Lynn Hunt

Lynn Hunt is Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA and the author of numerous popular and scholarly history books. Her latest book is History: Why it Matters.

Recently I asked Hunt about what she was reading. Her reply:

I just finished Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August (1962), a history of the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Although it’s long and supposedly outdated, it remains a perennial favorite with readers for good reasons. I found it gripping. Tuchman puts most of us professional historians to shame; she manages to make the often dreary history of diplomatic maneuvering fascinating and tells the story of the first battles of the war in a way that captures the drama, uncertainty, pathos, terror and horror of events. I have talked about the war in my class on the history of Western civilization, but after reading her, I will change my approach to put at least some emphasis on how the invasion of Belgium by the Germans changed everything, bringing in the British, however reluctantly, to the side of the French, and providing an opening to a change of opinion in the United States, which would prove crucial in the end. Tuchman had an amazing ability to bring characters to life. As an historian, I think I’ve been good at analysis of events but at characterizing individuals who made a difference, not very good at all. But leaving aside all that, this book is just a great read that helps us understand one of the formative events of our time.

Learn more about Lynn Hunt and Why History Matters.

The Page 99 Test: Writing History in the Global Era.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tanya Katerí Hernández

Tanya Katerí Hernández is the Archibald R. Murray Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law, where she co-directs the Center on Race, Law & Justice as its Head of Global and Comparative Law Programs and Initiatives.

Her new book is Multiracials and Civil Rights: Mixed-Race Stories of Discrimination.

Recently I asked Hernández about what she was reading. Her reply:

I have been re-reading Trevor Noah's memoir Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, in anticipation of the film version that Lupita Nyongo is slated to star in portraying Noah’s mother. The book has a special resonance for me as a comparative-race law scholar whose personal background as a black-identified mixed-race Afro-Latina traveling the globe informs her insights about the (in)significance of the growth of racial mixture to the pursuit of racial equality whether it be in the US, South Africa, or Latin America. Noah’s story of being mixed-race during and after apartheid ended in South Africa is both a poignant and humorous read (as you would expect from the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.

Yet what brings me back to rereading it, are all his insights about how discrimination operates separate from one’s personal racial identity. For instance, one of my favorite quotes from the book is -- "Because racism exists, and you have to pick a side. You can say that you don't pick sides, but eventually life will force you to pick a side." For Noah, being a light-skinned child of a black Xhosa mother and white Swiss father, did not shield him from racism. Astoundingly, Noah’s insight about South Africa directly relates to my own assessment of what we can learn from looking at contemporary multiracial discrimination stories in the United States. The narratives of mixed-race people bringing claims of racial discrimination in court, illuminate traditional understandings of civil rights law and the need for continued focus on white supremacy and anti-blackness in equality pursuits. As a fellow race, class and nations border-crosser, Born a Crime inspires me to keep speaking my own truth about the realities of racism, however uncomfortable that might be for others to hear.

Learn more about Multiracials and Civil Rights at the NYU Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Racial Subordination in Latin America.

The Page 99 Test: Multiracials and Civil Rights.

--Marshal Zeringue

Andrew Reynolds

Andrew S. Reynolds is professor of philosophy at Cape Breton University. He has published in various history and philosophy of science journals and is the author of Peirce’s Scientific Metaphysics: The Philosophy of Chance, Law, and Evolution.

Reynolds's new book is The Third Lens: Metaphor and the Creation of Modern Cell Biology.

Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. His reply:

During the day I read articles and books relevant to my research and teaching, and in bed I read fiction or non-fiction for fun. A selection of my day-time reading of late includes the following books:

Sandra Harding, Science and Social Inequality: Feminist and Postcolonial Issues. Harding has been a leader in feminist science studies, providing critical perspective on the value-laden assumptions that both inform and misinform science’s historically male-dominated attempt to provide objective knowledge of the world. Here she discusses the cultural values about nature and knowledge that have shaped the development of science in the West.

