Best Books (I Read) in 2025

A random assortment of some
of the books on my list(s)

Presenting my annual “best books” list, along with the accompanying list of caveats: these are, simply put, the best books I read over the course of the year. I try to narrow things down to 10ish books, which is awfully hard. I definitely read (and ADORE!) books by my writer friends, but I keep those books off this list. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: ALL lists are subjective. In my personal definition of “best,” I mean some magical alchemy of this book at this time that hit me this way. The order is chronological, so don’t spend time parsing out why one book is first, another last. Also, I had to eliminate some VERY EXCELLENT books to keep my list tidy, and YES, I feel terrible about doing so. You’ll see that I cheat a little at the end, but all’s fair in love and books.

 

DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver

I always nod kindly and knowingly when people mention Barbara Kingsolver, but I’ll confess that this is the first book by her I’ve read, and what a doozy! I was all in from the very first paragraph, though I often resist reading loooong books (you’ll see what an outlier this year was on that matter as my list progresses!). This novel about Appalachia and opioid addiction and resilience moves fast, is smart, and offers a political point of view without turning preachy or predictable. The first-person voice is extraordinary and convincing. Yeah, maybe it’s cheating to rely on a genius like Charles Dickens and swipe the plot of David Copperfield…or maybe that tack is its own genius. I must have recommended this book a zillion times.

 

WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys

I read this novel back in college and retained only vague memories, which just shows I was assigned way too many books back then because I should have a better memory of this artful book about Rochester’s “madwoman” wife in the attic (definite red flag, Jane Eyre!). Deeply-evoked characters and perfectly evoked landscapes ranging from the Caribbean to that awful attic in England, meant that the minute I finished the last page, I immediately wanted to know everything about Rhys, wanted to reread Jane Eyre, and wanted to study Caribbean history. A hard-eyed look (wrapped in lush writing) at class, money, race, history, gender, and it has to be repeated: money.

 

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS: MEMOIRS by John Updike

Because I was lucky enough to be selected by the John Updike Society for a writing residency in Updike’s Tucson, AZ, casita, I thought I should study up. I read a fair number of his books in college (though then he went on to write many, many more over the years and I failed to keep up), so I sort of thought I knew what he was “about.” But these autobiographical essays gave me a fresh view, seeing how his life intertwined with his fiction (not that he called his fiction “autobiographical”) and seeing how he viewed his own career and life. Immense honesty in these pages about his insecurities, his painful and debilitating battle with psoriasis, the chip on his shoulder, his recognition of his failures as a parent. For a writer with such an absolutely dazzling writing style (those sentences! oh, sigh!) and with such a charmed career, he’s as messed up as the rest of us! I’ll confess that I didn’t read the entire book because the last two essays felt indulgent and probably should have been excluded. Does a writing style of such precision, bordering on ornateness translate to our world of TikTok videos? I can’t say—but I can say that when I was focusing on his words, I was transported.

 

OPEN: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Andre Agassi

You ever buy a cheap, used paperback you plan to read quickly and leave behind on the plane? You ever put that book on your “best books list”? For me, now, YES, and YES. What an exciting surprise this book was! It’s not that I care about tennis or Andre Agassi, but I do like an artful, honest memoir, and I’m always fascinated by what celebrity means. Ghostwritten by J.R. Moehringer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, OPEN is beautifully written and well-structured (covering 40ish years) and even suspenseful. The voice is consistent and feels authentic and natural (I mean, of course I don’t know for a fact if this is Andre’s voice, but by the end, I was eager to hang out with him). Apparently, Andre hated playing tennis for most of his life yet he kept playing, and at the highest level. What is ambition? What drives us to success? What is enough? Who are we without that which has defined us for decades? These are the questions that kept Shakespeare awake…here in a tennis book.

 

THE LONELY CITY: ADVENTURES IN THE ART OF BEING ALONE by Olivia Laing

I absolutely loved everything about this book: its smarts, its bleakness, its bold and honest exploration of what loneliness is and does to a mind. While we get the author’s personal experiences, this is also a book of thoughtful research, as loneliness is examined through a series of visual artists (i.e. Hopper, Warhol, Wojnarowicz) who coped with their outsiderness and loneliness in a variety of (often unhealthy) methods…all the while continuing to create art. This book pushed deep—and uncomfortably—into my brain. While the book reflected New York City, my favorite place, we see here that unsettling aspect of New York City that tourists don’t always witness: the way one might feel utterly, helplessly alone while surrounded by an ocean of people. (Wait, that’s not exclusive to New York….)  

 

HELP WANTED by Adelle Waldman

Who’d guess a novel about an early morning crew of warehouse workers unloading deliveries at a Target-like store would be artful, compelling, funny, and infuriating? I liked how the author melded a strongly narrative story based on seemingly low stakes (which employee will get the promotion!?) with understated (yet biting) political commentary on how American capitalism uses/abuses the working poor. The large cast of characters and mix of POVs worried me a bit, but I adapted quickly and ultimately had no problem keeping people straight. I also liked that this was no sad-sack story: these workers maintained dignity and connection despite the odds perpetually stacked against them by forces beyond their control.

