CRP's Blog

Happy Friday the 13th! Our #StaffReads picks might be light on the horror, but we have some scary-good reads! Check out what our staff has been reading below and share what you’re reading in the comments or on Twitter using the hashtag #CRPreads.

I’ve been listening to The Story of a New Name, the second novel in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series, and it’s just as beautiful and heart wrenching as the last one.  —Ashley Alfirevic, publicity associate

Meditative and short, poems are feeling just right these days, and I’ve found myself on a mini poetry kick. I’m gobbling up Rupi Kaur’s The Sun and Her Flowers, and I snagged a copy of Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks from fellow Chicago publisher Curbside Splendor. Next up: I’ve got a ticket to Hillary Clinton’s book signing at The Book Stall on October 30th, so I’m determined to make a decent dent in What Happened before then! —Caitlin Eck, publicity manager

I recently finished reading Trina Robbins’s outrageously enjoyable memoir Last Girl Standing. I’m pretty sure I screamed about, laughed out loud at, or read whole paragraphs out loud to my boyfriend on nearly every page. She’s a bona fide national treasure as a writer, an artist, a feminist, a herstorian, and just an all-around kick-ass human being. —Allison Felus, production manager

This week I’m reading You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, the new memoir from Sherman Alexie (author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian). It’s an incredible reflection on grief, family, and memory and I love how seamlessly it switches between narrative and poetry. Very worth a read! —Alex Granato, CRP intern

Currently rereading one of my all-time faves, A Room with a View by E. M. Forster. Charlotte Bartlett (played to perfection by Maggie Smith in the film) must be one of the best-drawn supporting characters in English literature. On the side, I’m dipping in and out of Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners, an incredibly cheeky book I won in a Goodreads giveaway (yay!). And I recently picked up The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat because brains are super weird and interesting. —Ellen Hornor, project editor

Sometime last month I decided that I wanted to start making sourdough bread. So in addition to a well-floured kitchen and a variety of sourdough-related foods, I’ve been reading a lot about sourdough. On the nonfiction side of things I’ve been on The Kitchn and King Arthur Flour sites almost daily for science, tips, tricks and recipes. And on the fiction side of things, I’ve been reading Robin Sloan’s Sourdough in between feeding (and possibly playing music for) my starter. I loved Sloan’s previous book, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and the same can be said for his follow up. And—lest you think I only have bread on the brain—my ears have been listening to Bonnets at Dawn (I particularly loved a recent episode that discussed the graphic novel reimagining of Jane Eyre) and a new murder mystery podcast called Deadly Manners that is inspired by the radio dramas of the 1940s, mixed with Clue (the movie more than the game) and is narrated by LeVar Burton and whose cast includes Kristen Bell, RuPaul, and Dennis O’Hare. I mean, how could I not tune in? —Mary Kravenas, marketing manager

I just finished reading The General’s Niece: The Little-Known De Gaulle Who Fought to Free Occupied France and loved it so much. I cried about 10 times, was inspired about 216 times (once per page) and recommend that everybody read it. It’s especially relevant these days. Next up, I’m reading Fates and Furies for a two-person book club. —Emily Lewis, editorial and marketing assistant

I’m currently reading the sixth edition of Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd and Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen. Both are very long books, but I’m plowing my way through them. —Yuval Taylor, senior editor