Summer, at least on the academic calendar, is officially here, so we surveyed Williams-Mystic faculty and staff to see what they suggest to power, rest, entertain and engage your brain over the next 100 days! Let us know what’s on your summer reading list!
“I read this last fall while on the SSV Corwith Cramer in the Gulf of Maine. Besides being a great story about a person connecting with a piece of their history and ancestry, it details how the sea is a mystical place that is really hard to know and understand. Some mysteries stand for a very long time and take dedicated, passionate people to figure out, especially when the story is so strange, unique, and hidden in the deep sea.” -Marine Ecology Professor Tim Pusack
Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson
“I finally read Snow Falling on Cedars this fall after the WM field seminar to the Pacific Northwest (used copy picked up at Powell’s Books in Portland, thank you very much!). It was as promised by WM colleagues: beautiful and eerie, historical and still resonant, a courtroom drama and honest depiction of the fishing industry .” -Deputy Director Amanda Severin F01
Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore, Elizabeth Rush
“Elizabeth Rush’s explorations of the impacts of sea level rise in US coastal frontline communities gives us an intimate window into the everyday battle to protect and fight for home. Rush takes us to the edge of the sea, where the ocean is rising, land is being lost by the hour, and sea level rise is real, and deeply consequential to the fabric of our coastal communities, cultures and livelihoods.” -Marine Policy Professor Katy Robinson Hall S84
“The Deep was read by some of our more recent students, and is well-liked. The novella blends Afro-futurism, legacies of slavery, and personal identity in exciting and unexpected ways.” – Literature of the Sea Professor Ned Schaumberg
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty
“This is an adult historical fantasy novel set in the Indo-Pacific about a mother trying to save her daughter. What’s the catch? She’s a former pirate pulled out of retirement and into the fantastical and dangerous world of blending myth and reality.” –Asst. Director of Admissions & Enrollment Jenna Stanley
Sailor Song: The Shanties and Ballads of the High Seas, Gerry Smyth
“A beautifully illustrated work combining words and music to some of your old favorite (or new favorite) sea shanties with brief histories detailing the nature of the song, its meaning, and how it got recorded.” — Maritime History Professor Sofia Zepeda
The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin
“Set in a continent known as the Stillness, this sci-fi/fantasy book (the first in the Broken Earth trilogy) has so many components that make me reflect on the human position on our planet. From climate change to earthquakes, tsunamis to curious seafloor composition, you’re in a dynamic world with fascinating characters (even pirates make an appearance). And some of these characters, known as orogenes, have innate powers to shape the Earth. How will we continue to shape it?” -Oceanography Professor Lloyd Anderson
The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean, Susan Casey
“I have a weird tendency to read books about things I would absolutely never want to experience, and The Wave is a gold medalist in that category. Author Susan Casey travels the world pointing out dynamic oceanic horrors, such as the Agulhas Current (a natural rogue-wave factory off South Africa shoving piles of water through one of the world’s most active shipping lanes), the experience of surviving a 700-foot tsunami wave on a small boat in Alaska and “Waveland,” the charming corner of the North Atlantic where waves with an average height of 61 feet call home. If musing about “colossal, ship-swallowing rogue monsters,” appeals to you, dive into The Wave. (Also an excellent audio book.)” -Asst. Director of Communications & Admissions Anna (Fitzgerald) Sawin S92.
Sharks in the Time of Saviors, Kawai Strong Washburn
“Mystical gifts, rich family heritages, Hawaiian culture and economy. What more could you ask for?” – Literature of the Sea Professor Ned Schaumberg
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts, Rebecca Hall
“This work combines Hall’s autobiographical experiences of researching women-led slave revolts with the histories themselves, exploring life in the wake of slavery through the medium of a graphic novel.” – Maritime History Professor Sofia Zepeda
Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots, Robert D. Bullard
“Dr. Bullard is the father of the environmental justice movement, and his work provides us with the pathway to critically examine the lasting impacts of a legacy of discriminatory land use practices that disproportionately impact black, indigenous and communities of color up and down the nation’s coasts. These impacts are inexorably intertwined with ocean and coastal infrastructure, ocean and coastal ecosystems and marine policy.” -Marine Policy Professor Katy Robinson Hall S84