 

*NINTH STREET WOMEN: LEE KRASNER, ELAINE DE KOONING, GRACE HARTIGAN, JOAN MITCHELL, AND HELEN FRANKENTHALER: FIVE PAINTERS AND THE MOVEMENT THAT CHANGED MODERN ART by Mary Gabriel

Longest title and longest book, at 926 pages(!!), including notes. I think I spent about a month immersed in this book, and what a glorious month it was. Every year I’ve got at least one “girl comes to New York City” book on my list, so this one’s that, but also so much more. I’m a fan of abstract expressionism, but museums mostly show the men (Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, etc.), so what a joy to learn about these fierce, independent, brainy, dedicated female painters, forced to wrestle both the muse and misogyny. I’m also a fan of reading about subcultures of artists, and hearing firsthand from denizens of the Cedar Bar was intoxicating (speaking of intoxicating, oh lordy, those artists PARTIED!).  And I’m a HUGE fan of reading about New York City, especially the 1950s, so no surprise that all these elements coming together made this my most favorite book of the year. If you read this book (and I insist you do), have your phone handy so you can look up the paintings under discussion. I was lucky enough to get to MoMA shortly after finishing this book, and I about cried to see a real, live painting by Joan Mitchell right there on the wall—as if that’s where it was destined to land all along. *My favorite book of the year

 

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving

I first read this novel back in the days of yore, probably when I was too young to appreciate it. I remember being bored by the detours into reproducing Garp’s short story and novel chapters, but this time I absolutely adored every detour Irving took us on, admiring how each tangent reverberated eventually. A book ahead of its time, as the reader is presented with questions about women’s rights, sexual assault, and a transgender character who is (IMHO) the most interesting and memorable character in the book (and the movie). (Reminder: this book was first published in 1978.) By making Garp a writer, I felt Irving was showcasing his own theories and strategies on writing and creativity, which was a bonus for me. In the end, the highest praise I have is that this book absolutely is like no other.

 

THE GALES OF NOVEMBER: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD by John U. Bacon

I grew up in Iowa, with relatives in Michigan, and went to college in Chicago, so the Great Lakes stretch through my early days. Yet I knew nothing about the ships navigating these bodies of water and little about the underpinnings of the manufacturing economy that made the industrial north (now Rust Belt) the envy of the world. Yes, yes, there’s a (truly) devastating shipwreck in these pages, but the bigger revelation for me was the compelling and comprehensive examination of the culture of Lake Superior and sailors, iron ore mining and manufacturing, ship-building and captaining a laker. The relentless push of capitalism to get the goods delivered. The vagaries of weather. Luck, good and bad. Finding the way to a mournful hit song that might seem to trade on the misfortune of others. I liked reported facts and research balanced here with the personal recollections and reflections of family members of the dead men, and sailors who worked the Fitz back in its glory days, and other experts and observers. Clear and compelling narrative nonfiction with the emotional pull of a great novel. Plus, excellent maps!

 ***

 Here’s where I’m going to cheat a bit and add some extra material—just like the narrative nonfiction books do!

 

SOME SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS I ADMIRED:

 

Goodbye Columbus & Five Short Stories by Philip Roth (OMG! Impossible this is his debut book!)

 

The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake by Breece D’J Pancake (desperate men clawing through Appalachia)

 

Are You Happy? by Lori Ostlund (complicated contemporary lives evoked with flair)

 

The Continental Divide by Bob Johnson (dark & artful midwestern violence)

 

SOME BOOKS BY FRIENDS THAT I READ & LOVED:

 

Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop by Paula Whyman (memoir; funny & an education about native plants without being “teacherly”)

 

King of Broadway by Dan Elish (novel; charming and insider-y take on writing for Broadway)

 

Stay Here With Me: A Memoir by Robert Olmstead (memoir; lyrical & retrospective)

 

We by Sarah Freligh (short fiction; compact & powerful)

 

The Body Is A Temporary Gathering Place by Andrew Bertaina (essays; brainy & dreamy & Proustian)

 

Pink Lady by Denise Duhamel (poetry; the sorrow and disorientation as an elderly mother declines)

 

One Last Ride by Dan Elish (YA; boy at camp & I bet you’ll cry)

 

POETRY!

At my free-writing dates on Thursday afternoons, I start each session by reading poetry and copying down resonant lines. Here are the books that kept me company in 2025 (to be transparent, I know many of these poets IRL). If you’re looking to add more poetry in your life, I suggest you start here.

 

Bodies of Light by Susan Tekulve

In Which by Denise Duhamel

Sky Mall by Eric Kocher

Everyone at this Party Has Two Names by Brad Aaron Modlin

Late Summer Ode by Olena Kalytaik Davis

The Place That Is Coming to Us by J.D. Smith

The Odds by Suzanne Cleary

2024: Best Books (I Read)

Time for my annual list, along with the accompanying list of caveats: these are, simply put, the best books I read over the course of the year. I try to narrow things down to 10ish books, which is awfully hard. I definitely read (and ADORE!) books by my writer friends, but I try to keep those books off this list. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: ALL lists are subjective. In my personal definition of “best,” I mean some magical alchemy of this book at this time that hit me this way. The order is chronological, so don’t spend time parsing out why one book is first, another last. Also, I had to eliminate some VERY EXCELLENT books to keep my list tidy, and YES, I feel terrible about doing so.

