Read, Listen, Watch

Staff Picks and Suggestions

Ready to Research: Roxbury Tenants of Harvard records (Jeane Neville) and Ken Kruckemeyer papers

Two recently processed collections document the organizing power of everyday Bostonians who fought development proposals that would have negatively impacted their neighborhoods.

Roxbury Tenants of Harvard records (Jeane Neville)

The Tenants' View newsletter of the Roxbury Tenants (of Harvard) Association: May 7, 1970. Headline is "Harvard Agrees to Basics of Our Housing Plan!" and includes an article, map, and announcement for an upcoming Neighborhood meeting
The Tenants’ View newsletter, May 7, 1970. Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (Jeane Neville) records, Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections

The Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (RTH) formed in 1969 to oppose Harvard University’s proposed expansion into the Mission Hill neighborhood, which would have displaced residents. RTH was successful in pressuring Harvard to build a relocation housing development instead of a teaching hospital complex.

The RTH collection captures the unfolding of events, and the negotiations between RTH and Harvard University, over the course of the 1960s and ’70s through meeting minutes and agendas, notes, reports, flyers, canvas sheets, writings, correspondence, and media coverage. Jeane Neville, a Radcliffe student in the late ’60s, became involved in organizing the Mission Hill residents; these records were retained by her and donated to the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections by her brother Padraic Neville after her death.

To learn more about the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (Jeane Neville) records, explore the finding aid.

Ken Kruckemeyer papers

Hand-drawn map of proposed highways in Boston, outlined with snakes. Title reads "Caution! Highly Poisonous" with a skull and crossbones. Bottom left corner reads "Cuidado bastante peligroso!"
Cover illustration by D. Chandler Jr. of bilingual “Stop Turnpikes Over People” informational resource, undated. Ken Kruckemeyer papers, Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections

An architect by training, Ken Kruckemeyer began organizing around issues such as transit and housing in the 1960s after moving to the South End. He soon became involved in the local anti-highway movement of that period. His papers document anti-highway activism, as well as activism around Tent City and Melnea Cass Boulevard. They also document the planning, environmental impact studies, and construction of the Southwest Corridor Project, for which Kruckemeyer served as project manager.

Explore meeting materials, reports, studies, notes, correspondence, newsletters, flyers, and more in Kruckemeyer’s papers. To learn more about what’s in the collection, check out the finding aid.

To access the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (Jeane Neville) records or the Ken Kruckemeyer papers, email Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections at archives@northeastern.edu.

Reading Challenge Update: January’s Winner and February Preview

The first month of the 2025 Reading Challenge is complete! A big thank you and congratulations to everyone who read a book and told us about it. Our January winner is Maya Kamenir, who takes home a Northeastern tote bag. Congratulations, Maya! The 2025 Challenge has just begun, so there are plenty more chances to win.

What You Read in January

January’s challenge was to read a memoir or autobiography. Here are some of the stories that captivated readers this month. (Comments may have been edited for length or clarity.)

Cover of Born a Crime

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, Trevor Noah
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Read the e-book

“An absolutely hilarious take on a serious upbringing and journey, by one of my favorite comedians.” — Eva

Born a Crime is a unique perspective on day-to-day life in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa from someone whose very existence was proof of a crime — a relationship between a Black woman and a white man. The book gives insight into the history and life of South Africa in the 1990s, as well as a glimpse into what made Trevor Noah the social justice-aware comedian he is today. It is also a touching ode to his strong and devoted mother.” — Kerri

Cover of The House of My Mother


The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom, Shari Franke
Listen to the audiobook

“Shari Franke writes about her experiences with family vlogging and child exploitation and her path to acceptance and overcoming her childhood. This book was heart wrenching and inspiring.” — Ceci

Cover of Rental Person Who Does Nothing

Rental Person Who Does Nothing, Shoji Morimoto
Read the e-book

“The concept…is so intriguing! The idea of someone just renting themselves out to simply ‘be there’ without doing or contributing anything is both minimalist and deeply reflective of modern loneliness, societal pressures, and the value of presence. There is something just so peaceful, so calming about the simplicity of…just having someone be there without any expectations or judgement. It is a gentle reminder that presence alone can be enough.” — Navya

Cover of Educated

Educated: A Memoir, Tara Westover
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Read the e-book | Listen to the audiobook

