Open Book

Episode 1: Karen Russell

June 11, 2025

Award-winning author Karen Russell (Swamplandia!) chats about the joy of reading a book you love written by someone you love, how Stephen King led to sleepless nights as a child, and those “little black dress” books you always loan to a friend. Plus, Elena reveals her latest vacation read as a murder mystery starring "existential sheep." 

• Show Notes

  Karen Russell is the author of the award-winning Swamplandia, and most recently, The Antidote.

  Books recommended by Karen:

  • The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

  • The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

  • One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  • It by Stephen King

  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

  • The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

  • Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

  • The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich

  • Stop Me If You've Heard This One by Kristen Arnett

  • Everybody’s next vacation read, forthcoming spring 2026: Canon by Paige Lewis

  • Karen recommends the author Elizabeth McCracken, saying she gives away McCracken books to everyone. 

  • Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

  Books mentioned by Elena:

  • Cujo, Thinner by Stephen King

  • Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

  • Syzygy, Beauty: An Essay by T Fleischmann