 

THE GUEST by Emma Cline

I pretty much spent the entire year recommending this dark and suspenseful book about an aging “party girl” who needs to find a way to get through a week in the Hamptons now that she has nowhere to live. Crashing parties, making bad decisions, meeting the wrong people, a phone she doesn’t fix…this book isn’t for everyone, as the reader needs some tolerance of characters you’d like to shake sense into. But this book I succeeds extraordinarily at carrying suspense until (literally) the very last word on the page. (And beyond, honestly; I thought about the ending for days.) I could never get enough of Cline’s nuanced—and tart—observations about socio-economic class and girls/women. This book is one of two on this list that earned a place on my Favorite Books bookshelf…which is saying a lot, as that shelf is jam-packed!

  

I AM ONE OF YOU FOREVER by Fred Chappell

Fred Chappell was a beloved North Carolina author, and this book—about growing up in western, rural NC—is possibly his most beloved book. Not exactly a novel, not exactly a collection of stories or essays, reading this book is like listening to a master storyteller weave tales about way back, carrying your mind to a time and place you can’t imagine actually existed even as you utterly believe it did. Flirting with magical realism, using an episodic structure which may not appeal to everyone—but persevere and you’ll be rewarded by delightful humor and insights into human nature. If you’re  a writer, here’s a master class in dialogue. Not to sound obsessed with last words and final lines, but when I mentioned on social media that I was reading this book, at least a dozen people commented that the last line is perfect. They’re right!

 

JAMES by Percival Everett

There should be more awards so this book can win them all. A novel in conversation with Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—but don’t stress if you haven’t read Twain or if it’s been a while because James (aka Jim, the runaway slave in Huck Finn) is his own man here, with his own agenda and agency. This book is smart in every possible way, written with an understated writing style that’s never show-offy, only perfect. Some hard, awful things happen in this book, as one would expect given the subject matter (so be warned), and that understated writing serves to make them all seem more awful. (A master class in writing about trauma.) This book absolutely must be in any conversation about The Great American Novel.

 

EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste Ng

Lots of levels to this novel, which I picked up at a used book sale. At first I thought I was getting a juicy story about family dysfunction in the 70s Midwest, complete with a missing girl, but the book expands to ponder secrets and love and women’s roles and racism. Don’t let the five (!) points of view scare you—Ng handles them all with panache. I was utterly immersed in this novel.

  

TRUE GRIT by Charles Portis

I admit that I’m a horrible person for wondering why Charles Portis rated a volume of Collected Works in the Library of America series. I mean, come on! The True Grit guy…really? Then I read this book, and now I know. What a stunner! Great voice, clear vision, funny as hell, so much plot (but not too much), awesome characters down to the minor folks. I hadn’t seen the movie before reading the book (I know…what’s wrong with me?), so then I watched the Jeff Bridges version. That movie gets 5/5 stars for sure, but the book gets 10/5. My husband wearied of my saying, “Well, that scene is much funnier in the book.”

 

LESS by Andrew Sean Greer

I read this on my birthday, which is perfect because at its core, it’s a book about age/aging and love/loving, though it’s also a sparkling, funny book about a writer on a crazy book tour where everything goes wrong, trying to outrun his broken heart. This book won the Pulitzer, which surely is a minor miracle—not because it didn’t deserve the honor, but because those committees are always so Serious & Important. Good for them for finding Serious & Important in the guise of funny and charming.

 

RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles

Anyone who’s been following my lists knows I’m a sucker for this plotline: “girl comes to New York City to work in publishing.” So how could I not love this novel set in 1938 about a working class girl with gumption and sass who charms her way through Manhattan, first in the typing pool before eventually becoming an editor, all the while running with a glamorous crowd? I’m not saying this is the most literary novel ever written, but I found it literary enough with appealing characters. I know Amor Towles is a wildly popular writer, and I certainly understand why.

 

LIGHT YEARS by James Salter

One of those books that writers are always insisting writers should read. I listened to this sage advice and bought the book…so long ago that my copy contains a bookmark that refers to the bookstore in the World Trade Center. (!) All these years later I’ve finally cracked it open to read, and wow! The first paragraph caught me, promising an extraordinary book ahead. While the plot (such as it is) seems basic—the story of a marriage—this book’s ambition is to capture life in all its seasons and complications, which it does exquisitely. Yes, it’s episodic—yes, there’s a weird lack of transitions—yes, I found myself wondering if this book would survive the gauntlet of agents and marketing departments today—yes, this book requires close and careful attention. Yes, this book went straight onto my Favorite Books bookshelf.

 

THE LINE OF BEAUTY by Alan Hollinghurst

Oh, the power of the New York Times Book Review and its list of the 100 best books of the 21^st century. Somehow I had never heard of Alan Hollinghurst, which surprised me as I like to think I’ve at least heard of everything and everyone! (I haven’t, but as I said, I like to think I have.) So, off to the library to check this out, in every sense of the word. I found the going slow at first—too many characters; set in 1980s London, so I lacked a frame of reference for many allusions; the pace felt leisurely aka tediously slow. And yet. Such smart sentences! Such depth of character! I persevered, and about 2/3 of the way through I encountered a brilliant and hilarious chapter (summer holiday in France, if you’ve read the book), followed by another brilliant and even more hilarious chapter (party with Margaret Thatcher), and I was ALL IN to the end, which was so brilliant and perfect that I sobbed. So, I returned the book to the library and bought a duplicate hardback edition from AbeBooks so I could have my own copy forever.

