An abbreviated hello and a preorder recommendation

Plus the death of the English major and the new Black canon

Happy Sunday, readers!

I’m dropping into your inbox with an abbreviated newsletter today after a week of battling illness—both mine and Louise. What was supposed to be my window for newsletter writing and podcast recording became a trip to urgent care (everyone is fine!) so I don’t have any reviews to share with you today in spite of reading quite a few good books this week. I’ll try to play catch-up next Sunday, but if you want to get my unfiltered thoughts on my last reads of February along with every book I read last month ranked, consider upgrading to the paid version of this newsletter as my Ranked Reading Recap will go out to paying subscribers this week!

Until then, I’ll briefly say that I am in the middle of Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood and absolutely loving it. It’s very different from The Luminaries and much more fast-paced. The writing still feels beautifully inspired by great Victorian novelists like George Eliot, but this time its in service of a sharp, literary, eco-thriller. If you are looking for something plotty that doesn’t skimp on the sentence-level writing, you should preorder your copy today!

If you are an international reader or just prefer UK covers, you can also order books through my Blackwell’s affiliate page!

Links I love.

We probably all already saw this piece about the Death of the English Major. I have thoughts that I’ll probably share in an edition of Reading in Public, but I did love Norton Critical Editions posts immediately following.

Test your fantasy trilogy knowledge with this lit trivia quiz.

I’m still making my way through this feature about creating a new canon of Black literature, but the insights are astounding and the titles mentioned are going straight to my TBR.

I love a well-written pan. This review of the new Daisy Jones and the Six series is certainly not a pan, but it has the same flair with its pointed writing and larger cultural insights.

End notes.

This week in views, listens, eats, and moments of joy.

• I’m currently experimenting with finding delicious non-alcoholic beverages that feel like a treat at the end of the day. My current favorite is Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher, which is exactly what it sounds like, slightly hopped and very refreshing.

• We have started getting good salami and cheese as a part of our standard grocery trip and I’m loving having charcuterie for lunch every day.

• This episode of Maintenance Phase about the new pediatric guidelines on childhood obesity is a must-listen.

• We don’t do a lot of screen time with Louise, but while she’s been sick, we’ve been putting on these animal videos from a creator on YouTube called Relaxation Film. When we first put them on, she’ll be transfixed and it will calm her right down. But then she gets a little bored and will just play and glance up at them every once in awhile. The perfect fussy toddler show.

• Louise is still so into basketball. In addition to loving her Little Tikes hoop, she is obsessed with going to the park and watching people play. She watched two women shoot around for half an hour the other day and we think it’s the longest any one thing has every sustained her interest.

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Happy reading!

Sara