“Remarkable memoir about a woman’s struggle to separate herself from her abusive rural Mormon upbringing. The title comes from her path of education; as a child, her homeschooling was all but nonexistent, but the story spans all the way to her Ph.D. I found Westover’s narration incredible, and an important reminder of the privilege of higher education.” — Caroline

“It was really good! I highly recommend it.” — Emma

Cover of Me Talk Pretty One Day

Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
Find it at Snell Library

“This book was recommended at the Snell Library book stand! Each chapter is filled with the author’s coming-of-age stories: growing up in North Carolina, moving to New York, moving to France with his partner, and learning French. Overall, it is a great book and I absolutely enjoyed it.” — Mariam

Suggested Reads for February

February’s challenge is to read a book about (or set in) a city where Northeastern has a campus. There are a lot of options! Here are some books that fit the bill:

Cover of If I Survive You

If I Survive You, Jonathan Escoffery
Listen to the audiobook

Where it takes place: Miami, Florida
What it’s about: In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingstown. But America, as the couple and their two children learn, is far from the promised land. Even as things fall apart, the family remains motivated, often to its own detriment, by what their younger son Trelawny calls “the exquisite, racking compulsion to survive.”

Cover of Five Little Indians

Five Little Indians: A Novel, Michelle Good
Read the ebook

Where it takes place: Vancouver, British Columbia
What it’s about: Taken from their families when they are very small and sent to a remote, church-run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie, and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released after years of detention and find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver. With compassion and insight, Five Little Indians chronicles the desperate quest of these residential school survivors to come to terms with their past and, ultimately, find a way forward.

Cover of the Dante Club

The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Listen to the audiobook

Where it takes place: Boston, Massachusetts
What it’s about: In 1865 Boston, the members of the Dante Club — poets and Harvard professors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell, along with publisher J.T. Fields — are finishing with America’s first translation of The Divine Comedy. The powerful Boston Brahmins at Harvard College are fighting to keep Dante in obscurity, believing that the text will prove as corrupting as the immigrants living in Boston Harbor. Then a serial killer unleashes his terror on the city. Only the scholars realize that the gruesome murders are modeled on the descriptions from Dante’s Inferno and its account of Hell’s torturous punishments. The Dante Club must find the killer before the authorities discover their secret.

Cover of The Woman Who Knew Everyone

The Woman Who Knew Everyone: The Power of Perle Mesta, Washington’s Most Famous Hostess, Meryl Gordon
Listen to the audiobook

Where it takes place: Washington, D.C.
What it’s about: Perle Mesta was a force to be reckoned with. Renowned for her world-class parties featuring politicians and celebrities, she was very close to three presidents — Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon Johnson. A pioneering supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment, she was a prodigious Democratic fundraiser and rescued Harry Truman’s financially flailing 1948 campaign. In this intensely researched biography, author Meryl Gordon chronicles Perle’s lavish life and society adventures in Newport, Manhattan, and Washington, while highlighting her important but nearly forgotten contribution to American politics and the feminist movement.

Cover of Exit Interview

Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career, Kristi Coulter
Read the e-book

Where it takes place: Seattle, Washington
What it’s about: In 2006, Kristi Coulter left her cozy but dull job for a promising new position at the fast-growing Amazon.com, but she never expected the soul-crushing pressure that would come with it. In no time, she found the challenge and excitement she’d been craving — along with seven-day workweeks, lifeboat exercises, widespread burnout, and a culture driven largely by fear. But the chase, the visibility, and the stock options proved intoxicating, and so, for 12 years, she stayed — until she no longer recognized the face in the mirror or the mission she’d signed up for.

Cover of Shut Up This is Serious

Shut Up, This is Serious, Carolina Ixta
Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Read the e-book

Where it takes place: Oakland, California
What it’s about: Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe to have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal is East Oakland. Her father left. She might not graduate. And Leti, her best friend, is pregnant—by the boyfriend she hasn’t told her parents about because he’s Black and her parents are racist. Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén soon realizes that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?

Cover of Station Eleven

Station Eleven: A Novel, Emily St. John Mandel
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Read the e-book

Where it takes place: Toronto, Ontario
What it’s about: It is 15 years after a flu pandemic wiped out most of the world’s population. Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony, a small troupe moving over the gutted landscape, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. But when they arrive in outpost of St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave. Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the disaster that brought everyone here, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty, telling a story about the relationships that sustain us.

