The Best Books of 2024
A list of the best fiction and nonfiction books of 2024, from Percival Everett's "James" to Suzanne Scanlon's "Committed." Also including notable titles in both categories.
"Monet: The Restless Vision," "Paris in Ruins," and the Art of Biography
A joint review of Jackie Wullschlänger's "Monet: The Restless Vision" and Sebastian Smee's "Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism," along with other fall nonfiction recommendations.
Disability and Desire in "Intermezzo"
Last week, like tens of thousands of other readers across the globe, I made my way to a local bookstore to purchase Intermezzo, the fourth novel by Sally...
Covid Fiction, Fall (Mostly) Fiction Preview
You may already have seen this article on my social feeds, but in case you haven’t, I wanted to share the essay I wrote for The Sick Times on There’s Nothing...
Andy Murray, Emma Raducanu, and the Body's Demands
Today, we take a digression into the world of sports. Andy Murray says farewell. July is Disability Pride Month. Perhaps, if I’d been on top of the calendar,...
"Bear," a Great Summer Mystery, and More
1. I had the great pleasure of interviewing Julia Phillips for Electric Lit about her new book, Bear. Julia and I overlapped at Barnard (and, according to my...
Summer Books, Recent Reads, and the State of Covid
yawn yawn yawn I contributed to Bustle’s most anticipated books of the summer. I was really happy to get to pick from the many galleys I read for this list,...
In Colm Tóibín's "Long Island," Eilis Lacey Grows Up
Long Island, the newly-published follow-up to Colm Tóibín’s most beloved novel, Brooklyn, takes place around twenty years after the first novel and begins...
Sophomore Slumps and Addiction in "Wandering Stars" (and "Monkey Grip")
Tommy Orange. Credit: PRH/Michael Lionstar In the current economy of publishing, and by extension books coverage too, debut novels take up such a...
The Best Old(er) Books I Read in 2023
I read more books in 2023 than I have in any year of my adult life, and perhaps even in years when, as a child, I spent all my time burrowed into fantasy...
The Ten Best Books of 2023
Below, you'll find a list of the ten best new books I read this year, along with a list of honorable mentions. I decided not to separate reissues, or books...
Little Dorrit, or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Dickens
Well, I did say it would be a while before my next newsletter — it has been a particularly unpleasant couple of months for me. I have a few other pieces...
Autism Misinformation and Stereotyping in Angie Kim's "Happiness Falls"
Angie Kim’s new novel, Happiness Falls, opens on a minor miracle. Mia, the novel’s sardonic undergraduate protagonist, finds herself literally bowled over by...
Welcome & Covid in Fiction
Hello, friends and readers. I created this newsletter some time ago (initially, via Substack) in order to keep in touch with folks as Twitter became less...