TBR overwhelm, magical feel-good stories, and crowd pleasers for book clubs

Plus Appalachian lit and finding your Booker book

Hey, readers!

You all have brought me some seriously fantastic questions and requests, and I am having a blast working my way through them while continuing with my secret fall reading (these fall releases, you guys!!). Today I’m sharing some thoughts on three great questions because I don’t have any current reads I can share with you yet. Let me know if you have thoughts about this advice and personal recommendations component of the Sunday newsletter…I may decide to keep it around in some form or another!

Emily asks: I feel very overwhelmed by my endless TBR, including the many, many books I own that are languishing on my shelves. Hold requests from the library keep coming in, and I feel like I can't pick what to read. It is starting to feel stressful to look at all the unread books on my shelves, when before they brought comfort. How do I stop feeling stressed and just enjoy reading what I am reading without worrying about all of my unread books??

Emily! I can completely relate to this problem, and I think many readers of this newsletter can too. I have some ideas for you! Without getting the opportunity to talk with you more to learn more about when and how these feelings started, I’m going to offer a smattering of ideas to help and suggest you mix and match them as you see fit. Let’s get to it.

• If you are feeling this overwhelm, it may indeed be time to cull your physical shelves a little bit. This isn’t always my first suggestion in the case of TBR overwhelm, but if you feel that your actual physical books are causing this stress, then they are not serving you and it’s time for some of them to go. Look through your unread books and if reading the synopsis, pulling them out, holding them in your hands doesn’t make you feel excited to read it any more, set it in a donate/sell pile. If the thought of this makes you feel stressed, put that donate/sell box aside in a garage or closet or even the back of your car for a couple weeks. If you’re still thinking about any of those books afterwards you can move them back to your shelves.

• Once all of the unread books on your shelves are ones you’re genuinely excited to read, you can try shopping your shelves when it comes time for a new book. Don’t force yourself to read an unread book before you request anything from the library or set any hard-and-fast rules that will take the joy out of it. Instead, treat your own shelves like you would a well-curated bookstore. Browse and select a few titles that are calling to you. Sit down with them and sample a few pages. Read the book that feels right and put the others back—for now.

• Alternately, you may want to create a “priority TBR pile.” Try choosing a manageable number of books from your unread shelves to read in a given month. I’m thinking maybe 1-3 books depending on your reading pace. Either physically set these in a place of prominence or write their titles someplace you can remind yourself (I like to use the Notes App on my phone or a post-it in my journal).

• Consider taking a break from your common recommendation source media like book podcasts or (gasp!) this newsletter. Perhaps being inundated with new-to-you titles is not just adding to your TBR pile but making that pile look dingy by comparison.

• Remind yourself that it is 100% okay for a book to languish on your shelf for years and even decades before you read it. You will eventually find yourself to it at the right time and past you has done right by future you in providing an excellent collection of books at your finger tips.

I’ve noticed a common trend among book recommendation requests for escapist, slightly magical books. Other words used in these requests include “feel-good,” “happy,” “light, but with depth,” and “magical realism.” If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Paperback Summer Reading Guide. There’s a section called “A Touch of Magic” that might be perfect for you! Otherwise, here are some additional recommendations…

• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

• The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

• Spells for Forgetting by Sarah Addison Allen

• Stardust by Neil Gaiman

• Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett

• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Ashtin asks: My work book club has 11 people in it and we all have different tastes! Would love some recs that will be a crowd pleaser for literary and genre lovers alike!

I am very passionate about what makes a good book club book so I adore this question. These ten titles are all books I personally enjoyed that I think could also appeal to readers who don’t typically like literary novels.

1. The Garden of the Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

2. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

3. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

4. Joan is Okay by Weike Wang

5. Loot by Tania James

6. Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

7. The Power by Naomi Alderman

8. The River by Peter Heller

9. Search by Michelle Huneven

10. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Have a reading dilemma or need a book recommendation? Use this form to tell me your current reading mood, share a book you love that you want a readalike for, or pose a reading life dilemma you need help solving. I’ll select requests for responses in the regular Sunday newsletter while I’m previewing books for my fall reading guide.

This week in books.

This week I read and sampled a slew of titles for my Five for Fall reading guide. I’m also in the middle of Fourth Wing. I’ll report back on that at a later date, but, so far, I have a lot of questions.

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.

This piece about the Pulitzer Prize’s citizenship requirement is essential reading.

The National Book Festival is happening now in D.C. If you can’t be there live, be sure to subscribe to the blog or check their website as videos of the events will be posted after the festival concludes.

I will gladly read the forthcoming school librarian memoirs.

Learn more about the Booker longlist and then take the quiz to discover which book you should read first.

Barbara Kingsolver recommended a big batch of Appalachian literature for the NYT, including this under-the-radar book that also appeared in my Paperback Summer Reading Guide.

Ann Patchett discussed her Tom Lake inspiration on All Things Considered.

If you read The Guest and have thoughts about the ending, read this.

New thrillers to get you through August.

End notes.

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

• I’ve been making tiny food for Louise’s dollhouse out of Sculpey clay and it is bring me SO MUCH JOY.

• Over at Novel Pairings, we’re reading one of my all-time favorites for our September book and I am giddy with excitement thinking about discussing it with Chelsey.

• We took Louise to Rocky Mountain Folks Fest this weekend and had so much fun.

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Happy reading!

Sara