay-per-day format (I confess I didn’t follow it exactly) – I found it gave me space to reflect on each individual idea. Whether you want to savor it through short, daily readings or race through it over the holidays, I highly recommend this book.

The Membranes by Chi Ta-Wei, translated by Ari Larissa Heinrich

Levi Cohen, Student Academic Advising and Support Services (SAASS) Administrator

The slimness of this novel belies the sheer amount of incredible ideas stuffed into it. The prose is beautiful as well. Goodreads blurb: "It is the late twenty-first century, and Momo is the most celebrated dermal care technician in all of T City. Humanity has migrated to domes at the bottom of the sea to escape devastating climate change. The world is dominated by powerful media conglomerates and runs on exploited cyborg labor. Momo prefers to keep to herself, and anyway she's too busy for other relationships: her clients include some of the city's best-known media personalities. But after meeting her estranged mother, she begins to explore her true identity, a journey that leads to questioning the bounds of gender, memory, self, and reality.

First published in Taiwan in 1995, The Membranes is a classic of queer speculative fiction in Chinese. Chi Ta-wei weaves dystopian tropes--heirloom animals, radiation-proof combat drones, sinister surveillance technologies--into a sensitive portrait of one young woman's quest for self-understanding. Predicting everything from fitness tracking to social media saturation, this visionary and sublime novel stands out for its queer and trans themes. The Membranes reveals the diversity and originality of contemporary speculative fiction in Chinese, exploring gender and sexuality, technological domination, and regimes of capital, all while applying an unflinching self-reflexivity to the reader's own role. Ari Larissa Heinrich's translation brings Chi's hybrid punk sensibility to all readers interested in books that test the limits of where speculative fiction can go."

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Kuhu Mathur, Project Policy Analyst, Berkeley Center for Law and Business

The book explores the topic of humanity and censorship. If not for the story, I fell in love with the writing. The sad, melancholy cadence of the prose made the storyline feel hauntingly real and gripped my attention for the entire weekend.

Midway: The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle by Mark E. Stille

Mel Eisenberg, Jesse H. Choper Professor of Law (Emeritus)

Mark E. Stille’s Midway is a detailed and critical account of the strategies and tactics employed by Japanese and United States aircraft carriers in a post-Pearl Harbor battle that turned around the Pacific war in World War II.

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville

Dean Rowan, Director, Reference & Research Services

SPOILER ALERT: The narrator protagonist survives the sinking ship. But then you knew that from the first sentence of the first chapter, when Ishmael introduces himself “some years” after the events he recounts. Moby-Dick, like A Tale of Two Cities, Silas Marner, or a Bruckner symphony, is mostly famous for its virtuosic tedium. Melville was paid by the word, some have argued, and so he was inclined to dilate. Such notoriety is unfair. This book encompasses all that is rewarding about great literature: due consideration of humanity, nature, technology, knowledge, foreign lands, and inclement weather. When I reached the end, I almost returned directly to the etymological entry and quoted extracts at the beginning and prepared again to plow through. Instead, I decided to read more Melville, his Piazza Tales and miscellaneous writings. In his book reviews he attends as carefully to the details of a title page as he does to whaling lore throughout the notorious Door Stop. I have no doubt that had Melville written about door stops, I would have found the discussion fascinating. This was my second traversal of Moby-Dick. It took me nearly four years, beginning just before COVID, when I acquired my copy at Melville Books on Alberta St. in NE Portland, a small shop named not for our author, but for the young proprietor, no relation. On this go-round, I found myself savoring Moby-Dick paragraph by paragraph, never wanting it to end.

Monstrilio by Gerardo Cordova

Gianna Rodriguez, Computing Services

This book is a painting of heartache that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. We begin with a mother who has just lost her son and, through us drowning with her, her most sane decisions seem irrational while her impossible choices are more than logical. Despite being a horror novel, there was no questioning or fear on my end. The trade between reader and author is letting yourself fall into the pain of motherhood and humanity's natural monstrosity. In turn, Cordova takes us on an exhibition comparable, in my opinion, to Shelly's Frankenstein. This book isn't shy, it's unapologetic and raw. A compelling read for anyone willing to dive into the unknowable black mass we call grief.

