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| Linda Kass {photo: Lorn Spolter) |
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Linda Kass is the founder and owner of Gramercy Books, the independent bookstore in Bexley, Ohio. She began her career as a magazine journalist and correspondent for regional and national publications. She is the author of three previous works of historical fiction: Tasa's Song, A Ritchie Boy, and Bessie. A longtime civic leader, Kass lives in the Columbus area with her husband, Frank. Her new novel is World News from Waverley High (She Writes Press, September 8, 2026), set during one school year when the U.S. was on the brink of change in the 1960s and narrated through the eyes of an unforgettable girl.
Handsell readers your book:
In this late 1960s coming-of-age story, classmates in World News from Waverley High navigate school hallways with idealism and hope against a backdrop of national unrest.
On your nightstand now:
Colson Whitehead's Cool Machine. It concludes one of the richest portraits of New York--his entertaining trilogy of novels that opened in the late 1950s with Harlem Shuffle. This third volume portrays 1980s New York during the exact years I lived in the city so I'm particularly excited to dig in. Whitehead's versatility as a writer is unmatched. From a noir detective story to an autofictional coming-of-age tale, from a zombie apocalypse novel to profound literary historical fiction based on true events, Whitehead's voice remains distinctive and his prose is consistently precise, assured, and pitch-perfect. I have another dozen books piled on my nightstand. I'm a bookseller, after all.
Favorite book when you were a child:
It is a tie between Charlotte's Web and The Velveteen Rabbit. The former, by E.B. White, reveals the power of friendship and family, the inevitability of mortality, and the transformative impact one individual can have on many; the latter, by Margery Williams Bianco, taught me about values, about the real meaning of beauty, that old is lovable, and that who you become takes a long time.
Your top five authors:
There are so many extraordinary authors, and I'd never be able to narrow my favorites to five if I went back in time or included those writers of my favorite short stories, like James Baldwin ("Sonny's Blues"), Bernard Malamud ("The Magic Barrel"), and Tobias Wolff ("Bullet in the Brain"). But the contemporary novelists whose new books I will read every time they are released are Jennifer Egan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ann Patchett, Elizabeth Strout, and Colson Whitehead. I'd love to also include Michael Connelly, Barbara Kingsolver, and Amor Towles. As a bookseller, I read and admire so many writers working in a wide range of genres!
Book you've faked reading:
I haven't faked reading any books, but there are some classics, like Homer's The Odyssey and George Eliot's Middlemarch, that I know I should have read.
Book you're an evangelist for:
I suppose many folks who know me, especially those who study my "favorites" tower at my indie bookstore, Gramercy Books, know that I adore The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Snyder); Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro; A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan; The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead; A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara; and Bel Canto by Ann Patchett.
All these books are surprising in their ability to draw me into worlds far from my own. All remain vivid in my memory. Over the past year, I have been an evangelist for a less widely known novel, Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo, having learned about it thanks to friend and Minnesota book ambassador Pamela Klinger-Horn. The story has emotional depth and masterful character development, and it offers a respectful and authentic portrayal of Amish culture, including a thoughtful treatment of difficult topics like shunning. The novel brings out the conflict between community and individual liberty, and between humility and the quest for fame and fortune, which ultimately become central themes of the story, one that explores faith, family, love, and personal growth in an authentic and nuanced way. The novel is an elegant testament to how an entire community is touched and transformed by the open heart and generosity of one kind, gentle, remarkable human being.
Book you've bought for the cover:
I've never bought a book for the cover. I explore the inside flap and the back cover, and I try to read the first few pages before I buy a book by an author with whom I'm not familiar. I realize many people do gravitate to covers, which is why I was so thrilled to have such a bright green background that pops out for my upcoming novel, World News from Waverley High.
Book you hid from your parents:
Maybe I was a nerd about reading, but I never read a book that I had to hide from my parents.
Book that changed your life:
So many books that I read expand my ability to see humanity and to see myself. There isn't one book that altered me. It has been an additive experience over many decades of reading.
Favorite line from a book:
I have this paragraph from The Velveteen Rabbit sitting across from me at my desk:
"He said, 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.' "
Five books you'll never part with:
That goes along with those books I'm an evangelist for.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's one of those rare novels built entirely around the slow reveal, and I recall my emotional realization of piecing together what Hailsham actually is, and why Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy exist.
A connecting thread to the books you write:
I write human-centered stories--especially those that connect my personal experiences to broader moments in history. I'm drawn to resilience, social consciousness, identity, and the tension between individual lives and sweeping social change.