Stay In and Read: Visionary Books of the Spring Season

Here at CHF, we’re working to reschedule our spring season programs due to COVID-19. While it may be a little while before we see these visionary presenters at CHF, you can still read their wonderful books! And what better way to shelter in place than cozying up with a pile of books?

VISIONARY LEADERS

What did serving as America’s first female Secretary of State teach Madeleine Albright about leadership? How is Alexis Coe re-envisioning “dad histories” (biographies written about men, for men, by men)? What can Rose Pastor Stokes’s real-life Cinderella story tell us about self-made heroes? In what ways did Chief Justice Earl Warren’s Supreme Court offer a paradigm for American democracy?

Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st-Century Memoir by Madeleine Albright

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe

Rebel Cinderella: From Rags to Riches to Radical, the Epic Journey of Rose Pastor Stokes by Adam Hochschild

Democracy and Equality: The Enduring Constitutional Vision of the Warren Court by Geoffrey Stone

VISIONARY NOVELS

“What is the difference between fact and fiction?” wonders Susan Choi. Charlie Kaufman asks: "Can one film save humanity from the pitfalls of modernity?" “How can your past distort your reality in the present?” ponders Ottessa Moshfegh. Veronica Roth questions: “Is it possible to move on from the trauma of saving the world?”

Trust Exercises: A Novel by Susan Choi

Antkind: A Novel by Charlie Kaufman

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

Death in Her Hands: A Novel by Ottessa Moshfegh

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

VISIONARY MEMOIRS

“How can we out-create the destructiveness that is all around us?” asks Tori Amos. Why did Bill Buford move to Europe to shadow French chefs? How did comedy save Cameron Esposito? What wisdom did Bess Kalb’s grandmother tell her that no one else would? How did the process of writing down her mother’s memories prompt Cherríe Moraga to explore cultural amnesia?

Resistance: A Songwriter’s Story of Hope, Change, and Courage by Tori Amos

Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secrets of French Cooking by Bill Buford

Save Yourself: Essays by Cameron Esposito

Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb

Native Country of the Heart: A Memoir by Cherríe Moraga

VISIONARY ARTISTS

In what ways does Krista Franklin consider portraiture and collage as strategies toward liberation and radical imagining? Why does Miranda July see the job of an artist to be a social critic? How has Makaya McCraven rewritten the rules of music?

Too Much Midnight by Krista Franklin

Miranda July by Miranda July

We’re New Again: A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven

VISIONARY ECONOMISTS

Why is it important to Adam Davidson to talk about the economy from the perspective of ordinary people? How does Paul Krugman debunk economic myths?

The Passion Economy: The New Rules for Thriving in the Twenty-First Century by Adam Davidson

Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future by Paul Krugman

VISIONARY SCIENCE

What are the mysteries Brian Greene uncovers in deep space? How has space archeology enabled Sarah Parcak to dig up Viking remains and map mythical Egyptian cities? What does Nathaniel Rich think we can do about climate change?

Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe by Brian Greene

Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past by Sarah Parcak

Losing Earth: A Recent History by Nathaniel Rich

VISIONARY THEOLOGY

Does Peter Coviello think sex makes you a god?

Make Yourselves Gods: Mormons and the Unfinished Business of American Secularism by Peter Coviello

CHF is proud to partner with Seminary Co-op Bookstores as our official bookseller. CHF Members receive 10% back in store credit at Seminary Co-op, 57th Street Books, and their online store.

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