Dear fellow book geeks, you seekers of the lit divine,

 

So much to say, my fingers are shaking with glee. I just love reaching out to you guys. 

 

Perhaps what's got me most in a tizzy is that I've caught a glimpse of the cover for The English Bookstore in Bologna, which publishes in August, and I'm ecstatic. It captures exactly the story I tried to tell, and it's all I can do to wait till next time to share.

 

I'm seeking the best novels by female and non-binary writers. 

 

I can't even believe it, but the book recommendations I've been sharing on Instagram and Tiktok lately have been watched by hundred of thousands of people. 

 

I've shared some of my favorites ever, including Body & Soul, Prince of Tides, Beach Music, and A Gentleman in Moscow. In fact, you guys who have followed me helped kick Body & Soul way up into the Amazon rankings for a while. How cool is that, a book published in 1993!

 

Anyway, it occurred to me that my list of best books ever is lacking in female and non-binary talent. Here's your chance to take me to school. 

 

Respond to this email with your favorites. I certainly have my faves (Emily St. John Mandel, VE Schwab, Claire North, Alice Hoffman, Nicole Kraus, etc.) that I look forward to sharing soon, but I need to expand the breadth of my TBR pile. I've asked the same in this video, and I'll share with you the results soon. (Let's say published in the last forty years…all due respect to Woolf and Austen.)

I've having way too much fun over on Substack. As I've mentioned, I've been sharing craft-driven essays that satisfy something deep within, a craving to document how I bring a book to life. 

 

Starting today, I've added another piece, a far shorter communiqué for the same subscribers called The Shallow End that allows me to share the bits and bobs of my world, be it recommendations apropos all forms of art, or poems, quotes, dazzling lines of prose, lessons I'm learning from my tween, arresting images, articles/essays/links that I can't NOT share, that kind of thing. The idea is that I'll alternate weekly between the longer craft essays and this quick injection: one deep, then one shallow, and so forth. (Oh, c'mon, get your heads out of the gutter, people! This isn't Lucy Score's newsletter.)

 

Don't worry…if you aren't interested in joining Substack, I'll still be right here, but I want to make sure you know what's going on. 

Though I also mention these in The Shallow End, I'll share with you two books that have been a delight to read. I highly recommend both.

 

The Word is Murder is an absolute joy. The author, Anthony Horowitz, writes himself into a whodunit, like he literally plays one of the characters. I'm so jealous that he's done that. I'm nearly finished, and he just brought his wife and agent into the story too. What a clever fellow who is having the time of his life, writing whatever he damn well pleases. I've already bought the next in the series. 

This tiny book, Orbital. My goodness. It's totally plotless but sent me soaring into the cosmos. Samantha Harvey makes you feel like you are on the international space station. No one will ever write even a true account that will feel more real. I was there, playing cards with a Russian, sleeping in midair, eating dried rations, looking down upon Mother Earth as I orbited her at 17,500 miles an hour. And the way Harvey writes, it's simply brilliant. Her use of color blew my mind, as did her research, her characterization.  

Mikella and I recently picked up a turntable and are having a blast taking day trips around Maine hunting for records. I put on Pat Metheny's Still Life (Talking) yesterday and read the majority of this masterpiece. What is better than jazz on vinyl and a good book? Answer: nothing. 

 

I think it was Emily St. John Mandel who recommended Orbital; that's high praise. If you slow yourself down and let the sentences do their work, you'll get a ton out of this book. In fact, I read half of it out loud, as I just liked the way the sentences leapt from my tongue. If you're following me on the socials, I'll be sharing some of my favorite lines via video in the days to come. 

Catch up on old newsletters here.