At Lake Institute, we often return to books—old and new—as sources of insight, reflection, and challenge in both our professional and personal lives. Whether it’s reimagining generosity through nature, wrestling with faith and justice, or exploring the power of community, the books on our shelves tend to reflect the questions we’re asking in our work and in the world. As summer winds down, a few members of our team wanted to share recent reads that have shaped their thinking and sparked meaningful conversations.
We hope these recommendations do the same for you!
Anne Brock Recommends:
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
By Robin Wall Kimmerer | Scribner, 2024
Reflecting on our tendency to live in a scarcity mindset, Kimmerer highlights the abundance that we can see in the natural world if we’re paying attention. Focusing on the serviceberry plant, readers learn about the way this plant distributes wealth, and how this is the embodiment of nature in general. Kimmerer writes, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”
Kelly Dunlap Recommends:
Unruly Saint: Dorothy Day’s Radical Vision and its Challenge for Our Times
By D.L. Mayfield | Broadleaf Books, 2022
A fascinating introduction to the life of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. I was struck by Day’s commitment to living in solidarity with the poor and her search for a community and religious practices that would sustain her. Also noteworthy is Day’s approach to fundraising, which ranged from knocking on the doors of religious leaders to engaging supporters through her captivating writings.
Tasha Gibson Recommends:
Mother Emanuel
By Kevin Sack | Penguin Random House, 2025
At first glance, Mother Emanuel seems to be about a horrific hate crime, the deadly mass shooting of nine people at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. However, this book is about so much more than that. Through Sack’s extensive reporting and research, the book includes stories about the history of South Carolina, Charleston, the AME church, and Mother Emanuel AME Church, even beyond June 17, 2015. I’m really glad I read it.
If your summer TBR is full, then this lecture by Kevin Sack moderated by Dr. Robert Franklin, particularly the question and answer time, at the Atlanta History Center is good too!
David P. King, Ph.D. Recommends:
Small Things Like These
By Claire Keegan | Grove Press, 2021
I’ve enjoyed a number of Keegan’s novellas, and Small Things Like These can be read in just a few hours. In revolving around the vocation of a working man, everyday life of an Irish Catholic family, and their interaction with the local community and the institution of the Catholic church, it offers a multi-faceted view of the ways in which we bring our full selves and the complexities of our faith lives into some of the most difficult everyday decisions that we so often face.