Proximity, by Sam Heaps. I blurbed this and loved it. This is when blurbing feels lucky— I might not have read this otherwise. I hate it when people call books “brave” but this felt brave to me, that’s the best word to describe it, sorry!!!!!
Somebody Who Isn’t Me, by Geoff Rickly. Similarly, I blurbed this and I loved it and I felt privileged to be asked to do so, and to do something small to support Geoff’s first book and Chelsea’s first book for Rose Books. This one really blew me away for so many different reasons.
Desert Star, by Michael Connelly. My dad loves books but he loves dad books and this is one of the only overlaps we share. For some reason, I love Bosch books.
The Birthday Letters, by Ted Hughes. Last year, I read Red Comet, a (very long) bio about Sylvia Plath, and it made me read a lot of books, including this one. I’m not a huge fan of Ted Hughes because he’s too… ornate or something… but this was really good.
Acts of Desperation, by Megan Nolan. My friend Amy, who likes books but who I know through my regular life, recommended it to me. Then I found out it was weird that I’d never heard of Megan Nolan before. Loved this also.
Deliver Me, by Elle Nash. I am so proud of Elle for this book, it’s so impressive and uncompromising and just so damn excellent. I read an early draft when Elle was first starting it, and one thing I really enjoy about being friends with writers is being able to see their work in different stages.
The Walls Do Not Fall, by H.D. Daisuke sent me this. It was an old book and not all of the pages were cut! I had to cut some of them myself! Exciting.
Armies of the Night, by Norman Mailer. I am looking forward to the day when Mailer comes back in favor. He is a buffoon and yeah he stabbed his wife but he’s a fucking good writer.
The Wreath, by Sigrid Undset. SOOOO GOOD. This is a 3 book series and I wouldn’t stop talking about it, for weeks after I finished.
To Bedlam and Partway Back, by Anne Sexton. When she is good, she is really really good, and when she’s not, she’s mediocre.
Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson. Loved this.
The Shards, by Bret Easton Ellis. LOVED THIS. Favorite BEE book, by far.
The Wife, by Sigrid Undset (book 2)
The Cross, by Sigrid Undset (book 3), had to say bye to my good bro Kristin. She died in a cloister during the plague, spoiler.
Manson, by Jeff Guinn. Went through a Manson deep dive a few years back. I’ve always thought Manson himself was the least interesting part of the Manson family and was only semi-curious about this book but I went for it and it was great.
This is when my great reading streak ended and I started a bunch of books and put them down because they were bad, until I read…
The Devil Thinks I’m Pretty, by Charlene Elsby. Similar to Sam Heaps, in that I’d never read Charlene before and was just like “holy fuck this person is good.” Really impressed by her work.
The Forever Witness, by Edward Humes. I read one million true crime books from like 2020-2022 and I’m pretty sick of them at this point but this was excellent.
When We Cease to Understand the World, by Benjamin Labatut. Jordan told Scott to read this, who told me to read it. This book was really exciting to me, and “inspiring” — I want to do something similar for my next book, the one I am researching currently.
The End of My Career, by Martha Grover. I bought this at Verbatim Books a while ago (best bookstore in San Diego). Love Martha Grover.
Woman with Hat, by Lucy K. Shaw. I admire Lucy so much! I loved this book, it felt like ye olden days of internet literature when people were just having fun.
A Book of Common Prayer, by Joan Didion. I generally don’t finish books if I don’t like them but for some reason I finished this one. This book is bad. Like really bad. (I love Joan Didion.) It had a line in it that I really liked, though, which I immediately stole and put in a poem— an ode about Ashleigh Bryant Phillips. “The bush and the sea do not reflect the light but absorb it, suck it in, then glow morbidly.” It is not about WV but it’s the best description of WV I’ve ever read. The line I wrote about Ashleigh: Blurred outlines suck in the light and glow/ Morbidly with color.
My Nemesis, by Charmaine Craig. This was good but it felt a bit “cerebral” for my tastes.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenburg. This is the first book my Kindle advertised to me that I actually bought. Deserves to be in the canon.
Went through another bad book period
Trailed, by Kathryn Miles. Pretty good. Mik Grantham recommended this to me.
Faces, by Tove Ditlevsen. Was kinda disappointed by this, because I loved The Copenhagen Trilogy so much.
Currently reading Pathogenesis by Jonathan Kennedy and Blush & Blink by Ana Carrete. I like to read a poetry book, a few poems a night, alongside a nonfiction/fiction book.
This is my friend Kristin, I miss her:
🥰