I’m here today to encourage you to . . . Read With Us . . . this summer. Bonny, Carole, and I have selected

John of John, Douglas Stuart’s third novel, for our summer read.

But what can I even say about John of John to convince you? After all, it’s a book many of you have already picked up and read on your own! In fact, since so many of you are already Douglas Stuart fans, you may be wondering why we even chose the book in the first place . . .

Well. Douglas Stuart, and his debut novel Shuggie Bain, was really the book that “cemented” Read With Us as a serious book group. Way back in 2021, when Bonny and Carole and I first decided to chose Shuggie Bain as our selection, it felt pretty risky to us. Would you be interested in reading such a long, chewy book with slightly uncomfortable characters living difficult lives? Might it be the end of our Read With Us experiment? The answer to that last question turned out to be . . . no. In fact, the discussion we had about Shuggie Bain was deep and meaningful for all of us. We loved Shuggie. And we loved Douglas Stuart. Enough that we also chose his second (and much more challenging in my mind) novel, Young Mungo, when it came out the next year. Shuggie Bain. . . turned out to be the “standard” for us when it comes to choosing books.

So it felt like John of John . . . was a slam-dunk Read With Us choice for the summer.

For those of you who have already read John of John, I hope you’ll be willing to re-read it (or at least skim it) again this summer. And if you haven’t read it yet, well . . . I hope you’ll give it a try, and maybe you, too, will discover the magic of Douglas Stuart. I can guarantee it will be a great discussion — and I can’t wait to talk about it with you.

To further pique your interest, here is a fabulously wonderful interview from Terry Gross (NPR Fresh Air host) with Douglas Stuart when John of John was first published back in May. It’s long (45 minutes), but worth a listen. Stuart talks about his own background, how he came to be a writer, and how he discovered the voices of John and Cal in John of John. He also reads an early passage from the book. I loved listening to this interview – and I think you will, too! (It got me through a big old stack of laundry this weekend . . . )

John of John is currently available in most bookstores (if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby), or on Amazon in hardback ($23.13), Kindle ($14.99), and audio (Audible $19.68 or 1 credit). The book and audiobook are generally available through local libraries and Libby, too, although availability and wait times vary (and may be quite long, actually, as Oprah chose this book for her book club, too).

Our book discussion day for John of John is Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Bonny, Carole, and I will each post discussion questions on our blogs that day, and then – later in the evening (7:00 pm Eastern time zone) – we’ll be hosting a live book discussion/meet-up on Zoom. If you’d like to join the Zoom (and we’d really love it if you do) please let me know in the comments or send me an email with your confirmation (there will soon be a link in sidebar and on the Read With Us page, too).

So.
Grab a copy of the book and experience the magic of Douglas Stuart.
C’mon along . . .
Read With Us!