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An #Olympics-Sized #FridayReads List

The Olympics may be playing on every TV (and computer screen) across the globe, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have time to get in some Friday reading! Below, Workman’s Friday Reads list for this week. Happy reading! And tell us what you’re reading in the comments!

And in their own words:

I mainly read biographies of rock musicians. I just finished It’s So Easy: and other lies by Duff McKagan  (Guns and Roses) and Iron Man by Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath). Currently I’m reading No Regrets by Ace Frehley (Kiss).
—Anthony

I’m in the middle of Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child. 63% done, to be exact. It’s incredibly detailed! I’ll know everything there is to know about Julia and Paul Child once I’m done.
—Bintal

I’m reading The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.  It’s concisely written and complicated. Highly recommend it.
—Pat

My current subway read is The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, which is excellent—clear, efficient language and ruthless logic.
—Sarah G.

Just finished The Underwater Welder, a new graphic novel by Jeff Lemire. It was somber and haunting, two qualities I fall for every time. I’m currently reading Snow White and Russian Red by Dorota Masłowska. It’s an impressive debut novel. When it was released in 2002, Ms. Masłowska was heralded as the new face of the Polish literary world. A few pages in, it’s clear why.
—Randall

I’m reading A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge which is fabulous and weird.
—Leslie

In the Kingdom of Men: A Novel by Kim Barnes. Gorgeously written story of a small-town Oklahoma woman’s move to Saudi Arabia in the mid-1960s when her husband gets a job with an oil company there—superbly etched characters and setting. Barnes is the author of two previous novels, and two memoirs, one of which, In the Wilderness (which I edited), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Next up: something I have been pretending to have read for years—David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (after that trailer, how could I not?).
—Bruce

After falling hard and fast for Wild by Cheryl Strayed, I’m continuing the love affair with her new book Tiny Beautiful Things. It’s a collection of the advice columns Cheryl has written for the past few years as the formerly-anonymous advice giver Dear Sugar on The Rumpus. The depth of her empathy and honesty is life-affirming. To say I’m a fan is an understatement.
—Erin

Went to Paris recently, and brought along The Ambassadors by Henry James. Didn’t get much into it there (spent all free reading time perusing Paris restaurant blogs…), but upon returning, well, it’s un-put-downable. Am three-quarters of the way through and can’t wait to find out what happens. Imagine that: Henry James, page-turner.
—David

A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers (hero reviewer of Just Ride).  Sad, smart, informative, short, moving, compelling. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter is next in line!
—Mary Ellen

Recently read Gone Girl (along with everyone else!) and was pretty riveted. Am currently perusing The End of Men by Hanna Rosin (fascinating and depressing and empowering all at once) and about to start The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker Thompson,  an novel told from the point of view of a young girl about what happens when the earth’s rotation slows.
—Margot

I’m reading After Claude by Iris Owens. Over the top, bizarre, and very funny. It’s refreshing to read a female protagonist who is foul-mouthed, hostile, and totally crazy.
—Maisie

The Hare with Amber Eyes—on the face of it, a true story of a collection of Japanese netsuke passed from generation to generation, but really a wonderfully absorbing social history of a fabulously wealthy Russian Jewish family and the journey of one of their descendents to unravel their personal triumphs and tragedies since 1871.  I can’t wait to finish it!
—Carol S.

August 3, 2012 By
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