This week’s featured Substack publications are...
Ann Kjellberg, Book Post
What’s it about? Book reviews and cultural commentary, featuring Jamaica Kincaid, Geoffrey O’Brien, Joy Williams, and more.
Worth reading: “Diary: April Bernard, A Reader’s Hygge”
Key line: “Think of a fireplace, a hot mug of tea, comfy old clothes, conversation, and no need to hurry: that’s hygge. It is the opposite of having someone call you ‘an enabler of rape culture’ because you assigned Ovid’s Metamorphoses; it is the opposite of scrolling through Twitter to find someone to attack, or scrolling through Instagram to find someone to envy.”
Ann’s credits: Former contributing editor at the New York Review of Books, editor of the literary magazine Little Star, and literary executor of the estate of the poet Joseph Brodsky.
Further reading: “Wit, Wisdom, and Warnings from a Veteran of the New York Literary World,” Literary Hub.
Amee Vanderpool, Shero
What’s it about? Legal and critical analysis of political news from a female perspective.
Worth reading: “Breakdown of Trump’s 4th of July Failures”
Key line: “The ticket-holding section looked like a costly VIP lounge for Trump’s personal cronies at taxpayer expense and as the day progressed, it became more apparent that this was really just an intimate little rally just for his people that would happen to be televised by CNN, as if it were actually for everyone.”
Amee’s credits: Playboy, BBC Radio, The Inanna Project, lawyer
Mystery Person, Flow State
What’s it about? A daily two-hour playlist of music that’s perfect to work to.
Worth reading: “Bob Hadley & Leo Kottke”
Key line: “This week is focused on the trajectory of American guitar playing from ’50s fingerstyle to slide guitar-ambient. Usually we send out ambient/electronic stuff.”
Mystery Person’s credits: They tell us they’ve been “a music fiend since high school.”
Three to read: Ann Kjellberg, Amee Vanderpool, and Mystery Person