Three upcoming releases to preorder today

Plus the best books of the 21st Century and a new Wuthering Heights adaptation

Hey readers!

Like many other readers, I spent this week utterly consumed by the NYT Best Books of the 21st Century list. I’ve written a little a bit about it already, and I’m planning a Reading in Public newsletter all about the term “best” for Tuesday. But for today, I want to say one of the things I appreciate so much about this list is the reminder to continue picking up backlist books. Seeing these books presented in list format being recommended by authors I love with cool interactive and graphic elements, made me as excited for older books as we all tend to get about new releases. I’m hoping to prioritize backlist more than I typically do for the remainder of the year, so thank you for that, New York Times!

This week in books.

This week I read…

• Liars by Sarah Manguso. A slim powerful book about the devolution of a marriage, this book moved me even as I found it incredibly frustrating to read—and that, I think, is the entire point. The book follows Jane, a writer who marries an artist named John despite knowing in her soul that marriage is incompatible with the creation of her art. When her artistic career outpaces his, the relationship deteriorates. Add in emotional immaturity, too many moves, financial windfalls and losses, and a child, and this is a tangled mess of a marriage that feels very singular while also communicating larger truths about marriage and motherhood. The reason this book was frustrating is it feels so grounded in present pain (while this is fiction, I believe it is highly autobiographical) and almost no part of Jane and John’s relationship feels good or healthy or worth saving. I spent basically the entire book—it’s short!—thinking, “OMG, just leave him already!” While that is frustrating, it’s also what makes this book special. It feels raw while still stuffed with polished pearls of wisdom. Manguso effectively uses this tone to convey how people come to lie to themselves about the state of their relationships and even what they want out of life. I love it when a book’s title is doing work and this is an example of a title lifting a heavy load to bring the entire novel together perfectly. Amazon | Bookshop

• The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman. What a fun ride! I’ll start by saying that, for me, this was a touch on the long side, but I reminded myself that I don’t need my books to be Cocomelon and harnessed my attention to finish. And it was so good! This book is rooted in Arthurian legend and primarily follows a young knight named Collum who’s seeking to prove himself by being admitted into the Round Table. Unfortunately for Collum, he arrives too late—Arthur is dead and the only knights left are those often left in the periphery of legends. What ensues is a comic and magical final quest that reaches into the backstories of some of these forgotten figures, allowing Grossman to fill in and fill out this influential mythology. Grossman is an excellent world builder. It’s not easy for me to imagine fantasy worlds and magic in my mind’s eye, but somehow his style allows me to feel completely immersed. This book was a perfect escape for me and I think if you love any fantasy at all, this is something to try. So much western fantasy is rooted in the tales of King Arthur and I felt like part of Grossman’s project was to showcase that without beating readers over the head with it. It was tons of fun to be reading and noticing how stories like Game of Thrones and Harry Potter are drawing so much from this historical legend. The Bright Sword is out on Tuesday and the audio was excellent so get your preorders in now! Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

• Colored Television by Danzy Senna. This year I’ve fallen in love with Danzy Senna’s writing and this new book is fantastic! It’s a little bit meta in that it follows a writer living in LA trying to follow the moderate success of her first book (a story chronicling the life of a girl growing up with a white mother and a Black father) with a big, epic second novel. In the meantime, she and her artist husband bounce between homes as the house sit for wealthy friends and struggle to help their children thrive. The protagonist Jane is flawed but relatable and as she makes cringe-inducing decisions, you can’t help but understand even as you want to avert your eyes. Senna’s writing is also so funny. I wanted to highlight every single thing she said about teaching, which was simultaneously hysterical and profound. I also appreciate her declarative interest in the experience of being mixed race (or mulatto as she and Jane term it) in America. All of her books that I’ve read so far explore this with greater and greater nuance and depth and I just love it when an author really finds their thing and then continues to give us better and better art exploring that thing. Get your preorders in on this one. It’s a must-read. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

Now I’m reading…

• Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. I’m committing to finally finishing this one this week. Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm

New on my TBR…

• Upwards of 50 books from the NYT big list and the individual ballots they released. So much reading to do!!

Links I love.

All of the NYT Best Books of the 21st Century links! I’m running out of gift links but I shared them all here. The post is for paid subscribers, but I included gift links above the paywall! And this new article helps readers narrow down what they may want to read based on length, tone, genre, and subject matter (NYT, gift link)

Nick Hornby’s newsletter about the NYT list is fantastic. (Substack)

What do we do about the Alice Munro revelations? Constance Grady and Brandon Taylor weigh in. (Content warning for sexual abuse. Links to The Toronto Star, Vox, and Substack, respectively)

The Most Anticipated Books of the Year, Part Two. (Lit Hub)

The best book club books of 2024 so far. (Glamour)

30 best beach reads for an exceptional season of reading. (Pop Sugar)

So many Emily Henry adaptations are coming our way. (Glamour)

I, for one, cannot wait for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation. (Vulture)

Lev Grossman is back! Learn more about the beloved fantasy author in this profile. (Vulture)

End notes.

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

• This roundtable discussion about the NYT list with some of the editors was a great addition to the conversations around the list and a reminder that such lists are about conversation.

• I rewatched The Parent Trap with my niece—what a delight!

• It’s so fun to be at the beach with Louise. She loves it so much…maybe too much.

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Happy reading!

Sara