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Hunter Schiff-Welsh, Senior Development Associate

A thrilling tale and adventure that defined a genre and pop culture. You follow the journey of a washed-up console cowboy (hacker), named Case, who is recruited for a final job and a chance to redeem himself. Case and a cast of characters are brought together by a mysterious backer who sends them on various missions in search of an elusive entity, an artificial intelligence. As you immerse yourself in the unique lexicon and Gibson's world-building, the novel explores various themes of human nature and our relationship with technology. In an era dominated by conversations about AI and its unintended consequences, this is strangely familiar. The work serves as a cautionary tale and offers an intuitive perspective about the future, technology, and our place in it.

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

Ramona Collins, Circulation

This psychological thriller is quite a rollercoaster ride. Alix Summer and Josie Fair meet at a restaurant where they are each celebrating their birthdays. They find out that they were born on the same day in the same hospital. That is the end of the similarities between their lives. The reader learns more about these characters one little morsel at a time, and any conclusions drawn early on are challenged as the story progresses. Josie discovers Alix is a popular podcaster and suggests that she be a guest on Alix’s show. Josie tells a story of meeting and marrying a man 27 years her senior. Was she groomed or is her background more complex? Why did one of her daughters leave home at 16 and cut off all contact? Why does her other daughter isolate herself and what is the smell coming from her room? Josie and Alix get more and more enmeshed in each other’s lives and the reader questions some of the choices these characters make. Each of their lives is profoundly altered in the end. Netflix is developing a film based on the book. Read it now and get a preview.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Sue Schechter, Field Placement Program Director and Lecturer-in-Residence

Not being a big science fiction or horror book person, I had heard of this book, and certainly this author but never dived in. Around election time, enough people recommended this book that I knew it was time to take the plunge. Perhaps, obvious, but the book was incredibly 'prescient,' especially with the foreword and the afterword, on the paperback edition I had recently bought. The main character is a strong female role, always love that, and her strength and imperfections were delightful to behold as she navigated heartbreaking and heartstopping situations. The importance of community and taking care of each other resonated a bunch for me as we begin to think how we will care for each other in the coming period. While I am holding my breath we do not turn into a post-apocalyptic society, I think the lessons about resilience, acceptance, and love are critical to us at this scary and sad moment we are in.

The Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic Action by Kenneth Burke

Dean Rowan, Director, Reference & Research Services

Two high school buddies and I used to meet weekly with an English teacher, not my own, who assigned us readings in addition to the regular curriculum. We discussed and wrote about what we’d read. When we graduated, the teacher offered us books from his own library. Included in my take was a bunch of I.A. Richards, some Northrop Frye, Wimsatt & Brooks, and this 1957 revised paperback edition of Burke’s 1941 work. Thus, the volume was twenty years old when I acquired it. I have finally gotten around to reading it 47 years hence. I’m glad I did so. Burke’s feats are many, but he is probably best recognized for taking a wide view of literature he deems worthy of serious “criticism.” It includes the highbrow, the lowbrow, and cultural and political phenomena beyond traditionally received genres. At the time he wrote, beginning between the Wars, literary theory in the United States and England was consolidating around a movement that remains influential, relatively speaking, to this day, the New Criticism, which focused on each poem, novel, short story, or play (but mostly poems) as a work unto itself containing all the clues one needs to suss out its meaning. (That’s a simplification, but let it suffice.) Burke shortly abandoned the stance, and how fortunate we are that he forged his own unorthodox path. The title piece here, which occupies the bulk of the book, proposes a method for reading literature that takes into account its creator’s biography, contemporaneous world events, the legacy of literary works before it, and our so-called subjective, yet culturally impactful receptions of such works. Additional entries engage with religion, capitalism, and psychoanalysis. One entry is essential reading for all, a review of Mein Kampf. Burke read it so we don’t have to. Thank you for the book, Mr. Rebman.

The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories From My Life by John le Carre (Audiobook)

Paul Clark, Lecturer, Senior Counsel, Seward & Kissel LLP

One of the pleasures of the audio version is hearing le Carre (real name David Cornwell) narrate these vignettes from his life. He is clearly the best person to intone the dry wit from his writing. He read a few of his novels before his recent passing, notably A Delicate Truth, and one wishes he had done more.

