AWM Staff Picks: May 2024

Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums: Stories and Memorable Moments from People Who Love Museums by Bob Eckstein

We were thrilled to find the American Writers Museum in this wonderful new book that takes a fun and engaging tour of some of the best museums in the country. As Steve Martin described it, “It is a joyous book.” Anyone who loves museums will enjoy having it and thinking of the places you have been and the places you would like to go.

—Carey, President

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

From the publisher: “Composed in the last years of Roberto Bolaño’s life, 2666 was greeted across Europe and Latin America as his highest achievement, surpassing even his previous work in its strangeness, beauty, and scope. Its throng of unforgettable characters includes academics and convicts, an American sportswriter, an elusive German novelist, and a teenage student and her widowed, mentally unstable father. Their lives intersect in the urban sprawl of SantaTeresa–a fictional Juárez–on the U.S.-Mexico border, where hundreds of young factory workers, in the novel as in life, have disappeared.”

—Maya, Marketing & Creative Associate

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

From the publisher: “When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start…Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down…As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly? With heart-pounding suspense and relevant social commentary comes a high-octane thriller from debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.”

—Noelle, Education Program Coordinator

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

From the publisher: “With profound empathy and radiant generosity, Gilbert offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the ‘strange jewels’ that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.”

—Linda, Director of Development

Civil War, written and directed by Alex Garland

I wasn’t sure what to expect walking into Alex Garland’s Civil War, but I left with a newfound appreciation for the hard work and sacrifices of war-time journalists.

More from IMDB: “A journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.”

—Matt, Community Engagement Manager

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

From the publisher: “Gregory Maguire proves himself to be ‘one of contemporary fiction’s most assured myth-makers’ (Kirkus Reviews) with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, his ingenious and provocative retelling of the timeless Cinderella fairy tale. Perhaps best known for his dark and breathtaking Oz series The Wicked Years—including the novel Wicked, which inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical—Maguire is a master at upending the ordinary to help us see the familiar in a brilliant new light.”

—Ari, Assistant Director, Operations & Exhibits

Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer

As I have been working on the creation of our next special exhibit, Level Up: Writers & Gamers opening May 24, I have had this book by my side for inspiration (and fun!). In addition to its beautiful artwork, one of the authors, Jon Peterson, is a member of the curating team of the exhibit. This book will also be available for you to peruse through as you explore Level Up!

More from the publisher: “An illustrated guide to the history and evolution of the beloved role-playing game told through the paintings, sketches, illustrations, and visual ephemera behind its creation, growth, and continued popularity.”

—Ari, Assistant Director, Operations & Exhibits

Furyborn by Claire Legrand

From the publisher: “Furyborn is an epic YA fantasy about two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world, or doom it…As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world—and of each other.”

We’re thrilled that Claire Legrand will be joining us at our American Writers Festival on May 19 at the Harold Washington Library Center in downtown Chicago. Claire joins fellow romance writers Xio Axelrod, Swan Huntley, and Pamala Knight on the Writing Love Stories panel. The Festival is entirely free, and we hope you can join us!

—Allison, Program Director

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

From the publisher: “When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​ To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.”

—Noelle, Education Program Coordinator

The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony by Annabelle Tometich

From the publisher: “In this poignant and deceptively entertaining memoir of growing up as a mixed-race Filipina ‘nobody’ in suburban Florida, Annabelle traces the roots of her upbringing… With clear-eyed compassion and piercing honesty, The Mango Tree is a family saga that navigates the tangled branches of Annabelle’s life, from her childhood days in an overflowing house flooded by balikbayan boxes, vegetation, and juicy mangoes, to her winding path from medical school hopeful to restaurant critic. It is a love letter to her fellow Filipino Americans, her lost younger self, and the beloved fruit tree at the heart of her family. But above all, it is an ode to Annabelle’s hot-blooded, whip-smart mother Josefina, a woman who made a life and a home of her own, and without whom Annabelle would not have herself.”

—Noelle, Education Program Coordinator

A Monster Calls: The Play devised by The Company, based on the novel by Patrick Ness

From the publisher: “In this powerful new adaptation from visionary director Sally Cookson, the bestselling novel by Patrick Ness is brought to the stage to tell the stunning story of love, loss and courage anew. Conor has the same dream every night, ever since his mother first fell ill, ever since she started that treatments that don’t quite seem to be working. But tonight is different. Tonight, when he wakes, there’s a visitor at his window. It’s ancient, elemental, a force of nature. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth. The final idea of the late, award-winning writer Siobhan Dowd, developed into an extraordinary and heartbreaking novel by Patrick Ness, and now adapted for an Old Vic production that brings the tale to a new audience.”

