Stumped about what to read next? Nightstand, a semi-regular column, goes straight to the source for ideas. Today, meet William Page (no, that’s not a pseudonym; yes, he was born for this job), from Letters Bookshop in downtown Durham.
What have you been reading lately?
One is actually over there: How Long ’Til Black Future Month [by N.K. Jemison]. Jemison’s one of my favorite authors, and this is the first of her short fiction I’ve read. In the intro, she talks about using fiction as a playground for testing her ideas, and you can kind of feel that.
Anything coming out in 2020 that you’re excited about?
That’s funny. This is one. [He picks up a copy of These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card.] This was not planned at all.
It sure looks planned!
It’s on my looking-forward-to list, and I walked in today, and this was just sitting over there. It’s an advance copy. I wanted to read it before I knew what it was about, just because I think that’s a great title. It’s about this family secret that has repercussions for this person and one of his children, who doesn’t know he’s his father. It goes between Jamaica and New York.
What’s been selling?
I’m not gonna take all the credit for it because it’s a really great book [he picks up My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite], but I’ve been really pushing this. It’s a cool debut novel, both about what you think it’s about and about a lot of other things; a fast-paced page-turner. She has a really deft touch; she’s really precise. No wasted words. It’s a one-day read.
Other Picks
- The Deep by Rivers Solomon
- The Dragons, the Giant, the Women by Wayetu Moore
- On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
- In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Contact deputy arts + culture editor Sarah Edwards at sedwards@indyweek.com.
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