The term pigeon tunnel refers to a target shooting event in Monte Carlo in which pigeons are released from a tunnel. Metaphor alert: the pigeons that survive return to the tunnel only to repeat their flight out of the tunnel and into hot lead.

Some of the chapters relating to his travels in the 1980’s are dated. But there are fascinating chapters on turning his books into film, or at least the efforts that were made. He was called in to provide moral (and liquid) support to Richard Burton during the filming of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, spent a long weekend with Francis Ford Coppola writing a screenplay that was never produced, and failed to persuade the BBC to let his friend Stanley Kubrick direct the screenplay of one of his novels (Behind schedule and over budget? No thank you!). A moving tribute to his friend Alec Guinness, the original George Smiley, is included.

Also included are anecdotes about Heads of State who consulted him for advice solely on the strength of his spy fiction. He politely demurred.

A few chapters are devoted to his father, Ronnie, a high class grifter who was driving a Rolls Royce one day and serving time the next. Ronnie was always looking for the main chance and happily exploited his son’s fame and fortune when possible. Cornwell concedes that his upbringing made him A Perfect Spy (an excellent le Carre novel) and very good at hiding secrets from friends and family.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Edna Lewis, Reference Librarian

“Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.” Marcellus McSquiddles, Giant Pacific Octopus

Marcellus, a curmudgeonly giant pacific octopus, spends his days at the Sowell Bay Aquarium staring balefully from his tank watching the humans passing by and ruminating on their cluelessness. By night, unbeknownst to management, Marcellus exits his tank and roams the aquarium, selectively feasting on sea life from the other tanks. One night Tova, the aquarium’s elderly cleaner, discovers Marcellus entangled in some cords, frees him, and the two forge a connection. Tova’s life is defined by her grief over the loss of her teenage son Eric many years ago in what was deemed a suicide in Sowell Bay. Marcellus though uses his eight tentacles, three hearts and enormous brain (particularly his powers of observation as the book’s characters move through the aquarium) to solve the mystery of Eric’s disappearance. As Marcellus notes, many of the humans in the book are indeed imperfect, blundering their way through life, but Van Pelt finds beauty in their attempts to deal with grief and loss and to find connections. The Pacific northwest coastal setting lends to the story - is the town dying or being reborn? A tender warmhearted story.

The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair (Sparks and Bainbridge Mystery)

Edna Lewis, Reference Librarian

The Right Sort of Man is the first in a series of delightful British mysteries written by a law school classmate of mine under the pen name Allison Montclair. In immediate post-war Britain two women set up a marriage bureau in Mayfair. Iris Sparks, Cambridge graduate, was a member of British intelligence in the war, has a number of unconventional skills and connections and is determined to create an independent life for herself in post-war London. Gwendolyn Bainbridge is an aristocrat and war widow with a young son, desperate to escape the control of her in-laws. In The Right Sort of Man, a client Tillie Sparks turns up dead supposedly at the hands of another client they had matched her with. To save their business the two join forces to solve the murder. Both female characters are complex and well-developed and the humorous byplay is charming. There are currently seven books in the series with an eighth out in 2025. I’ve read four so far and have enjoyed seeing the characters evolve as they maneuver the changing landscape of post-war London.

Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump and the Corruption of Justice by David Enrich

Kate Peck, Cataloging

As a latecomer to the world of Law, I had never given much thought to how law firms are organized, or if they have always been that way. Enrich's book covers the rise of big law, and how one firm in particular, Jones Day, has dominated the conservative legal landscape in recent years, especially during the first Trump administration. The book doesn't include any recommendations about how the industry can prevent the conglomeration of power that he describes, but knowing how and where they are wielding their power is a valuable first step. Great for non-lawyers like me who have no experience out in the legal world, but also includes some juicy inside sources on reactions within Jones Day to the firm's involvement in Trump's affairs.

