Recommended Reading from the Class of 2023

First-year students enrolled in the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service’s Master of Public Service degree program have compiled a list of books they recommend others to read.

Now in its 16th year, the annual list is created in partnership with long-time Clinton School community partner WordsWorth Books, an independent bookstore in Little Rock that has been in operation for more than 30 years.

“The book recommendations of the Clinton School Class of 2023 reflect an exciting search for understanding and solving problems in both the nonfiction and fiction selections,” said Lia Lent, Owner and Store Manager of WordsWorth Books.

Several of this year’s book selections reflect the public service interests of many Clinton Schools students, exploring issues of race, social justice, poverty, and the evolution of large economic and political institutions.

“A hard look at racial justice issues is incorporated in books from ‘Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria’ to ‘Things Fall Apart’ and the prize-winning novel ‘Sing, Unburied, Sing,’” Lent said. “Exploring the root causes and effects of poverty are explored in books such as ‘Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty,’ ‘When Helping Hurts’ and the children’s book ‘For Every Child a Better World.’”

Other selections tap into themes of self-discovery and spiritual journey through novels and autobiographies. Additional selections cultivate ideas and plans for personal growth through a variety of methods and lessons, including academic research, unique experiences, and social economics.

“Several of the recommendations are about journeys within and without: ‘Blue Highways,’ ‘Denali,’ ‘Siddhartha,’ and ‘The Alchemist’ are examples,” Lent said. “Other recommendations challenge us to strive towards our dreams: ‘Think Like a Monk,’ ‘Daring Greatly,’ ‘Women and Work,’ ‘Black Faces in White Places,’ and ‘Outliers: The Story of Success.’

A number of the novels selected reflect a range of literary interests, from historical fiction and science fantasy, to spiritual themes of the afterlife and the decisions that comprise a life best-lived.

“The fiction recommendations highlight great writing and provocative topics from Hugo award-winner ‘Fifth Season’ to the Korean family sage ‘Pachinko’ to the best-selling ‘Midnight Library’ that poses the question – what is the best life to live?” Lent said. “The Class of 2023 book selections will educate and entertain readers looking to make a difference in the world.”

The selected books will be on display at Sturgis Hall throughout the 2021-22 school year and will be added to the school’s permanent collection. Printed lists will be available at WordsWorth Books.

Below is the complete list from the Class of 2023.

Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy
by Henry George
Kwami Abdul-Bey

Why Nations Fail, The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson
Lydia Adusei

Denali: A Man, A Dog, and the Friendship of a Lifetime
by Ben Moon
Micah Beck

Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose
By Jay Shetty
Haoua Bello Barkire

Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee
Mia-angel Bennett 

Blue Highways: A Journey into America
by William Least Heat-Moon
Derek Bixler

The Sun Also Rises
by Ernest Hemingway
Becca Bona

Going Fishing
by Negley Farson
Lucy Burgess

Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward
Brooke Caraway

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
By Beverly Daniel Tatum
Malicat Chouyouti

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself
by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert
Brittany Chue

Status Anxiety
by Alain De Botton
Erin Clement

Daring Greatly
by Brene Brown
Savannah Combs

The Midnight Library
By Matt Haig
Hayley Cormican

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
by Bryan Stevenson
Kate Deegan

If You Feel Too Much
By Jamie Tworkowski
Chase Encalade

Black Faces in White Places
by Randal D. Pinkett, Jeffrey A.Robinson, Philana Patterson
Araba Eshun

The Ragamuffin Gospel
by Brennan Manning
Ben Fray

Cutting For Stone
By Abraham Verghese
Mary Larkin Furlow 

The Collected Stories
by Amy Hempel
Gillian Gullett

Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?
by Michael Sandel
Javier Hernandez

The Fifth Season
by N. K. Jemisin
Hannah Lang

For Every Child a Better World
by Louise Gikow, Bruce McNally and Ellen Weiss 
Katie Matthews

Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe
Osaretin Omoregie

The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
Kelly Owen

The Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart
Sophie Rudder

Jitterbug Perfume
by Tom Robbins
Robert Stodola 

Women and Work: Feminism, Labor and Social Reproduction
by Susan Ferguson
Julia Tsisin

Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell
Camille Watson

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera
Adam Williams

Siddhartha 
by Hermann Hesse
Nate Young

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