 

TRANSIT by Rachel Cusk

And, again, the power of the New York Times Book Review and its list of the 100 best books of the 21^st century which also included Rachel Cusk. I have heard of her, but I realized that I perpetually confuse her with Rachel Kushner, whose work I’ve read and not connected with. So, I thought I should see what’s what with this other Rachel. Oh, goodness—lots! Zero confusion now! (To be clear, this isn’t the book that was on the NYTBR list, but this is the book the library had.) I found myself admiring the autofictional feel of this novel—the second in a series about a recently divorced writer/mom living in modern Britain, basically getting through modern life (in this book, moving into a new [and awful] flat). But beyond those concrete concerns, the book ponders movement and “transit” in a brainy, thinky way that creates an elegant arc. One of those deceptive writing styles that feels so natural, that’s actually hard AF to pull off.

 

Three endnotes:

 

For my short story book club, I did a presentation on the Irish writer William Trevor, whose stories are stealthily devastating. If you’re not familiar with his work, here are three that will turn you into a fan:

“A Choice of Butchers”

“After Rain”

“A Day”

 ~~~

I have a standing free-flow writing date on Thursday afternoons, and I start each session by reading poetry (a strategy I highly recommend). Here are the books that kept me company throughout 2024 (to be transparent, these are writers I know IRL). If you’re looking for more poetry in your life, I suggest starting here:

 

CHARM OFFENSIVE by Ross White

WHIPSAW by Suzanne Frischkorn

BORN BACKWARDS by Tanya Olson

IF IN SOME CATACLYSM by Anna Leahy

A LITTLE BUMP IN THE EARTH by Tyree Daye

~~~

Finally, I'll indulge myself and mention some recently published novels/story collections/essays by friends that I absolutely ADORED:

 

