Notebook

Reviews short stories!

- BDM

I love how Jessica DeFino writes about how beauty is a spiritual need that we've tried to satisfy by turning to the beauty industry. She's right!

- BDM

This Substack causes me to buy too many books.

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Good book reviews; doesn't just cover buzzy books.

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Peter Baker commissions fascinating pieces from people reflecting on particular pieces of music that have meant a lot to them. I love to read these!

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Pete Tosiello does great criticism—of the media, of books, of book media.…

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Naomi Kanakia's Substack is truly one of a kind. Sometimes she's giving the truth about publishing to you straight. Sometimes she's taking you on a journey through a lengthy ancient epic you might never have thought of reading yourself. I'm here for both.

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I really enjoy Michael Patrick Brady's book reviews.

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Projects like "A Year of Bach" are what the Internet is for—one man's dogged attempt to be a completionist about what he loves.

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Mean but normal.

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Henry Begler is like a beautiful baby unicorn. Where did he come from? Where will he go? Who knows. For now, he frolics among the books, and we frolic with him.

- BDM

These pieces about opera and other subjects are always delightful reads.

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Doesn't update often, is usually interesting when he does.

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Matt Dinan's newsletter is full of observations informed by his teaching, his reading, and his family.

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I've been recommending Adam Roberts's Lovecraft-via-Kant novel, The Thing Itself, to people for years. So it's a pleasure to be able to recommend his Substack now, too.

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Eclectic links and commentary all united by Emily Sundberg's distinctive sensibility. She's somehow non-judgmental about the trends she covers but without erasing her own point of view.

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Chris Dalla Riva does data-driven analysis of trends in the music industry. I always find his angles interesting!

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I love how honest Mikala Jamison is about body image and health—two of the rawest, most sensitive topics out there! But she manages it with grace and humor.

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I love reading my friend Tim on movies! I'm always finding out about new stuff from him.

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Like Animation Obsessive, this is one of those Substacks that completely justify the form. I highly recommend reading the post about celebrity fragrances!

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Fran's round-ups and reviews are delightful and charming, and her commenting community is A+. What more could you want, really?

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Like wandering around chatting with a delightful and eccentric friend.

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In addition to being a generally high-quality link roundup newsletter—they feature me a lot, so I'm inclined in their favor. But really, they're good. Also, they've got a poem with every issue.

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The author of this Substack translates the top posts on Weibo (a major Chinese social media platform) every day. Each post is a fascinating snapshot.

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I enjoy reading Matthew Gasda's fragmented and diaristic reflections. Sometimes I'm nodding along, sometimes I'm shaking my head, but I'm never bored.

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Max Read understands the weird world of the Internet better than anybody. Plus, his book and movie recommendations are consistently good.

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You never really know what a new Bill Coberley post will be… it could be a hysterical story, it could be a sobering reflection informed by his being a public defender, or it could be a defense of H.P. Lovecraft. Where else do you get that kind of range?

- BDM

A really great classics newsletter—wide-ranging but always rooted in its subject.

- BDM

Sheila O'Malley's writing about movie stars is always revelatory. I've bought so many books and become aware of so many classic movies just from reading this newsletter.

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There really isn't another Substack like this one.

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I think I agree with Akosua T. Adasi's thoughts on pop culture maybe two thirds of the time, which is… about the perfect amount for me! Witty, fun, earnest, and gives you stuff to chew on later.

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I love reading Jessica's reviews.

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Adam is a friend and his newsletter is a fun reflection on fatherhood and pop culture ephemera.

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Danny Sullivan is funny and perceptive about video games, books, and bad TV.

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Lincoln is so smart about the business and brass tacks of writing without ever being cynical about the work itself.

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Your go-to place to find great culture writing that isn't tied to any sort of publicity cycle or news hook. The editors here have done a great job.

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Phil Christman's Substack has a little bit of everything: takes on online silliness over here, capsule reviews over there, deep dives into a favorite author's back catalog over yonder. Check it out!

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John Ganz is smart and pugnacious and I'm always learning new things about terrible French people from this newsletter.

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Great stuff here on older science fiction.

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My friend Clare Coffey is a genius but she will never update this. You should subscribe anyway.

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Wonderful little essays on poetry from Victoria Moul. Each one is an education. If you want to read writing on poetry that isn't primarily feelings-driven, this is where you should go.

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Really unfair that Karmela is good at physics and literature and writing… but… they are :)

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If there was one single Substack that justified the existence of Substack, it would be Animation Obsessive. The amount of research and detail that goes into this newsletter is astounding. A subscription might be pricey, but it's clear where your money's going.

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Zito Madu won't clutter up your inbox—he publishes at most about once a month—but whenever one of his posts does show up? It's appointment reading.

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Celine Nguyen is an unfailingly generous reader and interlocutor.

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I first ran across Henry Oliver's Substack because of a piece he wrote about Sylvia Townsend Warner's biography of T.H. White, a favorite book of mine. Since then I have come to enjoy reading his endearingly cranky newsletter! Check it out.

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Michelle Dean is one of my very favorite writers—I'm so excited to see her on here!

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There are lots of places you can read criticism on "high art" and "low art," but there are probably no places where you'll find romance novels and Ulysses side by side and read with the same generous and rigorous curiosity.

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William Lambert is always writing about unfamiliar things in ways that make them feel like old friends and familiar things in ways that make them feel new.

- BDM

Muhajir's blurb says it is "a newsletter about what moves" Laleh, its author. Luckily, Laleh is excellent at causing it to move the rest of us, too.

- BDM