Great list! I'm almost finished reading There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib. It's beautiful if a little bit esoteric for non-athletic me. I love people who LOVE basketball and have spent so many dates and days watching it that I felt like I could keep up with the bio part of Abdurraquib's reflections. And I love the way he wove together the sport's agony and ecstasy with his own.
p.s. Silence is in my top 15 all-time and the first novel I asked Apostles Reads to read with me.
I recently read and loved the graphic memoir "Worm" by Edel Rodriguez. It's his story of growing up in Communist Cuba, his family's escape, and his young - middle aged life as an artist in NYC. I didn't recognize his names, but you'll likely recognize some of the political illustrations he's done in the past 8 years or so.
I've never read comics growing up but the graphic genre that is now memoirs, history, etc....I'm really enjoying it!
Adding to my TBR list! It's been neat to see the graphic novel genre develop the last several years with March, American Born Chinese, and others. The primary modern classic that comes to mind is Art Spiegelman's Maus.
Yeah, me too - I loved Maus! I've read March (the first one) but haven't gotten to the other two yet. If someone would have told me I'd be reading and enjoying comic books in my late 30s I would have laughed for a week straight. But they're so good!
Another one I recently enjoyed and learned a lot from was 'Women, Life, Freedom' by Marjane Satrapi - author/illustrator of Persepolis. It's the history of Iran and the cultural revolutions that happened there over the decades, along with the ongoing political unrest and protests since 2022 with Mahsa Amini's death by moral police. I learned so much!
I recently finished The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright (sorry I missed the discussion last week). I found it fascinating as a Christian narrative: like Jesus, Fred Daniels is accused of a crime he didn't commit, was tortured and likely would have been executed, was forced to sign a confession wherein he took the sin of someone else upon himself, then like Jesus he went into the earth for three days, and when he came out, tried to convince his persecutors of the truth but they thought he was crazy, so like the world, he was killed aka God is dead. Obviously, it's not a perfect analogy but it looked purposeful to me.
I've also just finished The Impact of God by Iain Matthew, about the writings of John of the Cross. He does a great job of digging into, explaining and connecting John's work.
Presently I'm reading Dangerous Mystic by Joel F. Harrington which is a deep dive into the life of Meister Eckhart, and Letters From the Desert by Carlo Carretto, which is his own story of being drawn out of a life of Catholic activism after 20 years, into an African monastery by God saying to him, "Leave everything and come into the desert. It is not your acts and deeds I want; I want your prayer, your love."
You might notice that I love the Christian mystics, especially the ones who understand that mysticism is not some spooky thing for weirdos, but simply a life of listening for God and enamored by the mystery that is God.
We missed you in the discussion, Walter. Glad to hear a slice of your thoughts here. Speaking of Christian mystics, one contemporary figure influenced by that stream is Howard Thurman, as you know. You might enjoy the newest biography on Thurman entitled Against the Hounds of Hell.
Interestingly, I just picked up Jesus and the Disinherited this past weekend. The biography sounds good, as well as your King recommendation, another mystic.
I recently enjoyed reading Brideshead Revisited. I have much more Endō to read but Sachiko is my current favorite of his. Placed a few library holds based on your list, thank you!
Thanks for sharing! So I checked out Brideshead Revisited from the library recently, just never got around to reading it. I'll try again sometime. I'm also interested in Waugh's The Loved One.
As far as Endo goes, I think Wonderful Fool is next up for me.
I haven't read her two most recent novels, but I'm planning to bring one to the beach this summer. Any other writers in mystery genre you enjoy / recommend?
There aren't any other writers I have wholesale liked all their works, but two standalones that come to mind are Miracle Creek by Angie Kim and Defending Jacob by William Landay. They are both slowburns, I would say (which I personally love).
Just found your newsletter and really looking forward to the roundups! And checking out past recommendations. :-)
Thank you! Glad to found your way here!
Started the MadAddam trilogy by Atwood, and so far so good. First book is wild.
Oh those books are absolutely amazing.
Interesting! At a quick glance, the series makes me think of some of the novels and themes from China Mieville.