Kim Tallbear. Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science. This is a terrific discussion of the science behind various DNA testing technologies and how the use of direct-to-consumer services to answer questions about ancestry contrasts with--and can undermine--socio-cultural notions of native identity and tribal membership. Metaphors of DNA and of blood she warns do not mix all that well, for they are intended for distinct sorts of purposes and narratives.

Peter Godfrey-Smith. Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness. Philosopher of science Peter Godfrey-Smith puts his SCUBA diving pastime to good use to explore what cephalopods (octopus, squids, cuttlefish and nautiluses) have to teach us about the possibilities for alien intelligence adapted to very different environments and bodies. Worth reading just for the fascinating accounts of these amazing creatures’ behavior.

Ernst Haeckel. Die Kalkschwämme. 3 Vols. 19th century zoologist-artist-philosopher Ernst Haeckel’s extensive study of sponges of the class Calcarea—those whose ‘skeletons’ consist of needles (spiculae) of calcium carbonate. On the basis of this research into the anatomy, physiology, and embryological development of these sponges Haeckel proposed that humans and other multicellular animals (Metazoa) evolved from a primitive form of sponge. Even if you don’t read German you may still appreciate Haeckel’s drawings of sponge morphology and the amazing protozoan-like cells that build them. Available at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

My bed-time reading of late has included:

Zadie Smith. Swing Time. The characters in Swing Time are not ones I have much in common with and so I didn’t expect to find myself much interested in this book, but Zadie Smith is such a great writer and story-teller that I enjoyed every page of this tale about two young girls of mixed race growing up in 1980s London. I also loved her first book White Teeth.

Margaret Atwood. The Penelopiad. My daughter had a role as one of the slave-girls in a local performance of Atwood’s retelling of the Ulysses story from the standpoint of Penelope and the young maids who were hung to death for disappointing the men-folk’s expectations about what was proper conduct for young women. I enjoyed the book, but I enjoyed the stage performance even more.

Madeleine Thien. Do Not Say We Have Nothing. This story about several generations of a family of Chinese musicians and artists sweeps you along like a slow-moving storm front, from Mao’s cultural revolution, through the Tiananmen Square protests, to present day. Definitely deserving of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Award, and of being short-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

Learn more about The Third Lens at the University of Chicago Press website.

The Page 99 Test: The Third Lens.

--Marshal Zeringue

Liese O’Halloran Schwarz

Liese O'Halloran Schwarz grew up in Washington, DC after an early childhood overseas. She attended Harvard University and then medical school at University of Virginia. While in medical school, she won the Henfield/Transatlantic Review Prize and also published her first novel, Near Canaan.

She specialized in emergency medicine and like most doctors, she can thoroughly ruin dinner parties with tales of medical believe-it-or-not. But she won't do that, because she knows how hard you worked to make a nice meal.

Schwarz's new book, The Possible World, is her second novel.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

In the last year or so, I've taken up a habit of reading a few books at a time, one or two in audio and the others in print format. I occasionally read a digital book, but not too often — I really like the feel of a physical book in my hands. I used to read almost purely nonfiction (I am an information junkie), but have been mixing more fiction in lately.

Standouts in my recent reading include:

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje, a pristine, recursive and atmospheric narrative looking back on a young man’s coming of age in wartime London. I found the warlight (the dimmed light to avoid drawing enemy bombs) to be a perfect metaphor for both nostalgia and youthful ignorance; as the story goes on, the metaphorical light is slowly turned up, until we understand what actually happened and why. I loved every bit of that quiet, powerful book.

Circe by Madeline Miller was just as wonderful, in a totally opposite way: it’s a heroine’s tale, vigorously told, in prose so glorious (yet effortless!) that at times I felt almost breathless while listening to the audio. Basically a perfect book.

