the hype is real!!!!!!

dragons, bottoms, martin short

In my last newsletter, I posed this question: Why aren’t there unlimited copies of e-books at the library? Well, on my friend Lindsay’s recommendation, I listened to an episode of Planet Money where they answered this exactly. It’s absolutely fascinating and involves a rivalry between libraries and publishers. I’d highly recommend listening to it yourself, but here’s the issue in a nutshell:

Libraries purchase books from publishers, and authors make money from these sales. Because it’s much easier to lend out an e-book, and they don’t wear out like physical books, if libraries were to lend out unlimited copies, it would be even more difficult for authors to make a living than it already is. As a result, some publishers have increased the price of e-book licenses and, in some cases, made them generally more difficult for libraries to access (libraries call this an embargo; publishers refer to it as “windowing”), resulting in protests by librarians. The publishers’ argument is that if no one buys books, publishers, bookstores, and authors cannot survive. However, when Covid hit, e-books became pretty much the main way people could access titles, giving libraries very good backing for their case and resulted in publishers temporarily removing the windowing policy (at the time of the episode’s release in November 2022, this policy had not been reinstated).

Authors are pretty divided on the issue, and libraries and publishers themselves don’t consider either side to be the villain here — I mean, these two entities can’t exist without each other. This is one of those cases where I can see both sides very clearly and am unsure to I land. Libraries need to have a large collection in order to provide people with the access to read, and authors can’t write things for us to read without a salary.

I think it speaks entirely to the shortcomings (read: every single part) of capitalism; authors have to struggle to make their art, and many struggle to access said art. Wouldn’t it be great if we lived in a world where everyone could read what they wanted and needed and none of us would have to abandon our dreams in pursuit of a living wage?

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reads

On the subject of hype:

I was chatting with Zoé, a bookstagram friend (follow @ readingforfunsies!), and she articulated the danger of an over-anticipated book like Fourth Wing very well — it makes the reading experience more focused on finding things not to like, which isn’t really fair. It’s a strange mix of having incredibly high expectations and also probably unintentionally being more critical than I might be otherwise.

That being said …

Fourth Wing is IT. I had a PHENOMENAL time reading this. I started it on the beach on my Labor Day weekend vacation and then six hours went by in about two minutes and my skin felt like that of a suckling pig over a roasting fire and my poor old boyfriend had disappeared entirely. My publishing mogul pal Morgan describes the reading experience of it best: “I was literally giggling and kicking my feet.”

I’ve been vocal about my meh experiences with new adult fantasy and speculative fiction in the past, and this one succeeds in a plethora of ways that these others have failed me in the past. A particular aspect of books like these that grinds my gears is the lack of balance between world-building and an actual story. Authors often give us a lot of expository information about the universe we’re in and, while it can be necessary for our understanding, can also significantly detract from the actual novel itself. I thought author Rebecca Yarros handled this excellently. I got to learn about the world of the novel naturally, without too much expository dumping, while also not being terribly confused by everything happening because of unnecessarily withheld information.

Turns out a sexy fantasy novel about a dragon riding school can actually be really fucking entertaining when done correctly! Of course it has its flaws and is predictable in some capacity and it’s not quite a readwithmith 4.7, but my god, it’s snappy and delightfully surprising in ways I didn’t expect. I haven’t read a ton of books published in 2023 this year, but this is one of my favorites that has been. It won’t win over any lit-fic exclusives, but I sincerely believe it has a little something for everyone. It’s the book that us world-weary readers of Eragon deserve.

I’ve also finally started in on Elif Batuman’s Either/Or, but I haven’t really gotten into it yet because I dove in while on an Amtrak from Boston, which is never an experience conducive to reading for me, especially now that I’m old and sad and have developed motion sickness. I’m sure I’ll be absolutely engrossed once I can just sit down and read without interruption if someone would be willing to whisk me away to another beach soon.

