Outstanding newsletter, Sara! Your rebuttal to Pamela Paul’s opinion piece is clear and well-argued. I was really disappointed in the former NYT book editor, and you articulated the problems with her piece so well. Also love the addition of a guest recommendation! I can’t wait to read Kat’s offering. 👏
VERY interesting that, after almost getting there, you stopped short of mentioning the books NOT managed from above by traditional publishing houses and their top executives - the self-published ones where the restraint or lack of it is solely the author's - and where there are bound to be many gems (however well hidden among a lot of penny-dreadfuls).
I know that admitting we exist could open floodgates and lead to rivers of biblical proportions, but many SPAs put a great deal of work and literacy into books which - for reasons OTHER than merit - don't meet the approval of the pundits. Nowadays they may not even be submitted (I hate that word) to the self-appointed vetters of all that is good.
Books which have disabled characters or authors of disapproved color, or make fictional characters who are... different, sympathetic, are out there, some of them very well written.
The process of having 'what should be read' come from the all-powerful and all-knowing and, yes, Oprah-recommended is quite recent (within my lifetime). It isn't perfect. And has produced many a clunker.
You're almost there. Paul's opinion piece hit a nerve. Now take the final step, and don't condemn ALL the new by ignoring it.
I think Tessa Miller's chronic condition is "Crohn's disease," not Chron's.
Outstanding newsletter, Sara! Your rebuttal to Pamela Paul’s opinion piece is clear and well-argued. I was really disappointed in the former NYT book editor, and you articulated the problems with her piece so well. Also love the addition of a guest recommendation! I can’t wait to read Kat’s offering. 👏
I'm reading What Doesn't Kill You now and it's absolutely gut-wrenching and so good.
VERY interesting that, after almost getting there, you stopped short of mentioning the books NOT managed from above by traditional publishing houses and their top executives - the self-published ones where the restraint or lack of it is solely the author's - and where there are bound to be many gems (however well hidden among a lot of penny-dreadfuls).
I know that admitting we exist could open floodgates and lead to rivers of biblical proportions, but many SPAs put a great deal of work and literacy into books which - for reasons OTHER than merit - don't meet the approval of the pundits. Nowadays they may not even be submitted (I hate that word) to the self-appointed vetters of all that is good.
Books which have disabled characters or authors of disapproved color, or make fictional characters who are... different, sympathetic, are out there, some of them very well written.
The process of having 'what should be read' come from the all-powerful and all-knowing and, yes, Oprah-recommended is quite recent (within my lifetime). It isn't perfect. And has produced many a clunker.
You're almost there. Paul's opinion piece hit a nerve. Now take the final step, and don't condemn ALL the new by ignoring it.