What has my friend Smalls been reading?

currently reading: Fraud by Anita Brookner

August 1, 2024

books bought Toppatakin alla on sydän by Tuija Hannula (rough translation: There’s a heart under the winter coat) A History of the World in 10½ Chapters by...

just finished: Being a Beast by Charles Foster

June 24, 2024

books bought Fraud by Anita Brookner Letters from London by Julian Barnes books borrowed & received Being a Beast: Adventures Across the Species Divide by...

currently reading: Y/N by Esther Yi

May 5, 2024

books purchased Lise Lillywhite by Margery Sharp Staring at the Sun by Julian Barnes Sculptor’s Daughter: A Childhood Memoir by Tove Jansson, trans. Kingsley...

currently reading: Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan

February 20, 2024

books bought: NONE! But I have pre-ordered the following: All Things Are Too Small: Essays in Praise of Excess by Becca Rothfeld (out 4/2) Great Expectations...

currently reading: nothing relevant to the subject of this newsletter, which is policing & mental illness

September 30, 2020

books & publications referenced and/or that have helped shape my ideas on the subject “Waking Rip van Winkle: Why Developments in the Last 20 Years Should...

selected book pics, 2014-2019

December 28, 2019

Hey you, I have like hundreds of book pics on my phone. Also I have photos on my phone dating back to the year 2014. (#doublebrag!!!) Below you’ll find a...

selected reading, graphic novels/nonfiction/etc, 2009-2019

December 1, 2019

Yours by Sarah Ferrick (she goes by Margot Ferrick now) Suggested talking points: whether it’s OK to email a tattoo artist and say “can you give me a tattoo...

currently reading: Females by Andrea Long Chu

November 3, 2019

books bought The Book of Daniel by Aaron SmithFemales by Andrea Long Chu books received Excellent Women, Less Than Angels, The Sweet Dove Died, and A Very...

currently (re)reading: Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl by Jeannie Vanasco

September 29, 2019

books bought Us Two Together by EphameronLast Night in Nuuk by Niviaq Korneliussen, trans. Anna HalagerAxiomatic by Maria TumarkinThe Hard Tomorrow by...

currently reading: Taking Care by David Smail

August 5, 2019

books bought Stubborn Archivist by Yara Rodrigues-FowlerHoly the Firm by Annie DillardTeaching a Stone to Talk by Annie DillardThe Adventure Zone: Murder on...

currently reading: The American Way of Death, Revisited by Jessica Mitford

June 30, 2019

books bought The Selfishness of Others: An Essay on the Fear of Narcissism by Kristin DombekMister Monkey by Francine ProseFragments of Sappho, trans. Anne...

currently reading: Mitz by Sigrid Nunez

June 9, 2019

books bought Empty Words by Mario Levrero, trans. Annie McDermottThe Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth by Josh LevinThe Summer of Dead Birds...

currently reading: All the Fierce Tethers by Lia Purpura

May 27, 2019

books bought Sounds Like Titanic by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman​This Woman's Work by Julie Delporte, trans. Helge Dascher and Aleshia JensenWalking on the...

summer book preview

April 28, 2019

Welcome, bitches, to: What follows are some books I would like to read over the summer (“a book summer preview,” for the layman). Instead of googling each...

currently reading: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris

April 22, 2019

books bought: Little Labors by Rivka GalchenAmerican Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica HesseNine Island by Jane Alison books...

currently reading: Until We Reckon by Danielle Sered

March 15, 2019

books bought: The White Book by Han KangUntil We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair by Danielle Sered books received: The Ungrateful...

currently reading: Strange Harvests by Edward Posnett

February 11, 2019

books bought: none! books received: The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells (e-galley, out 2/19)Strange Harvests: The Hidden...

currently reading: Impossible Owls by Brian Phillips

February 3, 2019

books bought: Impossible Owls by Brian PhillipsSeasonal Associate by Heike Geissler, trans. Katy DerbyshireThe Journal of Jules Renard, ed./trans. by...

currently reading: Crudo by Olivia Laing

January 16, 2019

books finished: Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica BruderThe Address Book by Sophie Calle books abandoned: Liquid Rules: The...

currently reading: Nomadland by Jessica Bruder

January 6, 2019

books bought Blind Spot by Teju ColeBad with Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Shit Together by Gaby DunnAwe by Dorothea Lasky books...

currently reading: Temp by Louis Hyman

December 17, 2018

books bought If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo CalvinoCrudo by Olivia LaingCollected Stories by Diane Williams books received What's in a Name by...

currently reading: Timekeepers by Simon Garfield

November 26, 2018

books bought Subtraction by Mary RobisonTimekeepers: How the World Became Obsessed with Time by Simon GarfieldTemp: How American Work, American Business, and...

currently reading: The Reckonings by Lacy Johnson

October 16, 2018

books bought: Rx by Rachel LindsayOne D.O.A., One on the Way by Mary RobisonTom Sawyer by Joseph GranthamJohn, Dear by Laura Lannes270º by Maggie UmberFully...

currently reading:....look, i just finished a long book and i don't need to hear it from you right now!

