First Pages Readings Podcast

A few pages of the following books will be read:The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar, translated from the Persian by an anonymous translatorHurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, translated from the Spanish by Sophie HughesThe Land at the End of the World by Antonio Lobo Antunes, translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa

In this episode a few pages of the following books will be read:The Anthropologists by Aysegul Savas (2024)An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine (2013)The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector (1977), translated from the Portuguese by Benjamin Moser (2011)

In this episode a few pages of the following books will be read:American Estrangement: Stories by Said Sayrafiezadeh (2021)Wednesday's Child: Stories by Yiyun Li (2023)Other Minds and Other Stories by Bennett Sims (2023)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:Bluebeard's First Wife: Stories by Ha Seong-Nan, translated from the Korean by Janet HongToday a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket: Stories by U.S. author Hilma WolitzerThe Uncollected Stories of Canadian author Mavis Gallant

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:Yonder: Essays by Siri HustvedtThe Faraway Nearby by Rebecca SolnitHorizon by Barry Lopez

The Feast of the Goat by Peruvian-born Mario Vargas Llosa, translated from the Spanish by Edith GrossmanTerritory of Light by Japanese author Yuko Tsushima, translated from the Japanese by Geraldine HarcourtAmnesty by India-born Aravind Adiga

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World: Essays by Barry LopezBooks and Islands in Ojibwe Country: Traveling Through the Land of My Ancestors by Louise ErdrichThe Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet

In this episode a few pages of the following books will be read:Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolano, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia BerlinThe Passport and Other Selected Short Stories by Antonis Samarakis, translated from the Greek by Andrew Horton

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:Heaven and Hell by Jon Kalman Stefansson, translated from the Icelandic by Philip RoughtonMiss Iceland by Audur Ava Olafsdottir, translated from the Icelandic by Brian FitzGibbonHotel Silence by Audur Ava Olafsdottir, translated from the Icelandic by Brian FitzGibbon

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories by Tove Jansson, translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal and Silvester MazzarellaPublic Library and Other Stories by Ali SmithExhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter FrankopanFruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat by Robert N. Spengler IIIOut of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery Along the Silk Road by Bernard Ollivier, translated from the French by Dan Golembeski

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:The End of the World is a Cul de Sac: Stories by Louise KennedySabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-AnstineGhostroots: Stories by Pemi Aguda

In this episode a few pages of the following books will be read:Alligator & other stories by Dima Alzayat (pub. 2020)Canoes by Maylis de Kerangal, translated from the French by Jessica Moore (pub. 2021; English translation pub. 2024)The Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector and Selected Stories by Nikolay Gogol, translated by Ronald Wilks (translations pub: 1972; revised for Penguin Classics 2005)

In the episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir by E.J. KohTwo Trees Make a Forest: In Search of My Family's Past Among Taiwan's Mountains and Coasts by Jessica J. LeeThe Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal, translated from the French by Jessica MooreWhat Strange Paradise by Omar El AkkadThousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata, translated from the Japanese by Edward G. SeidenstickerMy Friends by Hisham Matar

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:Move Like Water: My Story of the Sea, A Memoir by Hannah StoweRiverwalking: Reflections on Moving Water by Kathleen Dean MooreWaterlog: A Swimmer's Journey through Britian by Roger Deakin

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken LiuTales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanislaw LemA Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: Complete Short Stories by Margaret DrabbleLadies' Lunch and other stories by Lore Segal

In this episode, a few pages from the following books will be read:How To Pronounce Knife: Stories by Souvankham ThammavongsaWhere The Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, translated from the Japanese by Polly BartonThe Love Object: Selected Stories by Edna O'Brien

In this episode, a few pages from the following books will be read:Dragon Palace by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Ted GoossenAetherial Worlds: Stories by Tatyana Tolstaya, translated by Anya MigdalWhite Cat, Black Dog: Stories by Kelly Link

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:Elsewhere, Home, by Leila AboulelaThe Lonesome Bodybuilder: Stories, by Yukiko Motoya, translated by Asa YonedaThe Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories, by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell

In this episode. a few pages of the following memoirs will be read:The Invention of Solitude by Paul AusterCountry Girl by Edna O'BrienBoyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life by J.M. Coetzee

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Boris DralyukWhen I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Sola, translated by Mara Faye LethemSparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings: A Year of Keeping Bees by Helen JukesEarth's Wild Music: Celebrating and Defending the Songs of the Natural World by Kathleen Dean MooreOf Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez

In today's episode, three poems will be read from:Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry, edited by Joy HarjoThis Is The Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, edited by Kwame AlexanderThe Ecco Anthology of International Poetry, edited by Ilya Kaminsky and Susan Harris

