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Hi book lovers,

Life intervened in my writing time this week, so I asked a few friends who write book-related Substacks to substitute for me and they kindly agreed:

• Aya Martin-Seaver writes Can You Stand Her, a newsletter about Victorian literature.

• Nia Carnelio is behind the Not Controversial newsletter that talks about things that aren't supposed to be controversial but still are. It also includes “spicy lit takes.” (I love her takes.)

• And, the incomparable Books on GIF “is the animated alternative to boring book reviews.”

They have great taste and wonderful newsletters, so I hope you’ll check out both the reads they recommended and the newsletters they write.

And, now, what to read if …

You Need to Fill in the Essay Collection Bingo Box

The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser

I wanted to recommend something Victoriana adjacent because hello that’s my thing but I recently read CJ Hauser's The Crane Wife and I would be lying if I said I was thinking about anything else. Hauser’s essay “The Crane Wife” went viral in 2019 and it combines some of the things I love the most about nonfiction: it tells a story, it analyzes that story, and it changes how it feels about its own story. Hauser’s memorable breakdown of her own failed wedding and her trip to observe whooping cranes off the coast of Texas remains a piece I go back to again and again, not just to read and admire but to explain my own grief, sadness and the way I sometimes am tethered to certain types of self-inflicted grief. 

This would be enough, frankly, for one book but The Crane Wife is a memoir told through essays and Hauser expands beyond her well-known piece to some truly wonderful explorations. She tackles romantic expectation and The Philadelphia Story and her childish obsession with The Wizard of Oz as well as an adult’s reckoning with the underside of so much art we once loved: racism.

Much of the book is about romance and relationship woven in with literature and memory so there are meditations on subjects like Shirley Jackson and Rebecca but there’s also a long consideration of motherhood and and the relationship a woman has with her breasts and her fertility. It’s a lovely deep collection. 

If you want a more Victorian suggestion hit me up in the comments. (Editor’s note: Or check out her newsletter.)

— Aya Martin Seaver, Can You Stand Her

Bingo boxes this book checks: Short story/essay collection

You're Looking for a Wholesome and Funny Story

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

I’m a sucker for stories that revolve around found families, and Backman’s Anxious People is truly one of the best books I’ve read with this trope. You’re pulled into a story and asked to care about nameless people, people who seem aloof and distant and mean, and yet, there’s something about them that feels so real and inviting you can’t help but read on.

Anxious People starts with a bank robbery gone wrong. An anxious robber makes the mistake of trying to rob a digital-first (no physical money here) bank, panics, and then accidentally takes everyone at an apartment viewing hostage. Eight strangers are now forced into each other’s company — a high-stress situation that brings people together, fosters understanding and reveals intricate relationships — sign me the hell up!

Backman’s writing is poetic, and it’s almost like the lines in the book were written to be underlined and annotated. The moment you think you’ve figured out the connection between any of the characters, he throws another curveball, forcing you to rethink your preconceived notions. His ‘Aha!’ moments are soft and understated, making you go, “Aaaahh! That’s how this came to be!” instead of shock-filled gasps. The book is a lovely reminder that our actions impact more than just ourselves, and as a whole, humans are very interconnected, no matter what it may look like on the surface. Compassion, kindness, and understanding are weaved into a brilliantly crafted story in Anxious People.

Tip: Skip reading the blurb on Goodreads — it gives away too much information, and if you’re eagle-eyed, you might even pick up on some of the twists in this book too early. Go into Anxious People blind and expecting something utterly wholesome because that’s the best way to describe this book in two words.

— Nia Carnelio, Not Controversial

Bingo boxes this book checks: Book in translation, book set outside the U.S.

You Want an Intense Ending to your Summer Reading

The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard

The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard is not about astronomy, but it has people in transition physically, emotionally and romantically. Love, a force like gravity, has the characters circling each other; not coming together, but not breaking free, either. The story follows Grace and Caroline Bell, sisters who emigrate from Australia to post-war England after their parents die in a ferry accident. Grace, the conventional sister, eventually marries a well-to-do bureaucrat/diplomat. Caroline, who goes by Caro, is a free spirit who works an office job, has an affair with a married playwright, and eventually marries a prominent American and moves to New York.

The Bell sisters and the other characters go in and out of each other’s lives as years pass. We see their loves, their joys, their heartaches, their infidelities and their darkest secrets. It's a riveting read. One scene is so intense that I gasped loud enough to startle [my editor] Donna at her crossword puzzle. Every page is packed with beautifully constructed sentences and evocative turns of phrase, and I littered the book with underlines and marks to remember them.

As I tweeted to a friend: ‘It's got some of the best writing I've encountered in a while. A sweeping story over several decades. Gut punches. Love. Betrayal. It's a tour de force. I was emotionally wrecked.’ If you’re looking for an intense, beautiful and heartbreaking book to close out your summer reading, I strongly recommend The Transit of Venus.

— Books on GIF

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Thanks to Aya, Nia and Books on GIF for subbing for me. (I bet you’re jealous I have such cool friends.)

I’ll be back in your inboxes next week.

What to Read If is a free weekly book recommendation newsletter. Need a rec? Want to gush about a book? Reply to this email, leave a comment or find me on Twitter @elizabethheld.

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