The Year in Mysteries: What I Read in 2019
Highlights of my year of great crime reads. (The takeaway: Go get DISAPPEARING EARTH right now.)
Her Story All Year Long
Why do all these “little-known histories” of women leading outsized, daring lives in war and espionage slow to a trickle after Women’s History Month is over?
Why We Travel: Long Live the King, the Durian, and Cambodia’s National Beer
Annals of Memorable Meals: Angkor Beer, rice porridge, durian, and faith in a Kampong Thom town
Writing Other People’s Stories, Part III: Getting Out of the Way
Why telling a story in someone else’s voice is perhaps the biggest challenge of all—and the utmost (terrifying) privilege
Writing Other People’s Stories, Part II: All Great Features Are Profiles
When writing a profile, you’ll need to upend your assumptions and tour someone’s inner and outer life with radical openness.
Writing Other People’s Stories, Part I: Empathy in First Person
Writing about other people’s lives is an exercise in trust, empathy, self-awareness and humility. We don’t always get it right, but it’s our job to keep trying.
Why We Read
I aimed for 50 books but only managed 37. But as I look back on a year of reading adventures, I can’t find failure anywhere.
Together Breakfast: Num Kruok
These savory coconut pancakes were Chantha Nguon’s favorite—and not just because of how they tasted.
