Three That Matter is an annual Bookstore initiative designed to celebrate reading as a shared, campus-wide practice. Each cycle, members of our community are invited to name three books that have shaped the way they think, work or see the world. These selections form a growing, evolving portrait of the ideas, stories and voices that circulate through our institution.
Curated by the Bookstore, this project is intended to strengthen our sense of community by making visible the many different paths that bring us together as readers. When students encounter the books that have mattered to people they see and learn from every day, it creates new points of connection, curiosity and conversation across disciplines and roles.
Throughout the year, featured titles will be highlighted and made available through the Bookstore at a 20 per cent discount, inviting everyone to take part in this shared act of discovery. Three That Matter is not just a list of books, but an ongoing invitation to reflect on what we read, why it matters and how those stories help shape who we are together.
Martha Mathurin-Moe's Three That Matter
Becoming, Michelle Obama
Becoming by Michelle Obama is a love letter to Black women about owning your story. It is also a reminder of the importance of pushing back against being misunderstood and pigeonholed. It is the honest acknowledgement that no one will ever understand you and that it is okay. I think we spend so much time shrinking ourselves so that we are not seen as too much, difficult or different. Your life is yours to create, owning your voice and not letting the expectations or labels of others define who you are is a critical piece to living a life that is purposeful. So, make sure you are an active participant in telling your story in the most honest and authentic way.
Leadership and Self-Deception, Arbinger Institute
I have always found that leadership is the most complex journey you will ever have to navigate. It is a reminder that good leadership starts with self-leadership and the ways in which we as leaders self-sabotage by not paying attention to our bias, beliefs or our self-justifying ways. This book challenges us as leaders to be more honest about ourselves, work through conflicts, manage institutional transformation and respect the people who are part of our teams and organizations. This book was gifted to me by my first mentor, a leader who has helped shape how I think, show up and try to lead. Leadership is an ongoing process that you must work at every single day, so it is my hope that this offers some insight to someone's leadership journey.
Rest is Resistance, Tricia Hersey
Rest is Resistance is focused on disrupting and challenging us to free ourselves from the grind culture. I know this is a different way to see productivity, but it is timely that we disrupt the narrative that celebrates burnout and overwork, instead of seeing rest as a tool for re-energizing, creating and dreaming. Rest is our dream space, we can choose to be restful, intentional and present. This book was gifted to me by a friend who has always talked about rest as necessary. It always puzzled me — her approach to challenge the notion that our output determines our value, and so it has shaped how I think about my approach to work and rest. I encourage you to work smarter. As we are in the first days of 2026, I share this with the hope that we begin this year with intention, ease and rest. The world is heavy, so find moments of small joys, wins and rest.
Closing Thought
In a world where there is so much noise, fear, hurt "Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud,"* so instead of chaos, fear and indifference, choose grace, courage and care.
*Maya Angelou