October 5-6, 2019: Crowd-sourced Recent Reads

[Busy with a bunch of book talks at the moment—on which more in a few weeks—so this week I’ve shared a series of brief posts highlighting great new books I’ve read this year. Leading up to this crowd-sourced post drawn from the responses and recent reads of fellow AmericanStudiers—add yours in comments, please!]

Responding to Monday’s post, Carol Loranger writes, “Loved The Overstory too, in a sad/happy/sad way.” She adds, “I am in the midst of American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals on the Great Plains, by Dan Flores (University Press of Kansas, 2016). Oh the murder we have done!”

Responding to Tuesday’s post, Sarah Robbins writes, “Agreed: Nickel Boys is a SUPER book.”

Responding to Wednesday’s post, Donna Campbell shares, “My students have two optional ‘book expert’ reads for sharing in a group at the end of the semester, and There There is one of them. (Educated is the other.) I'm eager to see what they say about it.”

Other recent reads:

Matthew Teutsch writes, “I’ve been reading Etaf Rum’s A Woman is No Man, which pairs well with Hala Alyan’s Salt Houses and G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel. Also been reading Dessa’s My Own Devices.”

Jeff Renye highlights “The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. Not exactly a successor to the work of Judith Walkowitz in City of Dreadful Delight, but an important contribution to counter the ongoing mythicizing of the Whitechapel crimes.”

John Buass notes, “(To my embarrassment, given my interests, I'm reading for the first time) Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands/La Frontera.

Dana Gavin is reading Ruth Oldenziel’s Making Technology Masculine.

Lara Schwartz suggests the recent Ibram X. Kendi article, “Pass an Anti-Racist Constitutional Amendment.”

Vanessa Holloway is “reading (again) A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.’s Shades of Freedom.”

Emily Lauer writes, “I just finished My Real Children by Jo Walton! It’s alternate history.”

Meg Bollman writes, “Reading Doctor Sleep by Stephen King. Chilling.”

Andrew DaSilva highlights, “Markings by Dag Hammarskjold, The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, and The Mohawk Saint by/edited by Allan Greer. As for articles in magazines and such, this one stood out the most among the many.”

Philip Opere shares “The Dark Forest: Book 2 of the Three Body Problem series. Really amazing read.”

Kent Rosenwald writes, “Atticus by Ron Hansen. I picked up a copy at a library sale, and though I had read it before, a second read just floored me!” He also highlights Lights All Night Long by Lydia Fitzpatrick.

Patricia Ringle Vandever shares Country Dark by Chris Offutt and Milkman by Anna Burns.

Nicole Sterbinksy highlights “Pumpkinheads, a graphic novel by Rainbow Rowell and illustration by Faith Erin Hicks. Cute YA graphic novel that hits all those buttons about a festive fall season.”

Troy Zaher writes, “This book is a year old so I don’t know if it counts [ED: It does!] but Circe by Madeline Miller.”

Courtney Gustafson writes, “Just finished Anne Boyer’s The Undying and about to start the new Leslie Jamison book!”

Nancy Caronia shares, “The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames. A sprawling epic Bildungsroman that takes us from Calabria to Connecticut. The Italian American novel I’ve been waiting for!”

Tim McCaffrey Tweets, “I’ve been reading some Nathaniel Philbrick histories—Last Stand, Mayflower, and In the Heart of the Sea.

Dr. Thando Njovane Tweets, “I'm reading Murakami's Wind and Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Only just started both because teaching is hectic this quarter.” She adds, “I like recommendations! Sana Goyal often posts some as well.”

And Kate Tweets out her recent reads Eliza Griswold’s Amity and Prosperity and Frank Langfitt’s The Shanghai Free Taxi. For the overall reading list she adds: A Gentleman in Moscow, News of the World, Devil in the White City, Swans of Fifth Avenue, The Children of Willenden Lane, The Snow Child, The Hare with Amber Eyes, The Nightingale, All the Light We Cannot See, People of the Book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Jewel in the Crown, Our Souls at Night, Dreams of Joy, The Fortunate Ones, The Orphan Master’s Son, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, The Underground Railroad, The Lady in Gold, Train in Winter, and My Name is Lucy Barton.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. Thoughts on any of these books? Other recent reads you’d share?