Beth Macy's Reading List

"set in contemporary times as well as the antebellum era and during the Civil War, but every story line is so pertinent to the issues of the day."

"promises to be as poignant, propulsive and important as her previous book, No Visible Bruises."

"promises to be as poignant, propulsive and important as her previous book, No Visible Bruises."

"kept me up reading until 5 a.m., and I'm always looking for another sweeping story that hooks me as thoroughly as that one."

"Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet came close."

"Kiese Laymon's Heavy also just rolls off the tongue."

"Stephen King's On Writing, which I've dog-eared and marginalia'd to tatters, and I always see something new when I reread"

"You can't understand most of the important things from a distance, Bryan. You have to get close."

"I loved that Colwin wasn't a snob — she shopped yard sales for her cooking — and she schooled you on cooking without making you feel dumb."

"I love novels that take me deep into an important issue as well as a place — books like Mercy Street, by Jennifer Haigh, set largely in a Boston abortion clinic."

"Liz Moore's Long Bright River, about the opioid crisis in Philadelphia's Kensington."

"please, please, if you take one thing away from this interview, read Elizabeth Catte's What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia"

"I have loved Towles from his first book, Rules of Civility, and his latest is destined to be another twofer."