I've been a terrible reader, lately. The truth is, I more often am (a terrible reader) than not. But it's spring break, and here are two books at the top of my list.
Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
I'll admit. I didn't love Swamplandia! And I rarely pick up short story collections, so I wrote this one off pretty quickly. But the always-wise Maureen Corrigan loved it. When she described "Proving Up" as "Willa Cather crossed with Emily Dickinson in her Gothic mood" and argued that it "is a stark tale about the American Frontier and the payment — in sanity and mortality — that the land demanded from the settlers," I was completely won over. Book Riot also loved it, giving "Proving Up" the admittedly unattainable A-triple-plus.
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Erdrich is one of my absolute favorite authors. If you haven't discovered her, start with Tracks, and then pick up The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. (With a title like that, how can you go wrong?) I had The Round House in the back of my mind, but Love Medicine didn't totally win me over, so I wasn't convinced.
But then, when Dead White Guys called it "an unexpected whodunit page turner!" I decided it was definitely time to revisit Erdrich. After an admittedly slow reading season, it sounds like exactly the thing to help me start back up.
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