Winter Break Staff Picks

Traveling over the winter break? Let the Goodson Law Library staff help you find a book to keep you busy during airport layovers, train trips, or just a relaxing night at home. Below are several recommendations or suggestions from staff members about books we've enjoyed or are looking forward to reading soon – more staff picks will be on display in December at the library's service desk.

Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold! by Terry Brooks (1986). Request from TRLN! "One of the first exposures I had to lawyers that I remember. There aren't many books that make the leap from lawyer to magical fantasy, but despite the odd scenario, the book still fits an unusual niche for me. For anyone who wondered what it takes for a lawyer to be a king..." –Michael McArthur, Assistant Director, Access and Collection Services

Same Bed Different Dreams: A Novel, by Ed Park (2023). Request a print copy! "An epic and off-kilter alternative history of Korea, Same Bed Different Dreams pieces together fragments of truth into a rollicking and unpredictable work of fiction. The less you know about the book, the more fun you'll have unraveling its many surprises (for this fellow native Western New Yorker, Park's knowledge of Buffalo entered the story in a delightfully unexpected way)." –Jennifer L. Behrens, Associate Director for Administration & Scholarship

 

Demon Copperhead: A Novel, by Barbara Kingsolver (2022). Get on the hold list for the print or e-book! "My book club choice for December…which I have not finished reading yet, but it got great reviews." –Jane Bahnson, Assistant Director, Research and Instruction Services

The City and Its Uncertain Walls, by Haruki Murakami (2024).
Purchase a print copy or check out other works by the author at the campus libraries! "Sorry, this book is not available at the Duke Libraries yet. It is a new release this month. I’ve been a fan of Haruki Murakami for years, beginning with 1Q84 and more recently The Strange Library and Killing Commendatore, for his ability to transport me into a world unimaginable. From the jacket cover, 'A love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them…' Do I need to say more? While The City and Its Uncertain Walls is not yet available at Duke Libraries, Murakami's 1980 short story by the same name was previously reworked into Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. And yes, the Gatekeeper is in the book too!" – Julie Wooldridge, Research Services Librarian

Miracle on 34th Street, in Best American Screenplays, Sam Thomas ed. (1986). Request the print screenplay or just watch the classic film on DVD or streaming! "Holiday movies are often a tradition of the season. This book discusses some of the greatest screenplays in history, including from Miracle on 34th Street. Some people forget that, at its heart, the movie is a legal thriller about proving the identity of Santa Claus." –Wickliffe Shreve, Head of Scholarly Services and Journals Advisor

American Pain: How a Young Felon and His Ring of Doctors Unleashed America’s Deadliest Drug Epidemic, by John Temple (2015). Read the e-book! "American Pain tells the story of two unlikely entrepreneurs who built the largest pill mill in Florida and the multi-agency law enforcement task force that shut it down. Through this very compelling lens, Temple also chronicles the bigger picture--legal and regulatory failures, the effects of aggressive pharmaceutical marketing, the drug pipeline that developed between Florida and Kentucky, and the toll the opioid epidemic took on Appalachian families. This Edgar Award finalist was so engrossing that I finished it in two days!" –Laura Scott, Assistant Director, Reference, Clinics, and Outreach

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, by Michael Lewis (2010). Read the print copy, e-book, audiobook, or watch the film version! "'How do you make poor people feel wealthy when wages are stagnant? You give them cheap loans.' This quote struck me the most as we talk about a desire for lower interest rates while wages do not keep up with inflation. The Big Short is a must-read because it shows consumers the game that they are playing when they borrow money. The author compares Wall Street and money-lending to a casino, and he shows how, like a casino, money-lending is systemically built to build the wealth of the rich at the expense of the poor. Through his descriptions, the reader may see that the powerful are not smarter or more deserving of the resources that they have. In fact, everyone, from the banks to the stockbrokers to the consumer, is gambling. The author's description of the people who predicted the market crash is also striking. As a reader, you see how their limitations or disabilities become their strengths in finance. Michael Burry, for example, discovers that he has Asperger's when his son is diagnosed. He explains that his fascination with finance and markets is luck and that his Asperger's, while serving him professionally in some ways, impacted his personal life negatively. The Big Short portrays a grim picture of finance, and as the author says in the prologue, the book is not a 'how-to' but an inside look at an industry that often appears glamorous and attractive but was designed to rip off the poor." – Chelsey McKimmy, Research Services Librarian

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts, by Oliver Burkeman (2024). Request via interlibrary loan or purchase a print copy! "This book is packed with wisdom and insights about how to live a sane, meaningful, human life. It is both 'comforting and challenging,' as another reviewer noted." – Don Hopkins, Assistant Director for Empirical Research and Data Services

For additional reading recommendations, check out the NoveList Plus database available with NetID, NPR's Books We Love list for 2024 or the New York Times 100 Notable Books of the year. For help locating these or other titles in the Duke collection, be sure to Ask a Librarian.