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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.

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Mark Athitakis is a book critic and nonfiction author. Writer, mostly about books. Bylines in @washingtonpost, @latimes, @kirkusreviews, etc.

57 books
Book Cover for: Beverly, Right Here, Kate DiCamillo

Beverly, Right Here

Kate DiCamillo
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

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

On the Rooftop

Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

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

How I Won a Nobel Prize

Julius Taranto
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

“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

Liberation Day: Stories

George Saunders
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

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

Playground

Richard Powers
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

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

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation

Imani Perry
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

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

The Book of Goose

Yiyun Li
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

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

A Reliable Wife

Robert Goolrick
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

Sorry to learn that Robert Goolrick has died. A fine writer---"A Reliable Wife" is an excellent Midwestern gothic story. https://t.co/XkmrA4cGC8

Out of stock

Book Cover for: The Sea, the Sea: Booker Prize Winner, Iris Murdoch

The Sea, the Sea: Booker Prize Winner

Iris Murdoch
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

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

The Mandibles LP

Lionel Shriver
Mark AthitakisMark Athitakis

@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