The only thing I like to hear more than that someone is actually reading, is that they’re reading something fun, something that they’re excited about and enjoying. The list of books I’ve yet to read is long, but there’s always room for one more. What one more would you recommend (or not recommend)?
Some recent reads include Angie Thomas’s On the Come Up, Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, and Jason Reynolds’s and Bendan Kiely’s All American Boys. I think I’m on a “banned books” kick right now, and I’m learning that some of the greatest fiction is also some of the most challenged. Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give was easily one of my favorite books of all time, and Angie Thomas is quickly becoming one of my favorite YA authors (if not one of my favorite authors in general). All American Boys was exciting and thought-provoking. It brought in a new dimension to the modern problems of racism and the black lives matter movement and forced me to look at myself and question where I stand on uncomfortable issues. It was riveting and dramatic and pretty much everything I ask a book to be.
Selected Shorts
Every Saturday, between 4-5 pm, KCPW (88.3 fm in Utah) hosts Selected Shorts, presenting a handful of short stories by various authors. A lot of these are quite good and deserve so much recognition.
- “Anyone Can Do It,” by Manuel Muñoz (only available through subscription or purchase)
- “The Rumors About Me,” by Yasutaka Tsutsui (Free PDF)
- “Omakase,” by Weike Wang (Free from The New Yorker)
- “Biology,” by Kevin Wilson (Free PDF from The Southern Review)
Mr. Wainwright's Wheelhouse 