We Recommend: Life of the Mind
Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words, John McWhorter, PhD ’93; Avery. These unsung heroes stand in for nouns, are laden with linguistic precedent (see singular they back in the day), and punch above their weight in meaning, impact, and flexibility.
The Mind Electric: A Neurologist on the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains, Pria Anand, MD ’14; Washington Square Press. How our brains build narratives that drive us to do mad and wonderful things, in sanity and insanity.
Out of Your Mind: The Biggest Mysteries of the Human Brain, Jorge Cham, MS ’99, PhD ’03, and Dwayne Godwin; Pantheon. The creator of the PhD Comic heads back to the drawing board, this time to map out the body’s control center.
Articulate: A Deaf Memoir of Voice, Rachel Kolb, ’12, MA ’13; Ecco. A reflection on the fluid nature of language acquisition, self-expression, and communication in a hearing-centric world.
Clamor: How Noise Took Over the World—and How We Can Take It Back, Chris Berdik, MA ’01; W.W. Norton. Hush now: New research sounds the alarm on sonic pollution and the health-damaging effects of the everyday din.
The Note: A Novel, Alafair Burke, JD ’94; Knopf. When a prank goes wrong, the past comes flooding into the present in this precise, suspenseful page turner penned by a prosecutor turned Hofstra U. law professor.
Resurface: A Guide to Navigating Life’s Biggest Transitions, Cassidy Krug, ’07; Penguin Life. At a turning point? This former Olympic diver’s got your back, whether you were blindsided or expecting the blow.
