Reading through my ten before the end

Plus how big publishing is changing fiction and a Britney memoir podcast

Earlier this week I shared my “ten before the end” stack on Instagram—the ten books I’m hoping to read before the end of the year. I cheated a little by including two books I was already in the middle of, but—knowing myself—I needed to see immediate progress or I wasn’t going to continue. Now I’m three and two halves books (which in books doesn’t quite equal four) into my stack and feeling very good about the likelihood of finishing. My stack is primarily comprised of books I want to consider for my best-of-the-year list along with one reading project I want to complete before the end of the year: reading all of Eleanor Catton’s books.

I’m already starting to think about my 2024 reading, and I’m considering prioritizing rereads next year. That’s would be a challenge because I know I need to keep up on brand new and new-to-me books for reviews. But 2024 will mark 10 years of sharing my reading life publicly, and I think it might feel good to mark that with some broader reflection and a return to favorites of years past.

I’ll be mulling that over while I finish up 2023 reading and putting together my end-of-year wrap-ups. So far I’ve read 172 books this year!! The most I ever have and, quite possibly, too many. If you have any particular superlatives you’d like to see in my year-end posts, let me know as I plan those forthcoming posts.

This week in books.

This week I read…

• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. This was a very buzzy book earlier this year, so I waited for the hype to die down before reading it myself. I thought it was…fine. At its heart, this is a family novel. The story follows William Waters, a boy born to a broken family, who grows up to be a broken man searching for belonging and acceptance. He finds that sense of belonging when Julia Padavano, the oldest of four closer-than-close sisters, takes an interest in him and decides to steer his and then their life towards the future she’s always imagined for herself. Julia and William’s union takes place in the first tenth of the the book so I probably don’t have to tell you that it’s not all marital bliss from there. Through the perspectives of William, Julia, and Julia’s sister Sylvie, Napolitano follows the family over the next decades of their lives—including births, deaths, loves, losses, moves, and mental health crises. While some aspects of this novel really soared, it largely fell flat for me, due, in large part, to the pacing. The story moves so fast that Napolitano never gives her story room to breathe, and we don’t get to see any of the little moments that lend nuance to a character. Ultimately, while each character felt flawed, they didn’t feel complex. Everyone could be boiled down to a single descriptor, a type. I’m glad I read this, but while it’s sure to make a slew of best-of-the-year lists, it’s not going to be on mine. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• In Ascension by Martin MacInnes. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked this up but I knew from some friends who read the entire Booker longlist, that this was one of the most interesting reading experiences from that list. I started on audio, and found it really difficult to focus that way. Once I switched to print, I got very invested in Leigh’s emotional and physical journey. Because I loved going into this knowing almost nothing, I’m only going to say that this is slow-paced, literary sci-fi. While I did like Leigh, the novel is driven neither by plot nor by character, instead focusing on the theme of discovery, the tension between a traumatic past and a sense of wonder at the world, and the questions that have inspired curiosity in scientists and philosophers alike. This won’t be for everyone, but I really loved reading it and thought it was a beautiful departure from so much of what I’ve read this year. Amazon | Bookshop

• My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin. This campus novel caught my eye when it first came out, but I kept not picking it up because I felt like I had read this book before. The story follows Isabel Rosen, a senior at a small liberal arts college in New Hampshire, over the course of a few transformative months in her life. Many of the beats of this novel will feel familiar. In the opening scene, Isabel has a sexual encounter with a friend that she doesn’t know how to label, but knows it left her feeling hurt and angry. Later she meets a handsome writing professor who takes an interest in her work, and, well…you can probably guess what happens here. Yet in spite of the similarity to other campus stories, this book felt really special to me. First, I think Florin nailed the feel of a small liberal arts campus. I could easily conjure Wilder in my mind and understand students’ devotion to it. I also loved the depiction of female friendships, the details of Isabel’s Jewish heritage, the questions of class privilege, and the intense writing workshop scenes in which Florin examines the power dynamics of a classroom as well as questions what makes a piece of writing good. Mostly, I found it to be a compellingly complex examination of all the gray areas in which men exert power over women. There are the obvious ones, yes, but there were also many surprising directions and layers built into Isabel’s story, including a faux-sensitive jerk in the creative writing department, perfectly-placed Edith Wharton references, and the backdrop of the Clinton impeachment. While the book has more than a few flaws (the epilogue-style last chapter is one of them), this is a story I’ll be thinking about for a long time and a writer I’ll be eager to return to. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• Day by Michael Cunningham (out November 14th). I had wanted to read this in consideration for my Fall Fiction Compendium and just didn’t get around to it. When I saw that Julianne Moore narrated the audiobook, I immediately downloaded it and listened to it in a single day. That’s an appropriate way to read this book as the story takes place on the same day across three years. We meet Isabel, her husband Dan, her brother Robbie, and the rest of the family on the morning of April 5th 2019. Through the few hours we are with them, Cunningham gives us a great sense of who these people are and—more importantly—who they are to each other. We then move to the afternoon of April 5th 2020 when the whole world has radically changed and conclude the story on the evening of April 5th 2021 to see how this little group of people has weathered a pandemic year. I had a lot of problems with this book. Cunningham writes a lot about music and social media, and it’s pretty clear he doesn’t know much about either. There’s a conversation about what it feels like to be a woman that made my skin crawl. There were multiple times when I thought, this is not how people talk to each other—taking me immediately out of the story. Cunningham can also veer into the overwrought—a problem exacerbated when trying to give voice to a five-year-old. BUT—and this is a big but—this story was beautiful and moving and tender. In spite of its flaws, I felt like it captured something real about the pandemic, about loss, about the need for community, about being a person now. Day out November 14th and I recommend it, flaws and all. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

Now I’m reading…

• Chain-Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyaj. I think this book will show up on the Aspen Words Prize longlist and I also think it will win the National Book Award so there was no way I wasn’t going to read it. Still, this isn’t the kind of book I love these days—I find I’m relatively uninterested in dystopian novels at the moment. Still, the book’s brilliance is clear and I’m glad I’m making time for it. Switching from audio to print was a good decision for me, and that’s the format I’d recommend if you’re looking to pick this one up too. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton. Since loving both The Luminaries and Birnam Wood this year, I wanted to make 2023 my Eleanor Catton Year and also read her debut. Now felt like the right time since it has much in common in Trust Exercise in terms of plot and themes. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

If you are an international reader or just prefer UK covers, you can also order books through my Blackwell’s affiliate page!

Links I love.

How has big publishing changed fiction?

The best book covers of October and a conversation with a cover designer.

What a beautiful ode to paperbacks.

Best-of-the-year list season is upon us. So far I’m loving Barnes & Noble’s list as well as author Emma Straub’s.

Read your way through Lima with the New York Times.

It’s Been a Minute discusses the Britney memoir.

Three new books in translation.

Modern African novels inspired by mythology.

End notes.

This week in views, listens, eats, and moments of joy.

• Trick-or-treating with a two-year-old is a lot of fun. And she’s not yet possessive of her candy so I have a nice little stash of Reese’s.

• I’ve been exclusively wearing my Bombas Merino wool socks. I get very cranky when they’re all in the wash so I’m considering purchasing another 4-pack. I especially appreciate the differentiated sizing as someone with rather small feet.

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Happy reading!

Sara