Below are some books recommended by alumni and current students. If you would like to tell fellow Earlhamites about one of your favorite books, send an e-mail to earlhamite@earlham.edu.

The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium
by Walter Wink
Galillee Books, 1999
ISBN: 0385487522

“The book that had the most powerful influence on my thinking about our country, and the world is "The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium" by Walter Wink. First he tells us who the Powers That Be are. Not only do they staff our hospitals, sit around tables in corporate boardrooms, collect our taxes, and head our families, but they are the systems that weave society into an intricate fabric of power and relationships.

Needed systems are also the source of unmitigated evils. Every individual and every organization imaginable has its own identity, its own personality, its soul, which includes an angelic side and a demonic side. We are on the brink of rediscovering soul at the core of every created thing. Everything from DNA to the United Nations has God at its core. Corporations and governments are “creatures” whose sole purpose is to serve the general welfare. When they refuse to do so, their spirituality becomes diseased. God’s good news is not only can he liberate us from the Powers, but God can liberate the Powers from their destructive behavior as well. The Powers are good creations of God (as we are), are fallen (as we are). Redemption cannot be complete unless the Powers That Be are redeemed.”

—Tom Applegate ’59
Dayton, Ohio

The History of Sexuality: An Introduction by Michel Foucault
(originally published in 1976)
Vintage Books, 1990
ISBN: 0679724699

“Foucault’s 'The History of Sexuality' has influenced me to rethink power in all scenarios and all aspects of political, theoretical and historical maneuverings. I think all psychology majors should be required to study Foucault.”

—Katy Martin ’07
Sociology/Anthropology major

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Random House Books for Young Readers, 1971
ISBN: 0394823370
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Harper Collins, 1964
ISBN: 0060256656

“'The Lorax' had a profound effect on me as a child when the words “clear cutting,” “air pollution” and “deforestation” held little meaning. The story illustrates what can result from greed and ignorance in commerce and from the disregard for balance in the consumption of natural resources. A beautiful forest of Truffula Trees teeming with wildlife, cut down and destroyed to use the Truffula tufts for clothing, despite warnings from the Lorax. When the narrator, the negligent entrepreneur himself, finishes telling his story, he passes to the listening child one remaining seed to a Truffula Tree that he has saved.

Shel Silverstein’s 'The Giving Tree' has several interpretations, a couple of which I will share here. Silverstein relates the touching story of a generous, loving tree and the boy who loves her. When the boy is young, he likes to climb the tree, eat her apples and swing on her branches, but as the boy grows, his conditions for happiness become more demanding. The tree gives of herself without hesitation, even giving her own trunk so the boy can build a boat. One cannot help but think about the effect we have on the world as it keeps giving and giving, and we keep taking and taking. How long before we’re left with nothing but a stump to rest on? As I’ve reread the story in early adulthood, I think of my own parents and everything they have done for my brother and me in our still-short lives — their unconditional love and ceaseless giving. Are there times when they hesitate to give more of themselves? Do I have the capacity to love and give to my own future children?

These simple tales are more than mere entertainment for children. They are commentaries on our lives that continue to teach 35 and 40 years later.”

—Jessica McDaniel ’07
Spanish and Hispanic Studies major
God Calling
God at Eventide by Two Listeners
edited by A.J. Russell
originally published by Arthur James, The Drift, Evesham, Worcs, England in 1935.

“When I was about half as old as I am now, and at a juncture where life was troublesome for me, I mentioned to an elderly Quaker that I thought I might need to consult a psychiatrist. Rachel said little then in response, but the next time we met she handed over to me a small daily devotional guide, explaining that it was her psychiatrist.

... At first, I used God Calling sporadically, but gradually it has become an essential part of my existence, as is the case with God in Eventide, a companion volume from the same [publisher].

Each of these two little books consists of a few introductory, explanatory pages, and then 366 messages that were allegedly received by the two listeners — both women — from the holy spirit. Divested of the terminology of Anglican Christianity in which many of the message are expressed, they tell in a multiplicity of ways that you are loved, supported, and guided by the spirit that in turn requires, and longs for, your love and service.”

—Jack Wright ’45
Bro, Sweden