Missing in Action but Lost in Books

I’ve had a nagging feeling that it’s been too long since I opined on the books that I’m reading but the truth is that I don’t thrive when I feel pressed to write. I’m much more enthusiastic and joyful about reviewing when I’ve finished something that wows me. There are currently six overdue novels sitting directly to my right and I so want to get into them but hey, Library Journal sent me two challenges with short deadlines and then the fabulous Library of Congress Book Festival began, virtual for the second year in a row – damn Covid – and it’s going on for an entire week. So many interviews, so little time.

Imagine the pressure of coming up with two hundred words that could remotely capture the essence of the first novel in fifty years from Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka. “Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth” will be released next week and it’s anything but a happy read. That was followed by a strange yet delightful debut novel from a Mombasan author named Khadija Abdalla Bajaber. I have finished “The House of Rust” but have yet to put pen to paper, mainly because I was finally able to pick up Honoree Fannon Jeffers’ “The Love Songs of W. E. B. DuBois” and I can’t bear to put it aside. More on this next week.

I’ve said before and I’ll repeat it again. Zoom may be less than ideal for some forms of communication but for author interviews it is fantastic! If you have a decent sized monitor, you might get the impression that the author you’re listening to is looking right into your eyes. It’s marvelous if disconcerting. And, as often as I’ve praised the Washington Post’s Ron Charles, (he and I have a mind meld when it comes to literature) I must offer kudos once again.

Sunday, I listened to an hour-long conversation he had with the glorious Yaa Gyasi, (“Homegoing” and “Transcendent Kingdom”) and I felt as if I was in the room where it was happening. They laughed and talked like old friends and because they were so comfortable with each other the insights they shared were deeper and more personal than you might expect.

Today Ron was live with Kristen Hannah “The Four Winds,” and Maggie Shipstead whose “Great Circle” was just announced for the Booker Prize shortlist. They spoke to the theme of this year’s National Book Festival, Open a Book, Open the World. Yesterday it was the lovely, unassuming Booker and Nobel winner, Kazuo Ishiguro speaking with former Post Book World editor Marie Arana. Their conversation ran the gamut from sharing their immigrant roots, to music, to the purpose of literature, and then to the purpose of life and the big question, why do we care! “Klara and the Sun” was deftly alluded to but there were no spoilers.

All of these and so many more interviews are archived here: https://www.loc.gov/events/2021-national-book-festival/

Do join the conversation!