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JULIA A Naked Singularity by Sergio De La Pava "As a New Yorker who spent a year working for the Public Defender's Office, I think that this book rings hilariously true. Sergio De La Pava so accurately captures the inexhaustible pathos of the most tireless cogs of the legal system. I've only just started, but … Continue reading What We’re Reading This Week
This blog discusses Jacqueline Woodson's Another Brooklyn, a stunning entry in the National Book Awards shortlist, whose winner will be announced in a ceremony Nov. 16. To bone up for the great literary event, or to compare notes if you've already read the shortlist, see my reviews of The Throwback Special, News of the World, and The … Continue reading NBA Countdown: Another Brooklyn
DANITHAN Men and Style: Essays, Interviews and Considerations by David Coggins “'How do you begin to write about the way we dress?,' asks David Coggins in the opening chapter of Men and Style, his new book celebrating men's sartorial decisions and the reasons behind them. He then proceeds to answer this very question in the following … Continue reading What We’re Reading This Week
On November 18, 1985, on ABC’s Monday Night Football, New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor shattered the leg of Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theissman in a brutal play the Redskins later referred to as the "Throwback Special." And every year on November 18, in Chris Bachelder’s novel of that name, a group of 22 men … Continue reading NBA Countdown: The Throwback Special
AMY S The Gentleman by Forrest Leo "I'm not very far in, but I already love this book. I’m at the dinner party where the main character meets the devil. It’s hilarious, it’s quick-witted, sharp and snappy. I like the way it's set up. It’s told in first person from the perspective of the main … Continue reading What We’re Reading This Week
Two books down, three to go in our weekly tour of the National Book Awards fiction shortlist! This week I curled up with Paulette Jiles’ delightful historical novel News of the World. Laugh and cry with me as you read about reading about an old man and a little girl whose deep bond is forged … Continue reading NBA Countdown: News of the World
BETHANY Frantumaglia: A Writer's Journey by Elena Ferrante "The perfect prescription for your sense of loss upon finishing the fourth and final installment of the Neapolitan novels, The Story of the Lost Child. While it's still true, you have been forcibly ejected from this breathless, absorbing fictional world that feels more real and urgent than your … Continue reading What We’re Reading This Week
For nerds like me, the words “NBA finals” resonate not so much because of giants sportsing hard as for a more thrilling contest whose outcome will be announced November 16: the National Book Awards. When 2016’s shortlist for fiction was released earlier this month, I had read exactly zero of the five picks. But, while my father … Continue reading NBA Countdown: The Underground Railroad
CONSUELO The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante "The whole world Elena Ferrante has built in her Neapolitan novels is so enveloping. You feel like you're there, and obviously the two main characters, the two women, are really interesting and play off each other really well. Right now I’m on the second book … Continue reading What We’re Reading This Week
MERRILEE The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones "I love learning about British history, but sometimes history books can read like lists of battles and famous people, unfortunately. Rather than just recounting events and who killed who, Dan Jones actually talks about the motives behind decisions. He makes the Plantagenets real people. … Continue reading What We’re Reading This Week
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