All the Ever Afters by Danielle Teller was another satisfying recent read — it’s a gorgeously-written work of historical fiction offering the “untold story" of Cinderella’s stepmother. An immersive read: I was thoroughly absorbed, from the first to the last word.

I also enjoyed Rough Beauty by Karen Auvinen, a memoir from a woman who lost everything in a house fire (a nightmare for many of us!). It’s an homage to solitude, to the wild mountains where she has made her home, to community as well as self-reliance, and to finding one's way through the (literal and metaphorical) landscape of loss.

I read Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi a few months ago, and it really stayed with me -- it's a compelling journey through the generations of a West African family, exploring the slave trade and its legacy in a fresh way. Quite an undertaking, affectingly done.

West by Carys Davies was an absolutely beautiful little book. Not an extra syllable to it, and yet it managed to be a rich adventure story with fully realized characters; how did she do that? I think that one will be a classic of literature, destined for student backpacks everywhere.

David Sedaris’ newest book, Calypso, was a brilliant and entertaining read. Of course. His ability to render humor and pathos equally from any situation is astonishing. I re-read Sedaris books to an almost pathological degree. To me, he's the literary equivalent of the television show The Office: one can revisit his work endlessly and always enjoy, and always see something new. Pro tip: If you listen to enough of his audio, then you can hear his voice in your head when you read him in print.

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick was journalism that read like good fiction-- unrelentingly bleak fiction. Brutal but worth the read. I’ve been seeking out nonfiction about North Korea after reading The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson a couple of years ago. I was bowled over by Johnson’s phenomenal writing and storytelling, but also skeptical because Johnson is not himself Korean. However, every bit of nonfiction I have read about North Korea validates Orphan Master, and makes me admire that book even more. It’s a tour de force, and if you can bear its grimness in the context of current events, I heartily recommend it.

Speaking of grimness, Less by Andrew Sean Greer is a good antidote, while not being silly; it’s beautifully written, and I found it an absolute delight.

The Beginning of Everything by Andrea J. Buchanan was a fascinating medical mystery-memoir from a musician stricken with a sudden, poorly understood illness. The narrative gives eloquent voice to the profound, demoralizing effect of constant pain; I think all doctors should read it. Some of the passages (about pain, about music, about both at once) are quite lovely.

Jar of Hearts, a thriller by Jennifer Hillier, was somewhat of a departure from my typical reading; I enjoyed its twisty plot, and the suspense was irresistible.

I have just finished The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, a very good book about the second "lost generation” (gay men in the eighties) and what the AIDS crisis stole from the world. She did a creditable job of depicting that time, which of course I remember quite well. It’s a bit of a milestone, isn't it, when an author needs to do massive research in order to write a story set in one’s own youth? Le sigh. However, one must consider the alternative to growing older — Makkai’s book certainly provides perspective about that.

Currently I’m reading There There by Tommy Orange in audio, and in print A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult and The Bradshaw Variations by Rachel Cusk. Trembling on the top of the TBR stack is a precious early copy of Transcription by Kate Atkinson. I’m always waiting for the next sure-to-be-magnificent Laura Hillenbrand book.

Visit Liese O'Halloran Schwarz's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Possible World.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wallace Stroby

Wallace Stroby is an award-winning journalist and the author of eight novels, four of which feature professional thief Crissa Stone, whom Kirkus Reviews named "Crime fiction's best bad girl ever."

His new novel is Some Die Nameless.

A Long Branch, N.J., native, Stroby is a lifelong resident of the Jersey Shore. His debut novel The Barbed-Wire Kiss, which The Washington Post called "a scorching first novel ...full of attention to character and memory and, even more, to the neighborhoods of New Jersey," was a finalist for the 2004 Barry Award for Best First Novel.

His 2010 novel Gone 'til November was picked as a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, as was the second Crissa Stone novel Kings of Midnight. In 2012, the Crissa Stone novels were optioned by Showtime Networks for development.

