You’ve Just Gone Viral

Are ready for baseball or are eager for restaurants to reopen

Feb 22, 2021

Hi book lovers,

I want to give a special welcome to new subscribers who found What to Read If from Book Riot’s article on the best book newsletters for readers. I was honored to see this newsletter on a list with many of my favorites, including Books on GIF, Crooked Reads and Girl with Glasses.

If you’re new here, hi, I’m Elizabeth. I’m a writer and avid reader living in Washington, D.C. (Coincidentally, I had an essay published in USA TODAY last week about living on Capitol Hill right now.) Each week, I send subscribers three book recommendations based on what’s going on in the world, pop culture and more. Twice a month, I feature interviews with readers, writers and other bookish people.

As a reminder to subscribers, new and old, I’m always happy to give you a personalized recommendation. Respond to this email, tweet me or leave a comment below describing what you’re looking for, and I’ll respond with a handpicked book.

On Thursday, you’ll receive a Q&A with criminal justice author Jessica Henry about her book, Smoke But No Fire: Convicting the Innocent of Crimes That Never Happened. Jessica and I had a great conversation last week, and I’m excited to share it with you.

Whether you’re a new subscriber or you’ve been with me since the beginning, know that I’m so happy you’re here. I started this newsletter on a whim after realizing how much I love helping people find a book they love, and it’s become a source of joy for me during a miserable time. So, thank you.

And now, what to read if …

You’ve Suddenly Gone Viral

The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya

What to Read If didn’t really go viral last week, but it did suddenly get a lot of attention in my corner of the internet. I was — am — a little nervous about writing today’s edition with so many new subscribers. A friend (hi Jordyn!) recommended addressing it head-on in a book recommendation.

So, I’m recommending Vivek Sharay’s The Subtweet, a fascinating novel about friendship, the internet and where they intersect. Sharay writes about Neela Davis, a talented but largely unknown singer-songwriter who gains notoriety after internet sensation RUK-MINI covers one of her songs. After RUK-MINI direct messages Neela on Instagram, the two develop a close, intense friendship. It collapses though after one of the women writes a viral tweet. The Subtweet is a sharp commentary on how the versions of ourselves we portray online can be radically different than who we are in person.

I love the way this book incorporates texting, messaging apps and social media so naturally. Even though these communication methods have been around for a decade now, they’re still often depicted clunkily in books. I’m also a sucker for any book that captures the heady, exciting feeling of starting a new friendship. Sharay excels at that here, and I’ve found myself thinking about Neela and RUK-MINI months after finishing the book.

Bonus Recommendation: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade is a romance between a fanfiction writer, April, and Marcus, the star of the show April reimagines in her writing. The pair go on a date after one of April’s tweets go viral and, since it’s a romance, you can guess where things go from there. In addition to being a delightful and big-hearted read, Dade explores how we put on different personalities in different situations — both online and in real life.

Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball’s Greatest Gift by Harvey Araton

Baseball and the start of spring training tend to fill writers and baseball fans with poetic drivel. I am no exception. This baseball season will certainly be weird, but I still feel the familiar mix of hope, optimism and excitement I do each year as baseball begins.

Driving Mr. Yogi by award-winning sportswriter Harvey Araton depicts the relationship between Yankee legends Yogi Berra and Ron Guidry, formed over the years spent as coaches at spring training. Guidry offered to pick Berra up at the airport when he flew in for his first training. The pair had dinner that first night together, and Berra, a stickler for routine, assumed they would dine together every night for the remainder of spring training. They did, and a friendship between Berra, the elderly catcher from New Jersey known for his malapropisms, and Guidry, the Louisiana-born pitcher nicknamed “Gator,” was born.

Yogi Berra running on to the field at Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium in 2005.

Baseball lovers, particularly Yankee fans, will find a lot to love in this book, including a great behind-the-scenes look at Berra’s relationship with the team, its ownership and its players. But I think non-baseball fans will enjoy it too. At its core, Driving Mr. Yogi is about a friendship that changed both men for the better. One of my favorite minor plot points is Yogi’s transformation from a notoriously picky eater to a notoriously picky eater obsessed with Guidry’s fried frog legs.

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You Really Miss Eating in Restaurants

Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton

Restaurants around the country have been shuttered for almost a year now. And, let’s be honest, takeout, outdoor dining (especially in the winter) or eating in a sparsely populated restaurant with other masked diners isn’t the same.

Blood, Bones and Butter by acclaimed chef Gabrielle Hamilton, a love letter to cooking, food and restaurants, might help you lessen that ache. In it, Hamilton writes lovingly about the kitchens where she learned to cook. They range from her mother’s and the tourist restaurant’s that hired her at age 13 to her Italian mother-in-law’s and, finally, her own restaurant, Prune.

Like the best food memoirs, it’s about far more than food. Blood, Bones and Butter combines the professional and the personal, the sweet and the salty. Hamilton writes about her idyllic childhood, fractured by her parents’ sudden divorce, and her attempts to build an unorthodox but loving family.

And, if you need more convincing, Anthony Bourdain, the famed chef, food writer and author of the fantastic Kitchen Confidential, called Blood, Bones and Butter, “Magnificent. Simply the best memoir by a chef ever. Ever.”

What To Read If