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Every book Lovia Gyarkye recommended on podcasts
Lovia Gyarkye emerges through her appearances on The Book Review podcast as a versatile and intellectually engaged reader with a deep appreciation for complex fiction, historical narratives, and critical theory. During her time on the program, Gyarkye discusses a diverse array of books that span multiple genres and eras. She shares her insights on James Baldwin's challenging 1962 novel Another Country, and she examines Marlon James's topical and widely discussed novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. Her reading list also features contemporary works and memoirs, including Charlotte Shane's Prostitute Laundry, which prompts her to reference Maggie Nelson's Bluets. In addition to contemporary prose, Gyarkye explores foundational texts by prominent women writers, discussing Alice Walker's acclaimed essay collection In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens as well as Jesmyn Ward's powerful novel Sing, Unburied, Sing. Bringing a personal connection to her academic and nostalgic reading choices, she mentions rereading John McPhee's Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process, noting that McPhee was her professor at Princeton. Finally, she touches upon dramatic literature by discussing Ama Ata Aidoo's play Anowa. Through these varied selections, Gyarkye reveals a sophisticated literary sensibility that bridges contemporary cultural critique with classic texts, memoir, and drama.
Books recommended by Lovia Gyarkye
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A Brief History of Seven Killings
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James is a sprawling, ambitious historical novel that uses the 1976 attempted assassination of Bob Marley to weave a complex narrative spanning decades of political violence, drug wars, and systemic turmoil in Jamaica and the United States.
Recommended“I'm reading a brief history of seven killing by Marlon James which is very topical on brand because as we know his new book is coming out and I mean I feel like kind of silly recounting the plot of a brief history because it's one of those books that I feel like everybody talks about having read or going”
Where to get it
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Another Country
Another Country by James Baldwin is a complex and unflinching 1962 novel that explores the turbulent intersections of race, sexuality, identity, and bohemian life in Greenwich Village and Paris.
Recommended“I'm R reading another country by James Baldwin which I'm sure comes to a shock to nobody who knows me but it was published in 1962 and I think is one of Baldwin's most difficult novels”
Where to get it
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A surprised queenhood in the new Black sun
Discussed“and Ang Jackson I think in this sort of in celebration of first Centennial a lot of books have come out including these two anthologies and Angela Jackson wrote a really great bio about her uh called a surprise Queen Hood in the New Black Sun”
Where to get it
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Americanah
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a critically acclaimed contemporary novel that follows the journeys of young African characters navigating identity, race, and culture between their home countries and the United States.
Discussed“I think she really with Americana and with half a yellow sun really reinvigorated an already existing genre”
Where to get it
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Annie Allen
Discussed“and so she a lot of her poems cover just like what does it mean to fall in love what is it like to move and and I think that's what the bulk of Annie Allen her first her second sorry her second um collection and the one that won her the poitz is really about”
Where to get it
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Anowa
Discussed“and the second anoa was published in 1970 I read the book sort of backwards”
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Beyond the Horizon
Discussed“I'm reading a book called Beyond the Horizon by Amad Darko and it's also a continuation of my personal quest to read more Gan female writers”
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Bluets
Discussed“where she's talking about Maggie NE Nelson's bluettes and she says at one point Maggie says clearly I'm not a private person”
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Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process
Discussed“the first one is draft number four by John MC and he's actually my professor at Princeton and so I'm rereading it for nostalgic reasons”
Where to get it
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Half of a Yellow Sun
Half of a Yellow Sun is a historical novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that vividly portrays the experiences of the Nigerian Civil War.
Discussed“I think she really with Americana and with half a yellow sun really reinvigorated an already existing genre”
Where to get it
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In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker is a groundbreaking collection of prose pieces in which the author explores Black feminism, creativity, and the spiritual lives of women of color.
Discussed“um so I'm reading two books right now I started with Alice Walker's in search of our mother's Garden”
Where to get it
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Prostitute Laundry
Discussed“I'm reading prostitute laundry by Charlotte Shane who is I mean I guess a Brooklyn Bas writer”
Where to get it
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Sing, Unburied, Sing
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward is a powerful Mississippi-set novel that functions simultaneously as a raw road trip narrative and a haunting ghost story.
Discussed“and and then I'm also reading Sing unburied Sing by jusmine Ward which we just reviewed twice”
Where to get it
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amy Chozick on 'Chasing Hillary' | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
| Ron Chernow on 'Grant' | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
| The History of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
| The Fire Next Time | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| The Uses and Misuses of Identity | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| Assessing the Facebook Problem | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 1 |
| Beth Macy on 'Dopesick' | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
| Amy Schumer on ‘Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo’ | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 2 |
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“have you read her previous books yeah Salvage the bones made me cry and I that's always the definition of a good book”
“the first play is published in 1965 it's called dilemma of a ghost”