An abridged Sunday letter and some fun forthcoming posts

Plus the ethics of biofiction and how to uncover your personal taste

Hey readers!

We’ve got a lot going on in my family this week so I don’t have any book reviews for you today. I have been reading—mostly comfort reads and unputdownable books, so not my typical fare. I’ll have a lot to share when things calm down next week, but for today I just have links for you.

But first…a quick announcement! Because of some planned things I have going on for the next week, I reached out to some of my favorite bookish people to see if they would be interested in guest posting while I take a little bit of time off. Readers, I have a GREAT lineup of guest posts for you, including two Reading in Public essays that gave me so much to consider in my own reading life and Friday Mood Recs (available to everyone this week) for a much requested genre that I read very little of. I’m so excited for you to read all of this good stuff!

I love collaborating with other readers and reviewers, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to do that while also taking some necessary time away. I want to say a huge thank you to all of the paid subscribers to the FictionMatters Newsletter and Patreon Literary Society members whose financial support allows me to compensate these guest writers for their work. It’s very important to me that writers get paid for all of the time they put into their compositions, and I couldn’t do that without you. Thank you so much!

I’ll be back on Sunday with my regular (unabridged!) newsletter and then I’ll see paid subscribers for Friday Mood Recs on January 26th. I’ll resume my normal schedule from there, but you won’t miss a post thanks to these wonderful guest writers!

Links I Love

I enjoyed perusing this list after enjoying Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries. Sometimes cozy fantasy, is exactly what I’m in the mood for.

This Ezra Klein episode gave me a lot to think about in terms of homing in on my own reading taste.

I do not understand this conspiracy, but I do understand that Swiftie internet culture is WILD.

Check out Vulture’s nicely curated most anticipated books list.

11 books on nature and conservation coming out in 2024.

First it was memoirs, and now we’re seeing an onslaught of celebrities writing novels.

I enjoy fiction based on real historical figures, but this essay brings up some intriguing questions about the ethics of the genre.

Book Talk, Etc. interviewed the founder of Bookshop.org and I learned so much!

Yes to books that make you cry without it feeling like you’re being manipulated.

I just learned that New York Review Books has a book box subscription, and I think its going to be my one subscription of 2024.

9 genre-defying mystery books.

All the book adaptations coming to a screen this year.

Margaret the First is one of my most recommended books and I enjoyed learning more about the real Margaret Cavendish in How to Think Like a Woman. Now I’m interested in reading this full biography of Margaret that came out this month.

An ode to acknowledgements.

This article spoke to much of what I was feeling when I wrote my most recent Reading in Public Essay.

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-Sara