A graduate of Rutgers University, Stroby was an editor at the Star-Ledger of Newark, Tony Soprano's hometown newspaper, for 13 years.

Recently I asked Stroby about what he was reading. His reply:

Reading-wise, I’ve always got two or three books in progress, but as I’ve grown older I’m quicker to set aside books I’m not responding to (that point is usually somewhere between 50 and 75 pages). I used to feel obligated to finish every book I started, but I don’t anymore. Life is short, and there are too many good books out there.

That said, here’s what I’ve got in front of me at the moment, that I won’t be bailing on:

Eight Million Ways to Die by Lawrence Block and John K. Snyder III. Artist Snyder’s evocative adaptation of Block’s classic 1982 Matt Scudder novel. I’m not a big graphic novel enthusiast, but this one is beautifully done. It captures both the fatalistic atmosphere of the Scudder novels, and the look of NYC in the early ‘80s. I’ve got Block’s new short story collection, Resume Speed, on deck as well.

The Death Instint by Jacques Mesrine. This came out a few years ago, but I’m just now catching up with it. It’s the memoir of the French arch-criminal Jacques Mesrine, written in Paris’ notorious La Sante Prison and smuggled out not long before Mesrine himself escaped. The book was first published in 1977, and two years later Mesrine was killed (some say assassinated) by a special police unit at a busy Paris intersection. As with most memoirs of this type, one has to allow for a certain amount of exaggeration, self-aggrandizement and outright fabrication. But it’s still a fascinating insight into the mind of an unapologetic Gallic Dillinger. I also recommend Jean-Francois Richet’s two-part film adaptation from 2008, starring Vincent Cassel as Mesrine, which paints him in a much-less-flattering – though probably more accurate – light.

The Lonely Witness by William Boyle. I'm loving this Brooklyn-set crime novel/character study, which came highly recommended. Boyle (Gravesend) is a terrific and evocative writer.

The Big Book of the Continental Op By Dashiell Hammett. Edited by Richard Layman and Julie M. Rivett. In between other books, I’ve been dipping into this collection, compiled by Hammett’s granddaughter, and one of his biographers. It includes all 28 short stories and two serialized novels featuring Hammett’s unnamed operative for the Continental Detective Agency. Though they were all written and published between 1923 and 1930, the stories still crackle with energy, wit and hard-boiled authenticity. Hammett, a former Pinkerton detective, knew of what he wrote.These stories were gamechangers for American crime fiction. Once Hammett rewrote the rules, there was no going back.

Up next and eagerly looking forward to:

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

The Widower's Notebook: A Memoir by Jonathan Santlofer

The Man Who Came Uptown (ARC) by George Pelecanos

Visit the official Wallace Stroby website and The Heartbreak Blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

Amber Brock

Amber Brock teaches British literature at an all-girls’ school in Atlanta. She holds an MA from the University of Georgia and lives in Smyrna with her husband, also an English teacher, and their three rescue dogs. Her new novel, Lady Be Good, is set in the world of the mischievous, status-obsessed daughter of a hotel magnate and the 1950s electric nightlife of three iconic cities: New York, Miami, and Havana.

Recently I asked Brock about what she was reading. Her reply:

I’m a voracious reader of non-fiction, since I tend not to read fiction while I’m writing (and I’ve been writing pretty continuously for two years now—thanks, deadlines!). Some are in the hopes of advancing my teaching, some are part of my novel research, but others are just personal interest. Here’s what I’m reading now:

Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy by Paul Thomas Murphy

This was a long but fascinating read, and I applaud any author who can sustain a narrative in such a captivating way over such a huge span of story. This book follows the eight assassination attempts on the life of Queen Victoria, but it’s so much more than that. Each tale of a would-be assassin includes what was happening in Victoria’s life, government, and justice system at the time of the attack. The result is a thoughtful inquiry into Victoria’s place in the span of the British monarchy and the wider world, through the context of the men who would have ended her reign. I teach British literature, so I’m endlessly curious about British history.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

Quite a few educators I respect recommended this book to me, and I’m delighted I took their recommendation. Grit resonated with me not only as someone working to persevere through her own struggles, but also as a teacher hoping to guide young women (I teach at a girls’ school). This book explores the relationship between “grit,” a combination of determination and interest in one’s pursuits, and success. I found I had a lot to think about once I’d finished in terms of my own goals and the goals I’m helping others pursue.