SEX ROMP GONE WRONG by Julia Ridley Smith

A SEASON OF PERFECT HAPPINESS by Maribeth Fischer

OUR KIND OF GAME by Joanna Copeland

MISS SOUTHEAST by Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers

THE MARY YEARS by Julie Marie Wade

GREENWOOD by Mark Morrow

~~~

 

Hope your 2025 is filled with good books and a Favorite Books bookshelf that expands an inch or two or ten!

 

 

TBR: Mom in Space by Lisa Ampleman

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe. 

 

  

Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

 

In poems and a few lyric essays, Mom in Space addresses infertility, parenting, and chronic illness through the perspective of a woman interested in the history and biology of spaceflight. With an eye on both the intergalactic and the terrestrial, these poems take place on an Earth affected by climate change, nuclear waste, and racism: “We don’t have enough rare-earth / metals to build a fleet of starships. // We just have the rare Earth” (“Calamity Days”).

 

Which essay or poem did you most enjoy writing? Why? And, which essay or poem gave you the most trouble, and why?

 

I enjoyed writing a lot of the book—when I tell people about the writing that happened in 2020 and 2021 in particular, I often just say in amazement, “It was so fun!” Of course, some of the poems tapped into emotionally challenging experiences (see below), but “Alpha,” for example, felt like wordplay and spending time with concepts that fascinate me, like the Van Allen belts of radiation and the radio waves that come from pulsar stars.

 

“Lava Tubes on the Moon” gave me the most trouble, in a way. I’d been wanting to write a poem with that title for quite a while, but that’s not usually how my creative process works, so I had a lot of false starts. Then I started writing a poem about my experience of miscarriage with my husband, thinking about what he might have felt, since so much of the book is me processing that and other things. I struggled to have those two concepts live in the same space together for a while, I struggled to revisit that moment in the hospital, and I struggled to figure out the poem’s form until I thought about really long lines (that would still fit on a 6 x 9 page of poetry) alternating with emptiness, gaps—tubes, if you will. Until the speaker brought out sweatpants and spinach dip, the poem felt very inert as well. I’m happy with how it turned out in the end, though I don’t know if it’ll be one I choose for readings because of how it brings me back there to that hospital bed.

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

Because I published my second book at LSU Press and they had first right of refusal for my next project, I knew there was a strong chance to work with them again—but that I had to do the work as if I was pitching to them for the first time. I loved working with them and was interested in doing so again. Once I felt like the book was ready, I sent it to James Long, curator of the poetry series. They sent it to a peer reviewer (university press!), who recommended to publish it with a few small suggestions for revision.

 

So, in my case, publication wasn’t as difficult as getting to the book itself—that’s more like the low point. After my son was born in 2015, I didn’t do much new writing. I kept submitting what became Romances, but individual poem drafts often failed. Then in 2019, I got notified by the Hermitage Artist Retreat that I’d been awarded a residency there—the kick is that I had never applied; they choose their residents differently. I was floored and flummoxed. I wasn’t sure at first I could take time away from my family. But I did, in February 2020, and I brought along a book about the Apollo program I’d been wanting to read since we’d visited an Apollo 11 capsule exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center. I got hooked and started writing space poems and reading more about spaceflight. Two weeks after I got home from Florida, the pandemic lockdown began, and the combination of time, fear (about the pandemic as well as a spinal arthritis I’d just developed), and space obsession put the book into motion at last. As I say in “Neil and Me and Work and the Body,” an essay in the book, “A pandemic raged, my body hurt, but I could escape to space.”

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

That a fallow period—which somehow is even listed in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary!—is okay. I’m loosely in such a place now, dabbling with a few things but between focused work. As I mentioned above, I was in a fallow period for years before things kicked into gear in 2020. Just till the soil and fill the well with reading, beauty, contentment, and perhaps other kinds of creative work until it’s time to enter an active time again.

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

At times while I worked on this book, I found myself writing down things I wouldn’t say out loud or bring up in conversation. I loved the rhythm of “My mother never taught me / to hover over the / public bathroom toilet” (the opening of “Public Intimacies”), but I was surprised that I’d put it into words, then in a poem, then submitted that poem to magazines, then included the poem in a book I knew might get published. I’m vulnerable in this book in ways that surprise me still. I wonder if part of that vulnerability stems from how much of the writing happened in the first year of the pandemic, when I had more time to be alone and introspective and feel like I wasn’t in the public sphere.

 

How did you find the title of your book?

 

During the early days of the pandemic, my husband, son, and I spent a lot of time relaxing on couches together. I don’t remember exactly when, but at some point in that era, my son (then four or five), was talking as he is wont to do while he plays games on his tablet. He knows I like space—I was probably reading a book about SkyLab or the shuttle program—and among the other slightly singsong-y things he said was “a mom in space.” I typed it into the notes app on my phone right away. So, I knew fairly early in the process what the title could be, and it probably shaped some of the work that happened after that.

 

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)

 

Well, since I mentioned spinach dip above, here’s a pretty simple version.

 

*****

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: https://lisaampleman.com/

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK~~

PUBLISHER SITE: https://lsupress.org/9780807181256/mom-in-space/

SIGNED COPIES: Downbound Books

 

READ 2 POEMS FROM THIS BOOK: https://therumpus.net/2021/12/21/rumpus-original-poetry-two-poems-by-lisa-ampleman/

 

 

 

TBR: Half-Life of a Stolen Sister by Rachel Cantor

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe. 

  

Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

 

Half-Life of a Stolen Sister is an imaginative retelling of the life of the Brontë siblings in a time and place much like our own. Half-Life is about siblings—their bonds and how they collectively and individually understand their lives; it is also about the creative impulse and how we manage terrible loss.

 

Which character did you most enjoy creating? Why? And, which character gave you the most trouble, and why?

 

I didn’t have to create my characters, really, because they’re based on real people. My task (self-imposed) was instead to imagine and understand them. It was probably easier to imagine Charlotte than it was Emily because Charlotte left so many personal writings and met so many more people (who then remembered her) while Emily left almost no writings and had no interest in meeting anyone ever!

