• Book Recommendations and Bad Advice From Kelly Link

    Read Yaa Gyasi; Buy Blue Lipstick

    It’s easy to feel deeply ambivalent about social media these days, especially considering Facebook and Twitter’s obvious role in enabling a minority of White Nationalist racists to dominate one of our national parties. But at the same time, it’s important to remember that social media can also be a space for activism, outreach, and just plain human connection and goodness. Truly. So I was very charmed by this thread on Twitter in which Kelly Link—who is not only an incredible writer of slippery-genre short stories, but also a publisher and excellent literary advocate—offered and gave a few book recommendations and, just for fun, a little bad advice. I suggest reading through the whole thread, which is basically hilarious, but as a public service, here’s a rundown.

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    Book Recommendations from Kelly Link:

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    Elizabeth Knox, Dreamhunter duology
    Meghan W. Turner, The Queen’s Thief series
    Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing
    Joan Aiken, The Wolves sequence
    Delia Sherman, The Evil Wizard Smallbone
    Jen Banbury, Like a Hole in the Head
    Jeffrey Steingarten, The Man Who Ate Everything
    Helen Oyeyemi, What is Not Yours is Not Yours
    Anthony Marra, The Tsar of Love & Techno
    P.C. Hodgell, the God Stalker Chronicles
    Andrew Michael Hurley, The Loney
    Anything by Barbara Comyns
    Kathryn Davis, Duplex
    Laura Kinsale, Flowers from the Storm
    Eva Ibbotson, A Song for Summer
    Anything by Judith Ivory
    Molly Gloss, The Hearts of Horses
    Samantha Hunt, Mr. Splitfoot

    (Selected) Bad Advice from Kelly Link:
    (on what to buy) “I’m partial to Urban Decay’s vintage blue lipsticks, but their Kat Von D greens & blacks are also nice.”
    (“something about what if my house is haunted”) “First, buy a ouija board.”
    (on workplace attire) “sack and ashcloth”
    (on writing) “try setting v. short time limits—bursts of 5 to 15 minuts (actual advice)”
    “Now is the time to adopt 7 or 8 new kittens.”
    “Write an erotic novel about the epic romance of a sea creature and a lost shoe.”
    “Invest in beekeeping gear & start some hives. Feed bees on blue M&Ms.”
    “Take up ice fishing.”
    “Comic sans is best choice for resume.”


    Emily Temple
    Emily Temple
    Emily Temple is the managing editor at Lit Hub. Her first novel, The Lightness, was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in June 2020. You can buy it here.
    https://www.emilytemple.net/





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