My goodness, Martha, what a fascinating list! This makes such a refreshing change from a lot of the usual book posts on Substack, at least in my orbit. Don't get me wrong - I love so many of the book writers here but after a while, the sameness of the featured posts starts to get to me and I love these refreshingly eclectic reviews (I now fear I'm about to embark on a time-consuming but ultimately rewarding deep dive into your archive 😂)
'Soviet Milk' has been on my radar for a bit and this is now right at the top of my TBR - I lived in Latvia many years ago and did a lot of research into the Latvian/Russian situation, the history, citizenship, language, etc (which an ex-girlfriend then 'borrowed' for her Master's research and then dumped me, but no I'm not bitter 🤣😭)
You are the second Substacker to give a glowing recommendation of 'Small Boat' and this is another I'm eager to read. It sounds a bit like Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits.
I've read a few books on nationhood, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, but let me think about it more and get back to you.
And your next book club - Rock, Paper, Grenade, okay, I may have to join though it's a hectic month coming up for me. I have it already and here's a fun fact- I know his wife, Iryna Tsilyk and was hoping to interview her for a piece a few months ago but her visit to Vienna came when I was away for the week and we missed each other.
Anyway, I'm rambling, thanks for this inspiring book list 🤗
Haha thank you for the shower of praise Daniel! I appreciate it - I have always tried to read and speak differently about books to everyone else on here (no shade obvi!) so it is always affirming when someone comments saying something like you have!
Soviet Milk was SO good - very much recommend! What an interesting life you have had living in Latvia and Ukraine! Peak about the ex-girlfriend borrowing the research but that sounds so fascinating! I feel like I am (very slowly) working my way around fiction which is exploring the Soviet era and I am learning so much from it.
I will have a look at Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits bc you've compared it to Small Boat. I am on the hunt for more fiction written by philosophers now because fiction and thinking about why we are alive are basically two of my favourite things. I look forward to your nationhood recs - esp Eastern Europe ones! Too Great A Sky is a good one I would rec too.
Would love to see you in the book club but no pressure because you can read the book regardless if you can make the discussion! What a fun connection you know he wife !! What a small (literary) world. Thank you for reading and enjoying this Daniel!
Just added Too Great a Sky to my TBR, not familiar with that one.
I've had a wee think and here are a handful of books that may interest you -
Purge (Sofi Oksanen) - though I haven't read this yet, it was recommended by a fellow Substacker who's Finnish and has excellent judgement
The Snows of Yesteryear (Gregor von Rezzori) - fabulous book, from an author with a remarkable background
The World of Yesterday (Stefan Zweig) - I read on another post that you were eager to read Zweig and I'm not sure if you limit yourself to fiction. I've read many of his books, including Beware of Pity, but this one is his best, I think. Have read it twice, for the second time just after I left Ukraine and came to Vienna, so it was timely and very appropriate
Ali and Nino (Kurban Said)
Secondhand Time (Svetlana Alexievich)
Goodbye Eastern Europe (Jacob Mikanowski)
I've been reading some of your archive and I see you've already read Forgottenness and The Ukraine. I was so-so on Forgottenness, like you I believe, but I enjoyed The Ukraine. If you're interested in more contemporary Ukrainian fiction, you can give Serhiy Zhadan a try, he's the fashionable author of the moment that most Ukrainians recommend. I've read three of his books and to be honest, I'm not a fan. But you might enjoy him - Voroshilovgrad is a good one to start off with.
Also noticed you read An African in Greenland - loved it!
Small Boat is such a rocket of a book. Now in the market for more fiction written by philosophers bc it scratches such an itch in my brain! Also gutted for you that you forgot to snag Jean here - although there is a US pub for it I think!
I was just wondering what I should read next from Peirene Press so 'Soviet Milk' is going straight on my tbr! The last one I read was one you'd recommended, 'Imagine Breaking Everything' which I LOVED, and I feel like it would make a good summer coming-of-age pick.
