elcome to Ask the JamFam, where we ask expert culture writers, seasoned couch-sitters, and members of the JamFam the most pressing chilling-adjacent questions on our mind.
Anyway, we swear we are reading stuff right now. Here's a shortlist of books that have helped us all get through.
Vikram Murthi: Warlock by Oakley Hall
Brianna Holt: All About Love by bell hooks
Alphonse Pierre: Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Larry Fitzmaurice: Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
Dayna Evans: I read Robert Caro's book about writing, "Working." It made me feel like I *also* wrote four biographies of an American president and one thousand-page book about the architect of 20th century New York. It's good to feel accomplished for doing absolutely nothing.
Winston Cook-Wilson: Valeria Luiselli's The Story of My Teeth
Corban Goble: Wolf Hall trilogy but especially the closing sequence which made me feel like I was tripping balls
Joanna Rothkopf: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Otis Blum: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Hunter Harris: When Jada Pinkett Smith tweeted "There's some healing that needs to happen. I'm taking myself to the red table."
There’s some healing that needs to happen…so I’m bringing myself to The Red Table.
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) July 2, 2020
Paul Hinkes: Fiction: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. This book is nearly 70 years old but (sadly re: our culture) reads/scans as an incredibly modern piece.