Interns for Shenandoah asked a few of our editors about their reading habits in this first installment of book recommendations!
Chris Gavaler:
Q: Is there a book you did not like that is well liked by a large group of people? Who wrote this book, when did you read it and what made you dislike it?
A: The Only Good Indians is a 2020 horror novel by Stephen Graham Jones. I love and teach Jones’s Mongrels, and I also interviewed him for Shenandoah. I also like literary genre fiction generally, and so literary horror should be a safe bet. The Only Good Indians won all kinds of awards, and a trusted reader recommended it, but it didn’t hit me well. I think I was too squeamish—not about the gore exactly, but about the emotional implications of the gore. Maybe I don’t like watching characters I’ve grown to care about die horrible deaths? The novel is clearly “horror” though—so the fault is mine.
Lesley Wheeler:
Q: Is there a book you wish you had read in college and didn’t? If you have read it, when did you read it and what made you pick it up in the first place?
A: Wishing I’d read different books as an undergraduate is like wishing myself a different person: everything I read back then influenced me so profoundly. I was leaning hard into women’s writing even though (or because) it wasn’t on most syllabi, including books by H.D., Gwendolyn Brooks, Louise Erdrich, Adrienne Rich, and Sylvia Plath. I went straight from my English BA into a PhD program, so I was reading widely and constantly. I do wish I’d studied Middle English back when I was better at absorbing languages; I still haven’t read enough medieval lyric poetry. Same for Spanish and the great poets in that language. And I wish I hadn’t read D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover in middle school. It’s a terrible instruction manual for someone who’s becoming a sexual being.
Sarah Audsley:
Q: What do you read which is outside the typical genre you enjoy. Do you have a favorite book? You are the art editor for Shenandoah—do you spend most of your time looking at art? Do you really enjoy poetry? What book do you find yourself gravitating toward when you are not doing work for Shenandoah?
A: I am always reading something, often simultaneously. Right now, I am reading The Shared World by Vievee Francis, Modern Poetry by Diane Seuss, and Whiskey Tender: A Memoir by Deborah Taffa. Poetry is a constant in my reading life. I also enjoy fiction. I rarely read nonfiction or memoir, but Deborah Taffa’s is really excellent and I highly recommend it. Also, I just finished Tripas by Brandon Som and was really impressed. I am so happy it received a National Book Award finalist nod in poetry, or else I may have missed it. As the saying goes, too many good books, not enough time. For art, I follow Hyperallergic and Bomb Magazine, and I follow galleries and curators and artists on social media.
DW McKinney:
Q: What do you wish more people had read? Why do you love this book, when did you read it and what about it resonated with you? Why do you think more people need to read this book?
A: More people need to read Michael Christie’s Greenwood. I read it in January of this year, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Greenwood is an eco-parable about how decisions ripple through several generations in one family—causing devastation—and it’s set in a world in the throes of irreparable climate collapse. I love it because Greenwood reminds me of John Steinbeck’s intricate storytelling in my favorite book, East of Eden. It’s also honest in its depiction of greed, selfishness, and human frailties. Even though it’s an eco-parable, and that might turn some folks off, I think people should read Greenwood because it’s really about human motivations and what drives us to do what we do.