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

The book took ten years for me to write—lots of time for highs and lows! At one point, my former agent told me she would only go out with the book if I cut it by more than one-third; she offered no roadmap, however, for how I might do so! That was definitely a low! Highs included writing every piece in the book, and also finding an editor who truly appreciated what I was trying to do.

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

Alice McDermott and Jim Crace both offered similar advice at different points which I now, with Half-Life, possibly follow to an extreme! Alice read a story about young people traversing Asia in a Magic Bus in 1960 and told me to keep those kids, and their drama, on the bus! Jim read an early version of the opening of my first novel, Good on Paper, and said that the love interest’s bookstore should not be many blocks away, but visible from the narrator’s window. Spatial unity! I like it! My Brontës are homebodies: in my imagining, virtually all their drama takes place in their much too small, rent-controlled apartment!

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

I had intended to write four realistic long stories, each from the point of view of a different Brontë sibling; collectively, these long stories would comprise a novel, telling us something more or less comprehensive about their lives. Imagine my surprise when before I’d written even five pages, the Brontë children were jumping on and off subways, and running from their doorman. This was not going to be a realistic version of their lives!

 

How did you find the title of your book?

 

The title of the book came out of that first piece, which by some crazy miracle already contained so much that would be important in the book. The stolen sisters refer, at first, to the two oldest Brontë girls, Maria and Elizabeth, who die at age 11 and 10, respectively (when Charlotte, the oldest of the remaining children, is barely nine); later it could be said that Emily and Anne, who die at age 30 and 29, respectively, are also “stolen.” In my imagining, these deaths haunt Charlotte. What is the half-life of this kind of haunting? Does it diminish over time? What are its effects? These are (some of) the questions this book explores.

 

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)

 

Emily, it seems, is constantly making stew. By all accounts her stew is excellent, though it is in no way exceptional. Definitely it wasn’t made with wine because Emily wouldn’t want alcohol of any kind in the house to tempt her brother; also, she can’t be using a crockpot or pressure cooker, because she seems to always be stirring … I haven’t tried this recipe, so can’t vouch for it, but this is very much like the stew Emily might have made: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25678/beef-stew-vi/. Hearty, ordinary cut of beef, plenty of veg to make the beef go further!

 

*****

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: www.rachelcantor.com

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK:

https://www.greenlightbookstore.com/book/9781641294645

 

READ “Dead Dresses,” AN EXCERPT FROM THIS BOOK:

https://kenyonreview.org/wp-content/uploads/KenyonArchive/2015/37/1/i24240425/24242260/24242260.pdf

 

 

TBR: Hedge by Jane Delury

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe. 

  

Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

 

Hedge is about a woman trying to pursue her own passions and happiness while being a good mother to her children. Maud is a landscape historian who leaves her marriage in California for a project on a Hudson Valley estate, where she finds new love that’s quickly uprooted by her daughter’s secret struggles.

 

Which character did you most enjoy creating? Why? And, which character gave you the most trouble, and why?

 

In the second part of Hedge, Maud returns home to Marin and begins restoring a garden at the Presidio of San Francisco. The project’s donor is a reclusive artist named Alice, who has left her former life behind and lives in isolation on the Pacific Coast. She’s both tough and vulnerable and deeply connected to the wild landscape. I loved spending time with her, learning about her past and why she left it behind. A harder character to write was Maud’s husband, Peter, because he’s the easy antagonist in the first part of the book and I needed to find my own understanding of his behavior.

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

My first book, THE BALCONY, a novel-in-stories, came out with Little, Brown and I had a wonderful editor. But it became clear early on that Hedge wasn’t a good match for her, so we parted ways. It was painful! Around the same time, the brilliant Leigh Newman contacted my agent, looking for novel manuscripts for a new publishing venture. (I’d worked with Leigh before when she edited one of my essays.) Leigh connected with Hedge and had a vision for editing it, and I felt the universe was telling me: Jump! So I did, and I’m so glad, because this led me to Zibby Books, which has been a great home.

 

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

Don’t forget why you write in the first place and make sure you nurture that reason no matter what happens with the work when it’s out of your hands. We spend so many hours of our life on the page. Make those hours matter.

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

Maud’s elder daughter, Ella, is keeping a secret in the first part of the book. When I understood what was going on with her, I was shocked, as if someone else had written it!

How did you find the title of your book?

 

The first draft of Hedge took place at Monticello. (Eventually, I needed to dump Thomas Jefferson.) When the Monticello gardens were restored, a hedge was grown to conceal Mulberry Row from the house, hiding the reminder of enslavement on the mountain. That draft of Hedge was quite different from the final book, but when I moved the novel to New York, I brought the hedge with me!

 

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)

 

Maud and her daughters are living near an orchard in the Hudson Valley and they spend an afternoon making jam and pie. Here’s a great cherry pie recipe from the New York Times!

 

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013181-twice-baked-sour-cherry-pie

 

 *****

READ MORE ABOUT THIS PUBLISHER: https://www.zibbybooks.com

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK:

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=jane+delury+hedge+bookshop.org&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

 

 

TBR: Swimming with Ghosts by Michelle Brafman

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe. 

 

Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

 

SWIMMING WITH GHOSTS is set in June 2012. The magical and slightly cultish River Run swim club is alive with the spirit of fun competition when a perfect storm brews between team moms and best friends, Gillian Cloud and Kristy Weinstein. The ghost of family addiction has turned up, forcing them to face their unresolved childhood trauma. Real sparks fly on the night of the derecho—a freak land hurricane—which sweeps through Northern Virginia, knocking out power for days, igniting a tinder box of family secrets that threaten to destroy the lives Gillian and Kristy have worked so hard to create.

 

Which character did you most enjoy creating? Why? And, which character gave you the most trouble, and why?

 

