Good Books to Break the Dreary Days of Winter

Seattle University faculty authors continue to apply their expertise outside of the classroom in books showcasing an incredible breadth of subjects. In this latest edition of our quarterly series “Good Reads,” picks include fictional but real-to-life short stories, practical applications for engineering, the fine points of library administration and illuminating a mathematical pathway.

Three Alarm Fire by Juan Carlos Reyes, MFA

Three Alarm Fire, written by Associate Professor of Creative Writing Juan Carlos Reyes, MFA, is kind of, for lack of a better phrase, catching fire. KUOW has reviewed the book and Reyes has appeared on New Day Northwest to promote his debut book.

Three Alarm Fire is a collection of fictional short stories that examine the range of grief and healing Americans must navigate. Reyes explores themes of immigration, identity, family legacy, sexuality, trauma and what belonging means, as well as the cultural tensions between us that can become downright explosive.

“The stories in this book were crafted and revised in the four to five years since I arrived in Seattle,” says Reyes. “Though each story was written independently in response to a major American cultural moment, from the Me Too movement to incidents of racial violence, curating them for a collection meant selecting and then revising these pieces to exemplify their urgency.”

By turns tragic and heartfelt, arresting and funny, Three Alarm Fire is a microcosm of modern life. As Reyes says, the stories “collectively embody the tragedies and hopes, the laments and joys, of what it feels like to be alive in America today.”

Off-Grid Electrical Systems in Developing Countries by Henry Louie, PhD

From mini-grids and energy kiosks to solar home systems and solar lanterns, Off-Grid Electrical Systems in Developing Countries by Electrical Engineering Professor Henry Louie provides students and engineers with a comprehensive guide to off-grid electrification. The chapters integrate technical aspects of off-grid systems with lessons learned from industry practitioners, always taking a pragmatic, data-driven approach.

“As the off-grid electrification industry grows, universities are starting and expanding courses and programs in humanitarian engineering and appropriate technology,” says Louie. “However, there is no textbook that serves this growing market. This book fills that gap by providing a technical foundation of off-grid electrical systems, putting into context the technical aspects for developing countries and discussing best practices by utilizing real-world data.”

The book covers a variety of off-grid systems and technologies including solar, wind, hydro, generator sets, biomass systems, battery storage and converters. Off-Grid is for use in advanced undergraduate and graduate courses related to electrical and energy engineering, humanitarian engineering and appropriate technology.

“Students want to learn how their discipline can positively impact others,” says Louie. “This book is a way to emphasize to engineering students how what they learn in the classroom can truly transform lives.”

Navigating the Math Major: Charting Your Course by Allison Henrich, PhD, and co-authors

A comprehensive guide for students interested in studying college-level math, Navigating the Math Major: Charting Your Course gives readers a feel for what they are likely to learn in different undergraduate math courses and provides information on research experiences, internships, jobs and more. Mathematics Professor Allison Henrich and her co-authors, Carrie Diaz Eaton (Bates College), Steven Klee (Amazon Web Services) and Jennifer Townsend (Microsoft) discuss failure and growth, while inviting students to join communities of support and giving them tools to develop skills that will help them make the most of their mathematical studies.

Henrich says that Navigating the Math Major “is something people are looking for now more than ever.”

“We wrote this book because we realized that there is so much information that could benefit students, set them up for success, that they only had tenuous access to,” says Henrich. “There are books, websites and blogs that contain small pieces of the puzzle, but the math community was asking for one that gathered together all of these resources in one place.”

Creating an Inclusive Library by Yen Tran and co-editors

Academic libraries are engaged every day in the critical work of being more inclusive and antiracist in their teaching, collections and community. Creating an Inclusive Library, by Yen Tran, Scholarly Services Librarian at Lemieux Library and co-editors Michael J. Aguilar and Adriana Poo, explores the various methods used by academic librarians, archivists and library staffers to increase or enhance engagement with and use of library spaces, resources, services and materials by students of color.

“My co-editors and I felt compelled to share the work of academic librarians, archivists and library workers advancing equity and building support for students of color,” says Tran. “As the nature of diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism work in higher education and academic libraries continues to evolve, it is ever more critical to sustain these efforts, to be allies for those leading them.”  

The resources, strategies and approaches in this book can help all library workers engage with this vital work and build a community of support.

Want to be a part of the next Good Reads edition? If you are a faculty member at Seattle University, email Lincoln at vanderv1@seattleu.edu about your book.