Welcome to another edition of Amateur Bibliotherapy, my weekly newsletter about book-y things. Use this Google Form at any time to tell me about what you’re reading—you might be featured here or on my Bookstagram! I’m an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that I may make a small commission if you make a purchase through my affiliate links. That commission will be donated to Welcome To Chinatown before the year’s end.
Hey there, friends and foes. I spent the last week in the Hudson Valley, where I luxuriated in a colossal bathtub with a stack of books and enjoyed some time outside. Suddenly the aesthetics of the American sublime coming from the Hudson River School of artists makes sense.
While relaxing away from screens, I read the weird and wonderful novella You Can Vibe Me On My Femme Phone by Kamala Puligandla (Co-Conspirator Press); the sexy and humorous art book/memoir Modern Whore by Andrea Werhun and Nicole Bazuin (self-published); and the dark and fascinating zine Sleepy Hollow Motor Inn by Molly Young. I also started the gripping thriller They Never Learn by Layne Fargo (Gallery/Scout Press) and am deeply invested. Stay tuned for more on these titles soon ;)
Upon visiting Binnacle Books in Beacon, I bought a copy of Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (City Lights Publishers). They sell new and used books, had a fascinating selection of early Agatha Christie editions, and curated a top-notch selection of small/independent press titles. The store is also part of the Beacon Prison Books Project, which supplies incarcerated people in area prisons with requested books. You can buy those books in-store or keep track of what’s requested via Instagram, and the project has fulfilled hundreds of requests.
I also stopped down the street at Beacon Reads, a bookstore benefiting the local library, which had a delightful section just called “old books.” I later meandered into Split Rock Books in Cold Spring, which was coincidentally open while I was in the area (they are only open for browsing on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the pandemic). The Hudson Valley Book Trail is a blast.
I hope your first week of May is lovely. And remember, if reading and writing fan fiction is good enough for Oscar-winning NYU alum Chloé Zhao, it’s good enough for you!