TODAY: In 1935, American crime writer Ann Rule is born.
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Unsurprisingly, George Saunders is kind of a chaotic reader. | Lit Hub
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Read Émile Zola’s, T.S. Eliot’s, and George Orwell’s thoughts on cheese in Noëlle Janaczewska’s culinary and artistic history. | Lit Hub Food
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Renee Alsarraf, a veterinary oncologist with metastatic cancer, reflects on facing her own mortality alongside her non-human patients. | Lit Hub Memoir
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Laying down the bass line: Daniel Torday has some thoughts about what writers can learn from musicians. | Lit Hub Craft
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George Saunders’s Liberation Day, Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, and Paul Newman’s The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. | Book Marks
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Which international thriller should you binge this weekend? | CrimeReads
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“I boarded this ship as my own unlikable female narrator.” Imogen West-Knights reports from the eight-day Gone Girl-themed river cruise. | Slate
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Nicole Chung offers strategies for writing when you feel stuck. | The Atlantic
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Matthew James Seidel revisits John Wyndham’s 1953 novel: “ On the surface, The Kraken Wakes seems to have nothing to do with climate change.” | LARB
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“Far from the oppressive ethos I once imagined, it represents the best of American vernacular.” Maud Newton on the inclusivity of “y’all.” | The New York Times Magazine
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Hua Hsu praises the communal joy of Waffle Saturdays. | Bon Appétit
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“Writing enabled Mantel to locate herself in a body that felt increasingly alien.” Jane Hu revisits the early work of Hilary Mantel. | The New Yorker
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From Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House to Anne Carson’s Float, ten feminist books that break form. | The Guardian
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On the growing religious movement to ban LGBTQ books. | The New Republic
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Barbara Kingsolver discusses “writing honestly and respectfully” about Appalachia and the opioid epidemic. | Oprah Daily
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Ken Burns on good adaptations and the Great American Novel: “But what about O Pioneers! or My Ántonia? For that matter, what about Gabriel García Márquez?’” | The New York Times
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Devoney Looser dives into the forgotten history of Jane and Anna Maria Porter, British sisters who pioneered the historical novel. | Smithsonian Magazine
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If you’re grappling with literary rejection, don’t forget: the poem that launched Edna St. Vincent Millay’s career also lost her a poetry contest. | JSTOR Daily
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Melissa Febos and Denise Kripper trade cultural recommendations, from Portrait of a Lady on Fire to Las malas. | Astra
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What are the scariest books of all time? | Book Riot
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“I’m trying to shift the conversation about abortion away from controlling women’s bodies and legislating women’s bodies.” Gabrielle Blair on her new book, Ejaculate Responsibly. | NPR
Also on Lit Hub:
Ross Gay sings the praises of adult braces and small dogs • Samantha Irby on turning anxiety into laughter • “Could Elmo’s and Cookie Monster’s wacky, lighthearted banter even be translated for Dostoevskian, angst-ridden Russians?” • Why Elon Musk is no Nikola Tesla • Behind one of President Obama’s most memorable speeches • Why Britney Spears’s vocal fry is so infectious • A brief history of the Morgenthaus, an American dynasty • W. Scott Poole considers the lonely crossroads of horror and the American century • Sean Dietrich on a cancer diagnosis that inspired a 400-mile bike riding trip • How potato blight made Ireland into a country of emigrants • Rose Levy Beranbaum’s recipe for lemon madeleines • Bookselling in Ancient Greece • Ethan Chatagnier on broadcasting loneliness • How monuments help us remember (or not remember) the past • Could dating apps help mitigate racial bias in dating? • Maira Kalman’s illustrations of women holding things • Treasures from the archives of America’s best literary journals • New Yorker cartoonist Will McPhail on studying zoology • Sophie Lewis on why family isn’t everything • Pioneering social equity in the cannabis space • How Serge Diaghilev revolutionized ballet • What happens to our brains when we read a really good story? • Further proof that baobab trees are incredible • How legendary comedian Dick Gregory shut down racist hecklers • Check out this twist on a polenta • Kid Congo Powers on creating a fan club for the Ramones • How a fitness class fueled Sheila Yasmin Marikar’s novel • Steven Heller on his stint as art director of the underground • How Abraham Lincoln’s followers and adversaries responded to his untimely death • Elizabeth Ford on creating new Appalachian ballads • Learning to ask better questions with the help of oracle cards • Steffan Triplett on doubles, in horror and queer life