So What: Poems by Frederick Seidel

Dean Rowan

Seidel’s latest collection returns to his enduring, some might say hackneyed themes: wealth, extravagance, Italian motorcycles, private jets, world travel, women, rotting politics, age, and Frederick Seidel. He remains a mean old cuss, now 88 and peevishly angry about his inability to age in reverse. “I’m getting young,” he pretends in “Long Story Short.” The brief “Song” concludes with a mathematically challenging, “The third half of my life begins.” This volume is unusual in at least one respect. The poet here reuses lines among the poems and, oddly, entirely reproduces with just a tiny alteration a poem that appeared in his 2016 volume, Widening Income Inequality. “The Bird on the Crocodile’s Back” from the older volume appears here as “The Songbird on the Crocodile’s Back.” This makes me wonder whether his creativity could be waning. Maybe so, but then it might be just another tactic for shocking, irritating, and insulting his readers, which he does so magnificently. Seidel gets right up under the reader’s nostrils and brazenly celebrates his elite privilege. So what.

Kaibyo: the Supernatural Cats of Japan (2nd ed.) by Zack Davisson

Edwin Bish, Room Planning Administrator

Cats are a favorite topic, just look at the Internet. Cats in Japan, another favorite topic on and off the Internet. BUT what do you know about Supernatural Cats in Japan??

It’s long been said you can’t truly know Japan if you don’t delve into the Yokai, the ghosts, demons, and other mythical creatures that inhabit the literature and folk tales of this country, so why not start of with some of the most popular of Yokai creatures: Kaibyo: the Supernatural Cats of Japan (2nd ed.) by Zack Davisson.

Zack was uniquely situated to write this book. Prolific translator of manga and fact checker for translated works, he accumulated a lot of miscellaneous files on various subjects over time. Until one of his co-workers noted the tall stack of files marked ‘Cats’ and said, “That’s a lot of stuff, you should make a book out of that.” Wiser words were never spoken.

Ever wonder where the ubiquitous Inviting Cat came from? Maneki Neko, that’s in here. Ever wonder what inspired the character Twin Tails in Sonic the Hedgehog? Nekomata the split tailed cat, that’s in here too! As well as cat shape changers; Bakeneko, and cat witches; Shippeitaro, and cat courtesans; Bakeneko Yujo! Oh yeah baby, we’re going to the Floating World! Next stop popular Kabuki actors AS CATS!

Profusely illustrated with dozens of ukiyo-e prints and drawings, the majority in color! Plus the 2nd ed features a gatefold reproduction of Takashi Murakami’s 10-meter work (in its original form). “Japan Supernatural” that is not to be missed.

“BUT WAIT!” I hear you cry, “What’s all this supernatural stuff got to do with this time of year?” May I remind you of a certain extremely popular holiday tale that contains no less than FOUR ghosts? (if you include Marley, who is a kind of warm-up act for the following three). Plus shape changing door knockers and other weird happenings before Marley ever arrives. Oh yes, this is the perfect time of year for a story of Kaibyo. SO, here’s your cup of hot chocolate, curl up in your fuzzy blanket, and let me read you a story about Neko Musume—The Cat Daughter…

These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett

Pam Samuelson, Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law, Professor of School Information, Co-Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology

My favorite book this year has been These Precious Days by Ann Patchett. It is a collection of her essays from the pandemic days. The opening essay is a tribute to her three fathers. Most moving is the essay about a woman who lived with Patchett and her spouse during the pandemic who was being treated for pancreatic cancer and who had a wonderful spirit that Patchett conveys so well.

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Steven Chizen, Lecturer

I really enjoyed An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Ms. Goodwin tells the true story of her late husband Dick Goodwin’s journey in American politics, where he served as a speech writer and close advisor to JFK, Lyndon Johnson, and Robert Kennedy. More importantly, this book is a love story—one between Ms. Goodwin and Mr. Goodwin, and between the Goodwins and our country’s promise of progress that so defined the 1960s. I read this book during the stress and chaos leading up to the presidential election. It was a much-needed break. Ms. Goodwin reminded me, through her telling of 1960s American political history, that we must remain optimistic and continue the fight toward a better society. This book is perfect winter reading for anyone looking to reclaim their faith in the power of patriotism and love.

The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones

Mel Eisenberg, Jesse H. Choper Professor of Law (Emeritus)

I recommend The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones. A gripping history of the radically unsettled and deadly multi King period 1420-1520 in England.

