This latest novel from Julian Barnes resists easy classification — memoir, literary analysis, meditation on friendship, memory, and the finality of death. Dark wit throughout, melancholy just beneath, but somehow still hopeful? Like I said, hard to pin down.
It seems to me that humans are often so busy living that they forget they are human – or at least forget what it is to be human, and what its consequences are – and therefore what it means to be dead.
Barnes says this will be his last book. I hope he’s wrong. ★★★★☆
This classic Nebula and Hugo award winner drops you in the deep end of an alien world — strange vocabulary, gender-fluid inhabitants, a perpetual chill you can almost feel. The world-building is astonishing; the writing borders on poetry.
Light is the left hand of darkness and darkness the right hand of light. Two are one, life and death, lying together like lovers in kemmer, like hands joined together, like the end and the way.
The ideas on gender and society still feel fresh and important. A good read. ★★★★☆
One new story (and two reprints) from Claire Keegan, the master of compressing so much into so few words. Men behaving very badly ought to be the sub-title here. As with all of her stories, these will haunt you long after you finish. ★★★★☆
A wonderful collection of essays written by Cheryl Strayed as part of an advice column under the pseudonym “Dear Sugar.” Terrific, heartfelt advice on just about every aspect of life. I loved it. ★★★★★
A fun read for anyone with a passing interest in pool or gambling or gritty city life. Or if you’ve seen the movie with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. ★★★★☆
The inaugural volume of the Best American Essays showcases the essayistic talent of some literary icons in their heyday: Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen Jay Gould, Julian Barnes, and Cynthia Ozick. ★★★☆☆
Finished reading: The Best American Essays 2025 by Jia Tolentino (editor) 📚
Continuing my essay kick with the latest “Best American” collection. A few missed the mark for me, but most were pretty good, and a few were extraordinary. ★★★☆☆
Published in 1982, Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) envisioned a 2025 America that feels eerily familiar. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s a scary example of King’s uncanny ability to predict future events. ★★★★☆
A meticulously researched history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Ultimately, the book is a tale of tragedy and woe for both sides of a pointless war. ★★★★☆
Another masterpiece from Claire Keegan, the master of the emotionally-charged short novel. The language is economical, yet lyrical. And moving. I did not want this one to end. ★★★★★
Set in a near-future NYC, we follow Vera, an exceptionally gifted yet anxious child, through a dystopian landscape of far-right extremism, absentee parenting, cultural diversity, and hilarious yet ominous technology. ★★★★☆
A warning that the corruption of power, the awful propensity for human barbarity, and the refusal to address legitimate grievances can lead to catastrophic consequences. This old classic offers modern day lessons. ★★★★☆
How is anyone ever to shut the eyes of their dead child? How is it possible to find two pennies and rest them there, in the eye sockets, to hold down the lids? How can anyone do this? It is not right. It cannot be.
A heart-breaking memoir about losing two sons to suicide. There’s often little you can say to parent who’s lost a child. But sometimes the words from a fellow sufferer can get through. This book was one of those. ★★★★★
Yes, it’s about bullet journaling, but also how daily reflection can help you make time for those important but not necessarily urgent things in your life. ★★★☆☆
I’m wanting to read more short stories and what better source than this mammoth treasure of short fiction from the New Yorker Magazine’s first hundred years? Some terrific stories here. ★★★★☆
A collection of witty commentaries, short stories, poems, and essays, all originally published in The New Yorker, and each an ode to what I’m sure White would agree is the greatest city on earth. ★★★★★
