You Pulled Off an April Fool’s Prank
You’ve gone monster hunting or are a “Wire” superfan
Hi friends,
Welcome to April. I went to the garden store over the weekend and bought a few plants. Now, we’ll see if I can keep them alive.
I know this is a book recommendation newsletter, but I want to quickly plug a podcast I’m enjoying: Maxine Miles. It’s a YA murder mystery radio drama with a choose-your-own-adventure twist. The episodes are 25 minutes or so, the perfect length for commuting or walking the dog. If you end up listening, let me know, so we can trade theories.
And, now, what to read if…
You’re an April Fool’s Prankster
You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
I am not a big prank person. I once gift-wrapped everything in a college friend’s dorm room, but that’s really the entirety of my highlight reel. If you are a prankster, 1) please leave a comment detailing your best stunts and 2) read Sarah Hogle’s You Deserve Each Other, a romcom about a feuding couple involved in an ever-escalating prank war.
You Deserve Each Other follows Naomi Westfield and Nicholas Rose, a seemingly perfect couple who secretly both want to end their engagement. But, whoever calls off their lavish non-refundable wedding will be on the hook for the bill. So, Naomi and Nicholas each attempt to drive the other away, each participating in increasing acts of sabotage. While playing what Naomi calls “a game of chicken,” the couple starts to remember what they actually liked about each other, and the stakes grow even higher.
Pulling off a “relationship in trouble” trope in a romcom is exceptionally difficult – and Hogle nails it. This book is laugh-out-loud funny with a strong emotional core. I understood how Naomi and Nicholas grew apart but still wanted them to find a way to work through it and was delighted when they did.
You’ve Ever Hunted for Bigfoot
Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge, Translated by Jeremy Tiang
In Yong’an, the fictional city where Strange Beasts of China* is set, humans live alongside cryptozoological creatures, simply known as “beasts.” The creatures — heartsick beasts, flourishing beasts and thousand league beasts — all have distinct features, cultures and diets. Sorrowful beasts, for example, love vanilla ice cream, while others prefer breakfast cereal.
Each chapter of Yan Ge’s book is a self-contained short story focusing on the unnamed narrator’s encounters with a different type of beast. She is the best part of Strange Beasts, a hard-drinking former cryptozoology student now writing romance novels. Her backstory — and fascination with beasts — is slowly unraveled over the book, a mystery that kept me reading.
Strange Beast of China is … well… strange. It’s a novel in short stories, with fantastical elements that are also grounded in reality. As Chris Littlewood noted in The Washington Post, “At its best, “Strange Beasts” transfixes you like a vivid dream, offering glimpses of the waking world contorted into uncanny forms. Though it never becomes a neat allegory, beneath the fantastical elements is a blatant critique of anthropocentrism and state control, and a keen concern for the way power is wielded against the marginalized.”
You’ve Seen Every Episode of ‘The Wire’
We Own This City by Justin Fenton
The Baltimore Police Department launched the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) in 2007, hoping to stem the flood of illegal guns onto city streets. Instead, the GTTF became a criminal gang, stealing drugs and money, planting evidence and assaulting the same people it was designed to protect. At its center was Wayne Jenkins, a rank-and-file BPD member who was beloved among top police brass for his arrest records and feared by city residents who knew of his illegal and unethical tactics.
Justin Fenton, an award-winning investigative reporter for the Baltimore Sun, carefully documents the devastating story in We Own This City. Drawing on thousands of pages of court documents, countless hours of interviews and video footage, Fenton chronicles how the GTTF was able to get away with their crimes for a decade, and the lasting impact their unchecked corruption had on the city and its residents. The veteran reporter puts Jenkins and the Gun Trace Task Force team into the broader context of the history of policing in Baltimore, emphasizing the periods right before and after Freddie Gray’s death in police custody.
When I first read about We Own This City, I thought, “Wow. That sounds like ‘The Wire.’” So I wasn’t too surprised to learn David Simon, creator of the HBO show about Baltimore, is adapting the book for the silver screen. The six-hour limited series premieres April 25, so you have time to finish the book before it starts.
Thanks for reading! I’ll be back in your inboxes on Thursday with a Q&A featuring memoirist Liz Scheier.
I’ve been really enjoying the conversation in the last Q&A about the three books that shaped you. Jump in and join if you haven’t yet.
*I received a free copy of Strange Beasts of China from Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review.
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