Publishing predictions and two books that stretched my mind

Plus a classic romance starter pack and why Barbara Kingsolver won the week

Before I get into this week’s books, I need to share something that completely slipped my mind last week. Lauren Puckett-Pope, culture editor at Elle, wrote a piece on 2025 trends in publishing featuring a ton of bookish content creators, and it is excellent. I got to talk to Lauren for the piece (which was such a thrill!) but the truly special thing was seeing how she pulled together all of these avid readers with different tastes and views and found some fascinating commonalities to how we’re talking and thinking about the online book space. There is so much (unnecessary) animosity between legacy media and content creators, “real critics” and “regular readers,” and I think it’s really cool that Lauren sees the value of passionate readers sharing their love of reading in public. I hope you’ll give it a read!

This week in books.

This week I read…

• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. This is novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad nonfiction book about Palestine. It is also resounding indictment on the West’s ability and willingness to disassociate from the pains of the rest of the world. The book is divided into ten chapters, most of which unpack and critique a North American ideology by looking both at the devastation in Gaza and the historic atrocities the West has perpetrated. By simultaneously looking at what is happening now and how we have been conditioned to discuss the present versus the past, El Akkad is able to lay bare the hypocrisies of Western culture. I don’t tend to read or review a lot of persuasive nonfiction and as I write this I feel an inclination to say that I didn’t agree with every point El Akkad made in his book. But then, why would I want to read any piece of persuasive nonfiction that I felt in total alignment with? I learned from this book. I grew. Especially in the few places where my own opinions met friction in the book. This is a truly incredible piece of rhetoric, reporting, documenting, and theorizing. His writing is precise and earnest, and the breadth of information and emotion he brings to the work is extremely effective. It should go without saying that this book is devastating, and I had to put it down many times while reading. But within that devastation is El Akkad’s hopefulness at the human capacity to really, truly see each other’s pain, and to let that pain lead us to love. Bookshop | Libro.fm

• The Portrait of a Mirror by A. Natasha Joukovsky. I’ve had this on my shelf for years and finally picked it up this week after making the connection that Joukovsky is the writer of the Austen Math series that’s become a current obsession of mine. The story follows two couples—four gorgeous, wealthy, intelligent, and ambitious young people—as they seek to excel in their careers, one up each other’s witticisms, and (most importantly in this story) figure out if they’re in the right relationships. I’ve grown a bit weary of rich people novels and as I’ve moved into the back half of my thirties I’m less inclined to read about precocious twenty-somethings, but I’m glad I risked it for this novel because it turned out to be a breath of fresh air. What I enjoyed most about this book was the narrative voice. Joukovsky writes in third person making occasional use of free indirect style, and she graces her narrator with a sense of humor and moral vision that brilliantly build the world of the novel. I’ve been craving more of this kind of classic writing in my contemporary books, and Joukovsky delivers while still imbuing the book with structural innovation and contemporary communication. One of my favorite scenes was a couple arguing about the Serial podcast at brunch. It could be an extraneous tangent, yes, but it felt both true to modern life and reminiscent of all the Austen parlor scenes I love to pour over. I also adored the brilliant art history lectures woven in. They serve the plot, add essential characterization, establish themes, and convinced me to look up paintings and purchase a copy of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, I must admit to feeling somewhat disconnected and occasionally annoyed by it. I could never quite figure out what the book was trying to do. At times I even felt that the book was so invested in its cleverness that it forgot to bring me along as a reader. Perhaps some of it simply went over my head; or perhaps forcing me to question whether I should expect a novel to “do” anything was actually the point. I’m really not sure! Adding to my disconnect was the fact that I never fully cared what happened to the characters. Whether this was because of the extremely wealthy ensemble or their tendency for pretension, my lack of interest in the outcome dulled some of the set piece scenes that should have sparkled and made the ending feel a bit anticlimactic. All of my quibbles left me scratching my head a bit. Ultimately, I’m not certain if it was a me issue that kept me from fully connecting or if something about the book itself made it slippery and hard to grasp. (Someone please read this so we can talk it out!) None of my complaints tarnished my overall reading experience, however, because the book as a whole does sparkle. The prose is luminous. The endeavor is ambitious. It’s funny and very much in conversation with the classics I love. It’s exactly the type of writing I’ve been missing in my contemporary fiction, and until Joukovsky releases her next piece of fiction, I’ll keep devouring everything she puts out on Substack. One last thing: if you pick this up, don’t miss the appendices full of books, music, and art. Bookshop | Libro.fm

Now I’m reading…

• This memoir which seems to be required reading for online readers this year, but (I believe) is being woefully mismarketed.

New on my TBR…

• This book about Shakespeare and literature that has popped up all over the place in my life lately.

Links I love.

I bookmarked this Classic Romance Starter Pack for the next time I’m in a romance mood. (NYT, gift link)

Why we’re undervaluing picture books according to

Mac Barnett

. (NPR)

And, related, the most anticipated children’s books of 2025. (Lit Hub)

Dan Brown’s heroic symbologist is coming back for another book. Listening to The DaVinci Code on a cross country road trip with one of my best friends is a reading highlight of my life and I may very well save the newest for when I need something mindlessly absorbing. (Vulture)

How the Trump administration is threatening libraries. (Lit Hub)

Is it genre fiction or literary fiction? A definitive quiz. (Electric Lit)

This piece from

Celine Nguyen

is a gift to writers.

Barbara Kingsolver used proceeds from the sales of Demon Copperhead to build and fund a recovery home for women, and she wins the week.

barbara.kingsolver

A post shared by @barbara.kingsolver

End Notes.

• This year I am really enjoying discovering books for my Paperback Summer Reading Guide. I’ve found some great books so far and I can’t believe I have to wait another four(ish) months to tell you about them!

• I’ve been working on some embroidery projects again and loving it as a way to fit in more focused audiobook time. To get started again, I purchased this sampler, which was super fun and helpful.

• It’s been extremely dry here and my skin is not happy about it. I’ve been relying on my favorite Weleda moisturizer to get me through.

• I still haven’t bought myself any clothing items since the election. I am feeling like I want new jeans, but the pride of not buying anything might outweigh the desire for jeans and now I’m curious how long I can keep this up.

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Happy reading!

Sara