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Plus surprising sci fi, female friendships, and the best cook books of the year

Hey, readers!

Today I am thrilled to share a new way to support FictionMatters and get great book recommendations in your inbox every month! Starting today, I’m now offering a paid version of this newsletter alongside the free weekly emails you’ve been loving. As a paid subscriber, you will get my monthly Ranked Reading Recaps delivered to your email each month in audio and text format. In these recaps, I share everything I read the previous month counting down from least favorite to favorite. Along with the Recaps, you’ll receive additional exclusive content like mood reading recommendations and expanded seasonal reading guides scattered throughout the year.

As a current subscriber to my free newsletter, you will get my June Ranked Reading Recap delivered to you this week. If you love what you see and hear, you can choose to join monthly for $5 per month or purchase an annual subscription for $50. If you adore this newsletter and want to go above and beyond in your support, you will also see an option to become a FictionMatters Founding Member, which allows you to choose a larger amount to pay annually. Ready to take the plunge sight unseen? Go ahead and subscribe now!

To my Patreon community: While some content will be unique to the paid newsletter subscription, you already have access to the same or very similar benefits as a Patron so subscribing here may feel redundant. However, if you are a Patron and find that you love the reading recaps, but rarely attend Patreon events or use the Discord server, you may decide that switching to a newsletter subscription is right for you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions about Patreon and newsletter content!

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This week in books.

This week I read…

• The World Gives Way by Marissa Levien. This book surprised me in many ways, and I’m going to be thinking about it for a long time. The plot follows Myrra, a young woman living on a giant spacecraft that’s traveling to find a new inhabitable planet. Myrra, like many people on The World is an indentured servant—her ancestors two or three generations back indentured themselves to earn future generations passage to this new planet. At the onset of the novel, Myrra’s employer requests her presence, tells her a horrific secret, and gives her a nearly impossible task. I’m keeping all of this vague, even though it happens in the first pages because I found the tension to be expertly built, and I want the same experience for you! Myrra then finds herself on the run and the chapters alternate between her perspective and that of the officer chasing her. This book sounds like an adventure novel, and it is, but it’s much darker than I expected—almost bleak though certainly beautiful in its way. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff. Like most parenting books I’ve encountered, this one has some things to love and a lot to leave behind. The premise is intriguing if a tad problematic: Doucleff, an NPR journalist, travels the world with her toddler to learn the secrets of centuries-old, non-Western parenting methods. It’s basically Eat, Prey, Love for moms. Yes, it’s definitely a bit cringey, and I think I would have preferred reading this as an actual sociological study rather than as a self-help book, but there were some really fascinating moments and powerful takeaways. I think the first few chapters were the most interesting and helpful so if you do pick it up, I’d recommend skimming beyond that. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

Now I’m reading…

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Still trekking along! Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser. Hauser’s essay of the same title was a viral sensation a few years back and I’ve been eager to pick up this memoir in essays ever since. Hauser is a phenomenal writer and I’m enjoying this even more than I anticipated. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. Smiley’s Pulitzer winning novel is the FictionMatters Book Club selection for July, and, readers, it is GOOD. A modern retelling of King Lear, this book is a vivid and nuanced family story set in the blazing heat of an Iowa farm town. I’m loving it, and if you also love a good family saga, you need to pick this one up! Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

Links I love.

I haven’t brought myself to watch the new Persuasion movie, and reviews like this are the reason why.

7 novels about female friendship.

Looking for some new meals to add to your usual rotation? NPR rounded up the best cookbooks of the year so far.

12 books about being and becoming an artist.

I love Vox’s Purity Chronicles series, and this exploration of the character Tracy Flick from Election is a great read.

July is Disability Pride Month and this is a great article about how nondisabled readers can engage with disability literature.

End notes.

Watching:

• What We Do in the Shadows is back! I think this is the funniest show on television right now.

Listening:

• The Pop Culture Happy Hour review of Where the Crawdads Sing made me chuckle. They also recommend some great books towards the end of the episode

Loving:

• Our plan to escape the heat! It’s been in the 90s almost every day in Denver the last couple weeks, so this week we’re headed up to the mountains to retreat for a few days. I can’t wait!

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Readers, I can’t wait to get my June Ranked Reading Recap into your inboxes. 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!

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Happy reading!

Sara