Jackson Adams and Anna Weir are publicists at UNP. Today they share their thoughts about a few upcoming titles they’re particularly excited about as readers. The books in this discussion will be published in December. 

Jackson Adams: I, like many people who spend entirely too much time online, have found my heart captured by the Philadelphia Flyers’ new bizarre, puckish, off-kilter Muppet of a mascot known as Gritty. Seeing such a strange hockey icon beloved by the masses has made Nicholas Hirshon’s We Want Fish Sticks even more fascinating to me. The book follows the disastrous rebrand of the New York Islanders, where new staff, players and a new owner fundamentally changed the franchise, but fan’s rage was laser-focused on the hideous new mascot. It’s a fun and fascinating portrait of a team in transition and a great peek behind the scenes of one of hockey’s strangest stories.

Anna, what are you reading?

Anna Weir: My first pick is both somber and fascinating. Stan Goldman’s mother was one of the women held at Ravensbrück during the Holocaust and, as Goldman uncovers, her remarkable release contributed to the ultimate downfall of the Nazi regime. Left to the Mercy of a Rude Stream: The Bargain That Broke Adolf Hitler and Saved My Mother (Potomac Books) contextualizes this very personal story of a difficult-to-understand mother with the events that comprise her dark past, and, as Kirkus Reviews put it, is “a welcome excavation of an obscure corner of Holocaust history.”

What else are you looking forward to, Jackson?

JA: I spent many an afternoon of my childhood with board games and “Clue” was one of my family’s favorites. While I was never the most successful detective, the mystery and the cartoonish but Gothic style of the board game was fascinating to me. Not a Clue by Chloé Delaume and translated from French by Dawn M. Cornelio uses the aesthetics of the board game to explore the psyches of a group of patients at a mental institution. It’s a strange, twisting narrative, one that plays with readers’ perceptions and a number of narrative conventions.

Do you have another book you’re looking forward to next month?

AW: Most people associate Nebraska with corn (and the Cornhuskers), as the crop is one of the three major commodities produced in America’s farming regions (in addition to wheat and cotton). As my state is so tied to agriculture, understanding the Farm Bill and its consequences (economic, environmental, and otherwise) helps me to be a more grounded citizen. Jonathan Coppess lays out all the details in The Fault Lines of Farm Policy: A Legislative and Political History of the Farm Bill, providing perspectives for future policy discussions and more effective policy outcomes.

Tune in next month for more reading suggestions from your friendly neighborhood publicists!