Bookmarks

Ebony Thomas is the author of “The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games.” For her the most important word in that title is "imagination." She believes that without imagination we can't change the world because we can't see it. We can't daydream a better world into existence. It's why she's always identified with another literary daydreamer — Anne of Green Gables. Hi, my name is Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. I am the author of "The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games." My favorite book has changed over time. My favorites were Beverly Cleary's stories about Ramona and Judy Blume's stories about Peter and his little brother Fudge, because Fudge reminded me of my little sister, Danielle. By the time I was nine, my parents gifted me with "The Little House on the Prairie" series, which I have critiqued 30 years later. I have to say that I encountered my favorite girl protagonist of all, Anne Shirley of Anne o

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain is one of the most controversial books in the American literary canon, particularly because of its frequent use of the N word. But for Enrique Salmon, a young Native kid trying to master the English language, “Huckleberry Finn” was the book that launched his lifelong love of reading. I'm Enrique Salmon. I'm a professor of American Indian Studies at California State University East Bay. And I've also written the book, “Eating the Landscape,” and I have a book coming out right now about American Indian ethnobotany called “Iwígara.” When I was growing up, I couldn't really read or write or speak English very well, up until like 11th grade. It was amazing I even made it to 11th grade. And then there was a teacher, an English teacher, Mrs. Anderson, who decided she was going to bring me up to speed with regards to being able to read and write in English. And she introduced me to Mark Twain, and more specifically, “Huckleberry Finn.” An

There’s a book that Ada Calhoun, author of “Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis“ thinks of as both one of her favorites to read out loud with her son, as well as one that has inspired her own writing. It’s “A Street Through Time: The 12,000 Year Journey Along the Same Street,” Illustrated by Steve Noon and written by Anne Millard. The book is the story of one street, leading the reader through historical events and the passage of time, with the street itself starring as the main character. My name is Ada Calhoun and I'm the author of "Why We Can't Sleep Women's New Midlife Crisis." When I was the mother of a young child, I was reading this book to him and it was called "A Street Through Time: The 12,000 Year Journey Along the Same Street," Illustrated by Steve Noon and written by Dr. Anne Millard. The great thing about it, it's mostly pictures of the same street and every time you turn the page it's hundreds of years later. So the houses go up and there's an invasion. T

A girl, a horse, and a magical sword save a kingdom in Robin McKinley's young adult classic, "The Blue Sword" — a book beloved by women of all ages. "Hild" author Nikola Griffith explains why. My name's Nicola Griffith. I am the author most recently of a novel called “Hild.” I'd like to recommend a book. If you haven't read it, then please pick up “The Blue Sword” by Robin McKinley. It is ostensibly for teenagers, but I think I was probably about 25 or so when I read it. And I have re-read it many times since, and it holds up. It's a wonderful first-person story about a woman called Angharad, but she calls herself Harry, and by the end of the book is known as Harry, Harimad-sol. She moves from a place called Home. Sometimes I think of it as an English place, and sometimes I think of it as American Northeast, but it's very stuffy. It has lots of etiquette rules. Basically, the Wild West or the Indian frontier. When I first read it, I was thinking in terms of the Raj, I was very Engl

Every year, at holiday time, Macdonald reads this tale of a boy who finds out he's one of the "old ones," part of a series from author Susan Cooper. She says it reconnects her with a sense of wonder inspired by what might lurk beneath the surface of the seen world. My name's Helen Macdonald — I'm the author of "H Is For Hawk" — and I want to recommend a 1973 children's book called "The Dark Is Rising" by the author Susan Cooper. This funny thing happens in England every year: a whole bunch of friends of mine — on the winter solstice — we all read this book. It's a book about magic. Anyone who's read Harry Potter will know that there is a long history of books about small boys, when they're about 10 or 11, realizing that they're not normal, that they have magical powers. And this is one of the early books in that kind of tradition. It's about a small boy called Will who wakes up on his eleventh birthday to discover that he is, in fact, one of the "old ones." And his job is to prot

Lulu Miller, author of “Why Fish Don’t Exist,” first read the young adult book “The Search for Delicious” when she was in that transformative and uncertain stage in between childhood and adulthood. The enchanted fairy tale by Natalie Babbitt taught Miller to still believe in the power and poetry of magic, whatever her age. —This author recommends— The Search for Delicious —More from this author— Interview: We Call Them Fish. Evolution Says They're Something Else.

"White Fang" by Jack London is a classic outdoor adventure story about a wild wolf-dog's struggle to survive in the Yukon Territory during the 1890's Gold Rush. Writer Quan Barry read it for the first time at age 11 and learned just how powerful a book can be. My name is Quan Barry, and I'm the author of “We Ride Upon Sticks.” And the book that I'd like to talk about, that affected me quite a bit as a writer is “White Fang” by Jack London. I have to admit, I haven't read White Fang probably since I read it when I was in seventh grade. I was 11 years old. I have this memory of sitting in the house that I grew up in as a child. I had my own bedroom, it was tiny. It had a red rug, and I have this memory of lying on the floor, on my stomach, reading White Fang for seventh grade English. For those of you who don't know, so “White Fang” is basically very similar to “Call of the Wild.” It's a book about a dog in the Yukon or somewhere in Alaska and the adventures that this dog has. The th

Neverland. Wonderland. Magic wands and unicorns. Your escape from COVID-19 is just a wish-upon-a-star away. Season 3 of Bookmarks — the kid’s book edition — is flying in on a fire-breathing dragon. In this ragtag collection, awesome writers share their favorite children’s books from an audio treehouse of hope in tough times. Because you know what you need right now? An orphan on an adventure where she triumphs against all odds! It’s Black Girl Magic meets White Fang on a raft down the Mississippi with a little Search for Delicious along the way. Bookmarks is brought to you by Anne Strainchamps and the producers of TTBOOK — a crew of ballerina pirates who are all just kids at heart. We’ll eat you up, we love you so! Check out the latest season at TTBOOK.org/bookmarks, or wherever you get your podcast fix!

