SUMMER READS

No better place for a summer read.

By Deb A.

Earlier in the season, we asked the Agave Magazine staff to tell us what was on their summer reading list. As August slowly slips into September, we hope you are all happily absorbed in a good book or two.

Ariana Lyriotakis, Editor-in-Chief
I've got one of America's most respected writers (and Pulitzer Prize winner!) Philip Caputo's book The Longest Road on my list. He took an epic journey across the continental United States in his airstream trailer, seeking answers to what unites and divides us as Americans. Having moved around North America so much as we have (and still do), I am always fascinated with these collected bits of information and fact-finding voyages.

Lollion Chong, Associate Editor
The books I just got from the library were:
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell: I read Black Swan Green and can't get enough of Mitchell.
Brother, I'm Dying, Edwidge Danticat: I haven't ever read her work and am anxious to get started!
The Pale King, David Foster Wallace: The controversy, the almost-Pulitzer, the unanswered questions – how could I resist?
The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes: This one had been on my list for awhile.

Anna Mattiuzzo, Editor-at-Large
I'm reading Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan (translated by Irene Ash). I'd heard so much about it, and I'm reading out of sheer curiosity, although I'm aware I probably should have already had it under my belt. I'll most probably reread The Garden of Eden, by Ernest Hemingway, as I am a bit obsessive about it (having already read it three times). It always makes me cry, but I keep coming back for more.

Deb Ain, Blog Editor
This summer I'm trying to balance catching up with a new release or two. I'm about five years late with Mohammed Hanif's A Case of Exploding Mangoes and a year behind on Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon, but my copy of Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is fresh off the press. I'm also thrilled to have bullied my way into a sneak peek at The Devil You Know by S. R. Kriger.

Grant Macdonald, Business Manager
I'm going to be dusting off my copy of Chef by Jaspreet Singh. I bought it with some birthday money a few years ago and still haven't gotten around to reading it. Also on my list: Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan. I'm also looking forward to the newest Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath, but that's coming out in October. Bible theme? I'm a non-fiction junkie.

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