Recommended Books

Recommended Books is a collection of personal favorites of Boston College Graduate School of Social Work faculty and administrators. The list includes memoirs, history, and reflections on contemporary society. It is not a required reading list, but rather a list of books that you might enjoy reading. We welcome your comments at gssw@bc.edu.

All books are available for loan from the Boston College Libraries.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
by M. Alexander

Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
by A. Banerjee and E. Duflo

Brother, I’m Dying
by E. Danticat
Memoir that recounts the author’s life from the time her parents left Haiti for the United States and the family’s reunification in New York City

Spelling Love with an X: A Mother, a Son, and the Gene That Binds Them
by Clare Dunsford
Boston College Arts & Sciences Associate Dean Clare Dunsford describes learning that her son has "fragile X syndrome" and that she was an unknown carrier. Dunsford's story is a mother's journey through the health care system and the triumphs and sorrows as her son faces developmental challenges.

Zeitoun
by Dave Eggers
The story of one family's experience of Hurricane Katrina that weaves in themes of survival, injustice, and prejudice

Wrestling with Our Inner Angels: Faith, Mental Illness, and the Journey to Wholeness
by Nancy Kehoe

Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the World: The Quest of Paul Farmer
by T. Kidder

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
by D.J. Siegel
This is a book written for the lay person or mental health professional, which combines neuroscience with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Make Your Voice Matter with Lawmakers: No Experience Needed
by M. Stein
Written by an MSW Massachusetts resident who began her career as a clinician and now works as a State House advocate

The Globalization of the American Psyche
by Ethan Watters