Category: my reading life

Interviews, my reading life

Corey Ann Haydu deeply thought about motherhood and friendship while writing Mothers and Other Strangers

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Corey Ann Haydu deeply thought about motherhood and friendship while writing Mothers and Other Strangers

In her adult fiction debut, Mothers and Other Strangers, Corey Anne Haydu delivers an unforgettable story about two estranged childhood best friends who reunite as expectant mothers, after a mysterious falling-out between their own mothers keeps them apart for years​. The writer, no stranger to writing compelling stories for all ages, brings readers into a complicated relationship with warmth and rich prose.

We asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her writing.

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Interviews, my reading life

Gone Girl is the guide for Kirsten King, author of A Good Person

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Gone Girl is the guide for Kirsten King, author of A Good Person

Kirsten King is a screenwriter and novelist whose debut book, A Good Person, has been called “A zillennial Gone Girl” by The New York Times Book Review. The debut follows Lillian, who believes she can turn her situationship into something real by becoming Henry’s ideal partner. That is, until he unexpectedly breaks up with her and she retaliates with a hex. When Henry is found dead, and she becomes the prime suspect, Lillian spirals into a dangerous attempt to control the narrative, clear her name, and prove she’s still a good person.

We caught up with King and asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and inspired her writing.

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Interviews, my reading life

Catching Up with Coleman Hill author Kim Coleman Foote and the books that shaped her life

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Catching Up with Coleman Hill author Kim Coleman Foote and the books that shaped her life

In 2023, Kim Coleman Foote debuted with Coleman Hill, a story that follows two American families whose fates become intertwined in the wake of the Great Migration. Since it debuted, it has taken the world by storm, being shortlisted for the Crook’s Corner Book Prize, the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Debut Author.

Debutiful caught up with the author recently and asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her writing.

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Interviews, my reading life

The Boyhood of Cain author Michael Amherst is always inspired by JM Coetzee and Damon Galgut

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Michael Amherst‘s The Boyhood of Cain originally came out in March 2025. Now, the paperback of the book, which André Aciman called “A powerful, searing tale told by a boy facing the plenitude of life but hemmed in by a world so…ordinary that he can’t wait either to flee it or be drowned in it,” has been released.

We chatted with Amherst a year ago when the hardcover of The Boyhood of Cain came out. Now, we’ve asked him to answer our reucrring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped his life and influenced his writing.

Continue reading “The Boyhood of Cain author Michael Amherst is always inspired by JM Coetzee and Damon Galgut” →
Interviews, my reading life

Salt Lakes author Caroline Tracey listened to Bright Eyes every night in high school

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Salt Lakes author Caroline Tracey listened to Bright Eyes every night in high school

Caroline Tracey‘s debut book, Salt Lakes: An Unnatrual History, follows the writer and geographer across four continents as she documents the beauty and alarming decline of the world’s salt lakes, from Utah’s Great Salt Lake to the remnants of the Aral Sea. Blending travel writing, environmental reporting, and memoir, Tracey explores the people, ecosystems, and histories tied to these fragile waters while reflecting on her own journey toward queer love and a sense of home in a world shaped by ecological change.

We asked Tracey to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her writing.

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Interviews, my reading life

Kate Schatz read sociopolitical and historical nonfiction to ground Where the Girls Were

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Kate Schatz read sociopolitical and historical nonfiction to ground Where the Girls Were

Kate Schatz, known for co-writing the New York Times bestselling author of Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book with W. Kamau Bell and the Rad Women book series, is back with her debut solo novel.

Where the Girls Were is about a promising 17-year-old in 1968 whose carefully planned future collapses when an unexpected pregnancy sends her to a home for unwed mothers. Inside the restrictive world of the maternity home, she confronts shame, limited choices, and societal judgment while finding solidarity and strength among the other girls forced into silence.

We asked Schatz to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her writing.

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Interviews, my reading life

Diana Xin discusses the books that shaped her life

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Diana Xin discusses the books that shaped her life

Diana Xin‘s debut short story collection, Book of Exemplary Women, was released late in 2025 and her writing was called “quiet intensity, emotional acuity, and impressive range, as though we are peering into a dozen kitchen windows and catching our neighbors at their most intimate, soul-baring, and true” by Kim Fu.

We asked Xin to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her debut collection.

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Interviews, my reading life

Maybe the Body Poet Asa Drake thinks a lot about time and place when writing

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Maybe the Body Poet Asa Drake thinks a lot about time and place when writing

Asa Drake was a 2024 National Poetry Series finalist and has received fellowships and awards from the 92Y Discovery Poetry Contest, the Florida Book Awards, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, Storyknife, Sundress Publications, Tin House, and Idyllwild Arts. Her poems have been published with The Slowdown Podcast, The American Poetry Review, The Paris Review Daily, and The Georgia Review.

Her debut poetry collection, Maybe the Body, explores the conflicts between art and patriotism, labor and longing. It is now available from Tin House.

We asked Drake to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her debut book.

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Interviews, my reading life

Belgrave Road author Manish Chauhan believes every book he’s ever read shaped his debut novel

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Belgrave Road author Manish Chauhan believes every book he’s ever read shaped his debut novel

Manish Chauhan, born in Leicester, is a writer who works as a finance lawyer in East London. His short story, “Pieces,” was shortlisted for the 2024 BBC National Short Story Award, and early excerpts of his debut novel, Belgrave Road, were longlisted for the Curtis Brown First Novel Award and shortlisted for the Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize.

In Belgrave Road, Chauhan introduces readers to Mira, a young woman navigating life in a new country and a marriage that leaves little room for choice. When she forms a quiet bond with Tahliil, she must decide whether connection and selfhood are risks worth taking and what freedom might really mean.

We asked Chauhan to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped his life and influenced his debut novel.

Continue reading “Belgrave Road author Manish Chauhan believes every book he’s ever read shaped his debut novel” →
Interviews, my reading life

Murder Bimbo author Rebecca Novack is always looking for a perfect Michael Crichton smell-alike

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Murder Bimbo author Rebecca Novack is always looking for a perfect Michael Crichton smell-alike

Rebecca Novack grew up in the Rocky Mountains and received a master’s in theological studies from Harvard Divinity school. Now, she’s releasing her debut novel, Murder Bimbo.

Murder Bimbo follows a sex worker recruited into a covert political assassination, who is left to fend for herself once the job is done. Hiding in the woods with only days to survive, she races to control her story through a feminist podcast and a series of increasingly unreliable emails, forcing readers to question truth, power, and who gets to be disposable.

We asked Novack to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could learn about the books that shaped her life and influenced her debut novel.

Continue reading “Murder Bimbo author Rebecca Novack is always looking for a perfect Michael Crichton smell-alike” →