WLUSP STAFF SPRING BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

Spring is coming, so we want to give our readers some great book recommendations for the new season.
This can be in the sense of spring as rebirth. But also relevant to whatever spring means to you—it could be flowers, beauty, cleaning, etc. This month our team answers: what does spring mean to you and what could someone read to understand it?

Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson

Kurtis Rideout

Publisher, TCE

Johnson’s short story cycle is a fever dream ruminating on the underbelly of rural America. Worth the praise.

The Judgement of Paris, Ross King

Jessi Wood

Creative Director, TCE

Follow 10 years of Parisian art, war and life through the eyes of two French painters, bohemian impressionist Édouard
Manet and Napoleonic Classicist Ernest Meissonier. Who knew painting involved so many zebra steaks and duels to the death?

Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto

Tusharika Tyagi

EIC, Blueprint

Shows a way of real life and love through an appreciation of kitchens.

The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion

Ayden Elworthy

Advertising Manager, WLUSP

A must read for anyone on a grief journey. Heartbreaking, plain, painstakingly honest. The Year Of Magical Thinking chronicles Joan Didion’s sudden loss of her husband, and the aftermath of a life lost. A book I will be returning to for the rest of my life.

The Joy of Solitude, Robert J. Coplan

Piper Force

EIC, The Sputnik

Solitude is often seen as something sad and a bad thing to enjoy. Coplan does a great job of using scientific studies to explain why solitude can actually be beneficial.

The Deluge, Stephen Markley

Thando Bhebe

President, WLUSP

The Deluge is timely—its main focus is on the climate crisis—and through its pages we witness humanity react to this crisis either in a daring attempt to prevent it, or cynically ignore it. Every chapter feels ripped straight from a real headline, and the author wrote this book with care and deep research. It’s 10 years in the making and I believe its worth everyone’s time to read it!

The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman

Adrian Quijano

Editorial Assistant, TCE

This is one book I’ve read so far this year that has stuck in my head. The book follows four unlikely friends who meetup once a week in their retirement community to investigate unsolved killings. It’s quirky, funny and charming with just a hint of murder.

A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin

Nate Dawes

Station Manager, Radio Laurier

I also want to read it, and so help me god this recommendation had better summon hell behind me and get me to finish it.

Yvain, The Knight of the Lion, Chrétien De Troyes

Vlad Latis

Creative Director, The Cord

Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, presents a relatively short but compelling story of a knight’s fallen romance being rekindled by chivalrous acts and the help of a lion whose
adoration he gains. It’s a perfect short read that matches the hope and revitalization of the spring season.

The Lonely City, Olivia Liang

Sheryl Madakkai

EIC, The Cord

The Lonely City by Olivia Laing is a contemplative and deeply personal exploration of loneliness through art. Blending memoir, cultural criticism and biography, Laing reflects on her time living alone in New York while examining artists who grappled with isolation, including Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol and David Wojnarowicz. She considers how urban life can intensify solitude, yet also create unexpected forms of connection. The prose is intimate and compassionate, offering insight without sentimentality. Rather than portraying loneliness as purely tragic, Laing presents it as a shared human condition that art can illuminate. Thoughtful and evocative, the book resonates with anyone who has felt alone in a crowd. 

"(Was there time to go back? Could we have a different ending on Pacific time?)"

Reread what I think is one of, if not the, most powerful #memoirs about #grief. Here #Didion imagines the three hour time difference between #NYC and #LA as an opportunity to create a different story, an interval in which to intervene and deny the death that had happened.

#JoanDidion, #TheYearOfMagicalThinking

Stephanie Myers, 1/13/67-2/11/02

My sister visits me in dreams, rarely talking but always smiling, as in this photo - one of the last taken of her - before she od’ed on 2/10/02 and I then had to make the decision to take her off life support the next day.
I’m grateful for an understanding wife and son. Nothing is better than their support. Beyond that, for advice, I recommend two books: #TheYearOfMagicalThinking by Joan Didion, and #FaithHopeAndCarnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan. #Grief

Grief comes "in waves, paroxysms, sudden apprehensions that weaken
the knees.”

#JoanDidion was born on this day in 1934. She gave us many gifts, including #TheYearOfMagicalThinking, which is one of the most beautiful, melancholy, and true representations of #grief I have ever read.

#litstudies
#bookstodon

#JoanDidion was born on this day in 1934. She gave us many gifts, including #TheYearOfMagicalThinking, which is one of the most beautiful, melancholy, and true representations of #grief I have ever read.

#litstudies
#bookstodon

What are you reading?
I'm reading #TheYearOfMagicalThinking by #JoanDidion.

My husband died 8 years ago this summer; her words grab me by the heart and turn me inside out. It's a good read, whether you are a widow/er or not.