Two fantastic novels featuring literary women
Hey readers!
We have arrived in Amagansett for ten glorious days at the beach, and I am so ready. After my dad passed away, I’ve been feeling wanderlust and a real need for changes of scenery much more frequently. Getting to spend time with family in a beautiful place is exactly what my soul needs right now.
And of course I’m hoping for some good reading time, while knowing that it doesn’t come as easy with a four-year-old in tow. I forced myself to pack only two physical books this year (usually I bring at least 5 or 6) along with a fully loaded Kindle in an attempt to be more realistic. Hopefully I’ll surprise myself, but, if not, at least I’m not lugging all those books back and forth across the coutry this time!
This week I read…
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine. This was the FictionMatters Book Club selection for June, and my first time reading newly anointed National Book Award winner, Rabih Alameddine. This story is told by a sharp, solitary, opinionated, and very bookish 72-year-old woman named Aaliya. She has been divorced for decades and recently retired from her job at the local bookshop, and has accepted her role as an “unnecessary woman”—one without a husband and children to care for nor family or friends who care for her. Yet Aaliya has an incredibly rich interior life and personal projects that she pursues with vigor: every year she begins the translation of a book into Arabic. While the novel itself takes place over a single day, Alameddine explores the nature of memory and storytelling as Aaliya tells the story of her past to her unspecified audience. All the while, we learn about her from her opinions on books and authors and the choices she makes in her own translations. I found this book to be highly enjoyable. It’s warm without being light, serious while still being funny (as one book club member noted). And I love it when I find a book about a serious reader whose entire world is books without the message being saccharine or overly simple. While I thought there were a few pacing issues and I was left wanting to know Aaliya a little better, I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading—and discussing—this book. If you’re a reader of this newsletter and you haven’t read this yet, you should add it to your TBR. Aaliya is our kind of people. Bookshop
The Wife by Meg Wolitzer. I adored this book, but I’m hesitant to say much of anything about it because I think it could be best to go in blind. The story begins with Joan and Joe Castleman on an airplane above the Atlantic on their way to Finland. Joe has won the distinguished Helsinki Prize (think, Nobel in Literature) and they are on their way to be lauded. It’s on this flight to Joe’s literary coronation that Joan decides she’s going to leave him. Over the course of about 200 pages we see both what happens in Finland and, through Joan’s memories, the decades of passion, ambition, and resentment that have made up the entirety of their marriage. This book is incredibly smart and, having been published in 2003, feels very ahead of its time. To say much more about anything—even themes and character development—would take away some of the pleasure of reading this novel so I’ll leave it there for now. However, I’ll be sharing an in-depth discussion with all about this book with at the end of July. Part of that will be spoiler-free, but I think it would be great fun if you read it beforehand so you could listen to the entire episode. Throw it in your beach or pool bag, and I promise you’ll devour it in two days tops. Bookshop | Libro.fm
Now I’m reading…
I’ve been listening to the next book in my guilty pleasure series and thoroughly enjoying it. I only brought two physical books on my 10-day beach trip: this forthcoming title I’m incredibly excited about and the start of a series I’ve been meaning to read for ages. I’m not sure what I’ll start next, but I’m excited about these options—plus my Kindle is loaded if neither fits my mood.
New on my TBR…
Reading about all of Aaliya’s translations and favorite titles in An Unnecessary Woman definitely added a handful of books to my TBR, but I think the highest is Austerlitz by W.G. Sebold. This has been on so many of the recent viral best-of lists and I think finding it in these pages as well means it’s time to actually pick it up.
💬 Tell me about your week in books! What did you finish, what are you reading now, and what have you added to your TBR?
Lit Hub rounded up the best reviewed fiction and nonfiction of June.
If the angry bros dominating The Odyssey film discourse are driving you mad, you should check out this interview with translator and classicist Emily Wilson. (Vulture)
40 great new books you may have missed. (Lit Hub)
Joyce Carol Oates can’t quit. (Vulture)
The crisis of the young male reader isn’t only happening in the U.S. (Guardian)
I will not be reading J.D. Vance’s new conversion memoir, but I enjoyed reading this review which is a pan that tries to take the premise at face value. (New Yorker)
I loved this interview with Gary Shteyngart so much, it inspired an entire post.
This is my absolute favorite face sunscreen. On Friday, I realized I was running low and wouldn’t have time to get a new one before our trip—I was so annoyed. Lucky for me, there is a Kiehl’s shop in BWI (who knew?!) and I was able to re-up my supply just in time!
I don’t want to jinx it but I think I’m back in a groove with audiobooks. After get stuck behind The Unicorn Hunters, I broke free by listening to all of The Wife in just a couple of days and now I’m almost finished with the newest Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney mystery. What I’m learning is that I can’t force audiobook time into my daily life. I don’t always have a lot of quality listening time and if I lose momentum on an audiobook, it’s both easy to abandon one and difficult to start fresh. But whenever I do have periods when listening time is plentiful, I need to have a few audiobook options in my back pocket, because they make chores infinitely more enjoyable and it feels good to finish an extra book here and there. What have been your favorite audiobook listens of late? What should I keep in my back pocket for the next time I need one?
For questions, comments, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing fictionmattersbooks@gmail.com or responding directly to this newsletter. I love hearing from you!
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Happy reading!
