Mark Athitakis Book Recommendations & Book Mentions
This list consists of recommendations or mentions of books spotted in media, social media accounts, podcasts or other public websites.
Mark Athitakis on X![User avatar](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
Mark Athitakis is a book critic and nonfiction author. Writer, mostly about books. Bylines in @washingtonpost, @latimes, @kirkusreviews, etc.
![Book Cover for: Beverly, Right Here, Kate DiCamillo](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9781536211542.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1709848979)
Beverly, Right Here
Kate DiCamillo![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
I almost never read the short stories in the New Yorker, Harper's, Paris Review, etc., because I figure they'll eventually wind up in a collection. But my son really likes Kate DiCamillo---we finished "Beverly, Right Here" together just this week---so here we are. https://t.co/moM6BkIvsR
Paperback, 2021
$7.99$3.99 + Free shipping50% off your first book![Book Cover for: On the Rooftop, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9780063139954.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1709848499)
On the Rooftop
Margaret Wilkerson Sexton![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
Sexton wants to deliver the warmth of a family saga with an overall mood of uplift, but she also seeks to write a novel about a neighborhood in crisis and what it means to try to chase your dreams when a wrecking ball is swinging right toward them.
Paperback, 2023
$18.99$9.49 + Free shipping50% off your first book![Book Cover for: How I Won a Nobel Prize, Julius Taranto](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9780316513074.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1709848479)
How I Won a Nobel Prize
Julius Taranto![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
“Nobel Prize” is a kind of experimental lab of satirical fiction: How many through lines of today’s culture wars can you realistically stuff into a novel while still claiming to have produced a comedy?
Hardcover, 2023
$27.00$13.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book![Book Cover for: Liberation Day: Stories, George Saunders](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9780525509615.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1709848377)
Liberation Day: Stories
George Saunders![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
I wrote about George Saunders' first story collection in nearly a decade, "Liberation Day," for WaPo: https://t.co/FkqGsCboe5
Paperback, 2023
$17.00$8.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book![Book Cover for: Playground, Richard Powers](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9781324086031.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1719789527)
Playground
Richard Powers![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
What Powers’ epic, Pulitzer-winning 2018 novel, 'The Overstory,' did for forests, this novel does for oceans... Booker Prize finalist 'Playground' demonstrates how he’s sharpened both his intellectual interests with a knack for lively and optimistic storytelling.
Hardcover, 2024
$29.99$14.99 + Free shipping50% off your first book![Book Cover for: South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation, Imani Perry](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9780062977373.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1725753228)
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
Imani Perry![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
The only NBA finalist I've read is Imani Perry's "South to America," but it's a good one. My review at @On_The_Seawall: https://t.co/LLegF4Rq4x
Paperback, 2023
$19.99$9.99 + Free shipping50% off your first book![Book Cover for: The Book of Goose, Yiyun Li](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9781250872418.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1725753228)
The Book of Goose
Yiyun Li![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
I've long been a fan of Yiyun Li, so it was a pleasure to interview her about "The Book of Goose." Also discussed: Slow reading, "Housekeeping," and her next planned group-read. https://t.co/xreznHEQ12
Paperback, 2023
$19.00$9.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book![Book Cover for: A Reliable Wife, Robert Goolrick](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9781565129771.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1725753228)
A Reliable Wife
Robert Goolrick![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
Sorry to learn that Robert Goolrick has died. A fine writer---"A Reliable Wife" is an excellent Midwestern gothic story. https://t.co/XkmrA4cGC8
Paperback, 2010
$16.95$8.48 + Free shipping50% off your first book![Book Cover for: The Sea, the Sea: Booker Prize Winner, Iris Murdoch](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9780141186160.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1720999147)
The Sea, the Sea: Booker Prize Winner
Iris Murdoch![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
Post-It found in my used copy of Iris Murdoch's "The Sea, The Sea." https://t.co/GAMcFR8wLY
Paperback, 2001
$21.00$10.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book![Book Cover for: The Mandibles LP, Lionel Shriver](https://d16057n354qyo4.cloudfront.net/9780062467140.jpg?nextExtension=webp&version=1709847635)
The Mandibles LP
Lionel Shriver![Mark Athitakis](https://d1iyvy95qprisd.cloudfront.net/avatars-md/3906f09e-6350-483a-8b41-2293a9573efe.webp)
@LKonstan Parable of the Sower springs to mind. There's also Lionel Shriver's The Mandibles and Frederick C. Rich's Christian Nation, though neither is SF besides being speculative/dystopian.
Paperback, Large Print, 2021
$27.99$13.99 + Free shipping50% off your first book