The Good News/Bad News: A Reflection

If you'd be so kind as to indulge me

All the books I’ve read so far in 2024

I’ll get to the point: we are halfway through 2024. That is the good news or the bad news, depending on the past 6 months you’ve had or your own internal levels of optimism/pessimism, as it were. I will not turn this into a personal reflection because who cares, but I WILL turn this into a literary reflection because maybe you care? Idk.

I don’t like the idea of setting an annual reading goal (though I have fallen prey to this in the past) because I think it takes away from the experience of reading and makes you focus on quantity vs. quality. Now, Goodreads does have the option to participate in an annual reading goal, which I physically cannot stop myself from doing, but I try not to give it much weight because IT’S NOT THAT SERIOUS, I whisper-scream to myself nightly.

But I thought, perhaps, a reflection of what I’ve read this might be nice? To review from whence I came and where I want to go with my reading for the remainder of the year. I will say– I am a mood reader through and through, meaning I try to pick books that just fit the vibe of what I am feeling like consuming in that moment. But looking back at what I’ve read so far and what has moved me might inform my choice of books for the rest of the year. Hopefully, this reflection will inspire you and your literary pursuits for the remainder of 2024.

I’ve read 33 books in the past six months. I’ve divided them into categories, which I’ve tried to make coherent, but I guess you’ll be the judge of that. I’ve written a bit about my favorite in each category, with a short description of the rest (and will probably write more in-depth on some of these in the future!) If you want to know more about a certain book, HMU in the comments, DM me, or all books are linked to bookshop.org.

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ODYSSEUS VIBES

To be honest I can’t remember shit about The Odyssey other than Odysseus is the main guy and he is on a long boat trip for most of it. I’m not a classics professor, ok? Sue me. But you get the idea– a journey! A big adventure! Some of the best stories, historically and contemporarily, are set in the backdrop of a journey. The characters travel physically, and, as a result of the trials they face and the people they meet along the way, they are transformed.

The books in this category could not be more different in plot and subject matter, but all of them involve our characters leaving their comfort zone, their home, their place, etc., to find meaning in their lives by way of a physical and spiritual journey. It’s a category that took me by surprise when I was organizing these, but I don’t hate it.

Housemates, by Emma Copley Eisenberg. This was my most recent read, and I LOVED it. And I will say– reading the back jacket of this, I was like, “Meh.” But this modern-day telling of the life and art of two lesser-known queer artists against the backdrop of a road trip across rural Pennsylvania had me hooked. Eisenberg’s writing is funny and relatable, and the story is a tender portrait of friendship, what it means to make art, and how to create a future for ourselves while still remembering the places past that made us who we are.

How Much of These Hills is Gold, by C Pam Zhang. A beautifully written American Western that, for once, is not centered on white people. Rather, this novel has Asian characters as its protagonists– both born in and outside of the US– who are now living in the American West and are searching for a place they can truly call home.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. A young man grapples with his future and painful past by turning to art—more specifically, a single artist and the idea of martyrdom. This was really good, but perhaps sliiiiiightly overhyped? SORRY.

DEVASTATION ABOUND

If there’s one thing you need to know about me, it’s that I love books that will emotionally eviscerate me. Give me a book that will positively ruin my day, have me ugly crying on the commute, up at night, needlessly suffering– that is the stuff for me. And the reason for that is beyond the scope of this essay, but the fact that only two of these really scratch that devastating, soul-crushing, darkest-parts-of-human-nature itch is a glaring sign that I will need to read many more deeply upsetting books before the end of the year!!!!

Ordinary Human Failings, by Meg Nolan. Meg Nolan’s first book, Acts of Desperation, knocked the wind out of me when I read it a few years ago, so I was ecstatic to get my hands on this one. Nolan’s sophomore novel is about an impoverished Irish family in England who find themselves at the center of a hideous murder of a young child from their neighborhood. The story is about loss, loneliness, and the ties that bind us to our families– no matter how we may thrash against them.

