Reading Recommendations from Me (and My Colleagues)

Dungeon Crawler Carl and Listening to the Law

Every year around this time, the law school canvases faculty for some books we liked this year. I have two recommendations — one I’ve reviewed on this substack already, and one I haven’t:

Matt Dinniman, Dungeon Crawler Carl

This year I discovered the ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ series, recently released in seven volumes by Ace Books (with three more to come). The premise is improbable and hard to explain — the main character, along with all of the survivors of an attack on Earth, are caught inside an AI-generated dungeon role playing game that is also a galactically popular reality TV show. The genre (’LitRPG’) is odd — part science-fiction, part fantasy, and part fourth-wall-breaking. But the combination is incredible — gripping, shocking, hilarious, and ultimately inspiring.

Amy Coney Barrett, Listening to the Law

An account of the official story of the law and the role of the Supreme Court from one of the best and most important Justices on it — Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Justice Barrett discusses judicial neutrality, originalism, the Dobbs decision and many other controversial matters in an incredibly even and judicious tone. While some of this will be well-known to graduates of the law school, the book adds an important perspective to what you can get from the news and from the Court’s opinions. An important read for Justice Barrett’s critics and fans alike.

You can read the whole law school faculty list here (including Sam’s recs for Democracy and Solidarity by James Davison Hunter and What We Can Know by Ian McEwan).