A Reader Wants to Know

What are you reading?

It’s a question I like to ask, since I’m always on the hunt for new authors. The answers I get have led me down wonderful paths, in reading and in life. (Is there a difference?)

I’m surprised at how frequently people name authors I’ve never heard of. I pick up the books and wonder, Where have you been? How have I missed you all these years?

So I’ll ask the question: What are you reading?

I’d love to know. Really. I’m ready to meet new writers and characters, to explore new worlds.

Of course, what follows that question isn’t just an answer; it’s a conversation. I’ll start ours by telling you what I’m reading—actually two books, one fiction and one nonfiction.

I just finished The Church of Baseball, a new book by Ron Shelton. It’s about the writing and filming of Shelton’s film Bull Durham, surely the best baseball movie ever.

And I’m currently reading Fox Creek, by William Kent Krueger, the latest in his fine mystery series featuring Cork O’Connor, a part-Ojibwe sheriff in the little town of Aurora, Minnesota. I enjoy the O’Connor stories, but I’m a bigger fan of Krueger’s stand-alone novels, such as his magnificent This Tender Land.

I’ll also start a related discussion that invariably follows: Who is your favorite author? I have several, and you probably do too.

Nonfiction: Robert Caro, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Isabel Wilkerson
Fiction: William Goldman, Jack Finney, John Steinbeck  

I’d love to hear from you.
What are you reading?
Who is your favorite author?