Category: Mashreads

Books Culture Lin Manuel Miranda Mashreads

Lin-Manuel Miranda is coming to bless your bookshelf

sudshr47 July 17, 2018

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For his next act, Lin-Manuel Miranda will make a jump from the stage to the page. 

The playwright and composer — best known for his Broadway smash hit Hamilton — will gather his well-known Twitter pep talks into a book titled Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You. 

Gmorning!
A bit of news—
At YOUR request, we made a book of the Gmornings & Gnights!
Illustrations by @jonnysun!
Available October 23!
We love you!https://t.co/ZSMEA8E7lU pic.twitter.com/uLLXY3JPXP

— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 17, 2018

“At YOUR request, we made a book of the Gmornings & Gnights!,” he announced on Twitter on Tuesday morning. The book – published by Random House – comes out this October.  Read more…

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Books Mashreads Mashreads Podcast Melissa Broder The Pisces

‘The Pisces’ is dark tale about mental health, obsession, and, um, lots of mermaid sex

sudshr47 June 29, 2018

When you think of mermaids, you probably think of The Little Mermaid’s Ariel earnestly yearning to be “a part of your world.” What you probably don’t think of is a merman dragging himself along rocks and sand to a wagon so that he can be carried to …

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Alex London Black Wings Beating Books Mashreads Mashreads Podcast

Alex London puts a queer twist on the fantasy epic with his new book ‘Black Wings Beating’

sudshr47 June 26, 2018

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Even the most imaginative fantasy novels are frequently inspired by real world eventsGame of Thrones, for instance, draws from the War of the Roses and J.R.R. Tolkein was said to have been influenced by World War I when he created Middle Earth.

But for Alex London’s upcoming novel Black Wings Beating, the inspiration came from the sky: “It started with the killer birds,” London says.

Black Wings Beating, the first book in London’s Skybound fantasy series, stars a pair of twins — Brysen and Kylee — living in the land of Uztar, where “nothing is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists.” Kylee possesses ancient gifts for falconry, but wants out of the game. Meanwhile Brysen yearns for the glory that his sister rejects. Read more…

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Books Culture Lauren Groff Mashreads Mashreads Podcast

‘Florida’ is a haunting look at the ‘pestilence and dread’ hiding in the sunshine state

sudshr47 June 22, 2018

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Lauren Groff knows what you think of when you think of Florida: Disney, Miami, Florida Man.

But in her new book Florida, the writer describes a different tenor to the sunshine state.

“My Florida is different. My Florida is full of pestilence and dread,” Groff told MashReads.

Florida is a collection of short stories set in, well, Florida, as a a series of narrators navigate their lives and the landscape in the southern state.

“This book is about Florida. But it’s not just the state, it’s about the state of dread and premonition, and the desire to push outside the realm of domesticity, and how to raise little boys and make them into good people, and it’s about snakes, and it’s basically everything that you can come up with.” Read more…

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Books Culture Mashreads Mashreads Podcast

‘Little Fires Everywhere’ is a beautiful novel that takes you places you’ll never expect to go

sudshr47 June 15, 2018

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In Celeste Ng’s second novel Little Fires Everywhere, we’re introduced to two families: the Richardsons and the Warrens. 

On the surface, the Richardsons are the kind of family you might see in a stock photo framed in Target. They live in Shaker Heights, a Cleveland suburb known for order. But Little Fires Everywhere introduces us to them them in the midst of turmoil: their family home is burning down and the immediate suspect is Izzy, the Richardsons’ rebellious younger daughter.

The story, in a way, takes place backwards. We learn about the series of events that ultimately lead to the fire, but the loss of their home is just one of the many rabbit holes that Ng takes us down. The Warren family, made up of a mysterious single mother named Mia and a her young daughter Pearl, become intertwined with the Richardson family throughout the course of the book. Ng expertly weaves us through the history of each of these characters and many more surprises — including a custody case that divides a community and raises questions regarding morality and motherhood. Read more…

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An American Marriage Books Love Mashreads Mashreads Podcast

‘An American Marriage’ is a beautiful love story that’s as heartbreaking as it is complex

sudshr47 June 3, 2018

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Much has been said about love in literature. True love’s first kiss will cure all. The greatest gift we have is love. Love is the most powerful magic. 

But Tayari Jones knows the truth: “How you feel love and understand love are two different things.” Or so she writes in her 2017 novel, An American Marriage.

An American Marriage follows the love story of Celestial and Roy, a recently married couple living in the South. The two seem to have their whole lives ahead of them — Roy is an entrepreneur and Celestial is an artist who is getting more and more attention for the beautiful dolls she designs. But when Roy is falsely accused of rape and convicted to 12 years in prison, the life they thought they’d built for themselves is shattered. While Roy is in prison fighting for his freedom, Celeste has another battle to face as she tries to figure out how to support Roy, all the while living her life and pursuing her dreams. Read more…

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Books Culture Mashreads Mashreads Podcast

‘The Ensemble’ is an intimate debut novel about love of all kinds

sudshr47 May 24, 2018

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The Ensemble is more than just a story about a professional string quartet. 

Sure, it tails four young musicians that make up the Van Ness Quartet — the formidable Jana on first violin, sweet Brit on second violin, the prodigy Henry on viola, and brooding Daniel on cello — over the course of almost 20 years, but dig into its pages and you’ll realize that the novel is also a sublime character study and complicated unraveling (and rebuilding) of the lives of these musicians during their formative young adult years. 

It was a pleasure to sit across from author Aja Gabel and discuss how her debut novel came into the world and the complicated nature of writing about fluctuating and intimate friendships. Read more…

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Culture Mashreads Memoir Michelle Obama Politics

Michelle Obama has finally revealed the cover of her memoir and it is stunning

sudshr47 May 24, 2018

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Since departing the White House in 2017, Michelle Obama has been speaking at various events, locking down a Netflix deal with her husband, subtly throwing shade at Trump, and working on a new book that will grace the bookshelves of America this fall. 

It’s called Becoming — and the memoir’s cover, featuring a portrait of the former FLOTUS, is finally here.

“As I prepare to share BECOMING this fall, I hope you’ll also think about your own story, and trust that it will help you become whoever you aspire to be,” she shared on Twitter, along with a photo of the book. “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.” Read more…

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