Welcome to another edition of Amateur Bibliotherapy, my 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.
Happy Sunday. It’s hot out, which means that I will only be available for activities outside of sunlight hours for the foreseeable future. Feel free to book me accordingly or bribe me with a decadent cinnamon bun from Harris Bakes, if you must.
Summer weather also means a summer schedule: this newsletter will now come to you every other Sunday. Might I suggest reading it over Sunday brunch?
The Books
All of my books are packed in boxes! It felt weird to see so few books around, so I used a handy dandy Barnes & Noble gift card to pick up If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuo Tsumura, and The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. I’ve continued slogging through How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell as well.
Mini Reviews
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You Can Vibe Me On My Femme Phone by Kamala Puligandla is a 94-page novella that imagines a future in which phones have an interactive feminist operating system. It sets boundaries for you, gives you advice, and lets you communicate with your cool pals. Those cool pals also happen to conduct anti-Proud Boy espionage and crash centaur-fetish parties, but the phones are important too. I ate this one up while enjoying the resplendent views of my Hudson Valley airbnb, and I highly recommend reading this one while basking in the sun (preferably while gently inebriated).
Tasting Notes: Pink by Janelle Monae (all of Dirty Computer, honestly), “TikTok and the Vibes Revival” (The New Yorker), Paradise Killer; the Equestranauts episode of Bob’s Burgers; the pussy wagon, particularly when driven by Beyonce and Lady Gaga; aura photographs from Magic Jewelry.
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I found Modern Whore by Andrea Werhun and Nicole Bazuin at The Strand 900 years ago, and in that time it’s apparently become popular enough that this self-published photography and essay collection got acquired by Penguin Random House Canada for an expanded section edition. And I see why! Werhun chronicles her experience as an escort in Canada and gets honest about client encounters (some are hilarious, more are awkward, and some are occasionally dark), refutes inaccurate reviews of her services posted online by showboating clients, and discusses the nuances and day-to-day encounters involved in sex work. A great book to read while in a glorious sinking bath with a glass of red wine.
Tasting Notes: Charlotte Shane’s writing, most particularlyProstitute Laundry and her NYT piece on OnlyFans; a polite platter of strawberries and cheese that nobody eats; a luxury vacation in Muskoka (“the Hamptons of Canada”); Marina and the Diamonds; body glitter.
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I devoured They Never Learn by Layne Fargo, a psychological thriller about an English professor who murders men that have committed heinous acts that would’ve otherwise gone unpunished. Her vigilante justice is simultaneously horrifying and rewarding until her meticulous plans start to go off the rails. The book also follows student Carly Schiller, whose experiences at the same university reveal its toxic culture of misogyny, sexual assault, and abuse of power. Both narratives come together to illustrate a darkly familiar tale of negligence and trauma on university campuses, but I stuck around because it concludes with a rare satisfying ending for the characters I cared about most.
Tasting Notes: Misandry; Confessions by Kanae Minato; murder documentaries; deep red lipstick, like Urban Decay’s Vice Lipstick in “F Bomb;” tweed.
💀
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio is one of those books that folks have recommended to me for years. (Shoutout to Kayla for getting me to read it finally!) I am delighted to report that I can finally join their ranks and will now recommend it ad nauseam to you. After seven theater students spend three years being typecast in Shakespearean plays at an elite art conservatory, casting changes during senior year put some catastrophic events into place. If you enjoy Shakespeare, mutual pining and deaths under mysterious circumstances, then this one is for you.
Tasting Notes: The Cheek By Jowl production of Shakespeare’s Measure For Measure, which was set in contemporary Russia and 100% unhinged; The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999); This playlist of songs based on literary tragedies; Sleep No More (in its 2011 glory); a hidden bottle of Stoli; The Likeness by Tana French; putting the “problem” in “problem plays.”
That’s all for today! Talk soon, friends.