Speaking of Boston, I got to see some of my most lovely subscribers this weekend at a football game played by my alma mater. Special shoutout to Sandy, mother of my oft-referenced friend Caroline — she runs a phenomenal tailgate and an impeccably updated Goodreads. Another one to Brian, who is Lucy’s boyfriend (one of my oldest friends from our all-girls high school days of yore), and who I have only met in person a couple of times, but I feel a real friendship with through our book-related chats. The power of reading!!!!!! !!!! !!! :D Also, a happy birthday to Isabel, who I got to celebrate with in ole bean town. She is not only a dear friend, but a premium subscriber, and for that, she gets my love (you really can have it all).

up on the docket click click click (to the tune of that christmas song)

When I was up in the North Fork last weekend, I popped into a charming bookstore in Greenport, and because of my very annoying rule that I have to buy at least one thing from every new bookstore I visit despite being on the precipice of moving and also having a stack of books to read that I’ve needed to get done for so long that my lungs are suffering from dust accumulation, picked up a copy of Jenny Jackson’s Pineapple Street. I could not for the life of me remember how my bookstagram friends have responded to this one, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Upon posting the purchase on my instagram story, I received polarizing responses, so I guess it’s up to me to judge it for myself. Oh well, I sigh, gleefully cracking my knuckles and opening up the Notes app.

ulysses corner

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reviews

I mercifully got up my full review for Clint Smith’s Above Ground. It’s a lovely little poetry collection with a cool narrative that will evoke tears both sad and happy. I have received a request or two to do a full dissection of Love, Theoretically, so expect that whenever I get my shit together (should be any day now).

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other media

movies

I saw Bottoms last night and I guess the theme of the week is that sometimes hype is justified!!! It works brilliantly as a satirical send-up of the raunchy teen movie genre of the 2000s and is just hilarious as a story on its own. There’s a line delivery near the end that had me in genuine tears of laughter. I loved it, as I knew I would, but it also somehow wasn’t what I expected at all in a very good way. If you want some good clean (actually, very bloody) gay fun, I could not recommend this highly enough.

television

I was surfing through YouTube and got the urge to click on some highlight reel of The Office (those incredibly specific videos that are like “every time Pam and Kevin brushed shoulders” and somehow go for like 15 minutes) and that got me in the mood to watch a couple of my favorite highlight episodes for the first time in years. I know we all clown on people who are obsessed with the show (and, obviously, when someone mentions it on Hinge, it’s a red flag), and that kind of made me forget that it was my first comedy love. So that’s been a nice experience, though I tapped out on the rewatch very quickly when I realized I could recite all of season three in my sleep and then actually fell asleep.

I know I’m always down on Only Murders in the Building, and this season is very much a big snoozer, but I did go down a wormhole of Reddit fan theories recently and am very interested in one that’s been all but confirmed by the creators — that there’s a Moriarty-type figure, aka someone who’s been around since the beginning and responsible for orchestrating everything that’s happened over the last three seasons. So I guess I will embrace the pain and continue watching. Also, I always liked Martin Short, but after skimming this article heard around the world, I’m ready to put my life on the line for him (quite frankly, he’s the only reason to watch this infuriating show).

music?!?!??!

You really don’t need me to tell you to listen to Olivia Rodrigo, and in general can take my music recommendations with a grain of salt considering my favorite artists are half “serious red flag if I was a cis straight man living in Bushwick” and half “a little too old to be listening to mayday parade, right,” but I listened to GUTS on my train journey this weekend and adored it. IMO, this blows SOUR out of the water. It’s so fun and sharply written and pop punk is COOL AGAIN. I feel like she has the ability to pen a very good early adult romance novel … maybe with zombies or something … (vampires is the logical answer due to her song “vampire” but I like to keep you on your toes).

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Before I go, I will plug a tiny open mic I am hosting at the appropriately named Tiny Cupboard starting this Friday and for every Friday thereafter at 8:30 PM. I have titled the mic “no plans tonight,” because, well, we’ll be in a very small, windowless room on a Friday night trying to make strangers laugh or at least smile and nod in sympathy, and those are our plans now. If you live in New York and have a joke you’ve always wanted to tell but never knew where you could tell it, come on down (or up, as the particular room we’re in can be accessed via a rickety outdoor fire escape).