What We’re Reading This Week

JESSICA

Love May Fail by Matthew Quick

“Matthew Quick first came to my attention with Silver Lining’s Playbook, although I had been wanting to read something by him for a while. Love May Fail, Matthew Quick’s upcoming new novel, tells the story of a woman who decides to leave her husband and ends up moving back in with her mother, who lives in New Jersey. Her mother suffers from mental illness, which expresses itself in a number of ways, including hoarding. The woman decides to go looking for her high school English teacher, who inspired her to write, as the first step to embarking on a writing career. I’m not that far in, but I’m really loving it!” Love May Fail comes out June 16. Pre-order now!

GRIFFIN

The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien

“I am just past the creation story, which is the first little part of the book. I started reading it in high school but stopped because it was like the bible, but now I’m about to start re-reading the bible, so I thought I’d pick up the Silmarillion again. Now that I’ve read Lord of The Rings three or four times, I’m ready to tackle The Silmarillion – it doesn’t seem so intimidating anymore. The book reads more like a history than a novel, and shows off Tolkien’s world-building skills. He worked on it for much of his life, and it’s a fascinating companion to the rest of Tolkien’s work.”You can find copies of The Silmarillion on our shelves and via bookpeople.com.

CONSUELO

James Baldwin: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations by James Baldwin, Quincy Troupe

“I’m reading the James Baldwin edition of Melville House’s last interview series. The name of the series is a bit of a misnomer – the books contain more than just the last interview with each author. The James Baldwin edition includes four interviews, and I’ve read the first two (the interviews are spaced throughout his life) and I can’t wait to get to the actual last interview. Baldwin was very vocal during the Civil Rights Movement, and many of the things Baldwin said in the 1960s about racism in America still hold true today – I don’t think there will ever be a time when Baldwin’s words cease to relevant. I’m reading it in preparation for my book club, which discusses The Fire Next Time this upcoming Sunday.” You can find copies of James Baldwin: The Last Interview on our shelves and via bookpeople.com. The Required Reading Revisited Book Club discusses Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time this Sunday, May 10th, at 4 PM on BookPeople’s third floor. Book Club selections are 10% off at the register in the month of their selection.

JENN G.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

I’m about halfway through 1Q84, and I am as joyously lost as I always am mid-way through a Murakami novel. The plot follows two seemingly unconnected characters: Aomame, an assassin who murders abusive men without leaving a mark on their bodies, and Tengo, a writer who agrees to help re-write a strange and beautiful novel originally penned by a strange and beautiful teenage girl. Long-time Murakami fans will recognize a number of familiar tropes: alternate timelines, fateful connections, vanishing women, esoteric musical recordings, Freudian doppelgangers, weird sex, and surreal, diaphanous details that weave together to create a picture of our most inscrutable psychological nooks and crannies. I don’t know where we’re going yet, but page by page, the pieces are coalescing into something miraculous.” You can find copies of 1Q84 on our shelves and via bookpeople.com.