It occurs to me that under "Books That Defy Description" you might enjoy M. John Harrison's "Wish I Was Here" (also his novel, The Course of the Heart, which is more conventional in structure but gorgeously weird in the ways that count).
thank you for this recommendation!!! am also remembering that you (and BDM as well) have said such positive things about Gene Wolfe (the Proust of sci-fi!) and I'd like to get to him as well this year
For Gene Wolfe, my personal recommendation is to start with the first part of The Fifth Head of Cerberus. If you like that, you will probably like the rest. His Best of short story collection is another way in (skipping over "Hour of Trust" with extreme prejudice).
Celine I AM SO APPRECIATIVE of how u weave in quotes into ur writing. it is like looking at two beautiful flowers TOGETHER.. they complement each other so well !
wow this is a BEAUTIFUL compliment…I feel very touched!!! thank you! I am always trying to construct reasons to cram in as many quotes as possible, bc I think it's really important to see what the actual writing is like!! (and also reference what other critics have said)
I was really happy to include your poem in this! I found it very touching in a nicely unadorned way—hope you have a good 2026 of poetry writing and submitting!
Adding so many of these to my library hold list. I've had Remainder on my shelf since reading Zadie's NYRB piece about it. Loved & Missed has stayed with me in all the months since I've read it. I've never had such satisfying catharsis while reading a book.
Jacqui! Thank you for reading 💌 and totally agree about the catharsis…I found the ending just amazingly touching and a perfect way to resolve a lot of the complicated, difficult, tender emotions throughout the novel. The scene that the title phrase, 'Loved and Missed,' comes from…SO beautiful and it actually made me think of a lot of other painful moments in my life in a more generous light.
The still is indeed from La Chinoise, at about the 62-minute mark, though they are not real subtitles (the woman briefly reads from Marquis de Sade in the middle of a discussion otherwise about communism).
thank you for fact checking me…I seriously considered watching the film in order to sort out this question (I've seen the faux subtitles on tumblr a million times) but I just wanted to get the newsletter out 🙈
I do want to see it though! haven't seen any Godard actually
please let me know how you find it!!! also have been meaning to tell you—I finished Sarah Schulman's The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity recently! we shall have to compare notes (I will also put it in my next newsletter)
yes!! the Anglophone world outside of Australia has been very slow to recognize her greatness…but I imagine there will be many, many more people reading her in the coming years!
What a remarkable best of 2025 list! It's so tempting to be overwhelmed and feel like I'm not reading enough.... but I'm not taking that path. Instead, seeing the inherent value in taking notes on everything you read in a year. It's a remarkable discipline!
thank you Christine! and yes I really want the takeaway to be—MORE BOOKS FOR THOSE WHO WANT THEM—and not satisfying some arbitrary measure of 'enough' books!
I've found this newsletter to be a really nice way to remember what I'm reading; the monthly roundups (which, tbh, are not always monthly bc I sometimes skip them…) are a great forcing function
Thank you for this intriguing list, Celine! I'm curious to know -- and perhaps you've already written about this elsewhere -- do you have a particular method for _how_ you discover and curate the books you read in the first place?
thank you for reading, Brenna! and I actually haven't written about this, but someone else emailed me about this recently…maybe a good post in the future?
it's funny bc I remember really STRUGGLING at some point to find books that really spoke to me—and now I feel inundated with so many appealing books to read! so it could be nice to try and recall how I got to this point
If you do write about it, I'm all ears! I have no problem curating classics and nonfiction, usually, but I get overwhelmed with contemporary fiction. There is so much of it, and I find a lot of the subjects...weird? Not super accessible? Not sure if those are the right words, but anyway, thanks for your consideration! :)
Currently reading a ton of YA Fantasy so I can find comps for my querying, but as soon as I'm done, I'm coming right back to this list and starting with the "high velocity" novels -- this looks like a great list! Thanks for compiling it Celine!
of course!! reading through comps is a very worthy exercise…but when you are ready, Harpman's I Who Have Never Known Men (and The Stalker) are both AMAZING, very uncanny, extremely propulsive reads
"Remainder" is a fun book to read, and it felt better because I had just seen "Synedoche, NY". There's a lot of cool stuff to dig into in this list.
I miss having friends suggesting books to read and movies to watch while having a real live conversation, so, yeah, I agree "you can use the internet to deepen your literary experiences."
And yes, I feel that depending on people's real-life social contexts, it can be really hard to find someone who is passionate about the same interests and can talk about them as much as you desire…so online conversations are a really nice way to fill that need. I really depend on the internet for a lot of intellectual stimulation and discovery
Thanks for the Rorty recommendation. I've started reading it, and it's great. I spent the fall reading a bunch of William James, and it's nice to see how the pragmatist tradition evolved.
wake up babe celine dropped another banger
thank you 🙇🏻♀️ anything for my beautiful readers and subscribers…
It occurs to me that under "Books That Defy Description" you might enjoy M. John Harrison's "Wish I Was Here" (also his novel, The Course of the Heart, which is more conventional in structure but gorgeously weird in the ways that count).