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda

Edna Lewis, Reference Librarian

I am decidedly a dog person, but found this Japanese novel about the healing power of feline companionship quite lovely. In a backstreet in Kyoto there is a mysterious clinic, the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul, with an unconventional approach for treating psychological problems - they prescribe you a cat. In six separate stories the humans, often reluctantly and quite ineptly, learn to care for and interact with their cat and in doing so find a path forward. The clinic itself exists in some type of time warp - only those who need it can find it - and what’s the story with the doctor and nurse running it? The novel is shot through with a strong dose of magical realism and whimsy. A quick sweet read.

When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson (YA)

Annette Counts, Librarian, Bishop O’Dowd High School

The plot of When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson is a complex multi-generational saga about the Fall family, with a touch of magical realism that includes ghosts and a talking dog. In the present, the beloved father of the Falls unexpectedly takes off, leaving every family member uniquely devastated.

The father’s desertion is the mystery that moves the plot. You love these characters and their broken lives and keep reading in the hope that what is broken will be repaired. Nelson’s genius is to develop relatable characters whose inner thoughts and feelings reflect their effort to sift through misperceptions in the hope of finding the answers to the questions ”Who am I? ” and “Who is my family?” Throughout the novel, the reader experiences the power of nature, drools with the descriptions of food, delights in the snappy dialogue, cringes at the missteps and misunderstandings and cheers as the diverse cast of characters rebuild fractured relationships.

In When the World Tips Over, Nelson wonders: if there is such a thing as generational trauma, can there also be generational joy? The happy answer is yes but you need to clear your head and open your eyes to see it.

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Marlene Harmon, Reference Librarian

There are only eight women’s names inscribed among the 58,000 names on the VietNam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., they were all nurses, approximately 10,000 of whom served “in country” in Vietnam. Hannah’s novel tells the story of one of them. In 1965 Frances “Frankie” McGrath, privileged and sheltered daughter of a well-to-do Southern California family volunteers for the Army Nurses Corps and follows her brother to Vietnam, convinced that she too can be a hero. Nursing in a field hospital in Vietnam is a giant reality check. Like so many of the soldiers who went to Vietnam, Frankie is almost completely unprepared and inexperienced. She learns quickly, forms strong bonds with fellow nurses, and does her job. She sees and experiences horrors, but she survives. She returns home to a family and country who wish to forget the war, and to a large extent turn their backs on the veterans of that war. And like many veterans, Frankie struggles with PTSD. As a woman, she’s not even recognized as a veteran or given any help. The second half of this book chronicles Frankie’s long, and ultimately successful struggle to come to terms with her war experiences. Hannah has created a character who is a flawed human rather than a glowing heroine. Frankie makes many bad decisions, she becomes an alcoholic, and it’s a bumpy road to recovery. I didn’t always like Frankie, but her story is engaging and enlightening and I’m grateful to Hannah for telling it.

The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall; art by Faith Schaffer (YA)

Kathy Hashimoto, Copyright Law Fellow

In this YA fantasy graphic novel, a young wannabe sword fighter meets her idol, who was the first female samurai accepted into a famed training academy. Unfortunately, at age 19, the once renowned samurai has already become a cynical, hard-drinking ronin whose loyalty is only to her clever and spirited horse. Nevertheless, the two young women team up to face not only a demon that is terrorizing a village, but other past and present treachery as well. This is a quick and fun read, imagining an alternative Japan and mixing old and new (feudal life plus smartphones).

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Kristie Chamorro, Technology and Instructional Services Librarian

If you're looking for a book that will keep you up late during the holiday break, Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is a great choice. Reviewing this novel is tricky because I don’t want to give too much away. I’ll disclose that it’s a literary thriller that explores racism, the cutthroat world of publishing, and cultural appropriation. I particularly enjoyed how the book portrays social media's role in the literary world and the way reputations are built and destroyed online. Kuang’s blunt approach to several sensitive topics was at times uncomfortable to read, but her terrific pacing and unexpected twists made Yellowface difficult for me to put down.

If you’re looking for a few other books to add to your holiday list, there’s been law library buzz around Kuang’s other works, including Babel and The Poppy War trilogy.