Long layovers, delayed flights, slow trains – be ready during your holiday travels with a good book. The Goodson Law Library staff have compiled a new list of recommendations, available in various formats across the University or from your favorite booksellers.
The Payback: A Novel (2025), by Kashana Cauley. (
Request the print copy!) "The second novel by a former lawyer turned comedy writer (
The Daily Show;
The Great North) takes aim at student loans — literally. Retail worker Jada is fed up with running from the Debt Police, who brutalize her and her friends for being down on their luck and late on their payments. Together, they plot a heist that will take down their loan company. A funny and fast-paced commentary on capitalism and inequality."
– Jennifer Behrens, Associate Director for Administration & Scholarship
The Women (2024), by Kristin Hannah. (Request the print or e-book!) "My book club's latest pick; historical fiction about nurses who served in Vietnam. Haven’t read it yet!" –Jane Bahnson, Assistant Director, Research and Instruction Services
This is How You Lose the Time War (2020), by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (
Request the print or e-book!). "A short, engaging read that you can knock out in one sitting. Extremely sharp prose and vivid descriptions keep the pages turning. A must read for Sci Fi fans."
–Paxton Martin, Library Intern
Attila (2025), by Aliocha Coll, translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore. (
Find in a library or purchase a copy!) "
Attila is language masterfully pushed to its absolute edge. It is one thing to tell the reader 'you see the mountain.' It is another to conjure and carry the felt sense of a mountain through the geometry of syntax, through half words that still carry sense, through archetypal gesture and a deeply lyrical understanding of landscape. This is not an easy read, and what a gift. Read the first fifty pages on repeat, then look up, wander, fresh eyed."
–Emilie Menzel, Collections Management & Strategies Librarian
Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II (2024), by Elyse Graham (
Request the print copy!). "An absorbing nonfiction account of the recruitment, training, and missions of a group of academics recruited by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services for intelligence work during World War II. While the historical record contains many gaps (often filled here with how imagined conversations might have transpired), the verifiable details tell an amazing and largely unknown story of what resourceful people can achieve in extraordinary times."
– Jennifer Behrens, Associate Director for Administration & Scholarship
The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More (2025), by Jefferson Fisher. (
Access the e-book or audiobook!). "I am excited to read
The Next Conversation by Jefferson Fisher, a trial attorney from Texas. I have found that his communication advice is both practical and actionable, and it reflects his kindness, experience, and natural talent. In addition to his book, I have enjoyed his podcast,
The Jefferson Fisher Podcast, and his guest appearance on
Diary of a CEO."
–Chelsey McKimmy, Research Services Librarian
Disney War (2005), by James B. Stewart. (
Request the print copy!). "We're charging full
Steamboat Willie ahead towards Public Domain Day by looking at one of the most significant copyright actors in U.S. history. Even though Disney is, for many, inextricably linked with the holidays, all has not always been well in the House of Mouse. Disney War details some of the rockier events during Michael Eisner's 20-year tenure as the chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Hilary Duff, Roger Rabbit, and for some reason
The Sixth Sense all come into play. You can read more about Disney and
Steamboat Willie's passage into the public domain January 1st of last year at the
Center for the Study of the Public Domain.”
–Wickliffe Shreve, Scholarly Services Librarian
Lovely One: A Memoir (2024), by Ketanji Brown Jackson. (
Request a print copy!) "It is always a pleasure getting to hear about accomplishments and the lives of those coming from diverse communities, as representation is essential. This memoir fits that to a tee and I am looking forward to learning more about Ketanji Brown Jackson and what made her the strong individual she is today, leading to one of her biggest accomplishments: becoming the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court."
–Da'Lisha Kirk, Library Intern
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (2018), by Patrick Radden Keefe (
Request the print, large print, or e-book!). "A compelling account of the conflict in Northern Ireland, told through the stories of Irish Republican Army members and families on both sides of the Troubles. Keefe unearths previously unknown historical details, conveys the tragic toll of 30 years of strife, and concludes with an archival secret with unexpected reverberations. (If you're looking for a story closer to home, I recommend
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, also by Keefe, available in
print,
e-book, or
audiobook.)"
–Laura Scott, Assistant Director for Clinics, Outreach and Instruction
Need more recommendations? Past staff summer and winter reading recommendations back to 2022 can be found in the Goodson Blogson archives. You might also like recommendations from the New York Times What to Read Now, NPR's Books We Love, or the Washington Post's 10 Best Books of 2025. For help locating or accessing these or other titles, be sure to Ask a Librarian.