This Other Eden, by Paul Harding. OK, this one actually might be the most brutal of the bunch. Winner of the Pulitzer prize and based on true historical events, This Other Eden is about the settlers of an island off the northeast United States and the powers that be that attempt to force them into “civil society.”

Hot Springs Drive, by Lindsay Hunter. Perhaps not quite emotionally devastating enough for my taste, but I talked about this one in my last newsletter installation on Summer Reading- you can check it out there.

WEIRD & FUNNY

This is the currency I trade in, so I’m a bit shocked this list is so short. Mental note to self to read more off the rails, unhinged stuff the rest of the year. Anyhow, the title of the category speaks for itself. These fiction books are bizarre, unique in perspective, and laugh-out-loud funny. Some are more weird than funny, and vice versa– you understand. I would recommend all of these.

Mood Swings, by Frankie Barnet. Do you remember how, for a while, the TV show Veep was getting increasingly ridiculous, but then the absurd things happening in the show were actually happening in real life? That’s what this book is like. It’s positively out of control insane, to the point of unbelievable, but then you realize– oh, this is basically how the world is now, or how it will be in a few short years, as we spin slowly on our axis toward imminent destruction, tik-toking all the way. I am still turning this book over in my mind– it’s so weird, deeply self-aware, and has an acerbic wit that is both darkly hilarious and flat-out scary. Read it.

A Little Blood and Dancing, by Tyler Parker. A bloody tale of revenge with incredible sarcastic dialogue. I highly recommend it.

The Quick and the Dead, by Joy Williams. This is a recommendation from an author I admire, Tess Gunty. It is oddly compelling in its strangeness and observations of the lives of a motley crew of characters living in a small town in the southwestern United States.

GIRL, SO CONFUSING

For those of you who are not extremely logged on, no, this category is not referring to the books themselves being confusing, but rather the song, Girl, So Confusing by Charli XCX, off her new album, Brat (Brat Girl Summer!!!!!) And what I mean by that is, these books are about all of the emotions (there are many), insanity, pain, ugliness, hilarity, and beauty of being a woman in this life. I love these types of books, I love women, and I love being a woman. For me, these are some of the most fun kinds of books to read and allow me to better understand myself. Free therapy, if you will.

I Fear My Pain Interests You, by Stephanie Lacava. I will never not love books about a fuckup chick who blows up her life to escape a bad situation. Margot is the child of famous musicians and is having an affair with a much older film director. When that turns sour, she runs away to a friend’s home in Montana to escape the media fallout. But once there, she runs into a nameless man who keeps turning up and wants something from Margot. The question is, will she give it to him, and what will it cost her?

I Love Dick, by Kris Kraus. This one was just straight-up confusing, but also about a woman wrestling with her intense feelings for a man she’s only met a few times (relatable).

Perfume and Pain, by Anna Dorn. Dorn is new to me this year, and I love her stuff. Perfume and Pain is her latest book about an author struggling with writer’s block, as well as her own poor choices (dating, mental health, substance abuse– you name it).

Vagablonde, by Anna Dorn. I also wrote about this in my Summer Reading post. You can see the full description there!

Do Everything in the Dark, by Gary Indiana. Here’s the thing: I will ride for Gary Indiana any day of the week. He’s an author I discovered this year, only to voraciously consume as much of his work as I can get my hands on. His writing is unlike any other I’ve encountered, and it is always moving.

NONFICTION:

I have a lot to say about nonfiction, and for the Nth time in the post, I am going to say that I will expound on it in a future post. But really, I feel like when people say “non-fiction,” they mean business books, which, respectfully, get the fuck out of my face with that shit.

I am more interested in two types of nonfiction: memoirs/personal essays and sociological-type books on cultural movements and phenomena. I am not against other types of nonfiction, but I gravitate to these. They don’t feel like a performative read (eg, business books) or like homework. Four nonfiction books in the last six months is quite a few for me, and I have really been enjoying what I’ve read thus far. A new era, perhaps? Stay tuned…

Whorephobia: Strippers on Art, Work, and Life, by Lizzie Borden. God, this was so good. This book comprises 22 entries from different women who have made a good chunk of their living (or still do) as strippers. In pop culture, media, and in general, we tend to have strong opinions about strippers, and these opinions often involve revoking the benefits of personhood and applying moral judgment to those who are doing the stripping.

