Dear Friends Around the World:
It may be August, but to paraphrase the great John Belushi – Summer’s not over until we say it’s over! For those who are still looking for some great books to read by the pool or after a long hike, I’m sharing my top books read in the front half of a very busy 2024. Non-stop travel on behalf of U-Go’s continued growth has had me on a lot of long flights, so you can also consider this the list that can help you avoid a bad movie on your next journey.
Knife, Salman Rushdie
This is the sequel we all hoped would never have to be written. After the fatwa was issued in 1989, Rushdie went into hiding with the assistance of British intelligence. He chose his code name as Joseph Anton, in tribute to two of his favorite authors – Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekov. Joseph Anton was a brilliant read, and now four decades later Rushdie has done it again with Knife, sharing the story of the near-fatal attack that came out of the blue at a book event in Chataqua in the summer of 2022. Rushdie writes without veering into emotion, anger or hatred, and the book moves at a very fast pace. I salute him for being able to turn tragedy into a compelling read.
Hangman, Maya Binyam
This is one of the most compelling novels I’ve read in the last year. Binyam, a first-time novelist, sucks the reader in from the opening page as a black man with no name begins a journey whose purpose is not clear to him or to the reader. In the morning, I received a phone call and was told to board a flight. The arrangements had been made on my behalf. I packed no clothes, because my clothes had been packed for me. A car arrived to pick me up. On his flight to an unnamed African country (I guessed Ethiopia, Eritrea, or South Africa, but it’s never revealed), some truly bizarre things happen, including the man next to him dying and being stuffed into a body bag that is then placed back in the original seat for the duration of the 11-hour flight. His internal monologue – that of an apparently-troubled mind, reveals small clues, such as his need to visit a sick brother upon arrival. Our narrator is not someone whose words we can ever fully trust, which kept this reader on his toes. His journey has him intersecting with all kinds of interesting characters, including a cousin who tries to sell him “shares” in his house. This is very inventive fiction of the best kind and can be read in one sitting on a cross-country flight. It’s the kind of short novel I will read again, and I cannot stop recommending it to friends.
Face It, Deborah Harry
One of the best Father’s Day gifts Amy has ever given me. Knowing my addiction to the early years of punk and new wave, she presented me with Deborah Harry’s sadly overlooked memoir, published in 2019. Harry is not just a prolific writer of songs about men from Mars eating cars, or being rolled in designer sheets (admit it, you’re singing along right now 😁), she’s also a talented memoirist who makes the reader feel as though they’re at CBGB hanging out with Bowie and Mick and Andy. It’s not just her look that’s glam – so is her brain. Also, bonus fun fact: she’s the first person to ever buy a painting from Jean-Michel Basquiat. The price: $30!
Burma Sahib, Paul Theroux
Two of my other obsessions are George Orwell and Burma. So when Amy told me that Brad Listi had interviewed Paul Theroux upon publication of Burma Sahib, I immediately grabbed my headphones and went for a long barefoot beach walk at low tide. I immediately ordered the book that evening. Orwell of course famously went to Burma back when his name was still Eric Blair, serving as a 19 year old police officer who was clearly in over his head. He very quickly grew to hate colonialism, his fellow officers and the entire British misadventure in south Asia. Theroux admits that this is a novel, not a biography, as he felt that Orwell had told us a lot about the system but not about himself as a young man. This brilliant book moves at the speed of a bullet train. Despite its length I finished it in five joyful nights.
Roman Stories, Jhumpa Lahiri
Lahiri now has a certain exalted status in our household – if she publishes a book, we will buy it, no questions asked. This summer as we wandered from Chamonix to San Sebastian to Paris, I eagerly dove into this short story collection featuring stories of various people who have chosen to make Rome their home. Lahiri’s characters are not tourists clogging sidewalks for the greater glory of their Instagram feed (Thank God!), but rather those living humble and often challenging day-to-day lives in one of the world’s great (but also challenging) cities. Recent immigrants, older people without much of a support system, mothers raising children on their own, and victims of xenophobia that can be both subtle and violent. Fun fact: Lahiri herself moved to Rome a decade ago, became fluent, and now writes in Italian and translates herself back into English. Me = jealous.
White Cat, Black Dog, Kelly Link
Kelly Link is “a writer whose work is easy to revere and difficult to explain” (New Yorker), but it’s strong enough to have been a Pulitzer Prize finalist (for Get in Trouble) and to have earned her a MacArthur Genius Grant. Her most recent collection, published in 2023, is what I’d describe as modern fairy tales that are tinged with humor, magical realism and a bit of the bizarre. For example, the opening story (which is brilliant) involves stranded motorists looking for shelter on a snowy Colorado night, and finding salvation when they trip across a greenhouse that is actually a marijuana farm run by cats. And the cats talk. Need I say more? For anyone in your life who loves inventive short fiction, this book is a must.
An Unfinished Love Story, Doris Kearns Goodwin
I won’t win any awards for telling you that DKG is a brilliant writer. While best known for Team of Rivals, I believe No Ordinary Time (chronicling the marriage and partnership between FDR and Eleonor) was even better. And then comes this gem – also focused on an inspiring couple. As DKG’s husband Dick entered his sunset years, the couple realized that they had dozens of boxes over-stuffed with his life’s work, and those boxes were complete chaos. This was no ordinary ephemera – Dick had been a speechwriter for JFK back when he was a presidential candidate, later for LBJ and then for RFK. As the couple go through the boxes in chronological order, the reader is treated not just to an inside view of three of America’s most famous leaders, but also to a tender peek into a long marriage that was also an intellectual partnership. Any history buff will not be able to put this book down, even though at times you want to in order to savor each anecdote and insight.
Have you read one of these on the list? Another book you recommend that should be on my radar? Would love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment and let me know what you've been reading.
Enjoy these last days of summer and happy reading!
John Wood
For more recommendations, visit my past book lists here.
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