Superstition Review Staff Book Recommendations

Join Superstition Review in reading our favorite books. Below is a list of recommendations from Superstition Review’s trainees and interns.

I recommend On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Written in letter format, Vuong’s story of his life as an immigrant is told with vulnerability and grace. He remembers his childhood in the US along with the stories that his mother and grandmother told him from their lives in Vietnam. Throughout the novel, Vuong realizes truths about himself and his family. I was immersed by the lyrical style and was impressed by how Vuong’s imagery stood out- this truly is a unique novel.

Madeline Lewis, Content Coordinator

I’d like to recommend Jay Heinrichs’ Thank You for Arguing because I have found it to be a very useful guide in learning the art of persuasion and the power of compromise through agreement. It’s a fun read with the author’s humor and difficult concepts are simplified for the average reader. I would highly encourage people to give it a read since it’s an entertaining and informative book.

Kayla Morales, Advertising Coordinator

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. This book is an autobiography about Noah’s childhood in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. Being mixed-race, Noah was literally a crime, and couldn’t be seen in public with neither of his parents. It’s a hilarious and mind-opening story about race, identity, and family.

Khanh Nguyen, Trainee

My book recommendation is Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo. It is a memoir and it is absolutely heart wrenching, captivating, and beautiful. Although it is a memoir, its form becomes poetry and then prose and then narrative and it is so intelligent! It is also great to learn about immigration issues in the United States and it is so relatable for Latinx immigrants in the United States. I found a home in this book. 

Carolina Quintero, Poetry Editor

Welcome to Night Vale by Joesph Fink and Jefferey Cranor. I chose this book because I absolutely love the podcast that led to this book. The characters are compelling, as is the world that the two authors have created. But, most of all, I love the writing style of the Welcome to Night Vale series. The unorthodox descriptions and the ways that the authors play with tropes are so interesting to me, and I love to read interesting stories about interesting people.

Charlie Saifi, Social Media Manager

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Middlesex explores gender identity and the problem space of societal norms and expectations of gender roles. The novel follows a Greek family, particularly an intersex individual named Cal, as they hide, ignore, understand and accept that their gender identities don’t match those shown in and perpetuated by popular culture. A beautifully-written, page-turning story, it’s no surprise it won a Pulitzer Prize. I love this book because it challenges gender stereotypes and investigates the complexities of defining people. 

Sara Walker, Trainee

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. This book is about a small college town that is plagued by a sleeping sickness. The difficulties faced by Walker’s characters mirror some of the current challenges we are all facing during the global pandemic. Reading this novel inspired me to consider how important it is to take care of one’s community in trying and uncertain times. Compassion and empathy can get us through any hardship.

Erin Peters, Student Editor-in-Chief
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12 thoughts on “Superstition Review Staff Book Recommendations

  • September 26, 2021 at 11:17 am
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    This is such an awesome way to get outside your comfort zone when reading! All of these books vary in writing and are great to study. Thanks for all the recommendations!

  • September 27, 2021 at 6:34 pm
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    I always love some good book recommendations! Great post!

  • September 27, 2021 at 9:07 pm
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    I love the idea of this post! It’s such a great way to learn about books, and I like how everyone gave a blurb to go with it to share some insight on it. These are definitely going on my reading list!

  • September 27, 2021 at 10:50 pm
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    Awesome! I love hearing about the editors’ favorites—everyone has wonderful tastes! From the summaries, I believe I would be most interested in The Dreamers.

  • September 28, 2021 at 12:53 am
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    I love Born a Crime and Welcome to Nightvale! This is such a fun spread of books, there’s definitely something here for everyone!

  • September 28, 2021 at 1:31 am
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    I love this list! I am trying to get back into reading, so it is nice to have a list of books as a starting point! I have heard of Middlesex and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. I’ll have to check them out

  • September 28, 2021 at 2:00 pm
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    What an awesome and well rounded list of recommendations! I will definitely check out Trevor Noah book because I love his show and stand up and did not know he wrote books.

    • October 2, 2021 at 1:13 pm
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      The Interviews featured in each issue are another great source for book recommendations. We’re glad you found something in this post!

  • October 1, 2021 at 10:26 am
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    There are some real gems in this list. I particularly support the recommendation for “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong. A truly amazing work!

  • February 13, 2022 at 7:04 pm
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    These are such interesting recommendations! I’m definitely going to have to check out Thank You for Arguing.

  • February 14, 2022 at 10:42 pm
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    On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a great recommendation. I still haven’t been able to finish it out of fear of it being over too soon. I’ll have to check out some of the others from this list!

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