Great list! I'm almost finished reading There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib. It's beautiful if a little bit esoteric for non-athletic me. I love people who LOVE basketball and have spent so many dates and days watching it that I felt like I could keep up with the bio part of Abdurraquib's reflections. And I love the way he wove together the sport's agony and ecstasy with his own.
p.s. Silence is in my top 15 all-time and the first novel I asked Apostles Reads to read with me.
The hoops adjacent life is a good life, isn't it? Hoping to read Abdurraqib's book this summer!
This is a great post. I usually skim people’s recs because I don’t often find what piques my interest, but all of these seem like hits to me.
Glad to hear that! Lots of interesting recs in the comments, too. Substack can be such a great little community for readers!
It’s so true!
I recently read and loved the graphic memoir "Worm" by Edel Rodriguez. It's his story of growing up in Communist Cuba, his family's escape, and his young - middle aged life as an artist in NYC. I didn't recognize his names, but you'll likely recognize some of the political illustrations he's done in the past 8 years or so.
I've never read comics growing up but the graphic genre that is now memoirs, history, etc....I'm really enjoying it!
Adding to my TBR list! It's been neat to see the graphic novel genre develop the last several years with March, American Born Chinese, and others. The primary modern classic that comes to mind is Art Spiegelman's Maus.
Yeah, me too - I loved Maus! I've read March (the first one) but haven't gotten to the other two yet. If someone would have told me I'd be reading and enjoying comic books in my late 30s I would have laughed for a week straight. But they're so good!
Another one I recently enjoyed and learned a lot from was 'Women, Life, Freedom' by Marjane Satrapi - author/illustrator of Persepolis. It's the history of Iran and the cultural revolutions that happened there over the decades, along with the ongoing political unrest and protests since 2022 with Mahsa Amini's death by moral police. I learned so much!
I recently finished The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright (sorry I missed the discussion last week). I found it fascinating as a Christian narrative: like Jesus, Fred Daniels is accused of a crime he didn't commit, was tortured and likely would have been executed, was forced to sign a confession wherein he took the sin of someone else upon himself, then like Jesus he went into the earth for three days, and when he came out, tried to convince his persecutors of the truth but they thought he was crazy, so like the world, he was killed aka God is dead. Obviously, it's not a perfect analogy but it looked purposeful to me.
I've also just finished The Impact of God by Iain Matthew, about the writings of John of the Cross. He does a great job of digging into, explaining and connecting John's work.
Presently I'm reading Dangerous Mystic by Joel F. Harrington which is a deep dive into the life of Meister Eckhart, and Letters From the Desert by Carlo Carretto, which is his own story of being drawn out of a life of Catholic activism after 20 years, into an African monastery by God saying to him, "Leave everything and come into the desert. It is not your acts and deeds I want; I want your prayer, your love."
You might notice that I love the Christian mystics, especially the ones who understand that mysticism is not some spooky thing for weirdos, but simply a life of listening for God and enamored by the mystery that is God.
We missed you in the discussion, Walter. Glad to hear a slice of your thoughts here. Speaking of Christian mystics, one contemporary figure influenced by that stream is Howard Thurman, as you know. You might enjoy the newest biography on Thurman entitled Against the Hounds of Hell.
Interestingly, I just picked up Jesus and the Disinherited this past weekend. The biography sounds good, as well as your King recommendation, another mystic.
I recently enjoyed reading Brideshead Revisited. I have much more Endō to read but Sachiko is my current favorite of his. Placed a few library holds based on your list, thank you!
Thanks for sharing! So I checked out Brideshead Revisited from the library recently, just never got around to reading it. I'll try again sometime. I'm also interested in Waugh's The Loved One.
As far as Endo goes, I think Wonderful Fool is next up for me.
I love Tana French so thank you for putting The Devotion of Suspect X on my radar! I had never heard of it.
I haven't read her two most recent novels, but I'm planning to bring one to the beach this summer. Any other writers in mystery genre you enjoy / recommend?
There aren't any other writers I have wholesale liked all their works, but two standalones that come to mind are Miracle Creek by Angie Kim and Defending Jacob by William Landay. They are both slowburns, I would say (which I personally love).