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The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead My rating: 4 of 5 stars A nonlinear narrative composed of straightforward, at times lyrical, writing, The Underground Railroad tells the story of Cora, a slave girl whose escape of the plantation leads to conflict and loss and love and meditations on what it means to be free. Whitehead’s
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Longform stories I’ve read lately and enjoyed. Keepers of the Secrets by James Somers, The Village Voice Step into the archives at the New York Public Library and meet “the most interesting man in the world.” He’s 39 and knows the archives more intimately than many parents know their own children. Those boxes of paper artifacts
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the world needs more pretty words less ugly deaths more dandelion wreaths and butterfly kisses less flying vitriol and bullets more hearts beating in unison as we look across seas of faces and realize our differences are nothing in comparison to our sameness.
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The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer My rating: 5 of 5 stars A stream-of-consciousness narrative tackling dual themes of mental illness (schizophrenia, in particular) and grief, “The Shock of the Fall” follows 19-year-old Matthew Homes as he seeks to write his story, partly on his treatment program’s computer and partly on the typewriter
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Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand My rating: 5 of 5 stars A lot of nonfiction books get so bogged down with detail that they have no narrative drive. Unbroken doesn’t have this problem. From the beginning, Hillenbrand’s writing sets the story in driven, organized motion, drawing
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Some of my favorite longform stories from the last few months. The Girl Detectives by Marin Cogan, Topic A student club at the University of Pittsburgh takes on unsolved, real world mysteries — and just happens to be dominated by women. Escaping Kakuma by Louis Bien, SB Nation I hadn’t read an SB Nation feature in a
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Fighting for Life by S. Josephine Baker My rating: 5 of 5 stars First of all, Sara Josephine Baker lived an incredible life. Second of all, she has a totally relatable way of sharing her story. Originally published in 1939, this autobiography tells firsthand the story of a woman doctor (at a time when that
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Before the Fall by Noah Hawley My rating: 5 of 5 stars A private plane crashes in the middle of a short flight from Martha’s Vineyard to New York City. Before the Fall tells the stories of the characters involved: the painter who survived, swimming the four-year-old child to safety; the flight attendant and the
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Every month, week, day, I’m adding more stories to my to-read list. Here are a few favorites from the past few months: What Bullets Do to Bodies by Jason Fagone, Highline An up-close portrait of the work of Dr. Amy Goldberg, a trauma surgeon in North Philly who’s seen more bullet wounds in the past 30
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“One friend with whom you have a lot in common is better than three with whom you struggle to find things to talk about.” ~ Mindy Kaling, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? “It is one of the tragedies of life that one cannot have all the wisdom one is ever to possess in the beginning.”
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Meredith Sell 