The same character I enjoyed creating was the one who gave me the most trouble! I loved writing Gillian Cloud, the uber swim mom who cannot relinquish control over every aspect of the River Run Manta Rays swim team, even after her youngest child is too old to compete. Her antics are ripe for satire. That said, her obsession with the pool is rooted in her family history. River Run is a sacred space for Gillian because it was the only place where her charismatic, alcoholic father did not drink to excess. So she is really clinging to this oasis.

Gillian was tricky because my beta readers kind of hated her controlling, Ms. Fix-it behavior. The more I dug into the source of her vulnerability, though, the more human she became to my early readers. That’s what I love about writing. Those moments of grace.

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

The book went out on submission in March of 2020, when we were all trying to figure out life in a global pandemic. The novel got no traction. That low lasted for a couple of  years. In February of 2022, a publicist from Turner Publishing asked me to blurb one of their novels, and throughout the course of our correspondence, I discovered that Turner had hired a fabulous new acquisitions editor. He totally understood what I was up to with this novel and bought the book quickly. That was a high!

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

Ask someone to read your work aloud to you. My husband read me late drafts of my first two books, and over my son’s winter break from college, he parked himself in my office and read me Swimming with Ghosts. They both uncovered plot, character, and continuity issues I couldn’t see as well as smaller things like word repetition and pet gestures and verbs that should probably only be used once in an entire novel! When I’m listening to someone read the book, I can also hear when my rhythm is off and which hinky sentences need fixing. I do love the intimacy of the exercise, and I often read for my writer friends.     

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

The story’s hopefulness. At first, I was focused on rendering a world where parents were working out their stuff in their kids’ arenas, but as I got to know the nature of my characters’ troubles, I realized that they, we, I, have the capacity to transcend our most troubling family legacies. And I’m sure rooting for all of us to do so!

 

Who is your ideal reader?

 

I’m always surprised by who reads my books, which is part of the fun of putting a story out into the world. I suppose my ideal reader is someone who enjoys a little suburban satire, someone whose life has been impacted by any form of addiction, and maybe a parent who has experienced one of those “I think I went too far” moments that can materialize in any kid-related arena, be it the River Run pool, a hockey rink, or ballet studio.

 

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)

 

Whoopie pies! This treat actually serves as a plot point in the book. When tension and competition rears its ugly head between Gillian and her best friend Kristy, Kristy swipes the dessert and the affection of one of the younger swim moms.

 

Link to recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10016/whoopie-pies-i/

 

 

*****

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: www.michellebrafman.com

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK: https://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Ghosts-Novel-Michelle-Brafman/dp/1684429544/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1683118757&refinements=p_27%3AMichelle+Brafman&s=books&sr=1-1

 

 

READ AN EXCERPT OF THIS NOVEL: https://turnerbookstore.com/products/swimming-with-ghosts (below image of cover)

 

AWP23 Survival Guide!

It’s baaaa-aaaack! AWP23 is about to descend upon Seattle, Washington…and since I started thinking about restaurants and where I’m going to eat, I guess it’s time to post my AWP survival tips, honed after (yikes!) 20ish years of attending AWP conferences. "Survival guide" takes on a different feel in what is being called a "post-pandemic world," so my main point is to do what you need to feel safe personally and to take actions to protect the safety of others. For me, the risk of eating in a restaurant might feel personally worth it, but then how hard is it to sit quietly in a large room, listening to other people speak and wear a mask? My main tip here is to be thoughtful with regard to mask etiquette. 

Twelve thousand writers is a lot of angst, need, and glory to be packed into one convention center…here are my tried & true & freshly updated tips for success, based on my experience at past conferences:

Wear comfortable shoes, at least most of the day. There’s lots of traipsing around long hallways and the long (sometimes uncarpeted) aisles of the book fair. It’s also inevitable that the one panel you really, really, really want to see will be in a teeny-tiny room and you’ll have to stand in the back…or sit on the floor; see the following tip:

Wear comfortable clothes, preferably taking a layer approach. Wherever you go, you will end up either in A) an incredibly stuffy room that will make you melt, or B) a room with an arctic blast directed at you. Bulk up and strip down as needed. Also, as noted above, despite their best efforts, the AWP conference staff has a knack for consistently misjudging the size of room required for a subject matter/speakers (i.e. Famous Writer in room with 30 chairs; grad student panel on Use of Dashes in Obscure Ancient Greek Poet in room with 300 chairs). I suppose it’s hard to determine who is “famous” and so on…in any event, you don’t want to find yourself scrunched into a 2’x2’ square on the carpet, and so see the following tip:

To avoid being stuck sitting on the floor, arrive early to panels you really, really want to attend. And, in fact, official AWP does not sanction sitting on the floor because it’s a fire hazard and you’ll be creating a barrier to those who have accessibility needs. Not sure how they feel about standing in a herd in the back? The point is, don’t sit on the floor—be mindful of others if there’s a herd of standees, and arrive early.

If a panel is bad, ditch it. Yes, it’s rude. Yes, everyone does it. (Be better than the rest by at least waiting for an appropriate break, but if you must go mid-word, GO.) I can’t tell you the high caliber of presenters that I have walked out on, but think Very High. Remember that there are a thousand other options, and you have choices. The only time you have to stick it out is if A) the dull panel participant is your personal friend or B) the dull panel participant is/was your teacher or C) the dull panel participant is your editor/publisher. Those people will notice (and remember) that you abandoned them mid-drone and punish you accordingly (i.e. your glowing letters of rec will flicker and fade). Undoubtedly this is why I have never been published in Unnamed Very High Caliber Magazine, having walked out on that editor’s panel.

There are zillions of panels. And there's an app. Sadly for me, I dislike apps and I miss the massive tome of information and the smaller printed guide. BUT! Time marches on. If you're not an app person, and maybe even if you are, I suggest taking the time NOW to go to AWP’s website and scroll through the schedule and select EVERY panel that sounds even moderately interesting, and load those into the “my schedule” feature. Keep that stored on your favorite technology (mine is a sheaf of printed paper…which may be smart since I often forget how/where to re-access “my schedule,” which requires logging in and somehow finding “my account”; I assume app people are more adept than I am).  Anyway…no point waking up early on Friday if there’s nothing you want to attend. I checkmark panels I might go to if nothing better is going on and star those that I will make a supreme effort to attend. Give yourself a couple of options at each time slot so that if a room is too crowded, you have an interesting alternative.