I also loved this book
hard agree!
thank you for this recommendation!!! am also remembering that you (and BDM as well) have said such positive things about Gene Wolfe (the Proust of sci-fi!) and I'd like to get to him as well this year
For Gene Wolfe, my personal recommendation is to start with the first part of The Fifth Head of Cerberus. If you like that, you will probably like the rest. His Best of short story collection is another way in (skipping over "Hour of Trust" with extreme prejudice).
Celine I AM SO APPRECIATIVE of how u weave in quotes into ur writing. it is like looking at two beautiful flowers TOGETHER.. they complement each other so well !
wow this is a BEAUTIFUL compliment…I feel very touched!!! thank you! I am always trying to construct reasons to cram in as many quotes as possible, bc I think it's really important to see what the actual writing is like!! (and also reference what other critics have said)
Celine!! This is so kind. I admire your work so much, so touched you’ve found something to admire in mine. 🫶🏽
I was really happy to include your poem in this! I found it very touching in a nicely unadorned way—hope you have a good 2026 of poetry writing and submitting!
Beautifully done roundup!
thank you!!
Adding so many of these to my library hold list. I've had Remainder on my shelf since reading Zadie's NYRB piece about it. Loved & Missed has stayed with me in all the months since I've read it. I've never had such satisfying catharsis while reading a book.
Same here. Absolutely bawled my eyes out.
same!!!
Jacqui! Thank you for reading 💌 and totally agree about the catharsis…I found the ending just amazingly touching and a perfect way to resolve a lot of the complicated, difficult, tender emotions throughout the novel. The scene that the title phrase, 'Loved and Missed,' comes from…SO beautiful and it actually made me think of a lot of other painful moments in my life in a more generous light.
The still is indeed from La Chinoise, at about the 62-minute mark, though they are not real subtitles (the woman briefly reads from Marquis de Sade in the middle of a discussion otherwise about communism).
thank you for fact checking me…I seriously considered watching the film in order to sort out this question (I've seen the faux subtitles on tumblr a million times) but I just wanted to get the newsletter out 🙈
I do want to see it though! haven't seen any Godard actually
I have THE MAZE OF TRANSPARENCIES waiting for me on my desk! Excited to see if it resonates as much with me as it did with you. 💕
please let me know how you find it!!! also have been meaning to tell you—I finished Sarah Schulman's The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity recently! we shall have to compare notes (I will also put it in my next newsletter)
Great round up, thank you! (Nice to see Helen Garner getting her flowers.)
yes!! the Anglophone world outside of Australia has been very slow to recognize her greatness…but I imagine there will be many, many more people reading her in the coming years!
What a remarkable best of 2025 list! It's so tempting to be overwhelmed and feel like I'm not reading enough.... but I'm not taking that path. Instead, seeing the inherent value in taking notes on everything you read in a year. It's a remarkable discipline!
thank you Christine! and yes I really want the takeaway to be—MORE BOOKS FOR THOSE WHO WANT THEM—and not satisfying some arbitrary measure of 'enough' books!
I've found this newsletter to be a really nice way to remember what I'm reading; the monthly roundups (which, tbh, are not always monthly bc I sometimes skip them…) are a great forcing function
Thank you for this intriguing list, Celine! I'm curious to know -- and perhaps you've already written about this elsewhere -- do you have a particular method for _how_ you discover and curate the books you read in the first place?
thank you for reading, Brenna! and I actually haven't written about this, but someone else emailed me about this recently…maybe a good post in the future?
it's funny bc I remember really STRUGGLING at some point to find books that really spoke to me—and now I feel inundated with so many appealing books to read! so it could be nice to try and recall how I got to this point
If you do write about it, I'm all ears! I have no problem curating classics and nonfiction, usually, but I get overwhelmed with contemporary fiction. There is so much of it, and I find a lot of the subjects...weird? Not super accessible? Not sure if those are the right words, but anyway, thanks for your consideration! :)
Taking notes! You have the best recommendations!
thank you, this is really lovely to hear!!
Currently reading a ton of YA Fantasy so I can find comps for my querying, but as soon as I'm done, I'm coming right back to this list and starting with the "high velocity" novels -- this looks like a great list! Thanks for compiling it Celine!
of course!! reading through comps is a very worthy exercise…but when you are ready, Harpman's I Who Have Never Known Men (and The Stalker) are both AMAZING, very uncanny, extremely propulsive reads
"Remainder" is a fun book to read, and it felt better because I had just seen "Synedoche, NY". There's a lot of cool stuff to dig into in this list.
I miss having friends suggesting books to read and movies to watch while having a real live conversation, so, yeah, I agree "you can use the internet to deepen your literary experiences."
Thank you.
That's an amazing book/film pairing!
And yes, I feel that depending on people's real-life social contexts, it can be really hard to find someone who is passionate about the same interests and can talk about them as much as you desire…so online conversations are a really nice way to fill that need. I really depend on the internet for a lot of intellectual stimulation and discovery
Not seen the movie either but it's got Bertolucci's The Dreamers (via Gilbert Adair) vibes.
omg this film looks great—a good February film perhaps?
Thanks for the Rorty recommendation. I've started reading it, and it's great. I spent the fall reading a bunch of William James, and it's nice to see how the pragmatist tradition evolved.