You may have noticed, the news has been stressful recently: tariff talk, high grocery prices, political discord, etc. You may want to turn to a good book to give you some perspective.
During these times, “The Stacks” podcast host and creator Traci Thomas is returning to the greats.
Book recommendations from Traci Thomas
- “Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000” by Lucille Clifton
The poetry icon’s collection reminds Thomas that the world has faced moments like this before, she says.
- “Goodness and the Literary Imagination: Harvard’s 95th Ingersoll Lecture with Essays on Morrison’s Moral and Religious Vision” by Toni Morrison, David Carrasco (editor), Stephanie Paulsell (editor) and Mara Willard (editor)
In times of uncertainty or anxiety, Thomas turns to Toni Morrison.
Morrison once gave a speech about goodness and altruism at Harvard’s Divinity School. The speech is featured in the book “Goodness and the Literary Imagination” along with other academics writing about Morrison’s work and an interview with Morrison.
“ Getting to read her work and then read other people talk about her work, who are much smarter than me, and then go back and listen and read her talking about the original thing was really soothing and interesting,” Thomas says, “and made me think so much about what goodness looks like and what it can look like and how I can be working towards that myself even when I feel like times are hard.”
- “The Hunger Games” series by Suzanne Collins
This year, Thomas has been rereading “The Hunger Games” series — and she’s obsessed. Collins released the fifth book in the series in March.
The books are well-written and relevant to current events, a combo that keeps Thomas engaged and off her phone, she says.
“There are just all these questions that Suzanne Collins is getting at in these books that feel connected to what I’m dealing with in the world,” Thomas says. “But not so connected that I can’t escape into them, which for me is important.”
Another way to escape into the literary world is to engross yourself in a book that everyone is talking about, Thomas says.
Last year, “James” by Percival Everett was the title on everyone’s mind, along with “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbard and “All Fours” by Miranda July. Thomas isn’t sure what this year’s zeitgeist book is yet.
This year, it feels like television shows like “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us” are bringing people together, Thomas says. But she’s keeping an eye out for this year’s literary hit.
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Emiko Tamagawa produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Allison Hagan adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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