Hopeful motherhood narratives, creepy feminist reads, & my favorite book merch
Ask FictionMatters Vol. 3 - October 10, 2023
Hi, readers!
It seems like I’m settling into responding to reader questions about once a month, and I’m really enjoying this new level of interactivity here. I’m always curious to hear what bookish problems are plaguing your reading life and to know what sorts of books you’re craving. If you have a dilemma or are in need of some book recommendations, you can submit a question here or by email me at fictionmattersbooks@gmail.com.
If you have previously submitted a request, but have not yet seen a response, please know that while I would love to be able to answer every submission, I currently can’t keep up with the demand. However, I have archived all requests and will pull from both older and newer submissions for every Ask FictionMatters newsletter. Today I’m sharing some responses to requests for book recommendations as well as some recs for bookish merch.
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Hopeful perspectives on motherhood
Abigail asked: I'm a stay-at-home mom to 4 young children (2-8 years-old) and this year has been a rough one parenting-wise. I'm finding most books that explore themes of motherhood are from the perspective of a child reflecting on a complicated or even toxic relationship with their mother. Any recommendations for fiction or memoir that centers motherhood in a more hopeful way and won't make me worried I'm ruining my kids lives?! 😅 (I did love A Ghost in the Throat.)
Ok, Abigail, I agree that toxic maternal relationships are predominant, but I do have a handful of books for you. While I don’t think that any of these have a sunshine and rainbows attitude towards motherhood, I found them to be comforting, relatable, and beautiful in their own way. First, I just finished In the Orchard by Eliza Minot, which is about a stay at home mom to four kids under the age of 10. While it does explore grief and touch on many of the hardships of mothering, it is ultimately about the beauty, poetry, and vitality of raising children. I also recently loved My Work by Olga Ravn. It is about a new mother struggling to find her artistic self while dealing with the day-to-day realities of an infant. It is similar to A Ghost in the Throat and the last page made me weep in a good way! Tom Lake by Ann Patchett is a lovely portrayal of a mother and her three grown daughters. Some readers felt it veered too far into fantasy in terms of how loving this family is, while others felt it captured their own experiences with their parents or grown children well. The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright offers a slightly less sunny but still hopeful and warm depiction of a mother’s dynamic with her grown daughter. In terms of nonfiction, I really loved Essential Labor by Angela Garbes which explores the necessity of care work both by parents and non-parents for a functioning society.
Eerie books and horror novels by women writers
Christine asked: I’m excited for spooky season after a long summer. I’m particularly interested in women’s horror a la Nightbitch.
In some ways this question is the antithesis to the one above, and I love that. I don’t read a ton of horror, so these books might be less scary that you’re looking for depending on your tolerance, but I’ll give it a go. First, I love and adore both The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez and Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. Anything Mona Awad writes also falls into this category, but I think Bunny and Rouge both make particularly good eerie fall reads. The Need by Helen Phillips also fits this category as does White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. Short fiction author Kelly Link writes fantastic horror slash fairytale slash fantasy stories. You can’t go wrong with any of her collections (really!) so just pick the cover you like best and give her a try. Link’s first novel is releasing early next year so now is a great time to explore her prose. Finally, I’ll suggest two I haven’t read but have only heard good things: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung.
Book merch for passionate readers
Ashley asked: Where do you get all of your bookish clothes?
I’m so excited about this question because book merch has been a hotly contested topic in the news lately (check out this piece in the NYT and this one in The Guardian). I might have more to say on this matter in a longer post, but for now I’ll say that I’m all for book merch. Is wearing clothing or carrying a tote that reveals your reading tastes slightly pretentious? Maybe! It’s certainly doing some kind of signaling. But we’re all signaling everyday through what we wear and carry. From my vantage point, 2023 has been the year of unabashedly loving what you love and that extends to proudly wearing the literary looks that make you feel like you. Sports fans have been wearing the names of favorite players on their backs for years, so why shouldn’t I get to joyfully wear a Mary Oliver hat?!
Personally, I’m lucky to get a lot of book swag through PR boxes from publishers, but other great sources are indie bookstores and Etsy.
Womb House Books makes the best classic women writer hats. I haven’t purchased one myself yet because I can’t choose between my favorites!
Books Are Magic has some of my favorite bookstore merch. The Bookshelf in Thomasville and the Ripped Bodice also have cute swag.
Keep an eye on your favorite book podcasts because while most don’t have full-time merch shops, many do limited release drops of super cute, super personal items. I love my hat from The Stacks Podcast and—of course—my Novel Pairings merch is a prized possession.
Bookshelf Tees is a great source for general reading life merch. I love her creative designs and she uses my absolute favorite tees and sweatshirts (Comfort Colors) so it’s a huge win for me.
Finally, Out of Print has a lot of fun stuff, including this Gatsby sweatshirt which I own and think is incredibly stylish—Emma Watson has one!
Do you have a recommendation for either Abigail, Christine, or Ashley? Please leave a comment below to share your suggestions!
Readers, if you’d like reading advice for a particular reading conundrum or are in need of some book recommendations, please fill out this form or write to me at fictionmattersbooks@gmail.com with the subject “Ask FictionMatters.” I can’t wait to hear from you!
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Happy reading!
Sara
Love the question the reader asked! Based on all the (mostly negative) media portrayals of mother / child relationships, it feels like it’s an uphill battle and I’m doomed for even daring to hope that I could have a pleasant relationship with my kid when they’re grown. Thank you for the recs!
I really enjoy mother/daughter narratives, though I don't mind bad mothers as they make me feel a bit better about myself! For Abigail, I would recommend the Lucy Barton series by Elizabeth Strout and The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken. Both show that imperfect parents still have deep relationships with their children.
Also Casey Wilson's memoir - The Wreckage of my Presence has some really beautiful stories of motherhood that were encouraging - not guilt inducing.