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My March, April & May Reads

Ideas of Heaven, Joan Silber - Another ring of stories, a conceit I can't resist. The titular story is so good and so upsetting and so frightening—what I'm saying is, someone should get Joan Silber a movie deal stat.

This Is Not About Us, Allegra Goodman - Just a pleasure to read, a lovely way to spend your time. It's a family saga that opens with two sisters feuding over a cake recipe, which should be more than enough information to convince you to pick up a copy.

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Belle Burden - Well-written, compelling, extremely fun to gossip about with fellow readers. Note: you can 100% skip the chapter intros about the nesting ospreys.

Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke - It really goes off the rails towards the end, but I couldn't stop reading — it's the fastest I've finished a book in months.

You Can Never Die: A Graphic Memoir, Harry Bliss - I loved this so much, a book I borrowed because I follow the dude on Instagram and I enjoy his whacky videos. Said dude is a New Yorker cartoonist who also illustrated and co-wrote a few books with that dreamboat Steve Martin. It's basically a collection of journal entries with accompanying drawings, all about Bliss's childhood and difficult family, his journey as an artist, and his everyday life with his dog. Oh, and about how he spends half the year living in J.D. Salinger's former house in New Hampshire. I'm telling you, it's fascinating!

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My January & February Reads

Pronatalism: Discourses and Counterdiscourses, Sarah Benesch – A fascinating read—and with more humor than you might expect! My favorite chapters focused on childfree/childless women authors, the survey responses from childfree/childless academics, and the author's memoir chapter. And a bonus: the book expanded my vocabulary. Look up "mouseburger" and "notherhood," or better yet, read Benesch's book and talk to me about it. :)

Sandwich, Catherine Newman – Catherine Newman's novels are such a unique blend of easy, breezy humor and emotional gut punches. Sandwich captures all of the complicated nuances of a family vacation with adult kids (so much anxiety over meal planning, for one thing!).

O Pioneers!, Willa Cather – An all-time favorite. So what happened is that maybe five years ago, my pal Sarah Butler mentioned that O Pioneers! is one of her most beloved books (she grew up in Nebraska), and then I was on vacation in the Berkshires and bought a copy at a used bookstore. It sat unopened on my bookcase all this time, until a few weeks ago when NYC had a huge blizzard and I was out of library books. Finally, it was Willa Cather time! And let me tell you, this bitch could write. It was such an absorbing reading experience, so many tragic things happen to these poor characters—I felt like I was in a college literature class again, in the best way possible. The last few chapters are completely bonkers. And great news: I found out this is Book 1 in Cather's Great Plains Trilogy, which I am now working my way through.

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts, Oliver Burkeman – I don't read much self-help and I've never had trouble embracing my limitations, but I still feel like I got a lot out of reading this book. Rather than "embracing your limitations," it helped me get into a better mindset about accepting my reality.......like it is what it is!.....but in a positive way.

The Song of the Lark, Willa Cather – Book 2 in The Great Plains Trilogy, and this time we're in 1890s Colorado, discovering the horrors of railroad accidents, viruses that wipe out entire villages of kids, and 30-year-old men waiting for a 12-year-old girl to be old enough to marry. But wait! The girl turns out to be gifted and complicated and she needs to get the hell out of Moonstone to chase that ever-elusive something more. Our girl ends up in Chicago, Mexico City, a really random but romantic cave in Arizona, until finally: New York City. One scene made me cry so hard, oh my god. I have to take a Willa Cather break, but I predict that My Ántonia will be in my next reading round-up.

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I’ve decided to make this a Willa Cather Winter

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My October, November & December Reads

Consider Yourself Kissed, Jessica Stanley - I was so invested in this one at first, but then it felt too long and got way too in the weeds about Brexit. Sorry, but I'm a dumb American!

A Truce That Is Not Peace, Miriam Toews - I love everything this genius writes. It's a memoir of sorts told through journal entries, letters, and present-tense struggles to write an essay for a literary festival explaining why she writes. As always with Miriam Toews, there is a lot of dark humor and heart.

Us Fools, Nora Lange - Okay. What can I say about this one? It was interesting to learn about the 1980s Midwestern farm crisis and the story had promise, but I'm actually mad about the lack of editing.

Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity, Paul Kingsnorth - Admittedly, I'm not great at reading nonfiction unless I'm extremely into the topic. There were compelling ideas here, but I ended up skimming and then skipping to the end so I could get to the point already. Sorry!!!

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Currently reading this beauty.

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My August & September Reads

The Evening of the Holiday, Shirley Hazzard - My first Shirley Hazzard, which I borrowed from the library because the protagonist of Lily King's Writers & Lovers lists it as a favorite book. I enjoyed it so much! It's melancholy and meditative, a short, sad read ideal for a rainy weekend morning on the couch. The closing scene with his gloves in the car—be still my heart!

Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner - I'm pretty sure this is one of the most beautiful novels ever written. Wallace Stegner, how come I haven't read you until now? Wallace Stegner, would you believe that the only reason I even heard of Crossing to Safety is because of the comments on a Cup of Jo blog post? Wowowow. An all-time favorite for sure.

The Pleasing Hour, Lily King - In honor of Lily King's brand new, FABULOUS novel, Heart the Lover (now available at a public library or indie bookstore near you!), I am reading the author's backlist. The Pleasing Hour is her first published book, and oddly enough, the perfect book to read if you're watching or just finished watching season 3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty. It's about a girl finding herself in Paris, there's family drama galore, and there are really lovely, detailed descriptions of France.

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Thank you to the Cup of Jo comments section for introducing me to this masterpiece.

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My June & July Reads

Food Person, Adam Roberts - Fiction for foodies! I had fun reading this debut novel about a 20-something food writer clumsily navigating her career and love life in NYC. I had even more fun at the book launch at Brooklyn Heights Library, where author Adam Roberts was in conversation with Joanna "Cup of Jo" Goddard. Not to brag, but I appear in not one but two photos on her recap blog post.

All of It Singing, Linda Gregg - I decided to make an effort to read more poetry collections, probably because of all the recent articles that were like, "People used to memorize poems. Now everyone's a fucking idiot." I always like Linda Gregg poems when they come across my social media feeds, so I borrowed this collection of new and selected poems. The book contains the hottest dedication I've ever seen: "For Jack Gilbert: It was like being alive twice."

Olive, Again, Elizabeth Strout - A masterpiece. I maybe loved it even more than Olive Kitteridge, which is one of my favorite books. A story that stands out in my mind is when Olive's adult son visits her with his young children; it really captures, in brutal detail, the expectations vs reality of a family visit.

Exit Zero, Marie-Helene Bertino - A short story collection from today's reigning queen of magical realism. I always love Marie-Helene Bertino, she's just so great!

Heart the Lover, Lily King - Holy lord, Jesus Christ, mark your calendars for September 30 and buy this book. I am not exaggerating when I say it's perfect. It made me cry on the train and on the beach; I could cry again just thinking about certain sentences. I loved it so much that I'm now rereading Writers & Lovers—I simply can't get enough Lily King! Thank you to my coworker Jack for bringing home this galley from the ALA conference in Philly. :)

Written Lives, Javier Marías - Super short, captivating, quirky biographies of a variety of famous writers. This was published in 1992 and is a random recommendation I came across online. I loved it.

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The ultimate galley brag! Only a few chapters in and I’m already hooked.

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My March, April & May Reads

The History of Sound, Ben Shattuck - Thank you to Kerry for texting me repeatedly about this book, which she thought I'd love—and she was correct! The premise is so neat: the stories are interconnected (the first and last stories are connected, then each pair of stories in between are connected), and they are all set in coastal New England in different time periods. I feel like I'm doing a bad job at selling this book, but trust me, it is moving and endlessly interesting. I am seriously considering planning a road trip just to visit the landmarks and museums mentioned in the collection, plus Davoll's General Store, which is currently owned by the book's author and has been open since 1793.

The Wedding People, Alison Espach - Thank you to Nikki for enthusiastically recommending this novel, which I expected to enjoy but was surprised to adore. The subject matter is heavier than the romcom-esque title implies; while there are laugh-out-loud moments throughout, this book gets deep! I cried. It's an unexpected, completely absorbing novel.

