The Wrap: 10 favorite reads from the year (so far)
Colored Television, Intermezzo, Julie Chan is Dead, The Wildelings, In the Dream House, and more
Well, well, well. It’s been a long ass minute. My cat died on March 31st. That sweet (not so little) sunbeam queen was my very first pet and it was devastating. I am still devastated. I’m talking literal uncontrollable sobbing still today, three months later. And while I’m not ready for another pet any time soon, I did start walking dogs at the local animal shelter so that I could get my animal fix while also still letting myself grieve. Dogs because that’s what the shelter needed help with. Dogs too, because I can’t really handle being around cats. It’s been a huge help. I love it so much. Here, just look at these precious shepherd/husky puppies chewing the shit out my overalls.
The animals around here have also stepped up their game. Specifically this Pine Siskin (who is not carrying Salmonella (we checked)) who has decided that I am his friend? His mother? I don’t know. But he’s adorable and he hangs out with me while I write outside. Should I include him in the acknowledgements of my book? Without a doubt.
Speaking of writing, I wrote about structure earlier in June. In an effort to eliminate the noise, I only send out one newsletter a month (The Wrap) with a links to other recently published pieces. That way you can choose what to read without me showing up in your already too full inbox.
Moving on.
Reading. That department has had a shake up this year. Looking over my list, it’s high quality and low quantity compared to previous years. I’m not upset. In fact, in an effort to move away from all that, I deleted my book tracking accounts and now only jot them down in my notes app. Death to time stamping everything.
If you’ve been around here long enough, you’ll know that reading was not necessarily a struggle when I owned the bookstore but I didn’t have the mental capacity to read as widely as I did in the past. I’m happy to report that without the bookstore, reading has returned to it’s usual programming. We’ve got memoirs, classics, literary fiction, contemporary/book club fiction, novellas, and chunkier reads. Below is a list of standouts so far from this hellish year!
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
This fragmented memoir was one of the first books I read this year and I’m still thinking about it. The structure lends itself to the confusion and pain of betrayal and separation. And I particularly enjoyed the pages where she addressed the reader directly, letting us know what she’s willing and unwilling to share. And I feel compelled to mention the voice. Smith is known for her poetry, and there’s something magical about poets writing longer form. They way they describe surroundings and feelings and everything in between is a real gut punch.
Red Paint by Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe
I promise this won’t be a list of memoirs but I can’t help but shout out another because after years of struggling with nonfiction, it feels so good to be back. Red Paint was an absolute stunner. Moving and evocative, this story follows LaPointe as she traces her family history to reclaim herself and the land around her. I loved reading about her journey and how, despite the rough nature of personal investigation, it allowed her to connect with her loved ones.
Sidenote: LaPointe is another poet. Maybe the key here is reading poet memoirists. Because, look at that, next up is another.
Recovering: A Journal by May Sarton
May Sarton. We meet again. If you’ve read one of these Wraps before, you’ve probably seen her work pop up because I just…I can’t stop. I am obsessed with their intimacy, her ability to capture a mood or feeling in as little as one line or twenty. Recovering came from her need to earn money - which she admits - and also her desire to recover from a deep depression, to “restore a sense of meaning and continuity” to her life. And she does that.
Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang
Another obsession? This debut about a supermarket cashier who is estranged from her twin, a popular beauty influencer. But all that changes when she discovers her sister's dead body and does the unimaginable - takes on her identity. It’s like Bunny and Yellowface and A Novel Obsession had a baby.
Fire and Air by John Boyne
These two novellas complete Boyne’s Elements series, which completely blew me away. Tough yet captivating, I read each of these in one sitting. Seriously, the topics are brutal, and Fire was by far the most fucked up. And yet I kept reading. Why? This is the kind of book I wish I had a book club to discuss it with. What is the writer doing that compels me to keep flipping the page? Is it the accuracy? The honesty? The graceful approach to brutality?
Air on the other hand - Boyne leads us through a redemptive arc between father and son, and it reads like a beautiful release to the whole series. If you can get your hands on it, this series includes some of the best books I’ve ever read.
*unlinked because they’re not available in the U.S.
The Wildelings by Lisa Harding
It’s Irish. It’s dark academia. It’s a story about female friendship, psychological abuse, and family trauma. Check, check, and check. Readers alternate between past and present as the narrator reflects on her formative university years after leaving her husband and failed acting career. I loved the tension between these two timelines, how they pushed and pulled me through the story, and how the author leaned more on her character’s as the driving force rather than the plot.
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
This was one of the most honest, inventive memoir reading experiences I’ve ever had. Machado details an abusive past relationship in fragments, using movies and books and folklore to create this imagined space as a way to examine how the unimaginable could happen. It’s not an easy read, of course. It’s not meant to be. But the mood she creates through her prose captures the inner world of the writer during this time in a way that plain, timeline oriented writing often can’t. It was stunning.
Colored Television by Danzy Senna
I finished this book the day before writing this newsletter. The word that keeps coming to mind when I think about it is Refreshing. It was an unexpected experience in that - it wasn’t slow but it took its time. Senna leans on her main character to drive the novel, not the plot. And every time I thought it was going one direction, it went in another more exciting one. So, I guess another word would be Unexpected. Refreshing, unexpected, and precise. It all made for a deeply enjoyable reading experience.
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
I tried Intermezzo a few times before I was finally was able to sink into the prose. I loved meeting these two (somewhat) estranged brothers in the aftermath of their father’s death. The question throughout being will these two reconnect with each other, and also themselves by the end? Rooney alternates between two distinct writing styles for both characters, and Peter’s…woof. It was not an easy task. But once I was able to sink into it, the story expanded and the larger themes of of the book - desire and despair and love - really shined.
New classes are live:
I’m teaching a couple of workshops in the coming months - a one-day pitch workshop on August 9th and a four-week personal essay workshop starting in October. Both through Writing Workshops.
I’ve taught these two before and enjoy the lively nature of both, the balance between quiet writing time and group discussion. The bookseller in me lives on in these workshops too, as I can’t help but throw out recommendations at all given opportunities to do so.
More details at Writing Workshops:
