What I read in December
December's online and offline reading recs. Including: Rebecca K Reilly, Sheila Heti & Amy Key.
Hello!
I’m currently on a plane and not actually writing book reviews on New Year’s Eve (the internet is all a lie, etc etc ( / here is proof of the trust I have in my scheduling before I head off to the airport)), but here are my top picks from my reading in December. The vast majority of my books are in a shipping container, so I am very here for kindle recs for the next three months (and then I should hopefully be reunited with my belongings and also have an apartment to put them in).
Books
Greta and Valdin, by Rebecca K Reilly
Loved this story about two queer, multiracial siblings in NZ and their complicated, extended family. I loved the relationships between all of the characters, and I’m always here for snippets of untranslated dialogue in languages I don’t speak, it feels more believable.
Alphabetical Diaries, by Sheila Heti
I’m actually not sure when this comes out, so apologies if I’m about to recommend something you can’t read for months, but even on a purely FORM level, Sheila Heti’s latest book is genius. She’s taken her diaries from the last ten years, alphabetised every sentence and, somehow, it works and feels completely effortless. I’m absolutely certain that my diary sentences in alphabetical order would be a) nonsensical, and b) of very little interest.
Arrangements in Blue, by Amy Key
Honestly I can’t actually believe it took me so long to read this - I’ve seen it so highly recommended, and I love long-form writing by poets. This essay collection was, unsurprisingly, beautiful. Using Joni Mitchell’s Blue to anchor her essays, Key delves into life without romantic love, setting up a home, travelling alone, terrifying debt, and friendship and mentorship and grief.
Online reads
(As an aside - when I was blogging approximately one hundred years ago, I used to do a weekly roundup of all the things I was reading online, when I was reading far more longreads and litmags than I do now, and I’m really enjoying getting back into the habit of bookmarking things so I can share them.)
New fiction from Elizabeth at
- hooray! Three mini stories.
What Was Literary Fiction? (and is it dead?)
In a 1976 interview with Publishers Weekly, Marc Jaffe, the editorial director of Bantam Books, used “‘literary’ fiction” to distinguish titles that weren’t commercial or genre fiction, though he felt the need to put scare quotes around the word “literary” and added the caveat “for lack of a better term.”
Did you read this*, this year? I’ve had it on my list since it came out and I’ve still not got to it, but 2023 was crowned “The Year of the Slim Volume” all the way back in June, and I wonder if the title held through to the end of the year.
January is going to be more kindle reading (I’m very glad I got myself a new little basic one on the Black Friday deals, I cannot believe how much smaller/lighter it is than my 12-year-old one, and it fits in all my handbags - not spon, just genuinely very pleased with it. Well done, past me). I’ve saved some 2024 early proofs which I guess it’s now time to start on!
I’m also rereading Sylvia Plath’s Collected Poems as prep for February’s course (and because it’s one of about five physical books I didn’t ship) - tickets are available here, if you want to join us!
What did you read this month? (And what are your reading goals for 2024?)
Happy New Year!
Terri-Jane x
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