I like to choose a variety of panels: people I know, people I’ve heard of, genres I don’t write but am curious about, topics I want to educate myself on. Stretch yourself. I also like to go to a reading in which I don’t know any of the readers, just to have a lovely sense of discovery! And don’t forget the ninety-trillion off-site events! (I suspect you’ll end up depressed if every single panel you attend is How To Get Published…remember, the way to get published, really, is to be an amazing writer. You’ll be better of going to some panels that will help you in that pursuit.)

Someone will always ask a 20-minute question that is not so much a question but a way of showing off their own (imagined) immense knowledge of the subject and an attempt to erase the (endlessly lingering) sting of bitterness about having their panel on the same topic rejected. Don’t be that person. Keep your question succinct and relevant. Also, everyone is groaning inwardly anytime someone says, “I have a question and a comment” or anytime someone starts out by saying, “Well, in my work-in-progress, the main character is….”

Don’t say anything gossipy on the elevator, unless you want the whole (literary) world to know it. Do listen up to the conversations of others on the elevator, and tell your friends absolutely everything you’ve overheard during your offsite dinner.

Same advice above exactly applies to the overpriced hotel bar.  Also, if you happen to get a chair at the bar, or, goodness, EVEN A REAL LIVE TABLE, hang on to it!!  People will join you if they see you’ve got a spot! Famous people! I mean it: the only reason to ever give up a table in the hotel bar is because the bar has shut down, you’ve consumed every bit of liquid in the clutter of glasses, and a beefy bouncer is headed your way. (Also, here’s a fun fact: AWP alcohol consumption often breaks sales records at hotels.)

Speaking of famous people or former teachers or friends…do not say something like this in one long breathless opening sentence right after hugging/fist-bumping hello: “Great-to-see-you-can-you-write-a-blurb-letter-of-rec-piece-for-my-anthology?” Ask for favors AFTER the conference! I mean, unless you enjoy that uncomfortable moment and awkward triumph of trapping someone into saying reluctantly yes in the hopes that then you'll go away.

Support the publications at the bookfair. Set a budget for yourself in advance, and spend some money on literary journals and books and subscriptions, being sure to break your budget. Do this, and then you won’t feel bad picking up the stuff that’s been heavily discounted or being given away free on the last day of the conference. But, please, definitely do spend some money! These journals and presses rely on OUR support.

Just because something is free, you don’t have to take it. Unless you drove, you’ll have to find a way to bring home all those heavy books/journals on an airplane. Or you’ll have to wait in line at the hotel’s business center or the UPS store at the convention center to ship them home. So, be as discerning as you can when you see that magic markered “free” sign on top of a pile of sad-looking journals, abandoned by the grad students with hangovers who didn’t feel like dealing with their university's bookfair table.

Try not to approach the table of each journal at the bookfair with this question: “How can I get published in your journal?” Also, I recommend avoiding this one: “How come you didn’t publish my poem/story/essay/screed?”  Try instead: “What a beautiful journal. Please tell me more about it.” Even better: “I’m thinking about subscribing.”

It may be too late for some of you, but it’s inevitable that you will see every writer you’ve ever met in the aisle of the bookfair at one AWP or another…so I hope you were nice to all of them and never screwed anyone over. Because, yes, they will remember, and it’s not fun reliving all that drama as the editors of The Georgia Review gaze on.

Pre-arrange some get-togethers with friends/teachers/grad student buddies, but don’t over-schedule. You’ll run into people, or meet people, or be invited to a party, or find an amazing off-the-beaten-track bar.  Save some time for spontaneity! (Yes, I realize that I’m saying “plan” for spontaneity.)

Don’t laugh at this, but bring along Purell and USE IT often. Even before Covid, post-AWP Facebook status updates and tweets are filled with writers bemoaning the deathly cold/sore throat/lingering and mysterious illness they picked up at AWP.  We’re a sniffly, sneezy, wheezy, germy bunch, and the thought of 12,000 of us packed together breathing on each other, shaking hands, and giving fake hugs of glee gives what’s left of the CDC nightmares.

Along the lines of healthcare, don’t forget to drink a lot of water and pop an Advil before going to sleep if (haha…if!) you’ve been drinking a little more than usual. (Also note that AWP offers a daily 12-step meeting open to all in recovery. Please take care of yourself.)

Escape! Whether it’s offsite dinners/drinks/museums/walks through park/mindless shopping or whatever, do leave at some point. You will implode if you don’t. Also, the food on the convention floor is consistently overpriced and icky…you will starve if this is your entire diet.

Bring your cellphone charger and maybe even a portable charger. Or maybe you like huddling around electrical outlets?

I can’t believe I’m writing this: I miss the Dance Party. It was a good to work off stress and reenergize after a long, sometimes daunting day after too many snubs, imagined and real. I mean, I’m sure there are all kinds of interesting undercurrents and nuances out there in the depths of that packed dance floor…but also, on the surface, it can just be FUN. I would love to see it return. In the mean time, look for ways to handle YOUR stress that do not include camping at the hotel bar: the quiet room/s, prompt writing, a long walk, yoga.

This is a super-secret tip that I never share, but I’ll share it as a reward for those who have read this far:  there will be a bathroom that’s off the beaten track and therefore is never crowded. Scope out this bathroom early on. Don’t tell anyone except your closest friends the location of this bathroom. Wear your mask in every public bathroom, and if you doubt me, google "toilet plumes."

Finally, take a deep breath.  You’re just as much of a writer as the other 11,999 people around you.  Don’t let them get to you.

*****

If you're interested, I'm part of a panel about linked short story collections:

THURSDAY, March 8

1:45pm to 3pm

Rooms 343-344, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 3

T191. Minding the Gaps and Mining Landscape in Linked Short Story Collections (Ramona Reeves, Leslie Pietrzyk, Camille Acker, Rion Amilcar Scott, Toni Ann Johnson) Linked short story collections have become more popular, perhaps in part because of their hybrid nature. They can employ recurring themes, characters, and settings to situate readers in worlds that move beyond the borders of many short stories while stopping short of the breadth and propulsion of a novel. Minding the gaps, or the spaces, is key in writing linked story collections. How does space function between and within linked collections, and what stories does one choose to tell and why?