Final countdown... My book comes out two weeks from today. This is where the light begging begins... What I read this week Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin You know how some people say that thing about how men aren't getting big fancy literary debuts now, and because
In which I rave about a few friends and their books while plugging my own We're getting down to the wire What I read this week UnWorld by Jayson Greene Jayson is an old friend. When I first met him he was a full-time music writer, the kind
In which I use the word "Franzen-like." My book comes out in less than a month! So I'm moving that preorder reminder to the top of the newsletter. What I read this week Flashlight by Susan Choi There's been some discourse on Bluesky about
In which I reveal my favorite Oasis B-side and I show off the absurd little pouch I use to carry around my insulin What I read this week Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age by Amanda Hess I'm not the target audience for books about
And then there's one mystery I cannot at all recommend... What I read this week Mutual Interest by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith I love a book about the schemings and machinations of a lowly born woman who then claws and climbs her way to the top of society. I'
What I read this week Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert The big project of my adult life, and my upcoming book, as a matter of fact, has been unlearning. I go back and think through the things that I
What I read this week The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman by Niko Stratis Did you ever meet someone online and just know you were destined for IRL friendship? I first met Niko Stratis when she asked me to do Blue Eyes Crying by the Chips, a podcast
This week I go into how Perfection is the polar opposite of The Anthropologists, plus my favorite details from Graydon Carter's new memoir... What I read this week Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes It's fitting that Perfection has a glowing blurb from Ayşegül
In Solvej Balle's 7-volume series the interminable day is a rainy one in November. Which immediately made me wonder if Balle is a GNR fan. What I read this week On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland In my mind
Alas, AI doesn't have feelings but it really deserves to feel embarrassed. Or the people who've built it should. What I read this week Searches: Self-Hood in the Digital Age by Vauhini Vara I love this book for many reasons, but I particularly love it for
Who hears a bunch of songs about working dead end, soul crushing jobs and is like, voila! The world needs a business book about leadership! What I read this week Audition by Katie Kitamura Katie Kitamura is one of my favorite contemporary writers partly because she makes me feel so
What the world absolutely doesn't need right now: a MrBeast/James Patterson collab What I read this week Trauma Plot by Jamie Hood "Why should I make my rape book artful? Why be cowed by this obligation. Shouldn't trauma be a mess?" A work