Five Books to Read Right Now

Alas, nothing particularly spooky. But here are five recommendations to read as we move into this next month.

BIG KISS, BYE BYE, Claire-Louise Bennett

Fitzcarraldo Editions, pp. 168

Claire-Louise Bennett is the author of critically acclaimed works of auto-fiction Pond (2015) and Checkout 19 (2021), which respectively detail the daily workings of a writer’s life; and moving from youth to maturity as an author: what used to be called a künstlerroman, or an artistic coming of age.  

On the face of it, Big Kiss, Bye Bye tells a less writerly story. Indeed, it follows the narrator who, after calling it off with her much older lover, moves to the countryside. What sets the book apart, and turns into a tour de force of introspection though is the same blend of high and low, everyday expressions and out-there linguistic choices that has become Bennett’s signature style. 

THE WEB BENEATH THE WAVES, Samanth Subramanian

Columbia Global Reports, pp. 129

An exploration of undersea fibre-optic cables, the burgeoning infrastructure which underpins the internet and increasingly makes the world work—The Web Beneath The Waves is a deep dive into this vital piece of hardware which exists out of sight, out of mind, but which in a progressively unstable world of competing powers and supranational corporations are becoming a battleground. 

Now, I haven’t shied away from suggesting some ponderous reads in this column, when I thought that they rewarded the effort. However, this long-form reportage is anything but ponderous. Subramanian is a regular contributor to the New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The Guardian (as well as one of the founding members of equator, a new publication, which launched this week.) He brings all the tools of his trade to turn the subject into an exhilarating read for the general reader, a topic that might otherwise appear niche and arcane.

I DELIVER PARCELS IN BEIJING, Hu Anyan

Allen Lane, pp. 336

An instant bestseller in China which grew out of a viral blog post, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing tells the story of the author, Hu Anyan, who like many internal migrants his age moved to the city after graduating high school only to enter a nightmarish whirlwind of exploitation and precarity, which has been euphemistically dubbed ‘the gig economy.’

Presently, I am in a Chinese phase and would read anything that would give me some sort of insight into the culture and politics of the country, but you don’t have to be a budding Sinophile to find interest in a story that paints a portrait of working-class life and which rings true not only for people in the developing world, but also for many Western metropolises.

If you are still on the fence, you can read an excerpt in another fantastic publication, The Dial. 

Translated from Chinese by Jack Hargreaves.

WOLF MOON, Julio Llamazares

Pushkin Press, pp. 192

I first encountered Julio Llamazares whilst reading Sergio del Molino’s landmark La España vacía (Empty Spain)—a literary travelogue through Spain’s empty rural interior. This was transformative given the number of beloved authors he opened my mind to; he continues to influence my work as a writer and critic. 

First published in 1985, Wolf Moon is as much a story about the Spanish Civil War, written at a time when remembering Francoist crimes was considered taboo as it is a story of survival in an adverse, unforgiving landscape. It has much in common with Llamazares’ other writing which is steeped in the special atmosphere and melancholia of this lesser known region of Spain. 

Translated from Spanish by Kathryn Phillips-Miles and Simon Deefholts.

1929: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE GREATEST CRASH IN WALL STREET HISTORY, Andrew Ross Sorkin

Allen Lane, pp. 592

Ross Sorkin is the author of Too Big to Fail, which if not the definitive, is certainly one of the most famous accounts of the 2008 financial crisis. Now he has returned with a similarly immersive account of the most impactful financial crash in the history of humanity, without which the 20th century would have never played out as it did.

With a handful of tech companies driving growth but also cannibalising the US economy, and said companies seeing their stocks and valuations to mind-blogging new heights based on dubious technological breakthroughs that are sold as inevitable—I can’t think of a book that feels more current and important.

Bartolomeo Sala is a writer and reader based in London. His writing has appeared in Frieze, Vittles, and The Brooklyn Rail. You can find all of Bart’s writing for Something Curated here.

Header photo: From the cover of Hu Anyan’s I Deliver Parcels in Beijing, courtesy of Allen Lane.