It’s Friday, friends, and you know what that means… let’s talk about what we’re reading!
I will be finishing Scott Alexander Howard’s THE OTHER VALLEY tonight. I can’t tell you enough good things about this book. It has the poignant dread of NEVER LET ME GO, such a tragic innocence about it, playing with the notion of grief, of loss, or the warping of time and the morality of how we grieve. It’s remarkable, and you will see it everywhere next year. I scored a galley, and it will be a reread for me; I can already tell. The premise:
Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she'll decide who may cross her town's heavily guarded borders. On the other side, it's the same valley, the same town. Except to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it's twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.
Just think about that for a second. Fate. Free will. And what is death, really? And think of the delicate balance of what might be, what was, what could have been. It’s mind-bending and delicious and sad and mournful and intense, and I can already feel a reveal coming that’s going to blow my mind. Incredible.
A podcast from Cal Newport I heard this week has me thinking about how I approach everything. I wrote about it in my September newsletter which will be out next week. You can subscribe to it below. I may have to combine this blog with the newsletter soon because of Substack’s subscription rules, so join up and I’ll make sure you get all the things. Part of the realignment I’m considering is the consumption of data, so don’t be surprised to see less ahead as I take a sabbatical to think through some big ideas on my creativity.
So how about you? What are you reading this weekend?
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It feels like all things book related are in flux, and as a reader I just want a good book. As a wanna be published writer, I'd like the industry to get it together so it can be more stable. Yes, I read Nathan Bransford's blog that you linked. Lots of things to think about this weekend.
As for what I'm reading, I'm currently devouring GOOD RICH PEOPLE by Eliza Jane Brazier. I'm halfway through the book and have no idea how it's going to end. It's unsettling and has quite a few twisty surprises already. As I'm having surgery this week, I'm sure I'll finish it and a few others. If you start GRP and find the first POV unlikeable like I did, stick with it. You'll still dislike her, but the second POV makes it all worth it. I'm including the best description of the book I've seen so far.
“Fizzy and hilarious, dangerous and outrageous. It’s like chugging a flute of champagne that’s been lit on fire. I loved the hell out of it.”
—Stephanie Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of There’s Someone Inside Your House
Currently reading JD Robb's PAYBACK IN DEATH and just finished (late last night) SKIES OF ASH by Rachel Howzell Hall. Next up will be NORTH OF NOWHERE by Allison Brennan. I'm about to head on a couple of flights and tend to do quite a lot of reading when I fly, so I'm looking forward to tackling a section of the TBR pile.
It feels like all things book related are in flux, and as a reader I just want a good book. As a wanna be published writer, I'd like the industry to get it together so it can be more stable. Yes, I read Nathan Bransford's blog that you linked. Lots of things to think about this weekend.
As for what I'm reading, I'm currently devouring GOOD RICH PEOPLE by Eliza Jane Brazier. I'm halfway through the book and have no idea how it's going to end. It's unsettling and has quite a few twisty surprises already. As I'm having surgery this week, I'm sure I'll finish it and a few others. If you start GRP and find the first POV unlikeable like I did, stick with it. You'll still dislike her, but the second POV makes it all worth it. I'm including the best description of the book I've seen so far.
“Fizzy and hilarious, dangerous and outrageous. It’s like chugging a flute of champagne that’s been lit on fire. I loved the hell out of it.”
—Stephanie Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of There’s Someone Inside Your House
#FridayReads
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas
My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra
Fever House by Keith Rosson
Read Fallen by Lauren Kate. First in a series and it was excellent! Young adult with fallen angels.
Started Payback in Death by JD Robb. The Eve Dallas series is outstanding!
Currently reading JD Robb's PAYBACK IN DEATH and just finished (late last night) SKIES OF ASH by Rachel Howzell Hall. Next up will be NORTH OF NOWHERE by Allison Brennan. I'm about to head on a couple of flights and tend to do quite a lot of reading when I fly, so I'm looking forward to tackling a section of the TBR pile.