I’m interested in literary and commercial fiction in addition to narrative nonfiction and memoir.
In both fiction and nonfiction, I’m looking for character driven stories and multilayered queer narratives. I’m interested in stories of people who are driven by an irrepressible creativity and multigenerational family sagas, in addition to cultural criticism and books with high stakes.
I’m drawn to books that are gritty with a bit of a dark side. Two novels I love are MONA by Pola Oloixarac and NICOTINE by Nell Zink - both feature characters that are kind of masochistic, slightly unrelatable in the choices they make and yet somehow aspirational in their gutsiness.
I love anything that explores the dynamics of chosen families and any kind of deep-dive into a scene. I also love an intimate cultural study into a topic that on the surface could seem mundane - think FLANEUSE by Lauren Elkin and THE CRYING BOOK by Heather Christle.
Specific topics of interest for me include rural America (especially central New York), classical music, stories told by neurodivergent voices, nature and its interactions with technology/the internet, and anything LGBTQ+.
Some of my favorite books of all time include THE SAVAGE DETECTIVES by Roberto Bolaño, THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt, ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT by Jeanette Winterson, THE LONELY CITY by Olivia Laing, and A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING by Ruth Ozeki.
For a better picture of the kind of books I love, check out my shelf on Bookshop.org.