Cover of Bad Blood

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, John Carreyrou
Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Read the e-book

Where it takes place: Silicon Valley, California
What it’s about: In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. There was just one problem: the technology didn’t work. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.

Cover of Maame

Maame: A Novel, Jessica George
Find it at Snell Library | Listen to the audiobook

Where it takes place: London, United Kingdom
What it’s about: It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana, Maddie is the primary caretaker of her father. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting. When her mum returns from her latest trip, Maddie leaps at the chance to get out of the family home and finally start living. But it’s not long before tragedy strikes, forcing Maddie to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils — and rewards — of putting her life on the line.

February Events

Need more reading inspiration? Stop by the Reading Challenge Pop-Up Table in Snell Library between 1 and 3 p.m. on Wednesday, February 19, and Thursday, February 20, to browse print books, get recommendations from librarians, and pick up Reading Challenge swag. You can also join us for a cozy reading party (with snacks!) on Wednesday, February 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. Bring your own book, or borrow one of ours!

As always, happy reading!

Join us for the 2025 Reading Challenge!

The Northeastern University Library is excited to announce our second annual Reading Challenge! We’re welcoming 2025 with new themes, new prizes, and more events to celebrate reading at all of Northeastern’s global campuses.

Logo for the 2025 Northeastern University Library Reading Challenge

How to Participate

Step 1: Read a Book

Northeastern librarians have chosen a reading theme for each month of 2025. Your challenge is simply to read a book (or listen to an audiobook) that fits the theme.

Need some inspiration? Librarians have put together a list of suggested e-books and audiobooks in Libby for readers to enjoy each month. If you’re in Boston, you can also stop by the monthly tabling event in the Snell Library lobby to browse on-theme books or pick up a book and settle in for some cozy reading time at a drop-in reading party. Check out the library calendar for more information.

Step 2: Tell Us About It

Once you’ve read your book, fill out a brief form about what you read. At the end of every month, one name will be drawn from the pool of participants and the winner will receive a prize. Prizes vary each month and include gift cards, posters, Northeastern swag, and more. There are also special prize drawings for readers who complete three, six, and twelve months of the challenge.

The Themes

Ready to get started? The themes for 2025 are:

Reading Challenge monthly themes

January: A memoir or autobiography
February: A book based in a city where Northeastern has a campus
March: A book that has won or been shortlisted for an award
April: A book recommended by a librarian
May: A book set in your hometown or local area
June: A story of resistance
July: A collection of short stories, essays, or poetry
August: A book translated from another language
September: A book set somewhere you’d like to travel
October: A banned book
November: A book about the field you’re studying
December: A retelling of a classic myth, fairytale, or folktale

For more information on the challenge, visit the Reading Challenge page or contact Brooke Williams, Research & Student Success Librarian, at b.williams@northeastern.edu. Good luck and happy reading!

2024 Reading Challenge Update: November Winner and What You Read This Month

Congratulations to Manju Selvakumaran, our November winner, who won a finals week care package!

With only December left to go, the 2024 Reading Challenge is almost over! Congratulations to everyone who has participated this year. If you’d still like to join us, make sure to read a book in December and tell us about it! For more chances to win, make sure to track your reading with the Massachusetts Center for the Book, too.

The November theme was “a relaxing or soul-soothing book.” Here are some of the books you enjoyed:

What You Read in November

Cover of Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F.W. Olin Library

Anne of Green Gables is one of those rare books that captures your heart from the very first page and refuses to let go. I was so engrossed in Anne’s world, her vivid imagination, and her journey in Avonlea that I couldn’t put the book down — I finished it all in a single day! This book isn’t just a story — it’s an experience that leaves you feeling uplifted and grateful for life’s simple joys. If you’re looking for a novel that’s full of charm, humor, and heart, I can’t recommend Anne of Green Gables enough. It’s a journey you won’t forget!” — Lavanya

“This was my first time reading this classic novel, and it was certainly soul-soothing. What better way to spend a weekend than in the gorgeous gardens of Anne’s friends in Avonlea?” — Bianca

Cover of Legends and Lattes


Legends & Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes, Travis Baldree
Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Read the e-book

