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What were the best book experiences you had this year?
For me, kind of hard to top Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead. Absolutely astounding in both scope and narrowness of detail. The characters are so believable, so personal, and yet Kingsolver’s narrative is operating on a major stage, grappling with sweeping issues including the child welfare system, the opioid crisis, and poverty in America. Truly a work of genius. I’d guess this will be in my top five books of the last decade for awhile. I’m hosting a “favorite things” gift exchange later this month and one of my best guy friends said he’s bringing two items: Monkey 57 Gin and Demon Copperhead. I mean, flawless taste…! My full review of D.C. here.
Next up: Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo. I didn’t ever get around to writing a full review of this book because I found it so sprawlingly suggestive, and I couldn’t quite make my way around the circumference of why it elicited such powerful sentiments in me. Rooney’s previous works tend to center romantic relationships, and this one has some deep and complex romance to it, too, but it’s really a story of two brothers and their misreadings of one another, and how those “bad readings” lead them to lose out on one another, and suffer in private. Rooney is always playing in and through these crevices: the gaps between people, the spaces in which we isolate ourselves in painful and ultimately unnecessary ways whether by force of social norms, self-absorption, or the errant failings of language. I don’t think anyone captures modern communication as well as she does. Text messages, dead phones, and other captures of modern technology never feel clunky in her prose; everything works and feels mimetic with the world in ways that occasionally makes me feel I’m watching real people interact rather than reading a novel. Just a wonder to behold.
Third: Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend. A major resume gap for me. And completely brilliant. I’ve not yet gotten around to reading the other books in the series, which makes me wonder — I suppose I didn’t exactly love reading the book even though I appreciated it, and found it awakening parts of my mind that probably suffer from disuse. The meta-fictional aspects of this book are fascinating. My full review here.
Fourth: The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl. Mr. Magpie bought me this in hard copy and we keep it on our kitchen counter with the intention of reading a chapter or two of Renkl’s “howling love letter to the natural world” in the morning. We’re still making our way through it but it is the most beautiful morning devotional. The writing is gorgeous.
Fifth: I read a lot of romance this year, but my favorite atmospheric read in this category was This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune (wait to read this until summer — it really sent me into an adirondack-chairs-on-a-wood-dock-surround-by-pine-trees-at-a-lake-house mood). I liked the beau! More off the rails / a true “beach read after dark” (warning!): Cash by Jessica Peterson, which I believe was a rec from our girl Caro Chambers. It’s a cowboy enemies-to-lovers tale that surprised me — sometimes romance books can feel formulaic to the point of boring but this had some moments (occasionally unhinged ones) that kept me on my toes.
Sixth: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. An astounding debut novel! I know Magpies were split on this one, but I found it gripping and substantive enough to sustain protracted conversation with my mother, sister, and several girlfriends. I didn’t read as much thriller/mystery this year as I typically do — this left some big shoes to fill. Full review here.
Seventh: Poetry! I realized this year that I read a lot of it, and often reach for it in lieu of a novel in the morning, when I find it unblocks me if I’m in a writing rut. I usually pick up this anthology and flip to a new poet and read one or two of his/her works. Sometimes I revisit the same handful I have dogeared, too — I especially love William Carlos Williams’ “Of Asphodel,” which I’ve written about in fits and starts and Robert Frost’s “The Death of the Hired Man,” which is witchy and brilliant and genre-bending (more fiction than poetry?)
Eighth: Short fiction by J.D. Salinger and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Another great place to visit when I’m stuck. The way both of these men write about the first gropings of a budding romance — !!! It undoes me!
Please share your favorite books from this year!
Post-Scripts.
+Some thoughts on the modern thriller as a genre. I felt this year was light on good ones? Ruth Ware’s latest felt like a major dud to me. Any suggestions? I do love this category.
+My favorite audiobooks.
Shopping Break.
+A really good buy from J. Crew’s Cyber Monday promotion. Love it in the stripe, the red — all the colors. Also – this brushed cashmere sweater was a bestseller for two weeks on Magpie and now is a great time to snag on sale.
+Now is the day to buy all your kids’ holiday outfits. I bought my son these tartan pants at Bloomies (they are Ralph but sold out on RL!) and — I couldn’t help it! — this sweater from RL (40% off) plus some great Ralph basics also 40% off, including a classic white turtleneck, long-sleeved polo, sweatshirt, joggers, and long sleeved tees. Those basics are more or less Gap prices with the discount! I did a major stock up.
+J. Crew and J. Crew Factory also have some great holiday scores for kids: this velvet dress, this tartan and tulle dress (which mini picked for herself!), great fitting cords in festive colors, and tartan button downs.
+My velvet trousers are on sale! Upgrade pick: La Ligne.
+Guys, I bought Mr. Magpie these cashmere joggers and this waffle cashmere pullover, both in charcoal gray, and they are SUCH a great fit and look so handsome on…he was wearing them when I came back from running errands yesterday! Just need to add a backwards hat…
+Little reminder that select pieces from Varley — which is very difficult to come by on sale — are 25% off here. Treat yourself to this fleece! I own in the pink. I also absolutely love their slim joggers. The most polished I’ve ever felt in athleisure, esp paired with the matching sweatshirt. I go down a size in everything from Varley — I find it runs big — with the exception of the joggers, which I take in my true size.
+Necessaire just sweetened their BFCM deal — you now get 25% off and a free body wash with every order. Trust me, this is the best body lotion. Just finished a tube and reordered.
+This gorgeous mini red Ferragamo is haunting me…
+Cuyana discounted their most popular “system tote” in three gorgeous, classic colors! This is a fantastic work bag. I own this in the burgundy color and have been using it to tote my notebooks, folders, laptop, etc over to my Dad’s to help him with some projects.
+My daughter asked for a journal for Christmas! I am giving her one of these beautiful Emily Ley ones (currently on sale), and I just noticed they’ve discounted their 2024-2025 planners as well.