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Novel

Butch Cougar in front of a pile of books
Spring 2021

What to read: Books by alumni, faculty, and staff

Here’s a round-up of reading recommendations featuring titles by WSU alumni, faculty, and staff—including one to watch for later this spring.

Anything and everything by Buddy Levy. The celebrated author of seven books, Levy specializes in historical narrative, particularly epic adventures and survival stories—perfect for the pandemic, which makes us all armchair travelers. Levy’s taught writing at WSU for more than 30 years, and his own writing—meticulously researched, masterfully organized—simply sings. His riveting narratives make readers feel like they are right there with protagonists, experiencing everything they’re going through.

Buddy Levy: Historical investigator” from the Summer 2011 issue

Labyrinth … » More …

Butch Cougar in front of a pile of books
Spring 2021

Recommended reading

The persisting pandemic just might be the perfect time for relishing the power of books.

To transport us through time and space. To offer us insight and entertainment. To help us remember and make us forget. To lessen our stress and sense of loss and isolation. To give us courage and hope. To connect us and inspire us.

Books are both refuge and door, providing shelter from the storm as well as ways to escape to different worlds and discover new things. Many of us have turned to them for respite while we’re all largely sequestered in our homes.

Here, Washington State University faculty and … » More …

Book cover of Mao's Kisses
Spring 2020

Mao’s Kisses: A novel of June 4, 1989

Book cover of Mao's Kisses

Alex Kuo

Redbat Books, 2019

 

Deng Xiaoping learned to play bridge in the early 1950s. Little did he realize that appropriating state transportation to take him and his team to tournaments would result in the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and his being transported far from Beijing for reeducation through manual labor.

But Deng wasn’t just a Goren Prize-winning bridge player. He was, after his rehabilitation, China’s paramount leader during a time of civil crisis. The spring of 1989 brought … » More …