From the fall 2026 issue of St. Catherine University Magazine.
Midterm elections are Tuesday, Nov. 3, and while some citizens focus on presidential election years, your vote at the midway point of a president’s term helps shape the make-up of Congress. This fall, voters have the opportunity to mark their preferences for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, along with state-specific races for ballot measures, governor, state representatives, judicial, and other local offices.
St. Catherine University’s faculty and staff offered their book recommendations about informed voting, community building, and democracy during election season.
Available at the St. Kate's Bookstore
Buy the titles featured in this “Bookmark” in person, online, or as audiobooks:
Nellie Francis: Fighting for Racial Justice and Women’s Equality in Minnesota
by William D. Green
(2021). Nonfiction.
Learn about Nellie Francis, an African American suffragist and activist, whose work for gender and racial equality in Minnesota and nationally has largely gone unrecognized. This historical look at Francis’ life covers the beginning of her public life as the only Black graduate and speaker at a white St. Paul high school in 1891, to her campaigning efforts for an anti-lynching law, racial dignity, and interracial collaboration.
Courtesy of the University of Minnesota Press
Courtesy of Gloo Books
Calling All Future Voters!
by Ed Hailes Jr, Laura Atkins, and Jennifer Lai Peterson
(2014). Fiction.
It’s never too early to teach children about the importance of voting and engaged citizenship. If you have children or younger siblings, start by reading Calling All Future Voters! together, discuss your own experience of voting, then bring them to the polls for an immersive experience of what it’s like to cast your ballot.
I Never Thought of it That Way
by Mónica Guzmán
(2022). Nonfiction.
A willingness to ask questions and understand opposing political views isn’t easy, but it’s essential for humanity in these contentious, divided times, contends author Mónica Guzmán. As an advisor for Braver Angels, a national cross-partisan depolarization organization, Guzmán shares her personal and professional experience to help readers embrace their natural curiosity and have real conversations about differing worldviews.
Courtesy of Benbella Books
Courtesy of Simon & Schuster
Abundance
by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
(2025). Nonfiction.
Two progressive authors and journalists tackle what they call “the failings of liberal governance,” calling for a need to work past a scarcity mindset and excessive regulation that gets in the way of development, large-scale construction, and clean energy innovation. Instead, the authors argue, it’s time to embrace a mindset of abundance while understanding the political, economic, and cultural barriers holding back true progress.