Yess put it on the Peirene tbr!! Their next release that I’m really eyeing is The Family by Sara Mesa (I read Four by Four last year by her which was strange and fun) & I have As The Eagle Flies on my shelf that I found in a second hand book shop (a great day).
I love to hear you read Imagine Breaking Everything on my recommendation and loved it so much!!! I agree that it would make such a good summer coming of age pick (I had a coming of age summer list on the translated summer reading guide with it on it but for reasons known to me then, but I can’t quite remember now, I cut the list) maybe it’ll make the cut next year haha
You’d love Soviet Milk! Well deserved to be put on the tbr. Thanks Regan I hope you enjoy the start to summer too! 💙 It’s crazy it’s now summer but here we are. I must accept the unrelenting movement of time.
I am reading A Month in the Country right now -- it's the perfect hot summer day book it's so true. Been meaning to get to Small Boat! This is a good nudge :)
Twins!! It’s a lovely little book. Happy to nudge you on Small Boat which is also a small book, great to read on a sunny day! It absorbed me entirely while on a train (which I always get very distracted on while reading bc people watching is often more entertaining) xx
I enjoyed the summer reading rec list you put up and it lead me to adding a few things to my TBR (not that it needs help at this point, but I can't help it). I specifically picked up Land of Snow and Ashes and Summer Breeze. And now your May Reads post makes me want to get ahold of Soviet Milk!!
I read Grey Bees (Andrey Kurkov) and The Orphanage (Serhiy Zhadan) recently and both really dug into the emotions of nationhood, particularly along the borders of the invasion in Ukraine. The Orphanage was a tough nut to crack initially, but well worth the work. Both of these books have become favorites.
Sofia Nalkowska's Choucas is set (and was written) between WW1 & WW2 and felt very relevant when I read it this spring. It takes place in a TB sanitarium in Switzerland, with a bunch of guests of all different nationalities coming together to be friends but also the unwitting mouthpieces of their own national prejudices, signalling the next war. Beautifully written work of observational fiction from Poland.
And soon I am onto Rock, Paper Grenade for book club! I can't wait :)
Forgot to add, I read A Month in the Country not so long ago, and yes! A restrained text that barely mentions the war, but there's still such emotion and, ultimately, hope. I'm glad you had a day for it!
loved this as usual! ‘jean’ sounds really interesting, i’ll have to pick that up. ‘small boat’ was incredible, i wish i could force so many people to read it
Jean surpassed my kinda low expectations! Obvs a beautiful cover but expected it to be a very 'typical' coming of age queer story but was pleasantly surprised by the class chat! 'Small Boat' should be compulsory reading for the country before the next election
Thank you for another great selection! I have been to Latvia for a few weeks last summer and loved the place, it’s so underrated. Definitely putting Soviet Milk on my list.
I am currently reading A Disappearing Act by Maria Stepanova (mine is with a familiar blue cover by Fitzcaraldo editions) and can wholeheartedly recommend, also as you asked for some Russian literature a while ago. the topic of nationhood / belonging in exile runs deep there.
Another novel I am finishing is The Duke, recommended by you, a bit slow to get into the story but now I am fully invested :)
Thank you for being a reader for so long Yana!! You’re not the first person to tell me great things about Latvia & say it’s underrated! Will have to go one day for myself. Lmk what you think of Soviet Milk if you read it! I think it’s going to be a favourite of the year for me.
I have a copy of A Disappearing Act !!! I just haven’t got round to it yet, but thanks for endorsing it and reminding me to get to it soon. I have heard really good things about it.
Yes to The Duke!! Agreed it takes a while to get into the story but once you’re in, you’re SO in! Enjoy the rest of it :) it only gets better!
I really enjoyed A Month in the Country when I read it maybe a year ago. Definitely a buy for me for just how gentle and wonderful it was, though I did find one part clumsy.
I have put a couple here on my library wishlist, as I always do after your newsletters. Thank you for making my reading life better!
For coming of age novels: most Hesse, including Demian and the Glass Bead Game/Magister Ludi (translated), Middlesex by Eugenides (not translated), and Oman Ra by Viktor Pelevin (translated) which is strange and wonderful and one of my favorite books I've read in the last few years, a view of the Soviet era from the end of that era.
