by Taylor Follett
Calling undergrads! We all use the Library for study and research, but the collections are bursting with popular novels, collections from local poets, YA, graphic novels, and everything you might need for a cozy weekend of pleasure writing. The UC Berkeley English Undergraduate Association’s book club, EUA Reads is indulging this semester by reading and discussing three wonderful works pulled from Library bookshelves. Whether you want to follow along on your own or join the EUA for their fortnightly book club, please join us in reading these picks!
Maggie Nelson
Mary Ruefle
Claudia Rankine
What influenced these selections? This semester, EUA Reads will showcase women authors. Jane, A Murder, a true crime novel about the author’s aunt, was selected because the author’s “prosetry” book, Bluets, was a popular favorite among last semester’s book club. Madness, Rack, and Honey is an inspiring collection of lectures given by a poetry professor. EUA Reads will be pairing an excerpt of the lectures with a poem or two. Finally, Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric (2004), both develops the “American lyric” form and explores some of the ideas that later arise in her award-winning Citizen: An American Lyric (2014).
Last semester’s reads were also delightful:
While Bluets was by far the crowd pleaser, the EUA’s favorite poetry works came from Hala Ayan’s third collection, Hijra.
So, grab your library card and a friend and join the English Undergraduate Association in putting the library’s collection to good use—your own love of reading!
You can find more reading recommendations from the library here, and find out more about the EUA’s events here.