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I read this book my first year at Carleton! It took me almost the entire Winter Term, and was one of my first forays into historical fiction. As a history…

English 102 with Professor Owen Jenkins During my junior year in high school, Carl L. Becker’s Modern World traveled back and forth in a green bookbag as I commuted by…

The Aeneid by Vergil A melancholic soul sets its course with the compass drawn to longing. For me and for Vergil’s refugee Aeneas, that compass points to “home.” The location…

My first encounter with Haldore Hanson’s materials was in Special Collections in 2008 at Carleton’s Gould Library. A photo album of his trip to China in 1937–1938 caught my eyes.…

I had made it four years as an English Major at Carleton without having read Moby Dick. I really, really did not want to read Moby Dick. It intimidated me.…

Toni Morrison’s masterpiece novel Beloved was published near the beginning of my time at Carleton. It was taught in several classes, so I read and re-read it under the guidance…

The Plague (La Peste, in French) by Albert Camus I was fascinated by the central character, the unidentified narrator, who related the events of the plague, confined to one area…

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki first we sit as still as able, sensai says sweep your mind.next is adorables falling swoop low, under curve, accepting weight surrounding bones…

Clara Hardy recommends Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher.

I recently grappled with the deeply disturbing 1940 psychological thriller by Dorothy Kunhardt entitled, “Pat the Bunny.” The sense of malaise begins with the title of the book. Is it…