During troubled times like these, it’s a good idea to take a break and read a novel. Why? Because this pastime forces you to think about life in its totality–the world’s history, misdeeds, progress, and sometimes offers the possibility of hope.

I have found solace in novels this past year. Here are some of my favorites.

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. I’m a huge fan of all her work. I loved Demon Copperhead and The Poisonwood Bible. Unsheltered does not disappoint. It’s about two families who live next door to each other in New Jersey, 145 years apart. In both cases, their homes are falling apart, and no one has the wherewithal to shelter their family from within. This construct allows Kingsolver to contrast the fear of a Trump presidency (well-founded, I might add) with the controversy that ensued over Darwin’s ideas, considered radical at the time. Such a construct confronts the possibility of the collapse of not only our societies, but our shelters and the social order. This theme encourages readers to think about how to seek their own shelters as the world shifts around us. 

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. I was a bit skeptical about this novel as the story is told through letters, emails, and journal entries. I ended up loving it. The story is about a retired law clerk named Sybil who writes to family, friends, authors, and academics. These correspondences illustrate the power of connection while grappling with the human condition, grief, joy, aging, and the power of forgiveness. NPR named it the best book of the year. I agree. 

Heart the Lover by Lily King. As a former undergraduate and graduate student of English literature, I’m a sucker for novels with tons of literary references. Heart the Lover is chock full of them. While reading the novel, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much research went into all the back stories about authors, their plots, and famous sentences. Heart the Lover is about a woman who ultimately wants to be a writer. It’s about what happens when friends turn into lovers, when friends screw up, wise up, find themselves, and realize what they have lost in the process. Literary references in the novel include The Great Gatsby, The Magic Mountain, Ulysses, Finnegan’s Wake, Confessions of Saint Augustine, The Aeneid, Othello, Macbeth, Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, As I Lay Dying, The Sun Also Rises, and The Golden Bowl. In referencing these novels, King emphasizes how literature shapes the characters’ understanding of love, loss, and personal identity. 

An Inside Job by Daniel Silva. If you are seeking a delightful escape into the world of art, finance, and Italy, this is the novel for you. An Inside Job is Silva’s 25th book in the Gabriel Allon series. I have read all of them. They are a great way to learn more about Renaissance art, the art dealing industry, and espionage tactics. Plus, the novel is just a good old-fashioned engaging “who-done-it” page turner. In this novel, a painting in the Vatican that may have been painted by da Vinci goes missing, and a young intern in the Vatican’s art department turns up dead. Allon uncovers a network of lies stretching from the Vatican to financial brokers to the Italian mafia. 

Among Friends by Hal Ebbott. This novel is about two families whose long-term friendship is shattered by a shocking betrayal during a birthday celebration at a New York country house. It dives deep into the fascinating exploration of what happens when you are betrayed by your best friend. How do you recover? Can you recover? Can you mentally convince yourself that everything can return to the way it was? I read this novel a few months ago, and its major themes continue to haunt me. I find myself thinking about the characters and their reactions to various events a crazy amount of time. I’m glad I read this book. 

What I love about all these novels are the themes of the devastating ramifications of our decisions, our mistakes, and the difficulties of leading a truly moral life. 

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde wrote, “Modern morality consists in accepting the standard of one’s age. I consider that for any man of culture to accept the standard of his age is a form of the grossest immorality.” 

Something to think about in 2026. 

Maria Grant, formerly principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm, now focuses on writing, reading, music, bicycling, and nature.

Many people have died during the first year of Trump’s second term. A majority of them have been people of color. Here’s a brief summary. 

Thiry-two people died in ICE detention centers in 2025. At least seven of them died in the first 100 days of the administration.

Three people died in accidents while running from ICE raids.

Various reports suggest that cuts to international aid caused up to 14 million deaths globally.

Last year, more than 100,000 Americans were killed by gun violence.

Reports indicate that there have been at least 115 deaths in more than 35 boat strikes off Venezuelan waters between September 2025 and January 2026. So far, the administration has provided little evidence that the targeted vessels were carrying drugs, or that all victims were involved in drug trafficking. 

Venezuelan officials report that approximately 100 Venezuelans were killed during the U.S. operation to capture Maduro. During Trump’s press conference after Maduro’s capture, no mention was made of those deaths. The only mention of death was when Trump stated that no Americans were killed, and only two Americans were injured. 

Just last week, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. Two people were injured, one seriously, by federal officers in Portland, Oregon, the day after the Minneapolis shooting. 

Trump has been deeply disturbed by White South Africans being killed but has not expressed that same outrage about the Black people who have been murdered in South Africa and other nations.

Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has painted over Black Lives Matter murals and scrubbed stories about Navajo Code Talkers from museums in yet another effort to erase non-White history. He has removed Black historical figures from national websites; signed an executive order attacking the National Museum of African American History; rolled back DEI initiatives; and reinstalled Confederate memorials that had been removed. 

Trump has called Somali immigrants “garbage,” and said, “We don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from.” He has continued to seal the country to refugees around the world, reserving only a limited number of slots for White South Africans. (He has also stated that he wishes more White people from Denmark would immigrate to the U.S. rather than the current “garbage” who are here. That wish is unlikely to be realized given Trump’s obsession with taking over Greenland.) 

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Trump stated that the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 led to white people being treated “very badly.” In response, NAACP President Derrick Johnson stated that there is no evidence that White people have been discriminated against as a result of the civil rights movement. 

Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has a history of political extremism. He was the architect of family separations at the border. His leaked emails shared white nationalist talking points. And his former work in government has consistently targeted people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ Americans. 

When conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered in that horrific incident, Miller, Vance, and Trump pronounced that anyone who repeated Kirk’s very own words which many would interpret as racist or sexist should be called out. Their employers should fire them immediately. Some employers took those demands seriously and several employees lost their jobs. 

Contrast the casualness of minority deaths with the outcry over White deaths with the kind of recruitment that is going on right now for more ICE agents. When the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed, it included almost $75 billion extra for ICE agents, making ICE the largest law enforcement agency in the country, outstripping even the FBI. 

To meet its hiring targets, ICE has removed age restrictions and cut the training time in half. It is also using some far-right websites in its recruiting efforts. Scholars have connected some of the recruiting to Proud Boy rhetoric as well. 

Keep in mind that the majority of ICE arrestees do not have criminal records. Only roughly eight percent of them have been convicted of a crime. Many critics say that the current ICE recruitment strategy uses violent video game metaphors, encourages extremism and racist indoctrination, and suggests that ICE will make America different than what it currently is. In essence it presents the new America as a violent but White place. 

Martin Luther King once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 

The casual collateral damage rhetoric that surfaces from this Administration when people of color are killed or treated with cruelty and no due process will result in severe consequences. This mindset impacts international relations, domestic stability, and societal well-being. 

Actions to curtail the current momentum have never been more important. Ensuring that voters are informed about current threats to our democracy and mobilizing as many as possible to vote this November will make a difference. Act now. 

Maria Grant, formerly principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm, now focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.