Now Reading: Alumni Books

By Sarah Rufca Nielsen

All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches
by Ben Rhodes ’00
Random House, 2026

Former Obama speechwriter and “Pod Save the World” co-host Ben Rhodes traces our nation’s long argument over who gets to be American through 15 speeches that shaped, challenged and exposed the country’s ideals. From Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass to Anna Dickinson, Dolores Huerta and Donald Trump, Rhodes explores American identity as an ongoing struggle between exclusion, compromise and the promise of belonging.

Gardens of Texas: Visions of Resilience from the Lone Star State
by Pam Penick ’89; photography by Kenny Braun
Timber Press, 2025

Garden designer Pam Penick finds beauty in adaptation, showcasing 27 stunning landscapes across Texas designed to endure the state’s punishing heat, drought, floods and wild swings in weather. With lush photography and pockets of practical advice, “Gardens of Texas” celebrates the use of native plants, rainwater harvesting and climate-smart design to create resilient natural spaces that meet Texas on its own terms.

January and July
by Jeff Abbott ’85
Blackstone, 2026

In “January and July,” a former intelligence officer and a rookie bodyguard cross paths in a small Texas river town, each searching for a missing man and a different piece of a dangerous conspiracy. Fast-moving and atmospheric, Abbott’s latest thriller navigates secrets, betrayal and the unlikely alliances that form when trust is the only way out.

Replica: Poems
by Lisa Low ’09
University of Wisconsin Press, 2026

Lisa Low’s debut poetry collection raises questions of race, intimacy and self-representation with wit, precision and bite. Moving through white spaces, interracial relationships, nostalgia, mental health and Asian American identity, Low considers what it means to tell the truth about yourself within story templates waiting to simplify or misread you.

The Frenzy: Stories
by Joyce Carol Oates
Hogarth, 2026

One of America’s most esteemed literary voices, Joyce Carol Oates (whose tenure as a Rice doctoral student was interrupted by her early success) returns with “The Frenzy,” a collection of nine short stories imbued with emotional disturbance and psychological suspense. A master of the subversive, Oates uses both desire and discomfort to expose her characters’ deepest fears and the dark forces that lie just beneath the surface.

From the Fall 2026 issue of Rice Magazine