2020 reads with Houston ties
Last year proved a strong one for books with Houston ties. A slew of authors with local connections published novels: Chris Cander’s “The Weight of a Piano,” Mike Freedman’s “The King of the Mississippi,” Marc Grossberg’s “The Best People” and Mark Haber’s “Reinhardt’s Garden” among them.
Susan Choi — an alum of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts — won the National Book Award for her 2019 novel “Trust Exercise.” Novuyo Rosa Tshuma — a doctoral student at the University of Houston — published an incredible debut novel with “House of Stone.”
And Houston’s Arte Público Press — the largest publisher of U.S.-based Hispanic authors in the country — won a National Book Critics Circle award. The publisher received the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award last January.
More is on the way for 2020. One of the standout titles from last year was “Lot,” an award-winning debut story collection by Houston native Bryan Washington. His short stories were connected to one another and also deeply connected to his hometown. He’ll likely continue to enjoy momentum for his work; “Lot” will be released in paperback in March. And Washington’s first novel, “Memorial,” is scheduled for release in the fall.
Nick Flynn — who published a poetry collection, “I Will Destroy You,” last year — lives in New York but spends his springs here as a professor in the creative writing program at the University of Houston. His new memoir, “This Is the Night Our House Will Catch Fire,” is due in
August. It melds memories from his troubled childhood with more recent contemplation about parenthood. Also this year Flynn offers the intriguing “Stay: threads, conversations, collaborations,” a mixed-media volume described as “a selfportrait via a constellation of topics that have circled his work. Ranging from the impact of suicide and homelessness to addiction, political engagement and the vital power of artistic friendships.” “Stay” will be published in March. He appears Feb. 3 at Brazos Bookstore for “I Will Destroy You.”
Another book likely to draw attention this year focuses on Houston native James A. Baker III — whose list of credits, accomplishments and achievements working for four U.S. presidents wouldn’t fit on these pages. “The Man Who Ran Washington” is Baker’s story told by Peter Baker, the New
York Times’ chief White House correspondent, and Susan Glasser, a New Yorker staff writer.
Blue Willow Book Shop’s Cathy Berner also alerted us to a book she’s excited about: “Gravity of Us” by Phil Stamper, which is due in February. The young-adult novel, set in Houston, is about a character whose father is chosen to become an astronaut.