Three That Matter asks a simple question: Which three books have mattered most to you?
Following its initial launch in January 2026, this bookstore initiative has returned as an annual celebration of the books that have shaped members of our campus community.
Each week, a different member of the University community will share three books that have stayed with them, books they return to, wrestle with, or continue to think about long after the final page. The featured titles will be available through the University of Lethbridge Bookstore at a 20 per cent discount.
Together, these selections offer a glimpse into the ideas and stories that have shaped the people who teach, learn, work, and study here.
Three That Matter is an invitation to discover the people behind the reading lists, encounter something new, and maybe find a book that matters to you, too.
Deb Lucas' Three That Matter
Book one: The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Why it matters
This is the book that has stayed with me and that I have thought of often ever since I read it. Coming from Barbados, with its own history so deeply shaped by slavery and colonialism, added another layer of meaning for me. What has stayed with me most, though, is Aminata’s extraordinary resilience and tenacity. Over and over again she is dealt devastating blows, constant setbacks and relentless racism, yet she keeps moving forward.
Her journey takes her from Africa to South Carolina, New York, Nova Scotia, back to Africa and then to England, and at each stage she seeks opportunities to change her circumstances and shape the course of her own life. While prejudice, hardship and disappointment follow her from place to place, each new environment also brings different possibilities — for freedom, community, purpose and eventually, the opportunity to have her story heard. Even her return to Africa is not the homecoming she might once have imagined, but she adapts and moves forward. She not only survives but continues to help others, even when so much is beyond her control. Through it all, her voice and sense of who she is remain remarkably strong.
Book two: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Why it matters
Cussy Mary is the last living female of Kentucky’s “blue people”, she lives in a community that largely shuns, hates or barely tolerates her, yet as a pack horse librarian she quietly creates a community of her own. Through the books she delivers to isolated mountain residents, she becomes part of their lives and they become a part of hers. The people she encounters, their stories and the hardships and prejudice she herself endures made for a compelling, thought-provoking and moving experience. I also loved that, while Cussy’s story is fiction, it is grounded in the very real history of the Pack Horse Library Project and the blue people of Kentucky, which then led me down the rabbit hole of finding out more about that!
Book three: A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
Why it matters
For Book 3, I had to include a book written by a Caribbean author and this one was formative for me when I first read it as a young adult. There is so much humour in Mohun Biswas and his often-frustrating attempts to make his way in the world. He can be stubborn, contrary, exasperating and very funny and frequently seems to be the architect of at least some of his own troubles. But beneath it is a story of remarkable resilience and determination. His lifelong pursuit of a house is really a pursuit of independence, a place of his own and the ability to define his life on his own terms. He stumbles, fails and starts again many times, but he keeps going, and I think it is that very human combination of imperfection, humour and persistence that has stayed with me.
Closing thoughts
I think one of the wonderful things about reading is where it can take you, into different places, cultures, histories and, most importantly, other people’s lives. Some books entertain us and some teach us, but the really special ones stay with us and subtly change how we see the world. My hope for students is that they remain curious, keep reading widely, and never stop being open to perspectives and experiences different from their own.