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Check out the “strangest things” the CRP staff have been reading this week. #CRPreads

Song Exploder is definitely my favorite podcast, and I loved this delightful interview with host/producer Hrishikesh Hirway, which is of course not about music or podcasting at all, but about food.  —Allison Felus, production manager

Like most of the geek-leaning world (including R.L. Stine) I recently watched Netflix’s Stranger Things and have been unable to resist clicking on almost every article titled “Books to read for fans of ‘Stranger Things’” I’ve stumbled across. Some particular favorites include The Verge’s, Bustle’s, and Electric Lit’s. One thing every list includes, and rightfully so, that fans of Stranger Things really need to read is a Stephen King title (special shout-out to It and “The Body” from Different Things that would be the basis for the movie Stand By Me), and so I also must recommend this fan’s creation of the connections between the novels and worlds of Stephen King. It’s something to be admired (and framed). —Mary Kravenas, marketing manager

I’m failing most remarkably at my goal of reading 50 books this year. In order to still reach my goal, I need to read roughly two books per week so I’m currently rushing to finish three books by the end of this week: Persuasion by Jane Austen, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and CRP’s own The Hospital Always Wins by Issa Ibrahim.  —Emily Lewis, marketing and editorial assistant

I just finished Tenth of December by George Saunders. I found most of the stories as intense, dark, funny, sometimes disturbing, and wonderful as all the critics say. Still, I’d probably only recommend this to someone I know well enough to suspect it would be their cup of tea. —Lisa Reardon, senior editor

I’m reading Carla Kaplan’s Miss Anne in Harlem, which consists primarily of the stories of six white women in the Harlem Renaissance. It’s lucidly written, and shines a spotlight on a group of women who were unafraid of controversy and of crossing race and gender lines. Kaplan handles their frequent naivety and missteps well; not all of them come across as sympathetic, but all of them come alive. —Yuval Taylor, senior editor

* This week’s Staff Reads Stranger Things-ispired logo was made using http://makeitstranger.com