Creative Nonfiction Roundup, also some fiction

I have been reading a lot of good shit lately.

I’ve also been writing, some of it good and some of it shit.  So in a sense that’s kind of the same.

I’m still totally addicted to nonfiction right now.  I bought the Best American Essays 2012 and “You Owe Me” by Miah Arnold is definitely the standout piece for me.  It’s about her job teaching writing to terminally ill children at the MD Anderson in Houston.  Broke my heart wide open.  She really walks the line masterfully here – so many times it could have headed into pure sentiment or even self-aggrandizement but she NEVER does.  That’s a huge achievement.  What she does is create a loving and self-reflective account of what it means to serve terminally ill children.

I went to Manuel Gonzales’ reading for his new collection of short stories, The Miniature Wife.  I went because I enjoy listening to Manuel’s stories from The Story Department, a live-storytelling event based in Austin that supports his nonprofit writing group, Austin Bat Cave (which has nothing to do with bats or caves, incidentally).  The writing group helps kids and teenagers with creative writing by using volunteers.

But back to the book.

First of all, his writing is amazing.  The man knows how to spin a yarn.  Obviously.  He read from the title story and I’m dying to read the rest of it.

I’m also finishing up Owen Egerton‘s The Book of Harold: The Illegitimate Son of God.  It’s hilarious and also, strangely touching.  Not to be confused with touching strangely.  More on this later – it will be a much longer post.

What have you all been reading lately?  Tell me, tell me.