“It was just the most charming little story about a coffee shop and friendship and coffee.” — Sahil


Cover of The Soul of an Octopus

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness, Sy Montgomery
Find it at Snell Library

“Something I would not normally read that I picked up in Cape Cod. Did you know it is octopuses, not octopi?” — Eva


Cover of The Stranger


The Stranger, Albert Camus
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F.W. Olin Library

“Soul soothing because this is my favorite book. I reread it every time I need to reset myself. After midterms, I was stressed and needed to calm down, so I reached back to this.” — Svetlana

And What to Read in December

December’s theme challenges readers to explore new frontiers: “read a well-reviewed book in your least favorite genre.” Is it finally time to pick up that classic fantasy or sci-fi, or find out what all those romance fans are talking about? Here are some suggestions from the library.

If your least favorite genre is…

MEMOIR

Cover of Dirtbag Massachusetts

Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional, Isaac Fitzgerald
Find it at Snell Library | Read the e-book

“An endearing and tattered catalog of one man’s transgressions and the ways in which it is our sins, far more than our virtues, that make us who we are.” — New York Times

“It takes a great deal of trust to commit one’s shames — and more than that, the shames of others — to the page with honesty. Messily, lovingly, Fitzgerald lays it bare.” — L.A. Review of Books

ROMANCE

Cover of Romantic Comedy

Romantic Comedy, Curtis Sittenfeld
Read the e-book

“While Sittenfeld knows the dramatic value of putting obstacles in the path of characters you’re rooting for, she also isn’t above giving readers what they want — and that’s exactly what she does in this affable, intelligently crafted tale of work and love.” — Guardian

“Sittenfeld deftly toggles between deconstructing a well-worn genre and leaning into its most predictable beats.” — The Atlantic

SCIENCE FICTION

Cover of the Three-Body Problem

The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Listen to the audiobook

“If The Three-Body Problem […] helps bridge the gap between Eastern and Western SF (science fiction), it will have performed a great duty for the literary world. But as a science-fiction epic of the most profound kind, it’s already won. — NPR

“Remarkable, revelatory and not to be missed.” — Kirkus Reviews

HISTORICAL FICTION

Cover of The Covenant of Water

The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese
Find it at Snell Library | Read the e-book | Listen to the audiobook

“I would happily spend months on end with [this book] and I cried when it was done. While I don’t entirely believe in Verghese’s characters, I am moved by how much he loves them and, in so doing, makes the reader love them. It is a better world for having a book in it that chronicles so many tragedies in a tone that never deviates from hope.” — New York Times

“Verghese’s compassion for his ensemble, which subtly multiplies, infuses every page. […] Writerly strokes may occasionally feel broad, but like animate oil paintings, their effect is rich and reverberant. The further into the novel readers sink, the more power it accrues.” — Washington Post

SELF HELP

Cover of Wintering

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May
Listen to the audiobook

“There is so much to treasure here…I love the surprises of the book. Most of all, it is about the comforts of language. Reading is like slipping into a fur coat. May could protectively convince us of anything — the pleasures of cold weather, slow days, dusty libraries. They all start to seem like prizes and her sensual connoisseurship is a joy.” — Guardian

Wintering does us the great service of reminding us that we are not alone in feeling undone. And although May’s book doesn’t offer a neat, easy ending in which she miraculously feels better, she does offer hope, an antidote to her tendency to ‘feel like a negative presence in the world.'” — New York Times

THRILLER

Cover of Our Missing Hearts

Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng
Find it at Snell Library | Listen to the audiobook

“I won’t give away the splendid conclusion of Ng’s book: suffice it to say, the climax deals with the power of words, the power of stories and the persistence of memory.” — New York Times

Our Missing Hearts is saddled by grief. But it is also propelled by hope, less a grim prognosis of the future than an impassioned call for a full reckoning with the past.” — NPR

“Taut and terrifying, Ng’s cautionary tale transports us into an American tomorrow that is all too easy to imagine — and persuasively posits that the antidotes to fear and suspicion are empathy and love.” — Kirkus Reviews

If you need more inspiration and are on the Boston campus, visit our table December 10th and 11th to check out books and get librarian recommendations.

Make sure to tell us about your book before the end of the month for a chance to win the prize drawing. For additional chances to win, log your reading with the Massachusetts Center for the Book, too!

