Friday Reads 10.20.23
It’s Friday, friends, and you know what that means… let’s take a break from the news cycle and talk about what we’re reading!
But first, a big warm welcome to all the new readers who found your way here over the past couple of weeks. I appreciate you, and will endeavor to keep things heartfelt but pithy. I have to admit, seeing this space growing makes my heart happy.
Today and tomorrow are big days—we’re taping the bulks of A WORD ON WORDS season 9 because so many incredible authors are in town for the Southern Festival of Books. Nine interviews are slated, which means we are all hopping. I love these crazed days of back-to-back conversations with remarkable authors about their equally remarkable books. They span the gamut this year from high literary to spy thriller, which also makes me jump for joy. Diversity in genre and author is very important to the reading life and to the creative spirit. If I only read thrillers, or fantasy, or literary, etc., I wouldn’t be able to grow as a writer, nor as a person of the world.
So my featured read this week is Stephen Buoro’s The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, which I’m actually listening to, and I’m telling you, this is an utterly gripping coming-of-age story. It is beautifully written, funny, tragic, poignant, and so so smart. Add in Jude Owusu narrating and I have logged miles every day so I can continue listening. This is a remarkable book.
The rest of my reading has been in service of the authors I’m interviewing, but I will share this fascinating piece from Slate on Lester Del Rey — The Man Who Invented Fantasy.
And can I suggest a new Substack for you to watch? Laura Steven of just did a mega deal for a new book and has joined the crowd here. I’ve been very impressed with her work, so watching her dreams come true is a lot of fun.
And Wendy Walker, A.J. Banner, Rochelle Weinstein, and our own have books out this week. Congrats, ladies!
What about you? What’s on your plate this weekend?
