What to read next based on your favorite movie of the year (so far).
My king, Richard Brody, has released his semi-annual favorite films of the year list. Which means it’s as good a time as any for this reporter to do the same.
Listing favorite movies inclined me to think in wine pairing terms. And as I believe there’s no better way to herald fall than by curling up with a good book, that leaves you with literature. Here’s what you should read next based on your favorite (cough: my favorite) films of 2024.
Auteur Joanna Arnow and Scott Cohen.
If you loved The Feeling That the Time For Doing Something Has Passed…
Your libidinal curiosity is a guiding star. A contemporary novel and a hybrid memoir may scratch the current brain itch.
In her latest book, Exhibit, R.O. Kwon writes unflinchingly into desire. This story of two women finding creative and sexual fulfillment via a kinky connection is refreshingly frank about the very same tension this film explores.
And this one’s more of a curveball, but for the love of a freewheeling, diaristic, occasionally banal glimpse into a woman’s unruly urges, you might look to Marguerite Duras’ Practicalities.
Julianne Nicholson and Zoe Ziegler.
If you loved Janet Planet…
You’re weirdly nostalgic for your own oddball adolescence. What happened to your imagination? Your pluck? Or maybe you’re watching another young person enter the wonder years, and it’s bringing up all the feelings by proxy.
In either case, you should probably dust off that copy of Helen DeWitt’s The Last Samurai, for it is a perfect book about erudite parent/child relations.
If you crave the company of another hard-nosed teen heroine, try Maria Kutnesova’s Oksana, Behave!
Joy and Anxiety.
If you loved Inside Out 2…
You want something colorful. And you’ve been cutting a lot of adolescent turf lately, in therapy.
It may be time to reread a book from back in the day. Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle features a spunky, competitive heroine who is certainly ruled by her emotions.
But if you’re more dazzled by the clever animation in Pixar’s latest, consider a graphic novel. Daniel Clowes’ Monica is a strange, lovely concoction that also rewards a psychoanalytic read.
World’s scariest ice cream truck.
If you loved I Saw The TV Glow…
My colleague Drew Broussard already made a pretty perfect companion reading list for this film. But just in the spirit of attrition, I’ll offer another collection.
Yukiko Motoya’s The Lonesome Bodybuilder is a smashing festival of absurdity. And like your favorite film, the stories in this collection explore transformation, and imagine freedom well beyond domestic, nuclear spaces.
Glen Powell, as a Very Convincing professor.
If you loved Hit Man…
You’re a pragmatist who loves a good yarn almost as much as you love the darker corners of the human mind. I bet you’re drawn to juicy narrative non-fiction. Assuming Patrick Radden Keefe is already on your radar, may I point you to an under-loved collection from one of the late great flies-on-the-wall?
You should read Denis Johnson’s Seek: Reports from the Edges of America and Beyond. The gripping essays in this book take a reader through rabbit holes but land on revelation. Whether we’re following Johnson to a Christian biker rally or a mining town, fantasy always hits the pavement. Which is kinda your cup of tea.
If you prefer the opposite structure—a fiction dressed as reality—why not bite off a “metaphysical murder mystery“? Gabo’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold pairs violence with intrigue and analysis. Just like your blockbuster of choice.
A furious Anya Taylor-Joy.
If you loved Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga…
You’re also unafraid of the darker corners of the human psyche. But unlike those featherweight hitmen, you’re realistic about the looming apocalypse. The late king of brutal fiction, Cormac McCarthy, is probably on your nightstand already—if he’s not pride of place on your sleeve-in-progress. But for your next read, you’ll want something about as unflinching as The Road.
For its all-too-realistic depiction of how brutal conditions shape a soul, look to David Diop’s Booker-winning portrait of a soldier, At Night All Blood is Black. Our narrator here is as ruthless and compelling as Furiosa.
And if you’re perpetually excited by the intersection of “genre-warping, time-travelling horror” and fempowerment, Jenny Hval’s Girls Against God should get your motor racing.
Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor.
If you loved Challengers…
You love intrigue, triangles, fizz, and vibes. You tend to emphasize the second syllable in the word life-style. Unquestionably, your next book should be Barbara Trapido’s Brother of the More Famous Jack.
Full disclosure: there’s no tennis in this slim, voicey coming-into-self novel—though it’s set in a swingin’ 70s London. However, there is a highly dramatic love triangle whose anchor is a charismatic woman at the top of her, um, game.
And here’s a slice serve for you. Kiese Laymon’s novel Long Division features a competitive hero whose star falls too early. But this highly readable, wittily structured novel acknowledges certain loud social forces that exist beyond the jurisdiction of this beautiful snack of a movie.
Léa Seydoux, fleeing fire.
If you loved The Beast…
You love doomed love stories, historical speculation, and alternate futures. Assuming you’ve already read the Henry James short this strange, unsettling film was based on, I’m inclined to point you to some other meaty epic-makers.
Though he’s less inclined to ponder the future, I suspect you’d enjoy E.L. Doctorow’s The Book of Daniel. For its time-traveling, its grim and unflinching treatment of tragedy, and for the questions it raises around historical harm and heredity.
For another speculative fiction featuring a well-built world and some dark social commentary, try one of Colson Whitehead’s earlier novels. The Intuitionist follows an elevator inspector down a high-concept rabbit hole.
Beholding the Big One.
If you loved Twisters…
You’ll love The Wind in the Willows. Oh, just kidding. As a serious storm-chaser, you’re well beyond wind. Perhaps another thrill ride pitting man against nature is up your alley. Try the fire this time, via Michael Koryta’s Those Who Wish Me Dead.
For another literary thrill ride that follows a mystery over an enormous setting, look no further than Julia Phillips’ exquisite first novel, Disappearing Earth.
If you loved Evil Does Not Exist…
You love mysteries and the well-drawn ethical dilemma. Structure is also your king.
You will probably also like Disappearing Earth, to be honest. For that novel engages similar themes and also traces an abduction. But for another kaleidoscopic, place-based, structurally exciting book that describes a community in crisis, try Carianne Leung’s novel in connected shorts, That Time I Loved You.
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Cover image via MOMA. Edward Hopper’s “New York Movie,” (1939).
