The best part of my job is that I get to read, a lot. If a St. Louis author has a new book out 鈥� or even if a non-St. Louis author鈥檚 new book so much as touches on the city 鈥� it almost always ends up in my mailbox. And then, get this: I get paid to read it.
Now, the dirty little secret of publishing (and academia) in 2021 is that a whole lot of books aren鈥檛 very good, and I consider it my duty to be a little bit picky. If I鈥檓 not hooked after the first chapter, I doubt you鈥檒l be, either. Most of you do not get paid to read this stuff. Why push something that isn鈥檛 worth your time?
Even with that high standard, we featured more than 20 books with a strong local connection on St. Louis on the Air this past year. The 11 that follow were my favorites. I hope you鈥檒l find a book or two for your reading list this January.
And if you want more suggestions like this, sign up for our St. Louis on the Air newsletter, . Every Monday, you鈥檒l get a schedule for the week ahead and streaming versions that let you get caught up on the best of the previous week.
1.
Former L.A. Times reporter Ken Ellingwood brought a journalist鈥檚 sense of pacing and suspense to this compulsively readable biography of Elijah Lovejoy, the first American journalist to be slain for his work. Neither St. Louis nor Alton comes out looking good here, as rabid defenders of slavery chased the preacher/publisher from one city and killed him in the next. But Lovejoy? He鈥檚 a hero for the ages.
2.
I鈥檝e now given Carolyn Cox鈥檚 smart nonfiction account of how kidnapping flourished in America (and St. Louis in particular) to no less than three family members, and they鈥檝e all raved about it. This book helps you understand the world we live in by showing you the way things used to be. The St. Louis characters are unforgettable.
3.
I love books that take girlhood seriously, and Marisa Silver鈥檚 novel 鈥淭he Mysteries鈥� has a more difficult job than most: It tells the story of two 7-year-olds. Somehow she gets their interior sensibilities exactly right. 1970s St. Louis also feels precisely depicted (perhaps because Silver鈥檚 husband, film and TV director Ken Kwapis, grew up in that time and place). I loved this book.
4.
Florissant author Lyndsey Ellis鈥� debut novel depicts a widow with a secret 鈥� one that involves St. Louis鈥� civil rights movement and the (real-life) unmasking of the Veiled Prophet. I鈥檝e read numerous multi-generational novels exploring a character鈥檚 鈥�60s radical past, but they all center white Boomers going to Woodstock or agitating in 1968 Chicago. Telling a Black woman鈥檚 story feels new and interesting 鈥� and Ellis gives her tale scope and empathy.
5.
St. Louis native Marian O鈥橲hea Wernicke鈥檚 beautifully written fiction debut is about a novice serving in Peru who finds herself questioning her faith, the vows she鈥檚 set to take and the meaning of her life. Wernicke herself served as a nun in Peru, which helps explain why both the scenery and the sisters are portrayed with unusual clarity and great human sympathy.
6.
Pulitzer Prize-winning Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger tells an important story in this brand-new nonfiction book, expanding the work he did exposing Missouri鈥檚 debtors prisons into a national scandal. Everyone should be talking about this issue. If you aren鈥檛, well, start by reading this.
7.
If you thought Tennessee Williams was a New Orleans playwright who only briefly lived in St. Louis, Wash U professor Henry Schvey鈥檚 illuminating nonfiction book will make you think again. In Schvey鈥檚 telling, Williams didn鈥檛 just live here longer than anywhere else; St. Louis helped shape his greatest plays and enduring themes.
8.
Hannibal native Melissa Scholes Young understands blue-collar America, and that gives this novel, set in 2008 Cape Girardeau, an unusual groundedness. By depicting four headstrong sisters and their Doomsday prepper mother, she helps us understand the anxieties of 2008 America, anxieties that led us to where we are today.
9.
Wash U professor Jake Rosenfeld wrote this engrossing book before American workers began quitting their jobs in droves, but it seems shockingly prophetic as to our current malaise. Indeed, this briskly readable book explains so much I鈥檇 wondered about, from why trucking is no longer the job it used to be to what happens when salaries are made public. A must-read.
10.
Attorney and professor Mark Kruger has spent his retirement on this nonfiction exploration of the revolutionaries who lived in 19th-century St. Louis. It鈥檚 an engaging look at the many forces that led to a surprising fact: In 1877, St. Louis became the first American city to be briefly run by communists. You鈥檒l detour to France and to Germany before you get to the main action, but Kruger makes it pay off with a slam-bang final chapter.
11.
Kirkwood native Sophia Benoit is a trip, a foul-mouthed voice of her generation who will make young, woke readers laugh out loud and take heart in equal measure. The jokes pop so quickly, it鈥檚 easy to miss the more serious subjects lurking beneath.
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