And a Dog Called Fig, Helen Humphreys - Wow, it seems I've only read five-star books recently. What an amazing spring to be me! I discovered this one while browsing at Dove & Hudson, a fantastic used bookstore in Albany, NY. The illustrated dogs on the cover called my name, as did the subtitle: Solitude, Connection, the Writing Life (Surtitle/supertitle? It appears above the book title.). Anyway, the book weaves between three narratives—in the present tense, the author is journaling about getting to know and training her new vizsla puppy, Fig; in the past, she explains how she became a professional writer and shares anecdotes about the dogs she had throughout her life; and in between those sections are stories and photos of famous authors and their beloved dogs. This book is extremely my jam. I love reading about writers and their creative process; I love reading journals; I love reading about dogs. It's perfect.

The Road to Tender Hearts, Annie Hartnett - This author is my brand of weird. There's a John Irving blurb on the cover, which makes total sense—I do think Annie Hartnett is a modern day John Irving, but I'm glad the Harnett universe is centered around brilliant sad girls. A total delight!

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I read this in one day and had the best time!

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Stoop books that I simply couldn’t resist.

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My December, January & February Reads

Health and Safety: A Breakdown, Emily Witt - Sometimes you read books that help you understand your own life experiences, and sometimes you read books that help you understand what it's like to do drugs and go to the club every day. An interesting read, for sure! It really made me appreciate all of the time I spend hanging out with my dog on the couch.

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, Elizabeth Taylor - (Not that Elizabeth Taylor.) An absolutely perfect, wonderful, funny-sad novel about elderly hotel residents. Even better, this was a thoughtful Christmas gift from a coworker. ❤️

Intermezzo, Sally Rooney - I bought this at the Brooklyn Book Festival back in September, but ignored it until now because of the general public's lackluster response. Why would I trust other people/why would I ever doubt Rooney? Intermezzo is my favorite of her books so far—completely absorbing and beautiful. I wish I could spend a day with Peter and Ivan and co; I miss them already!

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My September, October & November Reads

The City and the House, Natalia Ginzburg - An all-time favorite. An unexpected beach read. An epistolary novel! Twitter is still good sometimes, mainly for basketball tweets and unusual book recommendations; I checked this out of the library after a college professor tweeted that he taught The City and the House and his students became obsessed with one of the female characters, couldn't stop talking about her. On an 80-degree September day, I left work early and read this on the beach—it's a total pageturner and I can't recommend it enough.

The God of the Woods, Liz Moore - A summer camp murder mystery. Well written and engrossing, and I loved the way it ended. A fun coincidence that added to my experience: at the time of reading, I was traveling back and forth to Albany and the Finger Lakes region of NY, which is where parts of the novel are set.

The Slow Road North: How I Found Peace in an Improbable Country, Rosie Schaap - I keep track of Rosie Schaap's writing because she's talented and interesting, of course, but also because we lived in the same Brooklyn neighborhood for many years and she tended bar down the street from my apartment. Anyway! Rosie is great and I think this memoir is ideal for anyone who's contemplating a life change and could use some inspiration. The synopsis is that after Rosie's husband and mother both passed away, NYC no longer felt like home and she wanted a fresh start. During a research trip for a writing assignment, she fell in love with a small seaside town in Ireland, and she figured out a way to relocate. I love the storytelling in this book, the way Rosie writes about the history of her new home and her neighbors, the way she confronts grief and regret and uncertainty, and the way she builds herself a beautiful life there completely from scratch. Like I said, it's inspiring! Plus I'm now itching to plan a visit to Ireland.

Loved and Missed, Susie Boyt - Another favorite book discovered via Twitter recommendation, in this case because Rumaan Alam tweeted about it enough times that I had to know why he felt so strongly. Well well well: it's one of the best books I've read in years, so sad but SO funny. It made me cry on the train, it made me laugh out loud, it sent me down a Susie Boyt google rabbit hole (I was like, "Ooo who is this newbie, I've never heard of her".......only to discover she is Freud's great-granddaughter), it had me at Community Bookstore on a recent Friday night to hear Rumaan and Susie in conversation (amazing). READ IT.

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It was a blank October day, uncertain. The sun was low and shapeless now. The light began to fail entirely and I noticed the lustre of the street lamps as they came on, one by one. Shame. Regret. Sorrow. The following day the clocks were going back. The bright sprint to Christmas.

Loved and Missed, Susie Boyt