Since the last issue of this newsletter came out, I tested positive for COVID-19. Luckily, I’ve been completely asymptomatic, the rest of my family all tested negative, and I wrapped up my 14 days of self-isolation in my bedroom today. It’s been a weird time though, and I found myself falling back on comfort SFF reads and books I knew would make me laugh. So for this issue, here are some of the books that helped me avoid hyper-fixating on if I might be developing symptoms so I could get through isolation with minimum anxiety. Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zaneta
What I’ve been reading
I first read Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen's Thief series when I was in school and was completely hooked by the complexity of the world Turner created, her compelling, cocky central character Eugenides, and by the twists she managed to sneak into every book. So my expectations were incredibly high for the final installment in the series, which came out this year after almost 20 years in the making. Suffice to say Return of the Thief more than delivered. It’s a fitting conclusion to an incredible series, and while you can read all the books in any order I highly recommend starting from the beginning and bingeing the whole series now that it’s complete.
Another book from an author I love that came out recently after a long hiatus is Allie Brosh’s Solutions and Other Problems. I’ve mentioned how excited I was for this before and again, it was very much worth the wait. I read the whole thing in one sitting on my very first night of self-isolating and laughed out loud constantly. Full of Brosh’s trademark knack of combining the mundane and bizarre with a core of honest emotion, the book is an absolute joy to read.
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason is full of all my favorite things — political scheming in space, the subversion of fairy tale tropes, and an eclectic group of characters who come together as found family. It’s a fast-paced, witty read and if you speed through and aren’t ready to stop spending time with its awesome characters you can dive right into the sequel, How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge.
Shorter reads
If you’re looking for a quicker read, here are some articles and essays I’ve enjoyed lately:
Megan Thee Stallion is an icon and her GQ Rapper of the Year profile (by the Cut’s Allison P. Davis) is an ode to her talent, magnetism and resilience.
This New Yorker feature on Mark Ellison, the carpenter behind some of New York’s most elaborate—and expensive—homes, was an absolutely fascinating look into his life and craft.
On the other end of the architectural spectrum, please enjoy this glimpse into the horrifyingly festive house that went viral on Twitter, courtesy of the always hilarious McMansion Hell blog.
Maybe you saw the “everything is crabs” memes that were everywhere last month when the internet rediscovered carcinisation, but it’s honestly such a bizarre phenomena that fascinated me, so if you haven’t yet had your mind blown, please check out this great explainer from Popular Mechanics.
The trailer for Our Friend dropped recently, which led me to look up the Esquire essay it’s based on. Written by Matt Teague, it’s the true story of how his best friend Dane who put his personal life and career on hold to move in with Matt and his family when Matt’s wife Nicole was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Subscriber recommendations
This week’s personalized recommendations are for Michael, who is looking for books that are “unique perspectives, thoughtful, well-written, worldly” With that in mind, my top picks for Michael are:
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a fictionalized account of the lives of the Mirabel sisters — Minerva, Patria, Maria Teresa, and Dede — three of whom became symbols of resistance in the Dominican Republic after being murdered at the order of the dictator Rafael Trujillo. A poignant and imaginative retelling of history, the novel is written alternately in the first and third person and allows the sisters to speak in their own voices, across the decades, to tell their story.
Say Nothing, Patrick Radden Keefe’s Orwell Prize-winning history of the Troubles is non-fiction that reads like a novel. At the heart of the book is the story of Jean McConville, a 38-year-old widow and mother of 10, who was abducted from her Belfast home in 1972 and never seen again. Starting with an investigation into McConville’s murder, Keefe also uncovers the broader hsitory of the terrible conflict in Northern Ireland and its enduring repercussions.
Abraham Verghese’s novel Cutting for Stone is an engrossing transcontinental family saga, that moves between Addis Ababa and New York City to tell the story of orphaned twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon who come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.
As a reminder, I’ll be sharing curated reading recommendations for a random subscriber every issue so if you’d like to put your name in the draw, please fill out this quick form!
I want to hear from you!
If you decide to read anything I’ve recommended — let me know what you think! And if you have any thoughts or feedback on this issue, or reading recommendations you’d like to share with me, I’d love to hear those too. Feel free to comment below or email me directly at zanetapereira@hotmail.com.
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Glad you were asymptomatic and you're out of quarantine. I love your recommendations and I always add something to my TBR list with each newsletter. I read Cutting for Stone recently and it was incredible (I was on a trip to Ethiopia at the time so that made it even more special, but it's a wonderful book.) Looking forward to the next newsletter installment. Take care.