Local events, a short story review and how to read even more this summer
Tune in for these books
Three audiobooks for an epic road trip
In July, Big Books and Bold Ideas will embark on a monthlong bookish celebration of America’s 250th birthday and the list includes some terrific stories, both true and imagined, for a long midsummer road trip.
Randall Sullivan’s nonfiction book, “The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads” is saturated with legendary sports figures and a dramatic backdrop of the Chicago World’s Fair and the gathering clouds of war. And it’s long enough to keep you company for miles and miles … and miles.
Put the words “tyrants and rogues” in a book title about American history, and you have my attention. Historian Robert Parkinson’s book about understanding the Declaration of Independence is a must read in this Semiquincentennial year.
Who says a road trip can’t veer off onto the high seas? Emma Straub’s “American Fantasy” unfurls aboard a cruise ship replete with boy band fans and unexpected joy.
Email sstroozas@mpr.org to have your literary event added to the list.
🤔 What's the newsroom reading?
I'm not usually one for short stories. If they're good stories, I always want them to be longer. And if they're not that great, well, then I find myself wondering why I even bothered in the first place.
However, "The River Has Roots," a novella by Amal El-Mohtar, reminded me to not always be so convinced about what I like and what I don't. The book is ... delightful.
For one thing, it references a handful of murder ballads — traditional folk songs about crime and murder. And for this folkie, that's always a real treat. Murder ballads have been around since the 16th and 17th centuries — if not earlier — and one of my favorites is "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship." (If you want a good recording of it, by the way, check out Canadian singer Cara Luft's version.) It was fun to see the familiar lyrics — which reference, yes, a courtship ... and also a few riddles — show up in the novella.
For another thing, the story uses the concept of "grammar" in a unique and inventive way. Rather than the law of language, grammar represents the laws of MAGIC, a concept any English major will simply adore.
Finally, this novella is NOT about romantic love — that seems to be the thing in a lot of "romantasy" stories these days. Instead, the story is a reminder that if you're really lucky you've got a person in your life you love more than anyone or anything else — the kind of love that you can't fake and that you know will never fade.
The two main characters are sisters; El-Mohtar did an incredible job portraying how siblings can be so very different in character and passion and yet still feel such a bond with each other that they're willing to risk everything to keep each other safe.
El-Mohtar is a Canadian poet and writer, and is a Hugo and Nebula award-winner. Earlier this month, The River Has Roots won a Locus (a major award in the sci-fi and fantasy communities that's part of the Locus Magazine) and it also just won a Nebula award for best novella.
She's best known, I think, for her 2019 collaboration with Max Gladstone, This is "How You Lose the Time War." I haven't read that — yet. It's absolutely on my list now.
The Andersen Horticultural Library at the University of Minnesota needs your help. They recently announced they are hosting their first “Name a Library cart” contest, inspired by the “Name a snowplow” contest. They are looking for the most "witty, unique flowery, plant, nature or book-themed ideas." Submissions will be accepted until July 6.
It’s time to head to the lake with a book in hand. Here are the top recommendations booksellers and libraries are talking about in northeastern Minnesota.
There's a lot more you can do to start or restart a reading habit. A neuroscientist, the organizer of a children's book festival and the host of a book podcast share their best advice.