In this episode, the first few pages of three YA books will be read:Wild Dreamers by Margarita EngleAccountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka SlaterDown And Across by Arvin Ahmadi

In this episode, the first pages of three novels will be read.The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa SeeGo, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan BernofskyOptic Nerve by Maria Gainza, translated by Thomas Bunstead

The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert, A Memoir by Shugri Said SalhThe Pianist From Syria: A Memoir by Aeham Ahmad, as told to Sandra Hetzl and Ariel Hauptmeier, translated by Emanuel BergmannA Rome of One's Own: The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire by Emma Southon

In this episode the first pages of three poetry books will be read:True Life by Adam Zagajewski, translated by Clare CavanaghThings You May Find Hidden in my Ear by Mosab Abu TohaTaking the Arrow out of the Heart by Alice Walker

In this episode, the first pages of three Middle Grade STEM books will be read:Clues to the Universe by Christina LiA Field Guide to Getting Lost by Joy McCulloughGirls Who Code: The Friendship Code by Stacia Deutsch

In this episode, the first pages of three non-fiction books will be read:Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki BrinaThe Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay with Nadene Ghouri Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape by Raja Shehadeh

In this episode, the first page of three memoirs will be read:The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria by Alia MalekNot I: Memoirs of a German Childhood by Joachim Fest, translated by Martin ChalmersFunny In Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas

In this episode, the first page of three short story books will be read:Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowellFrying Plantain by Zalika Reid-BentaThe City of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, translated by Lucia Graves and Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The first page of three books of short stories will be read:Between My Father and the King, New and Uncollected Stories by Janet FrameThe Consequences by Manuel MunozThe Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen

In this episode, the first page of three novels will be read:At Dusk by Hwang Sok-Yong, translated by Sora Kim-RussellA Place for Us by Fatima Farheen MirzaMy Heart by Semezdin Mehmedinovic, translated by Celia Hawkesworth

In this episode, the first page of three middle grade books will be read: Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay ZhaoMaybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee

In this episode, the first page of three books of poetry will be read:When The Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through edited by Joy Harjo with Leanne Howe, Jennifer Elise Foerster, and Contributing EditorsNepantla: An Anthology, Queer Poets of Color edited by Christopher Soto100 Poems to Break Your Heart edited by Edward Hirsch

In this episode, the first page of three young adult novels will be read:Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amelie Wen ZhaoAs Long As The Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa KatouhEchoes of Grace by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

In this episode, the first page of three novels will be read:When The Apricots Bloom by Gina WilkinsonThe Museum of Modern Love by Heather RoseOutline by Rachel Cusk

In this episode, the first page of three non-fiction books will be read:Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth by John SzwedBeautiful Country by Qian Julie WangBury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's by Tiffany Midge

In this episode, the first page of three books will be read:Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time by Natalie HodgesNinth Street Women, Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art by Mary GabrielPOPS: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout

In this episode, the first page of three books of essays will be read:A Map Is Only One Story: Twenty Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Meaning of Home edited by Nicole Chung and Mensah DemaryIn Sensorium: Notes for my People by TanaisThe Book of Delights by Ross Gay

In this episode, the first page of three books of fiction will be read:Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri HerreraThe Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko OgawaSkinship by Yoon Choi

In this episode, the first page of three YA novels will be read:Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib KhorramThe Epic Story of Every Living Thing by Deb CalettiPaola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia

In this episode, the first page of three poetry books will be read:All the Flowers Kneeling by Paul TranOn Entering the Sea by Nizar QabbaniHoneybee by Naomi Shihab Nye

In this episode, the first page of three middle grade books will be read: Thirst by Varsha BajajThe Bone Sparrow by Zana FraillonKiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

In this episode, the first page of three non-fiction books will be read: The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise BauerIstanbul: A Tale of Three Cities by Bettany HughesCleopatra: The Queen Who Challenged Rome and Conquered Eternity by Alberto Angela

In this episode, the first page of three novels will be read:Gardens in the Dunes by Leslie Marmon SilkoThe Gangster We Are All Looking For by Le Thi Diem ThuyThe Other Americans by Laila Lalami

In this episode, the first page of three books of poetry will be read: The Undressing by Li-Young LeeEnchanted Air, Two Cultures, Two Wings by Margarita EngleThe Darkness Around Us Is Deep by William Stafford

In this episode, the first page of three YA books will be read:1. Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian2. The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga3. Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri

In this episode, the first page of three novels will be read:Three Daughters of Eve by Elif ShafakThe Friend by Sigrid NunezThe Besieged City by Clarice Lispector