A satire, a spicy rom-com, and a cozy comic about friendship
Hi, friend.
It feels so good to be back in the world of Substack, reading and writing like a fiend. I’ve been spending my days devouring books on my patio until I get too sweaty to focus. We had a tease of pumpkin spice season a few weeks ago in the Midwest before going back to scorchers, but we are in full fall mode in our house anyway. My husband’s already three movies into his horror viewing for the season.
Also, I’ve made a new way for you to support me and my work, if a monthly subscription isn’t your cup of tea but buying books is: Here’s my wishlist/registry on Bookshop.
Anyway, books! This month I’m sharing some recent fiction releases about the publishing world, because what reader doesn’t love reading about the industry? The plots are wildly different, but the heartbeat is the same: A love for books, despite all the chaos of the industry. These three are truly some of the best at capturing what publishing ~is really like~ according to my experience at a mid-size publisher.
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Yellowface has been everywhere this summer for a reason. It’s a juicy, delicious insider-baseball fictional look at publishing from the eyes of a woman who steals her (dead) nemesis’s work-in-progress and passes it off as her own. What follows is a truly wild ride that at times had me rooting for June before remembering that she’s the villain of her own story.
When a ghostwriter has a hilariously bad one-night stand, the last thing she expects is to be in a meeting the next day with said one-night stand and an offer to write his memoir. She follows him on a tour of comic cons—he was a teen drama star!—and decides to give him some pointers on his bedroom game in their spare time. Of course, they fall in love. I cackled, I giggled, I swooned. This book is such a comfy, cozy hug, with a healthy dose of steam.
A Career in Books is a delightful comic about three besties—career-focused Nina, writer Silvia, and chaotic good Shirin—navigating the world of publishing while living in a shitty New York apartment and befriending a neighbor who just so happens to be a Booker Prize winner. It’s very slice-of-life-y and I loved it.
The boost
If your TikTok feed is anything like mine, you’ve learned a thing or two about home repair for regular people from Mercury Stardust.
Join me in donating a copy of her magnificent new book Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair to the Transgender Law Center. Every purchase made through this link will support this newsletter, independent bookstores, and the TLC.
The nightstand
I’ve been reading some really great inspirational and writing-related books lately, and Tara Schuster’s Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies is one of the best. Her rituals and journaling practice are what dreams are made of, I’m pretty sure?
The backlist
In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:
September is Suicide Prevention Month, and I’m incredibly honored that an essay I wrote during the early months of COVID is featured in To Write Love on Her Arms’s little newspaper as part of this year’s suicide prevention pack! If you’re struggling, please stay. We need you.
xoxo
Head’s up! I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.
Ashley Holstrom 
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