Over the years, author, journalist and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell has written about some notorious cases of police brutality, including the deaths of Amadou Diallo, the African immigrant who was shot 41 times by New York police officers when he reached for his wallet to show them his ID, and Sandra Bland, the black woman who died in a jail cell after being arrested for a routine traffic violation. Gladwell is famous for mining behavioral science for his work — including his books "The Tipping Point" and "Outliers," and his podcast "Revisionist History" — and when it comes to understanding the intersection of crime, violence, and policing, he turns again and again to criminologist Frank Zimring. A law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Zimring has had a long academic career examining policing, gun violence, crime rates, and the social factors that interact with each of them. In 2017, he published a book called "When Police Kill," one that Gladwell believes is especial

Nature writer and adventurer Robert Macfarlane has given away one book more than any other volume. It's "The Living Mountain," by Scottish writer and poet Nan Shepherd. —This author recommends— "The Living Mountain" —More from this author— Interview: Why We're Drawn To Darkness

For decades, Stanley Crouch has cut a singular path through American culture. Once an aspiring jazz musician and later a noted cultural critic, he was friends with Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray, and later an intellectual mentor to Wynton Marsalis. For all of his intellectual virtuosity, we were still surprised to discover the book that Crouch wanted to recommend: Alejo Carpentier’s “Reasons of State.” —This author recommends— Reasons of State —More from this author— Interview: Stanley Crouch on 'The Artificial White Man: Essays on Authenticity'

When he’s not drawing, Chris Ware likes to read and look at vintage comics. He highly recommends a book that defies even his powers of description — a folio-sized reproduction of some of America’s first newspaper cartoons, made long before super-heroes and adventure stories took over the medium. Back then, he says, the medium could be anything — and was. —This author recommends— Society is Nix: Gleeful Anarchy of the Dawn of the American Comic Strip 1895-1915 —More from this author— Interview: Chris Ware on his graphic novel 'Building Stories'

Cheryl Strayed’s "Wild" is one of the most famous wilderness memoirs of our time. She especially appreciates writers who combine honesty with emotional intensity — writers who reveal themselves unflinchingly on the page. She recommends a memoir by the writer Poe Ballantine. —This author recommends— Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere: A Memoir —More from this author— Interview: Cheryl Strayed on Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

The Turkish writer and Nobel laureate says his favorite novel — the 800-plus-page Russian novel bursting with characters living the life of imperial Russian society — is a complex miracle of a book. —This author recommends— Anna Karenina —More from this author— Interview: Orhan Pamul on 'Snow'—Sonic Sidebar: Orhan Pamuk on The Arabian Nights—Interview: Orhan Pamuk on Fundamentalist Islam—Interview: Why Write? Nobel Prize-Winner Orhan Pamuk Offers His Take—Interview: Istanbul with Orhan Pamuk

The author of "Another Brooklyn" recommends a James Baldwin novel she says belongs on everyone's bookshelf. —This author recommends— If Beale Street Could Talk (Vintage International) —More from this author— Interview: Four Girls Growing Up In 'Another Brooklyn'

Famed novelist Kazuo Ishiguro recommends “Prayers for the Stolen,” by Jennifer Clement —a harrowing tale about young children who are abducted in the midst of Mexican drug wars. —This author recommends— Prayers for the Stolen —More from this author— Interview: Kazuo Ishiguro on 'Never Let Me Go'—Interview: Kazuo Ishiguro on 'The Buried Giant'

For her own book, author Ruth Ozeki drew from “Kamikaze Diaries,” a collection of writings left behind by the young soldiers who died on suicide missions. They represent a generation of brilliant, highly educated young students who were conscripted into the army and ordered not just to kill but to die. —This author recommends— Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers —More from this author— Interview: A Diary Becomes A Time Capsule

Author Petina Gappah recommends a book she explains is “The most African of Jane Austen’s novels.” Her reason why is a look at women in African today told through the eyes of two novelists: a Zimbabwean in 2020 and English woman in 1818. —This author recommends— Persuasion —More from this author— Interview: The Empire Writes Back: Author Discusses Explorer David Livingstone's Complicated Legacy

Given the hyper-realism of author Karl Ove Knausgaard’s "My Struggle," you might be surprised to hear that the formative books of his childhood were filled with magic and imaginary worlds. He says Ursula K. Le Guin’s "Earthsea" fantasy series shaped him as an early reader. —This author recommends— Book: The Earthsea Trilogy —More from this author— Bookmark: Karl Ove Knausgaard on 'The Flame Alphabet'—Interview: Opening A World — an interview with Karl Ove Knausgaard—Interview: 'This Novel Has Hurt Everyone Around Me': A Frank Conversation with Karl Ove Knausgaard

Because he’s fascinated by the process of collecting and by the impulse to document everyday life, poet Ross Gay recommends “Gene Smith’s Sink,” by Sam Stephenson. It’s a portrait of another collector — the legendary documentarian and photographer, W. Eugene Smith. —This author recommends— “Gene Smith’s Sink: A Wide Angle View” —More from this author— Interview: 365 Days Of Delight: A Poet's Guide To Finding Joy