a spring & summer reading recap

we contain multitudes, etc

I keep wanting to write about politics despite the fact that this is a culture newsletter (culture is inherently political!), but I'll disassociate for today because can you believe I haven't done one of these since March? And I've read so many books since then! I've been moved and annoyed and stayed up too late and despite the Discourse, there is so much good literature bopping around and we should celebrate it. 

With that, here are some of my favorite books I've read since March¹, each linked to its Bookshop page (unaffiliated to me, and you should patronize your local bookstore if that’s an option available to you, it foments community and it’s fun!). Some are new, some are only new to me, and none of them are on the NYT Best Books of the 21st Century Thus Far list. Miracles do happen, in that I held my tongue and chose not to write anything beyond the below about The List.

If you’ve been here for a while, you know these recaps are some of my favorite newsletters to write, so let me know if you have Thoughts™ on any of the below, and if you’ve recently read something you think we must all read, please do share!