As always, happy reading and good luck in the December Reading Challenge!

2024 Reading Challenge Update: October Winner and What You Read This Month

This month’s Reading Challenge winner is Berke Maltepe, who will be enjoying a digital gift card to Trident Booksellers & Café! Trident is an independent bookstore and a beloved institution on Newbury Street in Boston, where it’s celebrating its 40th anniversary. Congratulations, Berke!

Big congratulations, as well, to everyone who read a book this month and told us about it. There are two months left in the 2024 Reading Challenge, so keep reading! Hint: for more chances to win, make sure to track your reading with the Massachusetts Center for the Book, too.

The October theme was “a book about a time in history that you’d like to know more about.” Here are some of the history and historical fiction books that readers listed this month:

What You Read in October

Cover of I Must Betray You

I Must Betray You, Ruta Sepetys
Find it at Snell Library

“Ruta Sepetys writes historical novels that illuminate historical events that might not be so familiar to some readers. I Must Betray You is set in Romania in 1989 at the time when Communism was being overthrown in eastern Europe. A 17-year-old student named Cristian struggles to do the right thing when he is coerced into becoming an informant for the secret police just as the dictatorship that has oppressed his country for decades begins to fall. Like many of the author’s grim stories, this gripping novel ends on a hopeful note.” — Linda

Cover of Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin Library

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo is a coming-of-age story in 1950s San Francisco, set against the backdrop of the Red Scare. Lily Hu is a Chinese American girl who is starting to question her sexuality after she reads a dime-store novel. She goes to a mysterious club, based on real bars in San Francisco, called the Telegraph Club.” — Galen

Cover of Doomsday Book

Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
Find it at Snell Library | Read the e-book

“The story follows Kivrin, a history student at Oxford who travels back in time to study life in the 14th century. However, due to some miscalculation, she arrives during the time of the plague, which is a period of devastation and mayhem in European history. Willis has written the book with detailed research and emotional depth. The Doomsday Book examines the resilience of humans when we come in contact with a catastrophic event, which makes time-travel both an adventure and also a poignant reflection on how we survive.” — Navya

Cover of The Book Thief

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin

“What I liked most about the book is that it’s written from the perspective of Death. It gives great insight into the atmosphere in WWII, but is still heartwarming, as it mainly describes the situation of a little girl. It also highlights how people risked their lives to uphold humanity in this time of hatred and injustice. It’s a book that really goes to the heart and is so well written—it’s a bit like art.” — Mirjam

Cover of My Brilliant Friend


My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin

“Absolutely loved it!.” — Nicole



And What to Read in November

November is a time to relax, with “a relaxing or soul-soothing book.” Here are some soothing suggestions. Need more ideas? Check out Northeastern’s curated selections of e-books and audiobooks! And if you’re in Boston, you can stop by the Snell Library lobby in person on November 19th and 20th for Reading Challenge stickers, bookmarks, and books to check out, and friendly librarians who love talking about books!

Covers of Legends and Lattes, What You Are Looking for is in the Library, Rest is Resistance, and The Psalm of the Wild-Built

Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree
Find it at F. W. Olin Library | Read the e-book
Legends & Lattes is a cozy fantasy novella following Viv, an orc who has decided to set aside the barbarian lifestyle in favor of opening a coffee shop in a bustling magical city.

What You Are Looking for is in the Library, Michiko Aoyama (translated by Alison Watts)
Find it at F. W. Olin | Read the e-book
Tokyo librarian Sayuri Komachi has a gift: her book recommendations are able to provide readers with exactly what they need. What You Are Looking for is in the Library is a relaxing love letter to libraries, books, and readers.

Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto, Tricia Hersey
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin Library | Read the e-book
While it may not be a relaxing read, Rest is Resistance is an ode to rest and the transformative power of opting out of grind culture. Author Tricia Hersey connects our current obsession with productivity to systemized patterns of racism, misogyny, and anti-humanism.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin Library | Listen to the audiobook
A self-aware robot meets a space monk, and together they set off on a journey to answer the question: what do people need?

As always, happy reading and good luck in the November Reading Challenge! Make sure to tell us about your book before the end of the month for a chance to win the prize drawing. And for additional chances to win, log your reading with the Massachusetts Center for the Book, too!