Looking for a good book? You’ve come to the right place. Our series Arts Book Club takes a weekly peek into what the people of UBC Arts are reading.

This week, we talked to broadcast journalist Rick Chung, freelance writer Kait Bolongaro and Afghanistan researcher Brian Platt. All recent UBC Arts alumni, they have bookshelves worth a closer look. Check out what they’re reading this summer.

Sex Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman

Reviewer: Rick Chung, BA ’08 Political Science and International Relations

I am currently re-reading Chuck Klosterman’s pop culture bible, Sex Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. Billed as “A Low Culture Manifesto,” the book is a series of pop culture essays framed in the context of growing up and coming of age experiences from Klosterman’s youth. Cocoa Puffs brims with nostalgic undertones and memories of childhood ideals.

His writing is sharp, personable, and witty. My favourite section is the absolute theoretical and analytical analysis of the meaning behind the ’90s teen show, Saved by the Bell. Rich with humour, the book of essays beautifully explores our human condition through popular culture, explaining the cliches of life without cynicism. He explores “low art” with high art sensibilities in a manner palatable to all. It makes you feel good about your guilty pleasures.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Reviewer: Kait Bolongaro, BA ’11 French and African Studies

What if you could change your life without changing your life? The Happiness Project is American author Gretchen Rubin’s answer to this question. This book chronicles one year of happiness resolutions and goals, ranging from “Remember Birthdays” to “Sing in the Morning” and is a culmination of Rubin’s extensive research into the psychology and ancient wisdom of happiness from the Dalai Lama to Aristotle.

Rubin is a quirky yet honest narrator who inspires readers to make small changes in their own lives without having to make drastic changes to their life situations. Unlike books such as Eat, Pray, Love, a great memoir of a year spent abroad to find personal fulfillment, in which the narrator embarks on a long journey to find themselves, Rubin changes her perspective on happiness without disrupting her daily life. Her journey to find inner happiness with her own life is so inspiring that I have started my own happiness project.

Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson

Reviewer: Brian Platt, BA ’11 History

This is a gigantic book (832 pages of small print), but it’s worth the effort. Anderson is a seasoned war reporter who isn’t interested in pandering to any political viewpoints, and he does a masterful job of cutting straight to the facts of this complicated story. We all get annoyed at the people who wear Che T-shirts without knowing a thing about the guy, but even those who claim to be Che experts are often just as clueless. If myth-busting the arguments of the ignorant is something you enjoy—and really, who doesn’t?—this book will give you plenty of ammunition. For a scrupulously researched but very readable account of all the political and military battles waged by Che in his lifetime, you can’t do any better.

I’d also recommend looking up Anderson’s essays for The New Yorker, especially his most recent one from Afghanistan.