Now Reading–May 2023
Summer approaches, which means it is time to find the books that you’ll keep in your bag that you take to the pool or day-long sporting events for the kids or to the beach or mountains on a family trip. Our staff is always happy to share some of the authors and books that they’ve found especially entertaining or thought-provoking.
Book review editor Liz Rios Hall writes, “I’m reading Sabrina Orah Mark’s enchanting new essay collection, Happily. A strange and beautiful alchemy of personal and literary history, Happily explores Mark’s life as a Jewish mother raising Black sons in the South through the lens of fairy tales. Mark draws on stories like Pinocchio and Peter Pan to illuminate the dark and often surreal quality of contemporary American life in haunting, lyrical prose. Like Angela Carter before her, Mark infuses new life into old tales with these fantastical retellings. I’m under their spell.”
Senior editor Sari Fordham writes, “One of the novels I have been most haunted by this year is The Girl in Duluth by Sigrid Brown. June lives in a small northern Minnesotan town with her mother who has recently died. Suspecting that her mother was murdered, June joins forces with a local newspaper reporter to figure out the truth. The central mystery drives the plot, but what compelled me as a reader was the rich sense of place and the complex characters.”
Profiles editor Brianna Avennia-Tapper writes, “I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself is a down-to-earth speculative novel about grief, shame, surveillance, oppression, and the ways we fight back. The action takes place in a near-future society that punishes ‘transgressions’ (both real and imagined) with the assignment of extra shadows that forever mark the transgressors. Beginning when the protagonist’s wife dies in childbirth, the story is told through letters (peppered with philosophical multiple choice questions) written by the protagonist (Kris) to her dead spouse. The allegory-like setting and focus on Kris’s internal experience exist alongside a juicy narrative propelled by sex, drugs, murder, and intrigue. One particularly delightful aspect of the book is the way that author Marisa Crane shows a child growing up across the pages, deftly developing her language, agency, and personality as the narrative unfolds. Kris’s love for her child, the indomitable spirit of the child herself, and the pair’s connections to extended family (both chosen and not) infuse a dark premise with a surprising amount of hope. Read this one to remember how important we are to each other.”
Managing Editor Jenny Bartoy writes, “Part whodunnit, part campus saga, I Have Some Questions for You had garnered rave reviews, and I’d had award-winning author Rebecca Makkai on my radar for some time. It did not disappoint. When a film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane, returns to the New Hampshire boarding school she attended as a teen in order to teach a course, she becomes obsessed with revisiting the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, who died in the spring of their senior year. The school’s Black athletic trainer had been convicted but his guilt long debated online. The unique twist of this novel is the point of view: Bodie is the narrator but she tells the story to Mr Bloch, the beloved music teacher who’d been inappropriately close to Thalia. The more Bodie digs — into evidence, suspects, and her own memory — the deeper the reader gets pulled into alternate versions of events until finally the truth comes to light. A riveting page-turner, I Have Some Questions for You layers thought-provoking subplots and themes: the necessity and vagaries of the #metoo movement, our problematic assumptions about race and class, the liminal complexities of adolescence then and now, and the tenuous reliance we place on memory and perception. Makkai has drawn a beautifully complex cast of characters and crafted an impossible-to-put-down story. As soon as I finished I Have Some Questions for You, I wanted to read it again, both to spend more time enjoying Makkai’s writing and to untangle how exactly she knitted her masterful plot.”
Rhonda Havig, Newsletter Editor and Digital Analyst, writes, “I recently read Poet Warrior, a memoir by Joy Harjo. Harjo was the first Native American to serve as poet laureate of the United States, so it was no surprise to find quite a few poems throughout her book — at times, the beautiful lyrical writing contrasted with stories of incredibly rough situations in her life. It is clear Harjo finds writing healing and powerful. She tells stories about her ancestors, family, and community, giving insight into her Native American culture. While reading some ordeals she went through could be tough, I finished Poet Warrior with a sense of hope. It also kindled in me a desire to connect more with nature, as well as my own spirituality and family.”
Blog editor Michelle Chalkey writes, “I recently came across I’ll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein and it is pleasantly what I need right now in the early years of parenting. Klein’s book contains essays on midlife and motherhood, and so far she has me laughing on nearly every page. Klein is an award-winning television writer, producer and creator, with one of the shows she’s written for being Saturday Night Live. I love any chance to hear or read a comedian (or comedy writer) on the topic of motherhood. It’s so relieving to not only relate to what the author is talking about but to be able to laugh about the ridiculousness of what motherhood really entails. I’m not that far into the book, but I highly recommend it as one to have on hand when you’re stressed or need a pick-me-up.