The end of the year is peak cozy‑up‑with‑a‑book season — and once again, UC Berkeley writers have delivered. From searing memoir and lush literary criticism to machine learning, soil science and the future of revolution, this year’s crop of books by Berkeley authors is as wide‑ranging and surprising as ever.

Whether you’re shopping for a die‑hard fiction lover, a policy wonk, a history buff or the friend who insists they “only read nonfiction,” there’s something here for every reader. These new and forthcoming titles from Berkeley faculty, staff, students and alumni offer fresh stories, bold ideas and plenty of conversation starters to share at gatherings or savor on your own reading retreat.

Whiskerology: The Culture of Hair in Nineteenth-Century America by Sarah Gold McBride, lecturer in American Studies

In this social and cultural history of human hair, Gold McBride argues that hair became a critical indicator of identity during this period of intense national change and diversification. Whiskerology traces how Americans shifted their view of hair from being mere “bodily discharge” (as it was often seen in the colonial era) to an integral biological feature capable of revealing hidden truths about an individual.

Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America by Robert Reich, professor emeritus of public policy

In Coming Up Short, Reich offers a deeply personal and political examination of America’s post-World War II promise and its eventual unraveling. The renowned political economist chronicles his own journey — from being inspired by childhood bullying to fight for justice, to working in the administrations of presidents like Clinton and Obama — as a lens to assess his generation’s impact. 

Startup Campus: How UC Berkeley Became an Unexpected Leader in Entrepreneurship and Startups by Mike Alvarez Cohen, Office of Technology Licensing

Rich with firsthand accounts from faculty, staff and alumni, Startup Campus tells the story of how UC Berkeley transformed from a campus historically wary of corporate collaboration into a globally recognized engine for innovation and entrepreneurship. The book serves as a case study for universities worldwide, demonstrating how Berkeley overcame internal resistance and cultural tensions to build a thriving entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Read more about the book on UC Berkeley News: New book chronicles UC Berkeley’s evolution into a ‘Startup Campus.’

Listen to Berkeley Talks podcast episode: How Berkeley became a powerhouse for innovation and startups.

A Killing Breath by Faye Snowden, executive director for Technology Programs and Governance (pre-order)

This Southern gothic mystery is the third installment in a series featuring homicide detective Raven Burns, in which Raven pursues a serial killer case that forces her to confront her own complicated and painful family legacy. The novel is a psychological thriller that ties a brutal, bloody present to a complicated past, exploring themes of familial evil, survival and the inescapable nature of one’s origins.

Mother Media: Hot and Cool Parenting in the Twentieth Century by Hannah Zeavin, associate professor of history

A leading historian of psychology, Zeavin explores the intertwined evolution of motherhood ideals and our fears about media consumption. The book reveals how the rise of screen media and “speculative technologies” were used to address the 20th-century crisis of the family, often leading to medicalized standards of “maternal fitness” and increased surveillance in the domestic sphere.

Listen to Zeavin discuss ideas from her new book in a Berkeley Talks podcast episode: The complicated role of media in motherhood.

The Future of Revolution: Communist Prospects from The Paris Commune to The George Floyd Uprising by Jasper Bernes, continuing lecturer in the Department of English

A theoretical and historical investigation that tackles the central question of how a 21st-century revolution against class society might actually succeed, The Future of Revolution analyzes a span of revolutionary history and asserts that a crucial lesson from these historical attempts is Marx’s enduring principle: the working class cannot simply inherit and use the existing state machinery.

The Science of Happiness Workbook: 10 Practices to a Meaningful Life by authors at the Greater Good Science Center 

A practical, research-based guide, this workbook is designed to help readers cultivate greater well-being and stronger relationships. Drawing on cutting-edge wellness research and the center’s popular course and podcast, it provides 10 core practices, including cultivating self-compassion, awe, empathy and purpose, that have been scientifically proven to reliably boost happiness.

Good Woman: A Reckoning by Savala Nolan, executive director of UC Berkeley Law’s Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice (pre-order)

In this collection of 12 essays, Nolan scrutinizes the immense personal toll of adhering to female social conditioning. Drawing from her own memoir, Nolan recounts how a lifetime of striving for “goodness” — through self-diminishment, silent endurance and clinging to conventional roles like a difficult marriage — failed to provide a promised sense of security or happiness.

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Other new books by UC Berkeley authors

Department of African American Studies

• Legalized Inequalities: Immigration and Race in the Low-Wage Workplace co-authored by Darlène Dubuisson, assistant professor of African American Studies
• My Name Means His God: A Life Journey of a Lucky Country Boy by Amlaku Bikss Eshetie, Amharic language lecturer 
• Undisclosed, young adult fiction from The Factory series, by Aya de León, lecturer of African American studies and director of Poetry for the People
• When Home Is a Photograph: Blackness and Belonging in the World by Leigh Raiford, professor of African American studies

Department of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies

• The Importance of Being Gorgeous: Gender and Christian Imperial Rule in Late Antiquity by Susanna Elm, professor of history and of Ancient Greek and Roman Studies

Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society

• Artificial Humanities: A Fictional Perspective on Language in AI by Nina Beguš, researcher for the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society. Read more about the book on UC Berkeley News: How Greek myths and Hollywood hits can help us understand AI today. 

