Alumni Books of 2023
This year Aggie authors covered a variety of topics in fiction, nonfiction and more. Check out UC Davis Magazine’s full list for 2023.
FICTION
Mike Chen ’00 explored the immortal through Louise, who is struggling to reconnect with a family member in Vampire Weekend (Mira, 2023).
Sara Hashem, J.D. ’23, makes her debut in the fantasy fiction realm with The Jasad Heir (Hachette Book Group, 2023).
Jim van de Erve ’75 wrote a play in verse that tells the story of an elderly woman who resists her husband’s yearning for freedom, as their children fight for power and control with forces that could tear the family apart in A Lie Called the Present (Atmosphere Press, 2023).
NONFICTION
Sampada Aranke, Ph.D. ’13, examines the importance of representations of death to Black liberation in Death’s Futurity: The Visual Life of Black Power (Duke University Press, 2023).
David A. Bainbridge, M.S. ’73, argues that including climate change in our accounting is essential in Accountability: Why We Need to Count Social and Environmental Cost for a Livable Future (Rio Redondo Press, 2023).
Jeanne C. DeFazio ’73 co-edited with Julia C. Davis An Artistic Tribute to Harriet Tubman, in honor of the famed abolitionist (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2023).
Nahum Dimitri ’86 offers a philosophical interpretation of an 1887 address Annotations: On the Early Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois (Duke University Press, 2023).
Zeb Hogan, Ph.D. 04, with journalist Stefan Lovgren, set off to explore the massive species living in lakes and rivers for Chasing Giants: In Search of the World’s Largest Freshwater Fish (University of Nevada Press, 2023).
CHILDREN’S
Erin Dealey ’70, Cred. ’72, invites readers to celebrate their half birthdays, with four birthday bundles and do-it-yourself activities in her latest children’s book, The Half Birthday Book (Genius Cat Books, 2023).
Ariana Amini ’95 co-wrote with her sister Christina Baba’s Gift: A Persian Father’s Love of Family (Little Bigfoot, 2023), about a Persian father who enchants his six daughters with his stories, transporting them to his childhood in Iran as they play on the Persian carpet in California.
MEMOIR
Angie N. Choi ’94 shares a personal story of cancer diagnosis and healing through standard and alternative treatments in Whole New Me: Healing From Cancer in Body, Mind, and Spirit (Kosmos Publications, 2023).
SELF HELP
Nancy B. Gutiérrez, Cred. ’02, co-authored with Roberto Padilla Stay and Prevail: Students of Color Don’t Need to Leave Their Communities to Succeed (ASCD, 2023), which examines how school and district leaders can nurture and support students to find success in their home communities, and build an asset-based, uplifting approach that honors the backgrounds, cultures, and strengths of Black and Brown communities.
Cleve Justis, M.B.A. ’05, Ph.D. ’19, and Daniel Student, M.B.A. ’20, co-wrote Don’t Lead Alone: Think Like a System, Act Like a Network, Lead Like a Movement! (Fast Company Press, 2023), presenting a roadmap for effective partnerships that increase impact and profitability.
Ashlee Gadd ’08 says motherhood and creativity can coexist and aims to inspire others with Create Anyway: The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood (Bethany House Publishers, 2023).
