Books

Written by American restaurateur and founder of hospitality group Make It Nice, Will Guidara, this book is an in-depth exploration of customer service, examining response from clients when
their expectations are surpassed. Guidara worked in the service industry nearly his entire life, with the privilege of managing Eleven Madison Park in NYC, one of the most famous
restaurants in the country. As a former line cook, this book had me hooked from the start, and had me dreaming of the day I could dine at one of Guidara’s restaurants. For anyone who works
in the service industry, appreciates culinary artistry, or frequently works with people.

An exploration of two brothers’ complex relationship following their father’s death. This literary
fiction novel examines each brother’s contemplation of their connection to their father, and the
implications of their past relationships, their differences in how they engage in romantic
relationships—and scrutiny that arises as a result, and their inability to love each other in a clear or straightforward manner. This book encourages readers to consider the complexity of familial relationships, and the guilt that comes with being unable to love someone ‘like we should.’ Rooney employs starkly contrasting modes of narration between each brothers’ chapters,
displaying the unique ways in which their brains operate, and Rooney’s immense
versatility—and talent—as a writer. For the reader who likes to be plunged into reality through art.

This memoir, written by one of my all-time favorite poets, Maggie Smith, follows the end of Smith’s marriage from her college sweetheart after roughly 20 years. This book is devastating, heart-wrenching, and inspiring all at once. As a poet, Smith carefully selects each word in this book, allowing it to read in a beautifully artistic way. As an uninvolved 25 year old,
who has never been married, has no children, and has no personal connections to the happenings of this memoir, I would go so far as to say this book is for anyone. It’s real, it’s raw, it’s beautiful.
For the memoir lover who appreciates an author’s honesty and bravery in sharing their story, not
how it looked from the outside, but how they experienced it within themselves.

The way Carmen Maria Machado employs language is truly remarkable. Her propulsion of words, the way she lets one dictate the next—whether through sound or meaning—is admirable.
Her pacing, being able to cover 22 years of a character’s life in only 30 pages, is refined and
impressive. I’ve had one of her books sitting on my bookshelf, in the ‘to read’ section, for nearly
5 years. Many DBS employees had been talking about her work, encouraging me to finally pick
up her short story collection. I am so, so glad I did. She’s the kind of writer who, by the end of a story, makes me wish I was the one who wrote it first. For lovers of language that sings and short
stories that leave you thinking about them long after you finished reading.