Department of Comparative Literature

• We’re Having Much More Fun: Punk Archives for the Present from CBGB to Gilman and Beyond co-authored by Tom McEnaney, associate professor of comparative literature and of Spanish and Portuguese (pre-order)

School of Education

• Subtle Webs: How Local Organizations Shape US Education by Jose Eos Trinidad, assistant professor of education policy

College of Engineering

• Dynamics and Control of Autonomous Flight by Mark W. Mueller, associate professor of mechanical engineering
• Fundamentals of Soil Behavior, 4th Edition co-authored by Kenichi Soga, professor in mineral engineering and professor of civil and environmental engineering

Department of English

• Downtime: The Twentieth Century in Slow Motion by Mark Goble, professor of English
• Nine Lives: My Risky Road from Fifties Rebel to Feminist Critic by Claire Kahane, visiting scholar in the Department of English
• What We Are in Literature and Art by Magdalena Ostas, lecturer of English

College of Environmental Design

• Concrete Colonialism: Architecture, Urbanism, and the US Imperial Project in the Philippines by Diana J. S. Martinez, assistant professor of architecture

Department of French

• Arts of the Border: Fugitive Bodies at Europe’s Edges by Debarati Sanyal, professor of French

• On the Colors of Vowels: Thinking Through Synesthesia by Liesl Yamaguchi, associate professor of French

Department of Gender and Women’s Studies

• Co-Motion: Re-Thinking Power, Subjects, and Feminist and Queer Alliances by Paola Bacchetta, professor and chair of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies
• Engendering Blackness: Slavery and the Ontology of Sexual Violence by Patrice D. Douglass, assistant professor of gender and women’s studies
• Fatema Mernissi for Our Times edited by Minoo Moallem, professor of gender and women’s studies, and Paola Bacchetta, professor and chair of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies

Department of Geography

• Fear of a Dead White Planet by Jake Kosek, associate professor of geography
• Conserving China’s Northwest Frontier: Nature, Culture, and Future by You-Tien Hsing, professor of geography

Center for Global Health Delivery, Diplomacy and Economics

• Kicking the Hornet’s Nest: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East from Truman to Trump by Daniel Zoughbie, associate project scientist

Haas School of Business

• Anointed: The Extraordinary Effects of Social Status in a Winner-Take-Most World by Toby Stuart, professor of business administration

Department of History

• All Consuming: Germans, Jews, and the Meaning of Meat by John M. Efron, professor of Jewish history
• Life, Death, and Migration in the Early Modern City: The Urban Historical Demography of Würzburg by Jan de Vries (pre-order), professor of the Graduate School
• Magical Nominalism: The Historical Event, Aesthetic Reenchantment, and the Photograph by Martin Jay, professor emeritus of European history

Department of History of Art

• Ribera’s Repetitions: Paper and Canvas in Seventeenth-Century Spanish Naples by Todd Olson, professor of early modern art

School of Law

• Advanced Introduction to Private Law Theory by Hanoch Dagan, professor of law (pre-order)
• Campus Speech and Academic Freedom: A Guide for Difficult Times co-authored by Erwin Chemerinsky, dean and professor of law (pre-order)
• Publics in Action: The Self-Making of Civic Life by Christopher Kutz, professor of law
• The Diversity Principle: The Story of a Transformative Idea by David Oppenheimer, professor of law

Department of Philosophy

• Chantal Akerman: Filmmaker and Philosopher by Andreja Novakovic, professor of philosophy

Department of Political Science

• Domination and Mobilization: The Rise and Fall of Political Parties in China’s Republican Era by Xiaobo Lü, associate professor of political science
• Shocks and Politics; Understanding Disaster Preparedness by Jennifer Bussell, associate professor of political science and of public policy

Department of Psychology

• Fundamentals of the Science and Treatment of Psychological Disorders co-authored by Sheri Johnson, a professor of psychology

School of Public Health

• Advancing Peace: Ending Urban Gun Violence Through the Power of Redemptive Love co-authored by Jason Corburn, professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and the School of Public Health 

Department of Rhetoric

• Billie’s Bent Elbow: Exorbitance, Intimacy by Fumi Okiji, associate professor of rhetoric
• Roman Comedy against the Subject by Mario Telò, professor of rhetoric

Department of Sociology

• Everyday Futures: Language as Survival for Indigenous Youth in Diaspora co-authored by Stephanie Canizales, assistant professor of sociology
• The Poverty of the Ethnography of Poverty by Loïc Wacquant, professor of sociology

Department of Spanish and Portuguese

• Concrete Encoded: Poetry, Design, and the Cybernetic Imaginary in Brazil by Nathaniel Wolfson, associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese

Other Berkeley community and affiliates

• Witness to Korea 1945–47: The Unfolding of an Authoritarian Regime co-edited by Frank Hoffmann, IT systems administrator

If you’re a UC Berkeley author and we missed your new book, please email [email protected] and we’ll get it on the list!