I am so glad to hear you enjoyed Nova Scotia House. It took me a little while to get into it too but I found it absolutely unforgettable. In addition to the love story, what has stayed with me is the idea of creating physical spaces inspired by pre-AIDS epidemic queer culture and community.
Re: recommendations, I just finished Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno. Very Ernaux-esque but absolutely gorgeous on its own merit. I think you would appreciate it. Also, of course, super excited for the new Ernaux later this month.
I'm so glad you read Porter's novel too!! I distinctly remember thinking, on the first few pages, that it wasn't going to be my thing…but with a lot of novels with a distinctive voice, I feel put off initially and then end up falling in love after a few pages.
The ending was so lovely and heartwarming, and it felt good to end on a note that offered a realistic but still meaningful sense of hope.
So many well-done reviews of so many intriguing books! Hard to decide what to add to the TBR list. Wonderful quandary. I enjoy old classics and new fiction and everything in between. I’m with you—the are of tons of great newish novels. What I’ve figured out from you and other Substack reviewers/book-lovers is that most of them are never reviewed in big media book reviews.
I also love a good classics/contemporary mix to my reading…
And re: books that go un-reviewed, I think the incentives for publishing book reviews are just a bit distorted right now! there aren't that many publications that do book reviews, and they tend to prioritize new releases—since Paula Bomer's The Stalker was published in May this year, and I'm only reading it in August, it's too late to pitch a review to MOST publications. Which feels very strange, because readers don't necessarily operate that way…a book that's been out for a few months isn't too old yet.
I do think this is a place where Substack and BookTok can excel—it's a great way to publish reviews of new-ish but not just-released books.
Thanks for another insight. Btw, just saw on your web page that you’re obsessed with Proust. I just read The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, E.M. Forster and the Year that Changed Literature. The year is 1922. Montcieff’s English translation of Proust’s first volume of In Search of Lost Time has just come out and Woolf and that whole gang are all reading it and being blown away by it, but also anxious about it—how can they create something beyond that? I found it fascinating. Made me think of Harold Bloom’s wonderful Anxiety of Influence. That was his theory of poetry, but I think it applies to novels as well.
Absolutely incredible breadth and depth of repertoire here—thank you for writing it all up. All these books were new to me and I learned something about each one.
Most of the contemporary writing I've been reading isn't all that contemporary, but I loved all these reviews, and one of the things I love about your writing about writing is the number of new places, names, forms, etc, that they point me to.
omg of course you've also read it! I was so fascinated by all the STORIES and GOSSIP…like learning that Lynn Yaeger (a fashion critic I've followed for years) started off at the Voice! and was one of their key union negotiators!
and that the Voice's union was one of the first in America to offer healthcare benefits to unmarried partners, along with the software company Lotus…but the Voice also extended them to gay/queer partnerships too!
the gossip is incredible, we need to bring that back. I didn't really grow up reading The Voice, but reading that book made me nostalgic for a thing for I didn't really experience. I also wonder if you felt this way, but when reading the book I kept thinking 'damn, I really really want young and up and coming writers to have a magazine like this'. It just seems like such an awesome and intense experience, it would be so fun to see atomized writers get to have a collective space to play like that
so so many good reads here. if this is the state of contemporary fiction it sounds like it’s doing alright???
this made me want to go to berlin—it’s so easy to notice small things on vacation & there’s so much to notice there!! did you end up going to the boros collection? the tour was very surreal when we went years ago.
Not to sound weird or anything, but is it possible that I saw you reading Universality on a metro train from the airport of Athens to Athens city near the Piraeus?
Thanks so much for this. Szalay keeps coming up and this might just be the push I need to take the hint.
I can't express how much I love Helen Garner. Still can't pin down how to describe her style. It's plain, but not sparse; it feels easy to digest but also weighty. Anyway I think this year I've always got something of hers on the go, interspersing her diaries and essays with her books. I read Monkey Grip earlier this year and it was fantastic, not sure I'll ever read a better book about friendship. Glad you're spreading the good word and I can only hope you've found her some new readers!
I always look forward to your writing, but especially appreciate your appreciation of the self-help genre here (so often maligned - for good reason - but when done well totally transcends the genre imo).
Made me wonder if you’ve read any Mari Ruti? You might like The Call of Character (though all of her writing, academic and otherwise, is pretty brilliant)
I am so glad to hear you enjoyed Nova Scotia House. It took me a little while to get into it too but I found it absolutely unforgettable. In addition to the love story, what has stayed with me is the idea of creating physical spaces inspired by pre-AIDS epidemic queer culture and community.
Re: recommendations, I just finished Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno. Very Ernaux-esque but absolutely gorgeous on its own merit. I think you would appreciate it. Also, of course, super excited for the new Ernaux later this month.
