Books I Got This Week

Many: some BookCon, some non.

For obvious reasons, it was a great week in terms of book haul. I was grateful to have squeaked by the airport check-in desk with a suitcase weighing in at 48 pounds, as I’d thrown in some hefty paperbacks.

I attended BookCon in NYC to see if it lived up to my memories of BookExpo America. (The answer? No. But it was still nice to be in a “book lover” environment again and get to see a few friends on the side.) I purchased two books from booths, skipped the ARC drops, loved on an indie bookseller beforehand in Boston, raided a journalist friend’s bookshelves, and returned home to some book mail:

HARVARD BOOK STORE

For obvious reasons, the Harvard Book Store is remarkably well curated in a way satisfying my niche curiosities across various topics.

I walked away with The Future of Nostalgia by Svetlana Boym (an analysis of our collective experience of nostalgia) and The Experience Machine (about the brain as prediction machine, which never fails to make me a little mind-blown.)

I could have spent hours in these shelves, and could have spent…so much.

BOOKS AT BOOKCON

BookCon itself was overwhelming and crowded; it was nice enough overall as a reminder that people are reading, but the booths were packed enough that my desire for any books didn’t quite outweigh my temptation to escape into a quieter corner.

I didn’t go into the event with a review copy I was absolutely dying for; my perspective was that if I wanted a book that badly, I’d probably just email the publicist after the event with my stats to request it. (Other lines at conferences are much more manageable, but here—it was difficult to decipher the details and the crowds.) Plus, I’m actually helping out at Yallwest this weekend in L.A., so figured I’d be able to chat with more publishers there.

The one I was most tempted to try for was Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson, but the drop was too late in the day and I wanted out by then.

I bought a copy of T. Kingfisher’s Wolf Worm fully as a panic buy at the Macmillan booth because they asked if I was ready to check out while I was holding it and my brain was still processing the crowds so I was too shy to say no—but I’ve heard T. Kingfisher is a must for NC-based Southern Gothic, even if I think this one might veer too body-horror for me.

I’m most excited for The Monsters We Make by Rachel Corbett, which is about the rise and history of criminal profiling—from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle consulting on finding Jack the Ripper to the Criminal Minds-esque departments of today. (I love books about profiling.)

THE BOOKS DEPARTMENT AT USA TODAY

One of my weekend highlights was meeting my friend Clare Mulroy in real life. She’s the USA Today books reporter, so her office shelves are loaded with ARCs; needless to say, I came and raided a few on Monday—which was also fun because it showed some of the macro trends of what people are writing about right now.

I ended up scooping a few litfic and book club-style titles that I’ve heard mentioned plus some Veronica Roth. I love access to the free shelves at a magazine or publisher: books they’ve already spotlighted or been through that are now up for grabs. Gluttonous? Maybe. But I will go through them, and they will go to good use.

• The Gravewood by Kelly Andrew—As noted lately, I’ve been on a ‘10s supernatural kick, and one of my absolute favorite fun facts (sorry) is that sales of vampire fiction actually spike during a recession.

• On Morrison by Namwali Serpell—I would love to read about Toni Morrison.

• Crux by Gabriel Tallent—I’ve been meaning to get to this one for a while; I think the cover’s gorgeous, and my book deals with rock climbing since the love interest is on the climbing staff at a summer camp.

• The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke—One of the trends I did notice was a real resurgence of “books about books and authors” on Clare’s shelves. There are usually a few, but 2026 seems especially rife with them. Also love the cover.

• To Clutch a Razor by Veronica Roth—She announced another Divergent spinoff this weekend, and I haven’t read any of her other books—but I just adore her as an author. From what little interaction we’ve had, she seems to have such a good head on her shoulders, so I like supporting her. Reactions were…dare I say…divergent to the idea of a writer doing an AU of their own work. I’m in support, especially since she wrote so beautifully about her feelings on the strong reactions people have to the original series.

• Seek the Traitor’s Son by Veronica Roth—See above.

• Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite—Beautiful covers also a trend here. I don’t know much about this one actually but have heard such praise! I historically haven’t been big on family epics, but I did love East of Eden and Sharks in the Time of Saviors, so I’m trying to be more expansive/challenging to myself in the realm of family-centric books.

• Celestial Lights by Cecile Pin—Like many, I’ve been reading space-related books lately. I love poetic astrophysicist-type books, and I like more adventure-based SFF on occasion too; this one seems like a combination that might be right up my alley. Reminds me almost of Bonnie Tsui’s Why We Swim (nonfiction) in tone based purely on the description.

• I Could Be Famous: Stories by Sydney Rende—I think frequently about a Cosmo article (that I can no longer find) that came out when influencer marketing was first exploding—about how more people are sort of famous versus less people being massively famous. This collection of short stories speaks to the confusions and emotions and dynamics baked into grappling with fame, and I think I’ll love it as a writer struggling with the cultural demands of visibility for career success.

• The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders—This one is rural with a speculative angle, which is of course up my alley. An inherited farm, questions of inheritance, history of the land, family saga. If I love it, I think I’ll really love it. On Sale in July.

BOOK OF THE MONTH + BOOK MAIL

Finally, I came home to some book mail. First, my package from Book of the Month.¹ For BOTM, I tend to skip if the titles don’t interest me and then use all my credits all at once—so I ended up with a few for April:

• Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke—Obviously buzzy, and I like having an opinion on whatever titles are huge.

• Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe—I’m excited to watch the adaptation! I also started this one on audio in tandem. (Elle Fanning is narrating.)

• Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser—I talked about this book back in March when I was discussing fractured fairytales á la Marissa Meyer, but this is a retelling of Cinderella from the evil stepmother’s POV.

• This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum—I’ve heard great things and think it would be right up my alley as a good time. I don’t love “disappearance” stories as I tend to find them similar, but the podcast hook of this one seems like something I’d enjoy.

Also, I don’t know if this were obvious about me, but I can’t think of any time I’ve bought myself a designer product. But one of my all-time favorite books is I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, which is one of the titles in the Coach x PRH book charms collection—which has the literal book printed as a mini bag-charm.

At $95, it was just a justifiable enough buy for the occasion, and I knew I’d regret not buying it later when it sold out. So that arrived, and I’m actually so excited to own it. I have a lot of thoughts on the luxury positioning of books and how that helps and hurts in various ways, but I did love this collection.

There is absolutely nothing I would love more than to be able to devote more time and energy to Words Like Silver, which has remained a one-person effort since age 13. If my work makes a difference to you, I’d love if you’d consider becoming a subscriber or upgrading your subscription below. You can also make a one-time donation on my website or purchase a book for my library. Anything makes such a massive difference, and I appreciate the support more than you can imagine.

1. I will note that lately for any highly-anticipated book, they’ve only been able to ship a book a few weeks later? I understand a lag in processing time for popular titles, but this has happened several months in a row so I find it a little strange for my April book to come in around the 22nd. I get the sense they should be able to predict and plan for this gap now that it’s been so common.