—Matt, Community Engagement Manager

The New York Trilogy: City of Glass; Ghosts; The Locked Room by Paul Auster

In honor of Paul Auster, who passed away this week, I recommend The New York Trilogy.

From the publisher: “Moving at the breathless pace of a thriller, this uniquely stylized trilogy of detective novels begins with City of Glass, in which Quinn, a mystery writer, receives an ominous phone call in the middle of the night. He’s drawn into the streets of New York, onto an elusive case that’s more puzzling and more deeply-layered than anything he might have written himself. In Ghosts, Blue, a mentee of Brown, is hired by White to spy on Black from a window on Orange Street. Once Blue starts stalking Black, he finds his subject on a similar mission, as well. In The Locked Room, Fanshawe has disappeared, leaving behind his wife and baby and nothing but a cache of novels, plays, and poems.”

—Cristina C., Guest Services & Operations Supervisor

The Nix by Nathan Hill

From the publisher: “It’s 2011, and Samuel Andresen-Anderson hasn’t seen his mother, Faye, in decades—not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now she’s reappeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news and inflames a politically divided country. The media paints Faye as a radical hippie with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother was an ordinary girl who married her high-school sweetheart. Which version of his mother is true? Two facts are certain: she’s facing some serious charges, and she needs Samuel’s help. To save her, Samuel will have to embark on his own journey, uncovering long-buried secrets about the woman he thought he knew, secrets that stretch across generations and have their origin all the way back in Norway, home of the mysterious Nix. As he does so, Samuel will confront not only Faye’s losses but also his own lost love, and will relearn everything he thought he knew about his mother, and himself.”

—Carol, Institutional Giving Manager

The Notebook (album) with music/lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson and book by Bekah Brunstetter

On Saturday, April 20, 2024, my life changed forever when the cast recording of the Broadway musical The Notebook dropped on streaming services. I saw the production twice when it was at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and it remains one of my favorite theatrical experiences. This album is absolutely worth a listen. I’d also recommend checking out our August 2022 program with Ingrid Michael and Bekah Brunstetter about their roles in adapting The Notebook to the stage.

—Matt, Community Engagement Manager

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

I’ve been reading this book in preparation for my interview with R. O. Kwon about Audre Lorde’s legacy, the next episode of the Nation of Writers podcast. Lorde’s essays remain powerful, and later this month you can hear Kwon talk about how they have impacted her own writing. Subscribe to all podcasts here so you are notified when new episodes are released!

More from the publisher: “In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope.” This commemorative edition includes a new foreword by Lorde-scholar and poet Cheryl Clarke, who celebrates the ways in which Lorde’s philosophies resonate more than twenty years after they were first published.”

—Nate, Digital Content Associate

Spring by Ali Smith

From the publisher: “What unites Katherine Mansfield, Charlie Chaplin, Shakespeare, Rilke, Beethoven, Brexit, the present, the past, the north, the south, the east, the west, a man mourning lost times, a woman trapped in modern times? Spring. The great connective. With an eye to the migrancy of story over time and riffing on Pericles, one of Shakespeare’s most resistant and rollicking works, Ali Smith tell the impossible tale of an impossible time. In a time of walls and lockdown, Smith opens the door. The time we’re living in is changing nature. Will it change the nature of story?”

—Maya, Marketing & Creative Associate

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

From the publisher: “Destry’s life is dedicated to terraforming Sask-E. As part of the Environmental Rescue Team, she cares for the planet and its burgeoning eco-systems as her parents and their parents did before her. But the bright, clean future they’re building comes under threat when Destry discovers a city full of people that shouldn’t exist, hidden inside a massive volcano. As she uncovers more about their past, Destry begins to question the mission she’s devoted her life to, and must make a choice that will reverberate through Sask-E’s future for generations to come. A science fiction epic for our times and a love letter to our future, The Terraformers will take you on a journey spanning thousands of years and exploring the triumphs, strife, and hope that find us wherever we make our home.”

—Allison, Program Director

When the New Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America by Heather Hendershot

As anti-genocide protests are currently taking place across college campuses today and the Democratic National Convention is set to be in Chicago in 2024, I am reminded of the summer of 1968 and that fateful DNC in Chicago. Not because I was alive then, certainly not. But because it was a pivotal summer in our history, much like the one we face this summer.

Which is why I am looking forward to Heather Hendershot sharing insights into her new book at the American Writers Festival on May 19. Hendershot is joined in conversation by fellow historian and author Kevin Boyle on the panel, Polarizing America: Chicago 1968, presented by the Newberry Library. Hendershot discusses how media coverage of the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago shattered Americans’ faith in the media, leading to where we are now…and where we go from here.

—Nate, Digital Content Associate

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

From the publisher: “Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance. But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…”

—Allison, Program Director