April 2018

Yesterday my novel in progress went from being 150 pages to being 8 pages. I am more panicked than I have ever been in my literary career. I am wondering why I am doing this, if I can do this, if doing this is going to kill me in the end. I think I have to just spend the next month reading to remind me that that is the point of it all. Also, Donald Trump is president, so I would much rather live in the world of fiction than reality.

New People by Danzy Senna
Hilarious and moving and everything you would expect form a Senna novel.

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
Elizabeth Strout is one of my favorite writers. I have lots of favorites, but she is really stupendous. Read this book if you haven’t yet.

The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
Why can’t I write novels like this? What is even the point of writing novels if one can’t write novels like this?

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
The point of writing novels is to get early galleys of incredible novels like this one. My book is kicking my ass so hard that I think one of the reasons I’m still in this business is because I get to read books like this.

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
I am writing a Western television show, and this remarkable book landed on my lap. I will have to steal everything in it and pretend I’ve stolen nothing.

The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst
Again, I think this might be one of my favorite writers. When I bought this book, I did what I do every time I buy a book by Hollinghurst: I holed up in bed, ignored my family, and cried when it was over.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Twisty and weird and wonderful, like all the best Kate Atkinson novels.

From Broken Glass: My Story of Finding Hope in Hitler's Death Camps to Inspire a New Generation by Steve Ross
I don’t understand how this man managed to bring so much joy and optimism to his life after experiencing what he did in the Holocaust. To say he is an inspiration is so completely trite, but so completely true.

The Recovering by Leslie Jameson
Jameson is really one of the finest essayists writing in America today.

Moving Kings by Joshua Cohen
I had a boyfriend who worked for Moishe’s Moving in New York City for years, so this book is really close to my heart.

News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Another Western, this one equally remarkable. Who knew there would be so many Westerns in the Zeitgeist right now.

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
This is my favorite book. It may be the best book in the world.

Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning by Claire Dederer
It’s really peculiar and unsettling how similar parts of her life history are to my own. 

February 2018

I’m updating this the day after yet another school shooting and I’m feeling angry and disgusted but I’m trying not to let that influence these amazing books I’ve read over the past couple of months.

The One-Hour Drama Series: Producing Episodic Television by Robert Del Valle
Incredibly helpful, both for the show I’m working on now and the ones I hope to be working on soon.

Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone by Richard Lloyd Parry
We spent two weeks in Japan and I fell in love with the country. This book is marvelously researched and heartbreaking.

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
Rachel Kushner has done something astonishing with this novel. She has given us the life of a woman in prison in a way that is not merely accurate but true in every way. She is one of the best writers writing in America today.

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
A marvel.

Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard
It’s short and it will remind you that time is fucking up.

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
All I ever want to do is live in the worlds that Meg creates.

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
How does she do it? How does she write so quickly and so beautifully?

The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
One of my favorite books that I’ve read in the past year or so. It’s constructed differently from most novels. It’s a slice of life that’s so foreign and so delicious. I could have used another 100 pages though.

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
I can’t believe how freaked out I am right now. I don't get anywhere near enough sleep and neither do you.

The Maze at Windermere by Gregory B. Smith
Beautifully constructed, beautifully written.

Ghostwritten by David Mitchell
Mitchell is probably one of my favorite writers. This book is terrific.

November 2017

I've made a vow that I'm going to stop spending hours reading crap on the internet. The world is full of marvelous fiction. I want to read that, not the latest Trump calamity.

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
It's been a while since I enjoyed a book this much. The language was rich and complicated and fun. The story, too. 

Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
She's a terrific writer and this is a wonderful first novel. (Of course now I'm obsessed with the question of whether she had an affair with Philip Roth. Not remotely fair, I know.)

How to Say Goodbye by Wendy MacNaughton
This book is gorgeous and beautiful and sad and ... everything. 

Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck
Where have I been that I haven't spent all my time gobbling up the works of Ms. Erpenbeck? Fantastic.

La Belle Sauvage The Book of Dust I by Philip Pullman
I don't usually enjoy children's literature but I had a blast reading this. 

Super Sushi Ramen Express by Michael Booth
We're going to Japan!!!

Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley
Her life in letters is as enviably glitzy and glorious as on instagram. 

