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Summer readings recommended by U.S. business and academic sectors

Summer readings recommended by U.S. business and academic sectors

Posted July. 21, 2017 07:22,   

Updated July. 21, 2017 07:36

한국어
There may be many Americans who feel empty for the first time in eight years in the summer vacation season, as Barack Obama, a president who recommended books to read, has been replaced by Donald Trump who does not seem to be a book reader.

There has not been any news about President Trump going to bookstores since his inauguration. In contrast, Obama was seen enjoying buying books at local bookstores with his family on various occasions. He introduced serious books conveying social messages for vacation last year, including “The Underground Railroad” on slaves sneaking into the North in search of freedom before the Civil War and “Seveneves,” a sci-fi fiction on the humankind coping with the end of the Earth.

While the White House remains silent about books, the American business community and universities made vacation book recommendations on timely topics such as understanding the Trump era and diversity. JP Morgan, an investment bank that unveils a list of summer reading recommendations every year, introduced 11 books, including “Madame President,” a biography of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman to be elected president of an African country, and “A World in Disarray” by Richard Haass, president of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, on the world order in the Trump era.


JP Morgan also recommended a book for children – “Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World,” which deals with gender equality and the “hot” topic of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).


Among the books recommended the most by U.S. universities for freshmen are renowned U.S. human rights defense lawyer Bryan Stevenson’s book “Just Mercy,” which discusses the United States’ deep-rooted racism through the story of Walter McMillian, an African-American man who was exonerated and freed from Alabama's death row in 1993. The New York Times reported that at least 70 universities had their student read this book over the past three years.



Gi-Jae Han record@donga.com