As per one of my writing goals, I am reading more!

Redeployment by Phil Klay A collection of short stories about the Iraq war. I read it for that. I read it for the close perspective Klay’s characters give a war most of us watched from far away. There’s a valuable range to this book, a plain telling of war and home, relationships, tensions. Klay doesn’t define military jargon. He doesn’t over-tell. And when he ends in the middle, it works.

This Fresh Air interview with Phil Klay is worth listening to.

Longreads From All Over I used to read the NYTimes Magazine cover story each week. Gave me a good taste for the longread. Here are recent longreads I recommend:

“The Knowledge, London’s Legendary Taxi-Driver Test, Puts Up A Fight In The Age Of GPS” by Jody Rosen. I want to hail a cab and ask to see the little mice sharing a wedge of cheese.  A fun read about the determined pursuit of an iconic job. Also raises questions about the value of human knowledge in an age of digital information. (Keep learning. Brains grow).

“The Race To Save Peter Kassig” by Shiv Makik, Ali Younes, Spencer Ackerman and Mustafa Khalili. I read this story because I heard Kuwait was in it. True. I wanted to know what kind of Kuwait was in the piece. I knew the end of Peter Kassig but I didn’t know how close a negotiation for his release came to almost maybe possibly resulting in not only Kassig’s life spared, but potentially a change in the current Isis model of ransom kidnappings. That is giving a tenuous negotiation too much credit, but the region needs  more than almost maybe possibly.

“The Town Without Wi-Fi” by Michael J Gaynor. One exists in America. And a few electrosensitives have found it. Part of me wants to move there. (A very small part of me).

From The Bible Most recently Matthew, Mark, John, Romans. I like to read a book straight through, rereading chapters that challenge me. This time I read the Gospels (skipping Luke for no good reason) seeing just how deeply offensive Christ is to our pride. Thank God.

Please post your book or article recommendations in the comments.