Visit Amber Brock's website.

My Book, The Movie: Lady Be Good.

Coffee with a Canine: Amber Brock & Bitty, Fred and Vicki.

--Marshal Zeringue

Danielle Banas

Danielle Banas, a Pittsburgh native, earned a degree in communication from Robert Morris University. After years spent dreaming up characters instead of paying attention in class, Banas joined the storytelling platform Wattpad, where her work has received millions of views online. When she isn’t writing, she can be found loudly singing show tunes, spouting off Walt Disney World trivia, and snuggling with her puppy.

Banas's debut novel is ​The Supervillain and Me.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

I’ve always tended to gravitate toward fantasy, which started with my love of Harry Potter when I was a little kid. At the moment I’m finishing up War Storm by Victoria Aveyard. It’s the final book in the Red Queen series, about a world that is divided by blood. Those with common, red blood serve the silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. It’s a beast of a book, and I’ve been working on finishing it for a while but life keeps getting in the way. I’m really enjoying it though. I’ve been following this series for over three years now, so I’m anxious to see how it all ends. If you like books with superpowers, drama, and tons of betrayal, then give it a shot.

Visit Danielle Banas's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Danielle Banas & Cooper.

My Book, The Movie: The Supervillain and Me.

The Page 69 Test: The Supervillain and Me.

--Marshal Zeringue

Danielle Girard

Danielle Girard is the author of Chasing Darkness, The Rookie Club series, and Exhume and Excise, featuring San Francisco medical examiner Dr. Annabelle Schwartzman. Girard’s books have won the Barry Award and the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, and two of her titles have been optioned for movies.

A graduate of Cornell University, Girard received her MFA at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. She, her husband, and their two children split their time between San Francisco and the Northern Rockies.

Girard's new novel is Expose.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

To be a good writer, you must be a good reader. Someone really smart said that. (I think it was Stephen King.) I love to read and I do it as much as possible between my own writing and life with a family. So far this year, I’ve read about 50 books, almost exclusively fiction. (I find reality either utterly boring or truly terrifying.)

My taste in fiction runs across genres and styles. I’ve usually got a few books going at once—some I’ll read and others I’ll listen too. In suspense, I just finished AJ Finn’s The Woman in the Window and Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door. Both are fast and thrilling. Lee Goldberg’s True Fiction is hilarious. On Audible, I’m currently listening to Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, a saga about four generations of a poor Korean family living in exile in Japan. I also recently listened to Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue, which was heart-wrenching and wonderful.

Visit Danielle Girard's website.

My Book, The Movie: Expose.

--Marshal Zeringue

Gwen Florio

Gwen Florio grew up in a 250-year-old brick farmhouse on a wildlife refuge in Delaware and now lives in Montana. Currently the city editor for the Missoulian, Florio has reported on the Columbine High School shooting and from conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia. In 2013, Montana, her first novel in the Lola Wicks detective series, won the High Plains Book Award and the Pinckley Prize for debut crime fiction.

Florio's latest novel is Silent Hearts.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Florio's reply:

I'm reading The Eight Mountains, by Paolo Cognetti.

This book was a bit of a whim; I think it was a Simon & Schuster special ebook offer. Anyhow, I like mountains and books about adventure (Cognetti is an alpinist) so I clicked, and immediately was hooked—liking it so much, in fact, that I headed over to my local independent bookstore, Fact and Fiction, for a hardcover copy.

