Thought-provoking books from authors I love

Plus kid lit prize winners and a Taylor Swift conspiracy

Hey, readers!

I am in a great reading groove. Thanks to a new super simple system to manage by TBR (more on that soon!), I’ve been feeling confident choosing my next reads and exciting about what’s to come in my reading life. I’ve been enjoying prioritizing reading my most anticipated books of the year in advance, without getting caught up in the books everyone on Bookstagram is reviewing in the moment. And getting in line with my galley priorities is leaving me room for backlist gems, book club selections, and even rereads. This week I particularly loved my backlist picks, and now I’m in the middle of some of the 2024 releases I’m most excited about. It feels good to start the year off in a particularly good reading groove!

This week in books.

This week I read…

• The Book of Love by Kelly Link (out 2/13). What a puzzling book from Pulitzer finalist short story writer, Kelly Link. The story follows three teenagers who come back from the dead and are given supernatural tasks they must complete in order to remain among the living. Reading this novel felt like watching a season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I know Link must be doing that intentionally. There was something nostalgic about the feel of the book, even though the story was completely new to me. Like Buffy, Link is using supernatural terrors to comment on the terrors of teenagehood and the traumas of humanity. It’s well-written, funny, and occasionally profound, but it’s also muddled by its own length and the sheer moments of weird Link packs into it. Her weird is wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but when the Scottish heroine of a romance series materializes into the story around page 550 for seemingly no reason, I started to feel like it was overstuffed. While I enjoyed this unwieldy and found some of Link’s themes truly moving, both my enjoyment and appreciation of what she was doing would likely have been improved a tighter focus. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. After finishing a reread of Pride and Prejudice, I wasn’t ready to be done with Austen’s world so I downloaded the Rosamund Pike audio version. As one of Austen’s shorter works, I flew through this and loved it more than I remembered. The Emma Thompson film version has always been a favorite adaptation of mine, but the book isn’t in my top half of Austen novel rankings. This time around I found a lot more appreciation for what Austen was doing both with the familial relationships as well a with questions about “second attachments.” There’s also so much drama in this book…maybe the most dramatic drama of any of Austen’s novels, and I thought it was a ton of fun. I highly recommend this if you’re new to Austen or if you’re considering which book by the author to pick up next. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• Erasure by Percival Everett. This was my fourth Percival Everett novel and I continue to be amazed at the way his mind works. This is the story of Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a writer of obscure classical-influenced literary fiction. When he finds his books shelved in the African American Studies section of a bookstore and subsequently learns of a breakout novel that he feels stereotypes Black Americans, he reaches his professional breaking point. He pens a satirical novel poking fun at the style the publishing world reveres and—of course—it takes off. While this is ostensibly a story about the publishing industry, pandering, language, and the state of American fiction, this is Percival Everett and so it becomes something I never saw coming. This is a novel that needs to be unpacked, and I’m looking forward to hearing The Stacks Podcast discussion of this next Wednesday. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

Now I’m reading…

• I simply couldn’t wait any longer and I’m now in the middle of two of my most anticipated 2024 releases: James by Percival Everett (out 3/19) and Real Americans by Rachel Khong (out 4/30).

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.

I loved Come and Get It by Kiley Reid (out 1/30) and so did Linda Holmes.

The New York Times’ list of 9 new books they recommend this week is topped by a book I adored. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. Speaking of Akbar, definitely take a listen to him talking with Traci on The Stacks Podcast.

Check out some of the kid lit prize winners announced this week.

If you’re confused by (or haven’t heard about) the Argylle / Taylor Swift conspiracy theory, read this.

Loving this new, Am I the Literary Assh*le series from Lit Hub.

This is a sub-genre I’ve very into: gothic sci-fi.

Hisham Matar on writing male friendships. I’m definitely adding his new novel to my TBR.

Eight Caribbean novels to add to your reading list.

End notes.

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

• I’ve been living for watching the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, and getting even more excited about reading Gracie Gold’s memoir (out 2/6).

• Louise has been back in school after an extended break, and seems so excited about being with other kids again.

• I was on a bonus episode of The Stacks to talk about most anticipated books of 2024. You can listen to a preview here or join The Stacks Pack to get the whole episode.

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Happy reading!

Sara