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
My husband is - bar none - the best writer in the English language. You might have your favorites, too, but I stand by mine. This book is astonishingly great. 

Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart 
How did I, a person who hates the world of finance so much, have such an absolute blast reading this terrific novel? 

Wolf Season by Helen Benedict
The author has such a compassionate and yet clear-eyed understanding of the myriad costs of war. Blew my mind. 

The End We Start From by Megan Hunter
First of all, this is terrific. Really beautiful and compelling. But I'm not sure how this is a novel and not a short story. It makes me wonder why we don't publish more short stories as little books. 

October 2017

I've been reading a ton of fiction. I wonder if the fact that I've totally sworn off Twitter except to post links has anything to do with that? If so, talk about a win, win, win, win situation. Twitter is a cesspit and I'm glad I don't read it anymore. Facebook is just as bad. What has it brought us besides Donald Trump?

Anyway, we're here to talk about books! And I read some great ones. 

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
This book is magnificent. The diving stuff? Insanely awesome. 

Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo
Finding an excellent new novelist is a joy. 

You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie
Broke my heart into pieces.

Dinner at the Center of the Earth by Nathan Englander
His best yet. Hilarious and tragic all at once. 

No Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin
Where's her goddamn Nobel Prize?

Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss
Takes erudition to a whole new level. 

All the Dirty Parts by Daniel Handler
So dirty! So real! So great!

Dark at the Crossing by Elliot Ackerman
Stuck with me for weeks. 

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
Another terrific novel by one our best. 

The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani
Scared the living shit out of me. 

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Just terrific

August 2017

Ugh. My June update somehow got lost and I can't for the life of me remember what I read. I was tempted to quit, but I still get periodic requests for updates and thank yous from readers, so I'll keep going, even though I'm demoralized at the data loss. I mean, I'm demoralized at the fucking world right now, so what else is new? 

We Crossed a Bridge and it Trembled by Wendy Pearlman
These stories are devastating. A remarkable feat of research and empathy. 

Victor Tausk's Suicide by K.R. Eissler
The author is completely obsessed and his theories are nuts, but it's fascinating. And it's research. 

The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches From Syria by Janine Di Giovanni
Another remarkable collection about the most important issue of our time.

A Hope More Powerful Than The Sea: The Journey of Doaa Al Zamel by Melissa Fleming
The story is astonishing though there were odd elisions.

The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria by Alia Malek 
So full of fascinating and tragic detail.

All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan
This book is not only gorgeous, but heartbreaking. The author is unsparing with herself - a requirement of writing honesty about such fraught subjects.

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie
I love a long, juicy Rushdie novel. 

White Tears by Hari Kunzru
Weird and wonderful.

The Leavers by Lisa Ko
I read this in a single day. Couldn't put it down.

Hourglass by Dani Shapiro
Too, too, too close to home.

The Incest Diary by Anonymous
Oy. I don't even know what to say about this. The writing is remarkable. Let's leave it at that. 

Real American by Julie Lythcott-Haims
The remarkable Julie Lythcott-Haims is many things: a marvelous story teller, a gifted poet, an indomitable advocate. But above all, I think, she is a teacher, who in this astounding book imparts the most compelling of lessons with a profound grace and compassion. To write with such an open heart about race and Blackness takes great courage. To do so in prose that is at once elegant and raw takes great talent. (my blurb!)  

Woman No. 17 by Edan Lepucki
This will totally knock your socks off. 

The Changeling by Victor LaValle
Brilliant. 

May 2017

In looking back over the past few years, I notice a troubling drop off in the number of books I've been reading. The culprit is obvious. There's just too much good TV out there. But I believe that if you are novelist, you must read and you must read fiction. That is one of the most important places from which inspiration comes. (Those writers who say they don't read so that they aren't "influenced by other writers' style?" I usually find that their style is in dire need of positive influence.) I am a writer because I love to read, and I was stymied on my new novel because I'd been reading so little. 

I went off the the MacDowell Colony and for a week I did nothing but read and walk in the woods (and eat and eat and eat). Then for another week I wrote and read. If I'd had a full month there, I would likely have come home with a solid first draft.