This book forces you to see its contributors as they are: living, breathing, red-blooded humans with rich, fascinating, mundane, complex lives just like ours– except that they also happen to strip. There is so much to be absorbed from this book, and no two women look at the profession of stripping through quite the same lens. It is impossible to read this and not come away from it a more thoughtful, empathetic person. I loved it.

White Out by Michael Clune. I don’t know what it’s like to do heroin (thank god), but this memoir is the closest I’ll ever come to understanding what it feels like. Michael Clune writes with exacting, lyrical prose about his spiral into addiction and its effect on his mind and body.

Scammer, by Caroline Calloway. If you know, you know. I haven’t followed all of the Caroline Calloway drama too closely over the years, but I am aware, let’s just say. This was…dare I say… good? Smart and vicious and funny and dark. The girl is mentally unstable, but the girl can write. Could it possibly be giving Virginia Woolfe??? OK, I wouldn’t go that far, but I will be reading more of Caroline Calloway.

Notes on Heartbreak by Annie Lord. A memoir about a breakup from a codependent relationship, Annie Lord’s writing is brutally honest, which I respect. If you’ve recently had your heart broken, this might be the salve you need.

SCIENCE FICTION

Here’s the thing– I am, low-key, but very high-key, a science fiction girlie. And I do think that sci-fi often gets sort of a bad rap– like, where does sci-fi end and fantasy begin, you know? But I find myself repeatedly picking up sci-fi books that are just outside the boundaries of our reality.

Not only are they meditative and well-constructed because they rely on an imaginative extension of science as we know it, but they brush up against the vulnerable mortality of our lives, allowing us to see what life could be like (or might be like) if certain scenarios were to play out. As a result, they are often the most impactful on my view of the world and my understanding of humanity. Sci-fi books have improved my critical thinking and empathy. I’ll continue to make them a priority in my reading repertoire.

Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler. My first Octavia Butler book! This was extraordinary, and I can’t recommend it enough. Set against the fall of the U.S. in a near dystopia, a teenager, Lauren, loses everything she holds dear, finding herself alone and searching for community and safety in this bleak new world. As she travels Northeast, she forms a community bound by a new creed: Earthseed. This book will suck you in; it is fully immersive and captivating. The new world is fragile, and so are the lives of Lauren and her community. Will their new order fail or flourish?

Parable of the Talents, by Octavia E. Butler. The second book to Parable of the Sower. This picks up where the first left off– and I can’t tell you much because I don’t want to give it away, but this is a remarkable series– you should read it.

The Three-body Problem, by Cixin Liu. This is the first book of a trilogy that chronicles the human race as it prepares for an alien invasion and subsequent war to save the planet. Pros: incredible world-building. Cons: lots of physics.

Same Bed, Different Dreams by Ed Park. Why are science fiction writers so smart? This book has layers upon layers, incorporating history and technology into a mind-blowing epic.

SHORT STORIES:

It took me some odd years, but I have grown to love a short story collection. It takes certain deftness to write a good short story, one that creates a rich life within its characters and shows it to the reader by revealing the exact right information and the exact right time. Sort of like unspooling a very fine thread– if you pull too quickly, it will tangle and break, but pull too slow, and you’ll never get the thread off the spool and into the sewing machine. These two collections that I’ve read this year have been completely disparate in style and subject, yet both are excellent. I’ll definitely be looking to read more short story collections in the next 6 months, so send any recommendations my way!

The End of the World is a Cul de Sac, by Louise Kennedy. Kennedy’s writing is so goddamn good you can feel it in your bones. These are incredible short stories, some of the best you’ll read. My main complaint is that they aren’t novels, each and every one of them. I need more of these characters, which is to say, I need more Louise Kennedy. Will read anything she writes.