The comparison to Elena Ferrante’s books (which I loved) is inevitable, if not quite parallel. In this case, the story follows to adulthood two boys, Pietro and Bruno, who meet when Pietro’s parents rent a house in Bruno’s mountain village to escape Milan’s summer heat. Pietro is educated, worldly; Bruno is rustic, spending his summer herding cows. But the boys share a love of the mountains, along with Pietro’s father, who leads them in exploring the wild heights, where for the first time Pietro sees a world beyond the forested hills his mother prefers. Cognetti captures the awe and elation such places inspire.

I was more attracted to the kind of mountainscape that comes afterward: Alpine meadows, torrents, wetlands, high-altitude herbs, grazing animals. Higher up again the vegetation disappears, snow covers everything until the beginning of summer; and the prevailing color is that of the gray rock, veined with quartz and the yellow of lichen. That was where my father’s world began. After three hours’ walking the meadows would give way to scree, to lakes hidden in glacial basins, to gorges gouged by avalanches, to streams of icy water. The mountain was transformed into a harsher place, inhospitable and pure; up there he would become happy.

Cognetti is an observant, sensitive writer, offering keen insights into his characters, and the different worlds they inhabit, the wonder of the mountains versus the creature comforts and companionship of the city, and the push-pull of those lives on his characters—and the fact that few of them actually have a choice as to which they’ll succumb.

For instance, Bruno reflects that his love of mountains comes from his mother, a reclusive woman. “We’re just like each other, me and her. ... Except that she’s a woman. If I decide to go and stay in the woods no one says anything about it. If a woman does it, she’s taken for a witch. If I keep quiet, what problem is there with that? I’m only a man who chooses not to speak. A woman who doesn’t speak must be half-crazy.”

That passage brought the slap of recognition. A favorite escape fantasy of mine involves a cabin in the high country, delicious solitude, tramping around the mountains in the afternoon for the physical exertion necessary as the antidote to the hard mental work of the morning’s writing. One of the reasons I live where I do is because of its proximity to wilderness, affording me the opportunity to steal away to the uninhabited places that inspire the same blend of peace and exhilaration Cognetti describes in his characters.

Would I give up my town life to retreat full-time to the forest or mountains? Almost certainly not. But, at least for the hours I was immersed in Cognetti’s book, I could share that existence with Pietro and Bruno.

Visit Gwen Florio's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Gwen Florio & Nell.

My Book, the Movie: Silent Hearts.

--Marshal Zeringue

Susan McBride

Susan McBride is the USA Today bestselling author of the Debutante Dropout Mysteries and the River Road Mysteries.

The debut of her Jo Larsen series, Walk Into Silence, was a #1 Kindle bestseller in the US and the UK, and #3 in Australia.

McBride's new book, Walk A Crooked Line, is the second Jo Larsen novel.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. McBride's reply:

What I’m reading right now is The Martian by Andy Weir. I’m a little behind the curve on this one, I know, but I caught the movie on TV and loved it. Thanks to Matt Damon bringing Mark Watney to life so brilliantly, I can easily envision him. Sometimes the writing is clunky, but Watney’s voice is so engaging that I don’t mind. I’m rooting for him, just as I’m supposed to, hoping he survives being left behind on Mars (and his potato “field” blowing up). My only negative: I find myself wanting to skim through some of the technical stuff (which I used to do when I binged on Tom Clancy). But, hey, I’m not the typical science fiction reader. I’m just a chick who likes a good story. I don’t exactly need to know how to repair an oxygenator with a rubber band.

Next up in my TBR pile: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware. Again, I’m late to jump onto the Ruth Ware bandwagon. But I didn’t marry until 43 and had a baby at 47. I’m kind of late to everything.

Visit Susan McBride's website.

My Book, The Movie: Walk Into Silence.

The Page 69 Test: Walk Into Silence.

My Book, The Movie: Walk a Crooked Line.

--Marshal Zeringue