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
I don't usually read plays, but this is my very favorite play. I've seen it twice and both times it was astonishing. I read it because I admire its structure and was hoping to steal it. 

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst
This was a reread, again in order to get tips on structure. 

The Science of Evil by Simon Baron-Cohen
His research and his arguments are compelling, but invariably the desire to find a genetic cause for criminality leads to frightening conclusions. 

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
Another reread. Everything I believe about Richard III I learned from this master's pen.

The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould
One shouldn't read Baron-Cohen without first fortifying oneself with Gould. 

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
One of my very favorite books as a child, also read for structure. Funny how I remember the search through the files as this protracted puzzle solved by extraordinary wit and tenacity. Turns out it's like a paragraph long. 

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Another reread, because for a moment I thought I might write a dystopian novel. Changed my mind, but this is, as ever, brilliant. 

The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrére
The accent is in the wrong direction on his name, I know. But I don't think he'd mind, given the delightful games he plays with fiction and nonfiction.

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
Please let Ms. Morrison keep writing for a few more years at least!

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
He was just a kid when he wrote this, and yet his depiction of an elderly woman is spot on. 

Lives Other Than My Own by Emmanuel Carrére
I just love the way he plays with the concept of memoir. 

The Mare by Mary Gaitskill
A wonderful novel by a master of the form. 

Modern Gods by Nick Laird
Too much time has passed since Laird's last book, but this was worth the wait!

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Very sweet. 

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Stunning. Visceral. Incredible.

The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
I gobbled this up in a couple of hours!

The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
Rich and complicated and tragic. 

February

I don't know about you, but it's been hard for me to focus on fiction, what with the American democracy coming to a fiery and horrible end. Anyway, this is what I've been reading. 

The Mighty Franks by Michael Frank
This is an incredibly fascinating memoir about crazy Hollywood families.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer
This is my new absolute favorite of Andy’s books. Preorder it now.

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
This book is so freakin’ good.

The Darkroom by Susan Faludi
This book will blow your fucking mind. Seriously. Buy it NOW.

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker
A book about art and artists. I love it.

The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain
Tremain is a remarkably accomplished writer and here she’s on the top of her game.

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters
How much do you think it sucks to publish this the same year that Colson publishes Underground Railroad? But this book is really great! Read it!

The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
Good book, but I fucking hate squirrels.

Little Sister by Barbara Gowdy
This book is weird and wonderful. Like all of Gowdy's work, it will subtly change how you look at the everyday.

The Photographer's Wife by Suzanne Joinson
A little slow, but lovely.

Lincoln at the Bardo by George Saunders
I struggled with this because of the placement of the dialogue tags after the sections. But then I got the audiobook and now I understand that it’s a MASTERPIECE. It will win the Pulitzer for sure.

December 2016

I'm ashamed of myself. I've all but given up my primary solace, the reading of novels. I've been doing what you've been doing, I expect. Surfing wildly through the internet, panicking. I'm not going to spew any pablum about the importance of art, but...well...I have always found comfort in books. And now, more than ever, I need comfort. 

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
What does it say about me that I identified so completely with Eileen?

Nutshell by Ian McEwan
I would read McEwan's grocery list. But I didn't need to, because he wrote this incredible, weird, delicious book instead.

The Mothers by Brit Bennett
It deserves all of its kudos! Terrific.

The Nix by Nathan Hill
I enjoyed this book very much, but I can't for the life of me remember anything about it now. But that's not the book's fault. It's the fault of the times.

Mischling by Affinity Konar
This book is terrifying and really good.

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
My daughter's absolute favorite book!

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Somehow Mohsin managed even before this horrific election to write exactly the book we would all need to meet.

August 2016

How is it that I read so little this summer? I feel like I am always, always reading but this is evidence to the contrary. Still, maybe a paucity of books but all of them amazing. 

Barbarian Days by William Finnegan
This is the book of my summer. So gorgeous, so lush and sweet and funny. I adored this book. 

Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
How did I miss Deborah Levy? She's incredible. Brilliant! 

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
I was sick today and just lay in bed reading this incredible book. It's the only thing that made me feel better. 

The Power by Naomi Alderman
I am so lucky I got an early copy of this book. Run, don't walk! It's phenomenal.

Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Holy shit. This book is fabulous.