Cheap Therapist Says You’re Insane, by Parker Young. Quite unlike anything I’ve ever read. These stories are delightfully strange, always ending up somewhere totally unexpected and new.

FLOP CITY:

Look– I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: not everything you read is going to be a winner. If your favorite book is among these, no hard feelings!!! There was some combination of the quality of the writing, the characters, the pacing, and/or the storyline in these books that did not grab me. But you can always learn something from what you don’t like– such as how to articulate your views or a more solid understanding of what you are looking for in a book. I’m not going to rip these to shreds, but rather give a quick one-liner about the things I didn’t like about each of these. You can contact management if you have further questions.

The Storm We Made, by Vanessa Chan. Unequivocally bad writing. Events are thrown in at every turn to the point of being unbelievable, and there is too much telling and not enough showing.

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez. Some moments of this were enjoyable and interesting, so I wouldn't write it off entirely, but there’s a supernatural element of this that I did not enjoy and did not work for me.

Pond, by Claire Lousie Bennett. Just not my thing. Hated the writing style, nothing happened, and I couldn’t get into it. Gorgeous cover art, though.

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. Comically bad writing and too much christian pandering.

BEST SO FAR:

I often find it hard to articulate my feelings about the books that affected me most deeply on an intimate, emotional level. I also take the “favorites” category of books very seriously, so please be advised that this is not an official list. It is simply those that have been my favorites so far. As in, these may not all end up on the best of the year list at the end of the year. It’s a competitive field, alright? Only the best of the best will make it to the top. Cue the ANTM theme song.

Beautyland, by

Marie-Helene Bertino

. This was a slow burn, but my GOD did it leave a mark. This book follows the life of a girl named Adina. Adina is different– she is an alien, and she communicates with her home planet via fax machine, sending them reports of the oddities and idiosyncracies of human life on Earth. We follow Adina from her childhood in Philly, where her single mother struggles to make ends meet, to her adult life in New York City. But really, this is a book about how we understand ourselves, our relationships with the most important people in our lives, and the joy, heartbreak, and pure dumb luck of being a person in this cruel and beautiful world.

August Blue, by Deborah Levy. I cannot get enough of Deborah Levy. I want to marinate my brain in everything she writes, and August Blue is no exception.

Penance, by Eliza Clark. I also wrote about this one in my Summer Reading Post. You really should read this book.

Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black, by Cookie Mueller. I will keep this brief as well because I intend to write more about Cookie Mueller and her work. Mueller was a writer, actress, and woman about town in the 1970s and 80s art scene. This book is a collection of her work, but more importantly, it allows you to get to know the person Cookie was, and she was magnificent; in a league all her own.

The Employees, by Olga Ravn. I wrote about this one in my Workplace Novels post. I want to write a whole post about it, but first, I need to reread it and absorb it all over again. It’s just so good.

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This is the longest newsletter ever, and for that, I am so sorry– but hopefully, you’re moved to reflect on your reading for the first half of the year or, at the very least, have some recommendations for the second half. My main takeaways from this little exercise: I need to read stuff that is weirder and sadder, not to mention throw in a few more short story collections for good measure. I’ll also continue to explore nonfiction, specifically cultural commentary and memoirs, and keep up the sci-fi and tortured girl books.

What about you? I’d love to hear some of your reading reflections for the halfway mark of 2024. Hit me with your weird and wonderful thoughts, recommendations, questions, concerns, etc. in the comments! Thanks for reading.

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Books of the moment:

✨Heads up! I’m using my Bookshop affiliate link for all titles recommended in this newsletter. If you buy them through these links, I’ll earn a commission.✨

📖 Currently reading:

Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art by Phoebe Hoban

📚Recently finished:

Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg, 5/5 stars

August Blue by Deborah Levy, 5/5 stars

How Much of These Hills is Gold, by C Pam Zhang, 3/5 stars

Mood Swings, by Frankie Barnet, 4/5 stars

Perfume and Pain, by Anna Dorn, 3.5/5 starts

👉🏼You should read: No One Will Read Your Book by

Elle Griffin