I'm so glad you read Porter's novel too!! I distinctly remember thinking, on the first few pages, that it wasn't going to be my thing…but with a lot of novels with a distinctive voice, I feel put off initially and then end up falling in love after a few pages.
The ending was so lovely and heartwarming, and it felt good to end on a note that offered a realistic but still meaningful sense of hope.
Sad Tiger sounds great—I also just read in Martha's newsletter (https://marthasmonthly.substack.com/p/august-2025-reads) that she enjoyed it too, so I'm really curious now
So many well-done reviews of so many intriguing books! Hard to decide what to add to the TBR list. Wonderful quandary. I enjoy old classics and new fiction and everything in between. I’m with you—the are of tons of great newish novels. What I’ve figured out from you and other Substack reviewers/book-lovers is that most of them are never reviewed in big media book reviews.
I also love a good classics/contemporary mix to my reading…
And re: books that go un-reviewed, I think the incentives for publishing book reviews are just a bit distorted right now! there aren't that many publications that do book reviews, and they tend to prioritize new releases—since Paula Bomer's The Stalker was published in May this year, and I'm only reading it in August, it's too late to pitch a review to MOST publications. Which feels very strange, because readers don't necessarily operate that way…a book that's been out for a few months isn't too old yet.
I do think this is a place where Substack and BookTok can excel—it's a great way to publish reviews of new-ish but not just-released books.
Thanks for another insight. Btw, just saw on your web page that you’re obsessed with Proust. I just read The World Broke in Two: Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, E.M. Forster and the Year that Changed Literature. The year is 1922. Montcieff’s English translation of Proust’s first volume of In Search of Lost Time has just come out and Woolf and that whole gang are all reading it and being blown away by it, but also anxious about it—how can they create something beyond that? I found it fascinating. Made me think of Harold Bloom’s wonderful Anxiety of Influence. That was his theory of poetry, but I think it applies to novels as well.
Absolutely incredible breadth and depth of repertoire here—thank you for writing it all up. All these books were new to me and I learned something about each one.
Jude, thank you so much for reading! it was a joy to write and of course it's a joy to be READ by others 💌
Most of the contemporary writing I've been reading isn't all that contemporary, but I loved all these reviews, and one of the things I love about your writing about writing is the number of new places, names, forms, etc, that they point me to.
thank you!! I honestly feel like I'm filling these newsletters with so…much…but I am so happy to hear that it's appreciated!
Yes, definitely. I'm looking forward to going to those places. And however much is there, it's great writing, so...
I love love love the book about The Village Voice. I'm so excited to read your larger thoughts about it!!
omg of course you've also read it! I was so fascinated by all the STORIES and GOSSIP…like learning that Lynn Yaeger (a fashion critic I've followed for years) started off at the Voice! and was one of their key union negotiators!
and that the Voice's union was one of the first in America to offer healthcare benefits to unmarried partners, along with the software company Lotus…but the Voice also extended them to gay/queer partnerships too!
the gossip is incredible, we need to bring that back. I didn't really grow up reading The Voice, but reading that book made me nostalgic for a thing for I didn't really experience. I also wonder if you felt this way, but when reading the book I kept thinking 'damn, I really really want young and up and coming writers to have a magazine like this'. It just seems like such an awesome and intense experience, it would be so fun to see atomized writers get to have a collective space to play like that
so so many good reads here. if this is the state of contemporary fiction it sounds like it’s doing alright???
this made me want to go to berlin—it’s so easy to notice small things on vacation & there’s so much to notice there!! did you end up going to the boros collection? the tour was very surreal when we went years ago.
Ahhh great round-up, thank you!
Please start a book club! I love the curation of books that read!
Not to sound weird or anything, but is it possible that I saw you reading Universality on a metro train from the airport of Athens to Athens city near the Piraeus?
Thanks so much for this. Szalay keeps coming up and this might just be the push I need to take the hint.
I can't express how much I love Helen Garner. Still can't pin down how to describe her style. It's plain, but not sparse; it feels easy to digest but also weighty. Anyway I think this year I've always got something of hers on the go, interspersing her diaries and essays with her books. I read Monkey Grip earlier this year and it was fantastic, not sure I'll ever read a better book about friendship. Glad you're spreading the good word and I can only hope you've found her some new readers!
Thanks for all the recommendations!
I’ve been wanting to read Flesh and Misinterpretations for so long! This is the push I needed!
I always look forward to your writing, but especially appreciate your appreciation of the self-help genre here (so often maligned - for good reason - but when done well totally transcends the genre imo).
Made me wonder if you’ve read any Mari Ruti? You might like The Call of Character (though all of her writing, academic and otherwise, is pretty brilliant)