October 15, 2018

books bought: John, Dear by Laura Lannes books received: The Witch Elm by Tana FrenchThe Made-Up Man by Joseph Scapellato (e-galley) books finished: The...

currently reading: Passing for Human by Liana Finck

September 19, 2018

books bought: Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn WardThe Animators by Kayla Rae Whitakerfeeld by Jos Charles books received: The Reckonings by Lacy M. Johnson...

a story

September 11, 2018

Hey you,I haven't, um, finished any books this week, but I'm writing anyway because I want to tell you a story. If you follow me on twitter or know me in...

currently reading: Normal People by Sally Rooney

August 28, 2018

books bought: McSweeney's 53 (which is a lit mag but counts here as a book because a) it was expensive and b) it was long) books received: Normal People by...

currently reading: The Book of Delights by Ross Gay

August 26, 2018

books finished: The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun WangThe Talented Ribkins by Ladee HubbardLook Back and Laugh by Liz Prince books bought: The...

currently reading: The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard

August 19, 2018

books finished: Saul Stories by Elizabeth EllenTurning Japanese by MariNaomiMaeve in America: Essays by a Girl from Somewhere Else by Maeve HigginsHouse...

currently reading: 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane

August 11, 2018

books finished: French Exit by Patrick deWittMagical Negro by Morgan Parker books bought: none(?) (possibly a first in 52+ weeks) books received: Make This...

currently reading: French Exit by Patrick DeWitt

August 3, 2018

books finished: How Should a Person Be? by Sheila HetiMinding the Store: A Big Story about a Small Business by Julie Gaines, illus. Ben LenovitzIdiophone by...

currently reading: Interior by Thomas Clerc

July 26, 2018

books bought: The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins by Clint, Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy; illus. Carey Pietsch books received: Interior by...

currently reading: nothing, i'm in between books atm

July 17, 2018

books finished: Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves by Jesse Bering books bought: My Year of Rest & Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh books received: The Souls of...

currently reading: Person/a by Elizabeth Ellen

July 15, 2018

books finished: The Correspondence by J.D. Daniels books received: Minding the Store: A Big Story about a Small Business by Julie Gaines, illustrated by Ben...

currently reading: Suicidal by Jesse Bering

July 10, 2018

books finished: Person/a by Elizabeth EllenCan You Tolerate This? by Ashleigh Young Hey you,I'll keep this short because you didn't sign up to hear from me...

currently reading: The Trouble with Being Born by E. M. Cioran

June 28, 2018

books finished: Little by Edward Carey books received: Person/a by Elizabeth EllenSaul Stories by Elizabeth EllenProperty of the Rebel Librarian by Allison...

currently reading: Little by Edward Carey

June 21, 2018

books bought: The Guardians: An Elegy for a Friend by Sarah Manguso books received: Liveblog by Megan BoyleLittle by Edward Carey books finished: Retreat by...

currently reading: Calypso by David Sedaris

June 14, 2018

books bought: Calypso by David SedarisThere There by Tommy OrangeLost in the Fun Zone by Leif GoldbergRetreat by Jaakko Pallasvuo (actually I don't remember...

currently reading: Loving Day by Mat Johnson

June 7, 2018

books bought: Tonight I'm Someone Else by Chelsea HodsonLoving Day by Mat Johnson ​​​​books received: Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian LiVanishing...

currently reading: Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, & Leanne Shapton

May 31, 2018

books bought: Break.up by Joanna WalshWomen in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, and Leanne ShaptonDouble Bird by Bud Smith books received:...

currently reading: The Folded Clock by Heidi Julavits

May 24, 2018

books bought: The Folded Clock by Heidi Julavits books received: Something Bright, Then Holes by Maggie Nelson books finished: Motherhood by Sheila Heti hey...

currently reading: Motherhood by Sheila Heti

May 17, 2018

hey you, when i first pitched this newsletter on twitter i described it as “a shameless rip-off of Nick Hornby’s ‘Stuff I’ve Been Reading’ column" and i want...