Previous One Book Summer Book Club Books

Previously, the Summer Book Club consisted of one book selected by the Faculty Center to be read and discussed. It was open to all Rowan Faculty and Staff. Books were available free on a first come, first served basis. Members just had to attend one of the scheduled book club meetings where they to shared and discussed their thoughts. 

Previous Summer Reading

2022 - "The Flourishing Teacher: Vocational Renewal for a Sacred Profession" by Christina Bieber Lake.

Sometimes being a faculty member leaves you burned out, due to all it's commitments. This book offers advice on how to flourish when teaching; how to find work/life balance; fit in time for research and writing; how to navigate the challenges of being a female faculty member; and more.

2021 - "Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times" by Katherine May

Explores the ways we can care for and repair ourselves when life knocks us down.

2020 - No book

2019 - "Brown White Black: An American Family at the Intersection of Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Religion" by Nishta J. Mehra 

Brown White Black is a portrait of Nishta J. Mehra's family: her wife, who is white; her adopted child, Shiv, who is black; and their experiences dealing with America's rigid ideas of race, gender, and sexuality.

2018 - "Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness" by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein 

Nudge is about how we make these choices and how we can make better ones.

Rowan Common Reading 

This initiative started in 2012 and ended in 2017. The Faculty Center held Summer Book Club sessions for faculty and staff to discuss these books.

2017 - "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History" by Elizabeth Kolbert 

Powerful account of humans’ role in the accelerating extinction of species in the modern era.

2016 - "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah chronicles the stories of high school sweethearts in Nigeria who, in the face of military dictatorship, emigrate to the United States and London, where they encounter a new conception of race as well as discrimination and xenophobia. 

2015 - "Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash" by Edward Humes

Challenges us to think about humans’ impact on the environment. People in many cultures - especially the United States - produce enormous amounts of trash; the health of our oceans, lands, and communities are suffering.

2014 - "This I Believe II" edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman 

This collection of personal essays reveals the diversity of content and origin of people's belief systems and values. 

2013 - "Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity" by Katherine Boo

This book shares the lives and experiences of the residents of a slum, Annawadi, near developing Mumbai, India.

2012 - "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Intrigued by a casual remark in an introductory biology course at a community college, the author relentlessly tracked down information about Henrietta Lacks, her family, and her cells, which have traveled around the globe and even into space.

Updated 5/22/23