The final week of secret reading
Plus The Black List expands to books and why AI won't make great art
My 2024 Fall Fiction Compendium comes out next Sunday which means this is my last week of secret reading for the fall guide. Thank goodness! I always love putting reading guides together, but the secret reading and the reading for content has been getting to me more this year than ever. There are many reasons for this, not all of which will I get into here, but I’m happy to say that I have some ideas about how my work here can evolve to better accommodate the way I want to read but also to put even better, more useful book content into your hands. I’m feeling inspired!
But before I get too far ahead of myself, I’m also extremely excited about this year’s Fall Compendium. I have been opening all of the wonderful fall previews that are rolling in and I’m awestruck by how many promising titles we’re getting this season. But I have to say, a lot of these previews are missing some seriously great books from independent publishers! After years of putting together this guide, I’ve realized how just a few titles suck up most of the air in the publishing space and how many gems are put out by publishers outside the Big Five machine. This year’s Compendium includes plenty of buzzy books and, of course, books from the Big Five, but my focus has been on vetting the books you might miss otherwise. And they are good!
So I’m skipping This Week in Books today to save all the surprise and delight for next week, but get excited! There is a selection of meticulously curated books (all read cover to cover by yours truly!) on its way to you. It’s a seriously great time to be a reader!
P.S. I’m currently running a back-to-school sale from now until my fall guide releases on September 15th. You can get annual subscriptions for 20% off, which guarantees you the 2024 fall guide and the 2025 Paperback Summer Reading Guide, plus my entire back catalog of Mood Recs, guides, and paid posts. Thanks for supporting FictionMatters!
Links I love.
The Black List—a survey of the vetted as yet unproduced screenplays—is expanding to the book world. This is going to be huge for authors who’ve struggled to get their manuscripts in front of the right readers. And I get to serve on a judging panel for the inaugural year! (NYT, gift link / Blcklst.com)
I loved this essay from Ted Chiang about why AI won’t ever make great art. Like everything Chiang writes, it deals with what makes us human in a profound way. (New Yorker)
7 books about badass Medieval women. (The Millions)
Vulture updated their ongoing best books of the year so far list. (Vulture)
This is a great interview with Elizabeth Strout. (The Guardian)
Six writers on getting words on the page. (Lit Hub)
We’re getting another Huck Finn retelling this year. This one is kid lit told from the perspective of Huck’s crush, Mary Jane. (NYT)
Bookshop.org is offering 15% off FSG and Picador books right now.
End Notes.
This episode of Ezra Klein might be the best conversation about parenting I’ve ever heard.
A couple of months ago we replaced the traditional key lock on our front door with a keypad lock. It’s not hard to bring keys with you out into the world, but it is much easier not to bring keys with you. Now that I’m going on more frequent walks, I love being able to head out the door with fewer things in my hands.
Louise has been super into The Wizard of Oz so we’ve been reading the 1900 classic (edited in real time by mom) together at bedtime. Reading novels to my child at bedtime is basically the reason I had a child so I am living for this right now.
Lou and I took our first Parent / Tot ice skating class together and it was a blast.
I bought a Hatch alarm clock during Prime Day and I am loving it. I would not have chosen this pricey of an option except that I one time told Louise that she would know rest time was over when her Hatch light was green. Since she ends up in bed with me most nights, I have spent many mornings with her climbing over me looking for a nonexistent green light and then going to the window to see if the sun is up. So I got the grown-up version of the okay-to-wake clock. But now I’m all in. I have my sleep routine programmed so when I go to bed rain sounds play while the reading light on the clock slowly fades for 30 minutes. Then it switches to a very soothing brown noise. I might get fancy and add in a little sleep story or meditation. It’s silly and completely unnecessary, but it makes me excited to go to bed.
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Happy reading!
Sara
So cool that you get to judge for The Black List! And collaborate with LeVar Burton!!!
Hello! I am looking forward to the Fall reader guide. If it’s as great as the Summer guide my reading life will be rich and overflowing with wonderful literature. Thank you in advance Sara.