A poetic, light-filled modern classic
Plus my favorite legacy media summer reading lists and what I'm watching now
One of the things I love about putting out a huge annual project in May is it almost brings back the end-of-school year vibes. I am done! I am free! As much fun as it is to put together a giant reading guide, it is a ton of work. Every year it’s a great feeling to get my guide out and supply you all with some great summer reads, and then my summer reading can begin as well. My current reading plan: the new Hunger Games, the forthcoming TJR, and starting the big stack of Richard III books I purchased after reading The Daughter of Time. I’ll obviously report back.
If you missed it, I released my 2025 Paperback Summer Reading Guide on Friday. Accompanying it, I did a Substack live with (you can also listen to it on Spotify) and Zoomed with readers who purchased the guide. You can watch or list to that replay here.
This week in books.
This week I read…
In my live event with , I shared that Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima was the last book I added to the Paperback Summer Reading Guide. I thought I’d share the description of it from the PSRG so you can get a sense of the kinds of books and blurbs that make up the project.
Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima, translated by Geraldine Harcourt. Simultaneously breathtaking and spare, this impressionistic novel depicts a year in the life of a young mother immediately following her separation from her husband. Told in first person reflections, the narrator and her daughter move into an unusual apartment building where they occupy the entire fourth floor. Surrounded by windows on all sides, the Tokyo apartment is awash in light and Tshushima’s use of imagery is astonishing. But while the light-filled rooms initially promises a fresh start, the year ahead for both mother and daughter will prove to be challenging, confusing, harrowing, and ultimately transformative. First published in 1979, this beautiful and redemptive portrayal of single motherhood feels ahead of its time in style and substance and is ideal for readers of Jenny Offill’s Dept. of Speculation and Rachel Cusk’s A Life’s Work. Bookshop | Libro.fm
Now I’m reading…
Sunrise on the Reaping! I had been saving it for when I finished my guide and now I’m all in going back and forth between the print and audiobook. I’ll probably finish it over the long weekend, and it might derail my reading life because now I want to reread all the other books in the series.
New on my TBR…
I haven’t read much nonfiction at all this year, so I’m looking forward to exploring some titles on
’s Nonfiction Reading Guide. I also got a digital copy of Catherine Lacey’s The Möbius Book and am eager to start it.The Weekly Dispatch.
It was a treat to see Michiko Kakutani back in the NYT writing about why tech bros are all so smitten with The Lord of the Rings (gift link)…and how they interpret the book wrong. I still have only read The Hobbit and the first book of the trilogy, but its (potentially damaging?) cultural hold does make me curious to give it more attention. Interestingly, Constance Grady at Vox recently wrote about the crew of tech billionaires who fawn over Iain M. Banks’ sci fi series. It’s interesting to see critics consider how reading—and misreading—might have influenced the minds of these people who hold so much influence over our world right now.
Now that I’ve finished the Paperback Summer Reading Guide, I’ve been able to watch TV again! My husband and I started season two of Andor. I loved the first season and am very much enjoying being back in this world. But what’s really captured my heart is Miss Austen on PBS. Of course, I’m a huge Austen nerd but I have yet to delve into the world of Gill Hornby, who writes biographical fiction about the great authoress and her family. This four part mini series is an adaptation of Hornby’s novel of the same name and follows Jane’s sister Cassandra Austen as she attends the death bed of a family friend in order to secure the letters of her late sister—letters she knows Jane would never want to see the light of day. There are two things I appreciate most about the series. The first is the way it beautifully brings to life the plight of women in the Regency era. It manages to make the patriarchal constraints and precariousness of women’s lives obvious to a modern audience without beating us over the head with it. The second thing I just adore is the depiction of reading aloud as a rambunctious and delightful entertainment. If you tend to enjoy Austen adaptations on film, I highly recommend this as a companion. I’m interested in exploring some of Hornby’s books now too.
I’m obsessed with McNally Jackson’s These Precedented Times reading list. What a fantastic curriculum for this moment…and I have some reading to do!
Link Roundup.
The Atlantic’s Summer Reading Guide. Of all the summer guides from major publications, this one is my favorite. (Atlantic, gift link)
The summer’s best beach reads. (NYT, gift link)
Five reviews you need to read this week. (Lit Hub)
Social media is influencing how authors promote their books. (NPR)
Maris Kreizman on the AI hallucinations that made it to the book review section. (Lit Hub)
Three authors on writing with creative restraints. (Lit Hub)
3 fun indie books to read this summer. (Kirkus)
on why authors shouldn’t be obligated to share too much about their personal lives. (Lit Hub)The best fake novels not coming out this summer courtesy of
. (quite useless)For questions, comments, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing fictionmattersbooks@gmail.com or responding directly to this newsletter. I love hearing from you!
This email may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links above, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
If you enjoyed today’s newsletter, please forward it to a book-loving friend. That’s a great way to spread bookish cheer and support the newsletter!
Happy reading!
Sara
Obviously most excited for your Guide and Traci's Guide, but the Atlantic Guide looks great too! Thanks for gift linking it! so many books so little time!
In the Watching category I saw the film Jane Austen Wrecked My Life last night. A young Frenchwoman works at Shakespeare & Company in Paris and goes on a writers' retreat at the Jane Austen Residency. Oh yeah, and finds true love. Oooh la la. A total charmer!