Yiyun Li on Starting a Virtual Book Club During the Pandemic

When I first meet a writer on the page, I pose a simple question: What don’t you ask permission for? In Yiyun Li’s case, the answer is her freedom. Individualism might seem inevitable for a woman who was born in China and whose early work responds to authoritarianism, but—reading Li—one senses that these are among myriad […] The post Yiyun Li on Starting a Virtual Book Club During the Pandemic appeared first on Electric Literature. Continue reading at 'Electric Literature'

[ Electric Literature | 2021-09-15 11:00:00 UTC ]

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Impossible Love Across the Partition

The moment I learned that Shilpi Suneja’s debut novel House of Caravans was about Partition, I reached out to see if she would be interested in doing this interview. All four of my grandparents lived through this event in Punjab—the state that was split to create Pakistan days after India gained... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-13 12:00:00 UTC ]
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14 New November Book Club Picks, From GMA Book Club to The Stacks Book Club

These are the books all of the book clubs are reading this month. Grab a copy and learn how to join in. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-11-10 11:36:00 UTC ]
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Complicating the Narrative of Mental Illness Using the Monsters from Asian Mythology

Jami Nakamura Lin begins with a warning: “In the presence of a story—if the story is a good one—time collapses.” This is precisely what she achieves in a genre-bending memoir that collapses past and present, personal and mythical. The Night Parade begins with her attempts to trace the origins of... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-07 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Alexandra Chang Turns the Pain of a Friendship Breakup Into a Short Story

“The world here beats faster than a hummingbird’s wings,” writes Alexandra Chang in her new collection Tomb Sweeping. Chang, the author of Days of Distraction and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 recipient, writes poignantly about tenuous connection. In these stories, a wealthy housewife... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-02 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A Black Father Illustrated the Importance of “The Talk” in His Graphic Memoir

Darrin Bell didn’t set out to write his much anticipated graphic memoir, The Talk. He’d initially sold another project delving into the lives of three generations of men in his family, all descendants of an enslaved man named Addison Bell, in a two book deal to Henry Holt and Co. But as he was... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-30 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Myriam Gurba Isn’t Afraid of Being a Disruptor

In Myriam Gurba’s latest essay collection Creep, the Mexican American author interrogates both those who deceive, exploit, and oppress others as well as the culture that enables them. “People who hurt other people can be charming,” Gurba notes in the title essay. “It works in their favor.” In... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-26 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Oprah Announces 103rd Book Club Pick

Oprah has chosen her 103rd book club pick. It's the latest from a two-time National Book Award winner and one of our great modern writers. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-24 17:43:43 UTC ]
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To Write Her Debut Novel, Molly McGhee Had to Leave Publishing

On March 11, 2022, Molly McGhee shared a resignation letter on Twitter. She was quitting her job as an assistant editor at Tor, despite the fact that her first acquisition, The Atlas Six, had debuted at number three on the New York Times Bestseller List. She cited “systemwide prejudice against... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-20 11:03:00 UTC ]
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8 Queer Historical Fiction Books Set Around the World

When you hear the phrase “queer history,” how far back does your mind go? For many, there’s a sense that LGBTQIA+ history is fairly recent, starting with Marsha P. Johnson or maybe Oscar Wilde. Beyond that, we start to get into murky territory: stories of “lifelong bachelors” and “happy... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-17 11:00:00 UTC ]
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14 New October Book Club Picks, From #ReadWithJenna to Matzah Book Soup

October's book club picks include a cursed town gothic novel, a Rasta woman's memoir, a novel about small town secrets, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-17 10:36:00 UTC ]
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How a Collective of Incarcerated Writers Published an Anthology From Prison

It would make sense that any history would begin at Stillwater Prison, where so much of the story and mythology of prison in Minnesota also begins. It is where Cole Younger of the famous James-Younger gang did their time, and where they spent their own money to start the Prison Mirror, the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-16 11:00:00 UTC ]
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When Innocent Black People Die, I Mourn The Life, The Potential, And The Art

When I first encountered the work of Henry Dumas, I was very nearly finished with my undergraduate degree in English. I favored American literature in my time studying, and was lucky to have access to syllabi that spanned a more diverse array of writers. The Black writers I would come to know... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-13 11:15:00 UTC ]
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When Innocent Black People Die, I Mourn The Life, The Potential, And The Art

When I first encountered the work of Henry Dumas, I was very nearly finished with my undergraduate degree in English. I favored American literature in my time studying, and was lucky to have access to syllabi that spanned a more diverse array of writers. The Black writers I would come to know... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-13 11:15:00 UTC ]
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An Epidemic of Loneliness In A Constantly Connected World

Athena Dixon’s The Loneliness Files: A Memoir in Essays opens on New Year’s Eve of 2021, with Dixon alone in her apartment in Philadelphia, thinking about death during a year fraught with pandemic fear. The first pieces explore her fascination with women who died on their own and, because they... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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This Week's Bestsellers: October 16, 2023

'Icebreaker' author Hannah Grace has the #1 book in the country and it's selling like 'Wildfire.' Plus Alix E. Harrow's 'Starling House' is the October Reese's Book Club pick, and Le Bernadin owner and chef Eric Ripert makes 'Seafood Simple.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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8 South Asian Novels About Falling in Love

My introduction to romance novels came when my high school crush handed me a book written by his mother’s friend under a pen name. It was all very hush hush, no one knew what the author’s real identity was, but he trusted me with this big secret (which might have been the first grand romantic... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-12 11:00:00 UTC ]
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16 New Books by Indigenous Authors You Should Be Reading

Encompassing a wide range of genres from historical fiction to fantasy to poetry to investigative journalism to memoir, this exciting abundance of books published in 2023 by emerging and acclaimed Native writers speak to the rich diversity of the Indigenous experience. From meditations on the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Safiya Sinclair’s Journey to Finding Her Own Power

Safiya Sinclair writes in her memoir How to Say Babylon, “The perfect daughter was nothing but a vessel for the man’s seed, unblemished clay waiting for Jah’s fingerprint.” The memoir, Sinclair’s first, is about her journey to shaping a future that isn’t limited by the idea of the perfect... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-10-05 11:00:00 UTC ]
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8 Novels Using Television As a Plot Device

Writing about pop culture and current technology is always a gamble, pitting critique of the present against longevity, a story that will still feel relevant after we’re gone. But for novelists (present company included) who were exposed to the Real World before the, um, real world, reality TV... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-09-27 11:00:00 UTC ]
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15 Small Press Books to Read This Fall

As we move into the fall reading season, deeply imagined short stories and inventive linked essays are having a moment alongside novels. What’s thrilling about the books coming out from small presses is the breadth of range—there are intentional and accidental murders, family drama and... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-09-26 11:15:00 UTC ]
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