Hi y’all,
I’m still working my way through The Custom of the Country, so no book reviews yet! You can read a bit about my first impression of the book (and how it relates to my former obsession with Caroline Calloway) on Instagram. I also started reading Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom, which I’ll be writing about soon.
In the meantime, here’s my second weekly newsletter! Please let me know what you think of these newsletters—do you like them? Hate them? My email is open!
Spotted: On the L train, a nurse in maroon scrubs and pink wired earphones reading Rebecca Serle’s One Italian Summer. A tall girl in a black food-service uniform leaning against the train doors reading the first Game of Thrones book with her mouth hanging open. Plus an artsy lady wearing a billowing smock with a Corkcicle wine glass full of coffee between her knees reading Rachel Cusk’s Second Place. A twenty-something woman with faded blue hair reading The Body Keeps the Score. Ladies are back on the subway, y’all, and they brought books!
This week, I recommend that you read whatever book your crush is reading. It’s the perfect excuse to have a lengthy conversation with your crush, and it’s deeply, but slyly, flirty.
First, deeply flirty: it shows you’re invested in them and their interests, especially if the book is long. Even better, it shows you’re thinking about them when they aren’t around. How could you not be? You’re sitting around with the book that they recommend on your lap! Hot.
Second, sly flirty: you have plausible deniability. You’ll be like, Who me? Reading Pale Fire for you? No way. I love to read, I’m very very intellectual. You mentioned it and I just thought it sounded interesting. We just happen to have such similar tastes in books, wow, it’s crazy. Though it might be easier to defend your choice in reading materials if the book in questions is Mrs. Dalloway, let’s say, rather than Intellectual Property Rights in China.
And, for the record, this method is battle tested—just before George and I started dating, I read Dune to impress him. That’s right, I was so down bad that I read a 700 page book about giant worms. The trailers for the movie had just come out, so Dune chatter was all over the internet. George had mentioned Dune to me a few times, was about to do a re-read, so I bought a copy and hunkered down. I finished it within a week. A month later we were going out. Y’all, the evidence couldn’t be more clear: my speed-read of Dune is definitely why George decided to date me.
But I’d be lying if I said it always works! In his memoir, Obama writes about how using this tactic left him well-read and friend-zoned:
May your pseudo-intellectualism take you farther than Obama’s!
Entering the nightmare zone…
Web3 ideas continue to bubble up from hell, smelling like sulfur and cheep casinos. Elle Griffin wrote about a particularly deranged idea that a few startups will soon try to scam you into wasting your money on:
What if the book series functioned like a publicly traded company where individuals could “buy stock” in it, and as the franchise grows, those “stocks” become more valuable? If this were the case, someone who purchased just three percent of Harry Potter back when there was only one book would be a billionaire now.
Just imagine how that would affect the reading experience. Suddenly a trip to Barnes & Noble becomes an investment opportunity. Early readers could spot “the next big thing” and make a $100 contribution that becomes $10,000 or even $100,000 if the book’s popularity grows. If readers could own a percentage of the franchise, they might then be incentivized to help that book succeed. They could start a TikTok account to promote the book via BookTok, or use their talents as filmmakers to adapt it to the screen. All of this stands to increase the value of their original investment.
Unfortunately for this idea, losers like me are already more than happy to promote books for free!!!!
I think everyone in the publishing industry is looking for an exciting shake-up to the market. I can say with total confidence—this ain’t it. The market for e-books has stayed relatively flat for years. And when apps like Libby exist, I don’t know why anyone would buy an e-book with the intent of re-selling it. And authors still get far more benefits from publishing their books through traditional presses (like owning their IP!) than they would from any of this nft nonsense.
I’m sorry to inform you…
A few weeks ago, Pamala Paul, former editor of the NYT Book Review, wrote an Op-Ed comparing the use of gender neutral pronouns to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. There’s been a lot said since about how transphobia might have influenced which books were reviewed, and by who they were reviewed. John Warner of the Chicago Tribune wrote very well about Paul, her Op-Ed, and power on his Substack. (I highly recommend Warner’s writing in general.)
This week Paul followed up with another banger, this one comparing “cancel culture” to book banning. There’s been a lot of sharp responses to this too, but mostly I agree with LitHub’s Maris Kreizman. I’m not sure if Paul is being intellectually dishonest or just lazy, but her stale repetition of the most obvious reactionary talking points is sooooooo boring. The only thing that makes her Op-Eds notable are what a mask-off moment they are for an incredibly influential publishing figure.
What shallow comparison will she make next to excuse her fixation on trans people?
And a good tweet:
So right now, between The Custom of the Country and Aesthetica, I’m clearly in a mood for parties and socialites. The Season by Kristen Richardson—a history of debutantes—could be a fun follow up. I’m also tempted to go fully into internet-novel mode. This rarely ends well. One of the best internet novels I’ve read (besides The Sluts) is Surveys by Natasha Stagg, which follows a proto-influencer. And I’m always low key meaning to pick up Lauren Oyler’s Fake Accounts.
Also, John Warner reviewed Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach, and it sounds incredible. And I loved his reflection on the magic of craft at the end.
Alright gang. Comments open below!
Tschüssi!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Book Notes
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Good stuff! My inbox just got brighter.
I love this new format!