What I'm reading

The list

One thing I committed to when I lost my job at CNN back in December was that I was going to read a lot more.

I’ve (mostly) stuck to that pledge over the intervening months — trying to dedicate an hour or more a day to reading.

I like to share what I’ve read — and enjoyed — in recent weeks. I also want to know what YOU are reading and liking. Put that in the comments section!

• “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang. If you write or like writing, this is the book for you. An amazing piece of fiction about who owns the creative process, professional jealousy and the insidious world of book publishing. If you like this (and you will), go read “Babel,” which is also by Kuang. It’s a totally different kind of novel but no less impressive.

• “The Anomaly” by Herve Le Tellier. What happens when two identical planes filled with the exact same people land at JFK 100 days apart? That’s the philosophical question at the heart of Le Tellier’s novel, the winner of the Prix Goncourt, the top literary prize in France. It’s a slow burn book but once you get into it, it’s impossible to put down.

• “The Brutal Telling”/“Bury Your Dead” by Louise Penny. I LOVE a good mystery and this series — centered on Armand Gamache, the head of the Quebec murder unit — is just perfect. The books (all 18 of them) revolve around the sequestered and idyllic town of 3 Pines — nestled in the Canadian wilderness. You will want to move there tomorrow. Start with “Still Life,” the first book in the series, if you like.

• “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation” by Joseph Ellis. Looking for a quick(ish) read about the Founding Fathers — and their relationships? This book by Ellis, which won him by the Pulitzer Prize, tells the story of our founding (and the early years of America) through a series of vignettes about the men who were there at the start. My favorite? A detailed recounting of the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton in which I learned that, in all likelihood, Hamilton shot first but deliberately missed Burr high and wide.

• “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin. I haven’t seen “Oppenheimer” yet but I have started — emphasis on started — the mammoth book on which the movie is based. I am still in Oppenheimer’s younger years but so far am loving it.