Good evening! We made it through another Monday, and though I’m writing to you a little later than usual, I’m ready to talk your ear off about what I’ve been enjoying lately. This week, that includes a single novelist’s whole catalog! Let’s get into it.
Currently reading
Annie Hartnett is an author whose work I’ve long suspected I would love if I ever got around to reading it. Her debut novel, Rabbit Cake, was released in 2017, followed by Unlikely Animals in 2022, and book people I trust spoke highly of both. When her newest one, The Road to Tender Hearts, was announced for this coming April and I was blessed by the publishing gods with an early copy, I took that as a sign that it was finally time to read Annie Hartnett. ALL AT ONCE.
I’ll start with this, as to not leave you in suspense: I was right, I loved each of these stories. They’re all focused on some sort of family unit that’s dealing with grief or facing an impending loss, and the tone is quirky and complicated and silly and tender.
Rabbit Cake follows eleven-year-old Elvis Babbitt as she grieves and processes her mother’s death, a drowning while sleepwalking. Along the way Elvis becomes a volunteer at the local zoo, tries to keep her older sister (also a sleepwalker) from injuring herself at night, and obsessively examines the facts of her mother’s death with the hopes of discovering what really happened.
Unlikely Animals is about the Starling family—their patriarch, Clive, has a brain disease that causes him to hallucinate wild animals and the ghost of a naturalist from the early 1900s named Ernest Harold Baynes, and his daughter Emma has returned to their small New Hampshire town to take care of him after dropping out of medical school. Emma was born with The Charm, a natural ability to heal through touch, but somewhere along the way she lost it, and now she’s trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs, both within her family and in the wider world. This one also touches on the opioid epidemic, and friendship, and forgiveness. Oh, and it’s written partially in the form of a Greek chorus of ghosts watching the action from the local cemetery!
The Road to Tender Hearts is the story of a road trip. PJ Halliday, a former lottery winner and lifelong heavy drinker in his early 60s, sets off with two young children and his grown daughter Sophie on a cross-country quest to win the heart of his recently widowed high school sweetheart. And friends, chaos both precedes and ensues. This one has a thematic kinship with The Guncle by Stephen Rowley and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, some of the wild coincidences and plot twists of a Carl Hiaasen novel, and a sprinkling of Wes Anderson’s dry wit and precociousness. There’s a lot of death and darkness, but the writing is light and matter-of-fact, with a lot of humor and warmth to balance things out. And, one of my favorite things about it: there’s Pancakes, a somewhat clairvoyant orange cat with a partially missing ear. (This one is set to release on April 29, so you have plenty of time to get your library hold or preorder placed!)
I read these three novels in order of publication, and while I could identify some small ways Hartnett’s writing has matured and improved over time, I loved all of them dearly. Each has its particular strength, whether that’s the specific voice of childhood grief (Rabbit Cake), the incredible and seamless weaving-in of a few real-life historical figures (Unlikely Animals), or the growth and softening of a grumpy older man that manages not to be over-the-top cheesy (The Road to Tender Hearts). And taken together, the trio was exactly what I needed at this moment: an unflinching look at some of the hardest things life can throw at a person, tempered with the hope that comes from always seeking the best in humanity. I emerged from the reading experience feeling a bit more whole. Annie Hartnett is some kind of wizard, I think.
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Currently listening
While my reading choices calmed my mind this week and helped me temporarily escape into a different world, my listening served as an outlet for the anger perpetually simmering in response to what’s going on in this one. As Jordan pointed out recently, “An Emily contains multitudes.” It’s true—we all do.
The Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine has long been a favorite place of mine to go when I’m feeling distraught and powerless about the many simultaneous injustices happening around me. It riles me up with a righteous vengeance and reminds me that I’m in no way alone; there are people out here doing the work, and they’ve been here for years.
The wrecking ball is rushing Witness, you’re blushing The pipeline is gushing While here we lie in tombs While on the corner The jury’s sleepless We found your weakness And it’s right outside your door Now testify [ GNARLY RIFF ]
The music is cathartic, jagged and sharp. It’s for headbanging and thrashing and whipping your hair around. And the message is that, together, we are powerful and strong, capable of challenging hateful legislation and corrupt leadership. Alone a drop, but combined, a tidal wave. Crank it up and let’s go.
And another thing
We heard Grady Hendrix speak on Wednesday! As opposed to a more typical author talk where a writer sits down and has a conversation with a moderator, mostly about their new book and/or writing process, this was a highly researched and rehearsed presentation. About witches. He had slides. He had historical facts and statistics. He went into detail about the plots of several pulpy horror paperbacks from thirty or forty years ago. He took on the persona of a historical figure who was tried for witchcraft and RAPPED about his animal familiars! It was incredible. And the ticket price included a copy of his new novel, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, which I cannot wait to start.
Here are Book Riot’s most anticipated books in translation of 2025. Han Kang’s We Do Not Part is already on my to-read list (just waiting for my library hold to come in), but I would pick up Mother River by Can Xue or Journey to the Edge of Life by Tezer Özlü in a heartbeat just based on their killer cover designs.
This isn’t book- or media-related at all, but another thing I saved this week was Wirecutter’s instructions for cleaning a garbage disposal. Note to self!
Haiku round-up
Monday, January 27
Keep your mind open and your body ready for new inspiration
Tuesday, January 28
Let us not forget the nourishing value of just shooting the shit
Wednesday, January 29
We’ve tried to kill them but they’ve survived, multiplied Here come the witches
Thursday, January 30
When you’re not in charge there’s no pressure to fix things— just laugh and complain
Friday, January 31
Hang in there, peanut After this, you’ll get a treat for being so brave
Saturday, February 1
How is it that you get more and more beautiful as the time passes?
Sunday, February 2
Nineteen years ago: “So are we like, dating now?” “I’d be cool with that”
Until next time
Yesterday was our dating anniversary—nineteenth, as you might have guessed from the above haiku. We decided to celebrate with a walk through our neighborhood park and down the strollway path that connects there, and then we ended up wandering around the antique mall at the old shopping center where the trail stops. It’s called Lost in Time, and appropriately so; I fully forgot about the outside world for an hour or two as we perused the enormous space, inspecting this or that old relic and marveling at the things people save. Here are a few notable finds:
See you next week, and until then, these are the vibes I’m sending your way.
—Emily
If you have any feedback, or want to tell me what you’re reading or listening to, I’d love to hear it! You’re always welcome to leave a comment or reply directly to this email.