Monday Miscellany: They’d forge themselves consequential

Notes from November 17 - 23

Nov 25, 2025

Despite my best intentions I didn’t get any of today’s newsletter written ahead of time, and since it’s the last Monday of the month, we had book trivia this evening—so welcome to something of a speed run, in which I will attempt to quell my tendency toward long-windedness,1 through the week’s assortment of riches.

Read this week

Writers & Lovers by Lily King was exactly the re-read my heart needed at this moment. This is a novel about Casey, a twenty-something writer who waits tables at night to earn rent so she can scribble away in the early mornings. Her mother has just died, her most recent romantic relationship has fizzled out, and she is adrift. I read this for the first time right after it was released in 2020 and while I had forgotten many of the details, the feelings of warmth and reassurance were just as I remembered them. I rediscovered some relatable nuggets, beautifully expressed, that past Emily probably also jotted down:

I don’t write because I think I have something to say. I write because if I don’t, everything feels even worse. (3)

There’s no mind-blowing premise or plot twist, simply the sustained, satisfying feeling of a really good hang and the desire to be with Casey in this world just a little bit longer.

Thank goodness I had King’s new novel Heart the Lover queued up and ready to go next, because it shares connective tissue and has a setting that’s similar enough to scratch that itch. I won’t spoil exactly how this one’s related to Writers & Lovers, but I will say that the voice feels very familiar. Here we’re following a young woman, nicknamed Jordan by her boyfriend and his friends, through her final years in college as she’s starting to find her way in life. As it inevitably does for so many people, this leads to romantic complications and, ultimately, heartbreak. But the narrative leaps ahead to the future and we get to see Jordan at middle age, when her past shows back up and suddenly she is who she used to be again, just for a moment. I got teary at the end of the story, and the catharsis felt earned, not too saccharine like it might have in the hands of a lesser author. Fellow sensitive souls, if you’re looking for something to sink into over the holidays that feels like a well-worn pair of favorite jeans, this duet of books is for you. Though not strictly necessary, I’d recommend reading them in publication order.

We the Animals by Justin Torres was the Stacks book club pick for November, finally knocked off my to-read list after appearing there for many years. It’s quite short, but powerfully written, about a trio of brothers growing up in an emotionally volatile and sometimes physically violent household with their Puerto Rican father and white mother. The chapters are brief, almost like vignettes, and somehow Torres is able to paint a vivid picture of these boys’ childhood even in such limited space. There is pain here, but there is also a raw and determined hope.

They weren’t scared, or dispossessed, or fragile. They were possible. Soon they’d be sailing right over them ditches. Soon they’d be handling that cash. They’d decide. They’d forge themselves consequential. They’d sing the mixed breed.

And finally, to change gears entirely, this morning I finished Across the Universe by Natan Last, a nonfiction book about “the past, present, and future of the crossword puzzle.”2 I am a long-time crossword lover myself, originally pen on paper, and more recently in the NYTimes Games app,3 so when I saw this one on Netgalley I couldn’t request it fast enough. Natan Last is a crossword writer for The New Yorker who has also worked closely with Will Shortz (crossword editor for the Times), so he knows his stuff. And he gets into it here, detailing the origins of the crossword and tracing the puzzle’s development over time, highlighting a few “crossword crazes” that bubbled up during that span,4 describing what goes into constructing a puzzle and writing effective clues, and showing how crosswords can be both indicators of and vehicles for inclusion and social change. Last jumps around in time and tosses out a lot of names, which occasionally tripped me up (anybody else not a natural-born History Person?) but on the whole I found this to be an absolutely fascinating learning experience. I finished the book wanting to construct my own puzzle someday. Highly recommended for word nerds, gamers, and appreciators of puns and wit.

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From a walk through Old Salem on Saturday

Haiku round-up

Haiku is a poetic form that originated in Japan, containing seventeen syllables in a five-seven-five pattern. At the beginning of 2024, I started writing one every day, and while traditional examples include thematic reference to the seasons, mine tend to be a bit more all over the place. Here are this week’s efforts—enjoy!