I truly can’t believe that I’ve been writing on Substack for five years now! It feels like it was just yesterday that I decided to test the waters on this brand new platform. It’s been five years of slow and steady growth, trying new things, and building community, and I’m so glad you’re along for the ride. I love writing this newsletter even more now than when I first started and I feel so excited about continuing what’s going well and trying some new ideas out soon.
To celebrate, I’m answering some reader questions in a podcast with my wonderful assistant Maddie Stough. To be honest, I find soliciting questions and recording these things a little uncomfortable BUT you all ask the best questions and I always love listening to AMAs and mail bag-type podcasts, so I’m giving it a go. Maddie and I get a bit chatty about how we’re reading with the state of the world as it is, how we choose the books we read, and the books that made us readers. I also share a bit about planning content and acquiring books as a professional reader. And, of course, we also share some book recommendations. You can find the time stamp at where those begin and the entire list of books below.
Thanks so much for listening and thanks for subscribing to this newsletter. I can’t tell you how much every single reader means to me. You make all of this possible and I’m excited for all the great reading we have to come!
As a reminder, you can listen to this podcast on Spotify and most other podcast apps by enabling the RSS feed. The transcript and captions are available by opening this newsletter in a web browser.
1:00:24 - Books Recommendations
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Jeanette Winterson
Loved & Missed by Susie Boyd
Blue Light Hours by Bruna Dantas Lobato
Bear and Bird by Jarvis
Sophie Mouse by Poppy Green
Wellie Wishers by Valerie Tripp
Moi Moi by Kazuo Hiraki
Buffalo Fluffalo by Bess Kalb
Poopsy Gets Lost by Hannah E. Harrison
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
Shakespeare
Toni Morrison
Oh, Lewis by Eve Rice
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Wellness by Nathan Hill
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
North Woods by Daniel Mason
Arcadia by Lauren Groff
May Our Joy Endure by Kev Lambert
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Dream State by Eric Puchner
This Must Be The Place by Maggie O’Farrell
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
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
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