What I'm Reading

Thought I’d try to make this a bit more of a regular bit (we’ll see how regularly I remember to do this) and share some great things I’ve been reading of late. I spent a decent amount of space on this spot talking about TV shows, movies and sports, but I’m a fairly avid reader so I thought I’d share that stuff too.

First, you should check out my Recommendations page for other blogs on Substack that I am fond of. I try to only include blogs I read regularly and that POST regularly (there are QUITE a lot of substacks that sound great, but the authors have long gone dormant, or post once a quarter or so, which doesn’t work for me.)

As far as books go, I’ve read some truly good ones this year. In my last post like this, I mentioned Absalom, Absalom! and that was indeed brilliant if a complex read. Since then, here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed the most:

Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby. This novel tracks two older men, one white and one black, who are fathers to a gay couple who have been murdered. The men don’t know each other, and neither of them were openly happy about their sons sexuality, but they are understandably crushed and furious about not only what’s happened but the lack of a police response. Both have dark pasts - they’ve each served time - and they decide to figure out who did this and take the matters into their own hands. This book was fascinating, dealing with some really serious cultural issues around race, sexuality and prejudice - but really being an excellent mystery and thriller all throughout. It’s being made into a movie and I can’t wait to see it.

Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson. I got this book from the Book-of-the-Month Club, which yes is still a thing and something I can’t quite quit, as every time I consider it I end up choosing a novel I enjoy as much as this one. The central plot of the book is that two estranged siblings reconvene at their mothers funeral, at which point they learn that she’s left them a black cake (a Caribbean and family specialty that she used to make with her daughter) as well as a long voice recording sharing some secrets about her, and their, lives and history. The book travels through time telling all of the main characters stories (which will include characters we meet along the way). I found it so compelling and fun, but also a really good exploration about identity. The Goodreads blurb I’ve linked says that “Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history.” That’s a lot more eloquent than I can be about it, but I will just add - read this. It’s really fun.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. This is another BoTM pick, and one I had a lot of fun reading. (But also first, that cover is BONKERS great. And relates to the story!) This is the story of two childhood friends, Sam and Sadie, who grow apart but reconnect in college. They bonded initially over videogames, and indeed that’s still both of their passion. The two of them start building a videogame and in turn create a company that dominates the space - but during this, they both still need to deal with their own traumas, and pain while building worlds to escape to. For me, this was just a really fun ride and a bit less deep than the former two books in terms of the subjects it explores - but it’s really, really good. In some ways it reminded me of books like Kavalier and Clay as well as A Visit from the Goon Squad, and that’s pretty high praise. This book isn’t quite in that elite category (those are two of my favorite books ever), but it is still very, very good. This is a love story - but it’s not a romance novel in any way (not my bag, baby) - and I really connected to the story and characters and raced through this.

Those are three of the books I’ve really enjoyed in the last few months. What books have you read you think need a bit more attention?