CRP's Blog

Check out the variety of podcasts, books, and articles that have been on our minds this week. #CRPreads

I’m cheating a little bit and submitting a “staff listen.” The next season of Serial was just released and I, being one of the many fans of the podcast’s first season, can’t wait to dive in. This season follows Bowe Bergdahl, the US Army sergeant who disappeared in 2009 during a post in Afghanistan, was later freed by his Taliban captors in exchange for Guantanamo Bay prisoners, and now faces charges of desertion. —Caitlin Eck, publicity manager

Presently working to conquer another book from my shelf: 2666, an 898-page monster by Roberto Bolaño that opens with a group of European professors looking for an elusive German author but quickly expands in scope to encompass characters and narratives in the US and Latin America. I ventured 399 pages deep once before, about three years ago, but I lost interest toward the beginning of the infamously long, possibly gratuitous fourth section, which exhaustively details a series of grisly murders in Mexico. The first section is as seductive as it was the first time I read it, though, largely thanks, I think, to translator Natasha Wimmer, who knows how to turn Bolaño’s Spanish prose into English that feels natural, almost American. —Geoff George, publicist

This morning’s commute was a tad more gruesome than usual: I started reading Career of Evil, the newest Cormoran Strike novel from Robert Galbraith. Barely ten pages in there’s already been a severed leg delivered in the mail and many Blue Öyster Cult references. ’Nuff said. —Ellen Hornor, project editor

The best article I’ve read all week in every major news outlet is that Hamilton will be coming to Chicago next September, and this Chicago Tribune article, which explains a bit about Chicago’s theatre culture, got me even more excited about it. —Emily Lewis, editorial and marketing assistant

This incredibly moving Washington Post story follows the recovery process of sixteen-year-old Cheyeanne Fitzgerald, a survivor of the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, and shares the stark new reality she and her family face. Although I was drawn in from the very first paragraph, this is what got me: “On the second day of class she had decided she wanted to become a nurse. On the third day she had said maybe neonatal. On the fourth day she had shown up early for Writing 115 and came home utterly dependent.” —Meaghan Miller, senior publicist and social media coordinator

I’m currently reading everyone’s favorite, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, and I have to agree: it’s a fantastic read. Ben Montgomery’s writing moves lickety-split, and the inspiration Emma Gatewood incites, coupled with the heartrending descriptions of the domestic abuse she endured, make it a real rollercoaster ride. On a more superficial level, it makes me want to strap on my hiking boots and find some trails! In other news, I finished Pride and Prejudice over Thanksgiving. Final verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. Though not generally my cup of tea, it was a surprisingly fast, very enjoyable read. I actually found myself chuckling aloud or raising my eyebrows in shock while reading on the crowded L. Next, I’m going to tackle the miniseries. —Lindsey Schauer, project editor

I’m on the hold list for both of Jenny Lawson’s books, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy, along with Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  Opposite ends of the spectrum, so hopefully I keep emotionally balanced somewhere in the middle during my reading over the holiday break. —Michelle Williams, managing editor

-compiled by Emily Lewis