And since you like novels by philosophers, I'd like to suggest The Fall by Camus, a long monologue/confession in a seedy bar that keeps changing until you start to wonder if it's a confession after all! And the Glass Bead Game is sort of about philosophy. Frankly the Hesse I like best (so far) is Journey to the East, which is shorter, also philosophical, and much more mysterious.
Valentino is on my list to read this summer, and I now have added Soviet Milk and Jean to my never-ending TBR HELP!
After reading A Month in the Country last year, I watched the film adaptation with a very young Colin Firth and Emma Thompson, and it made me appreciate the book more. I highly recommend! A great lazy day summer film.
Lmao sorry not sorry for adding to the tbr!! Thanks for the film rec - I don’t know if I knew it existed?! Off to see where I can watch it rn - would love to see it on screen to help bring the story even more to life
I've been so curious to hear a British take on "Small Boat"! This incident was not really talked about very much over here in the states (at least not in the midwest where I am) and so my introduction to it was through this book. It utterly blew me away for all the reasons you already listed and I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it.
A book by a "philosopher" (though I'm not sure I would call him that?) is "The Night Theater" by Vikram Paralkar. I reread it recently and goddamn it holds up--a big-city doctor must work out of an underfunded rural clinic. One night a family of three show up with grievous wounds and the doctor has just that night to save their lives.
Another that might fit is "It Lasts Forever and then It's Over" which is from the perspective of a zombie shambling toward the sea, following the only memory it has of being loved. It's kind of a ship-of-Theseus book and asks how much of yourself you can lose before you stop being yourself (it was also one of Hudson Williams's [of Heated Rivalry fame] favorite reads).
Yes unfortunately small boat crossings is literally *all* this nation is talking about either in the news items or political debates in government down to people chatting in the street. I restrained myself a lot in that review to strictly talk about the book & what I thought rather than divulge into a lot of the noise about it here and the nuance that the book maybe missed (easier said than done).
People blame migrants for fucking everything here (which is so exhausting) and the right and left is OBSESSED with ‘stopping the boats’ (can’t wait to see how they’re going to do that). All devoid of so much empathy & compassion but I also do very much appreciate that on an island like the UK there is a limit (literally - the sea) to how many people can come here to have a safe life, with adequate housing & healthcare. It’s very tense here and I think it’s only going to get worse. It’s really upsetting, and the thought exercise of Small Boat is something everyone should engage with! But I did also wonder if my ‘Britishness’ (meaning closer proxy to the issue) meant I understood some of the issues the naval officer mentions bc the volume of people crossing is not stopping. I want everyone to have a safe life! I’m pro immigration until the end of time but there are a lot of processing failures that are happening, so many criminals who are profiting of the small boat ‘industry’ and migrants living in horrific conditions bc once they’re here they can’t get the help. Small boat is literally the tip of a mammoth nightmare iceberg. It’s obvs the same issue different font worldwide, and reading it just made me so emotional and stressed about what is coming next. Just want everyone to have a safe life 😭 is it too much to ask lol.
But to your point - small boat crossings are like the no1 political agenda, it’s quite obsessively reported on and it’s the one thing that really gets people going in debates. Lots of people really don’t want to talk about it here bc it’s so divisive and I think people are scared of engaging in debate or discussion bc of fear. And obvs those that shout the loudest about it don’t give a shit anyway.
ANYWAY thank you for the recs! I will take a look at The Night Theatre (sounds intense but in a good way) and I have always sort of eyed It Lasts Forever and It’s Over but not quite pulled the trigger on it!? But I will in the next Fitzcarraldo sale to satiate my philosophy vibe.
My goodness, Martha, what a fascinating list! This makes such a refreshing change from a lot of the usual book posts on Substack, at least in my orbit. Don't get me wrong - I love so many of the book writers here but after a while, the sameness of the featured posts starts to get to me and I love these refreshingly eclectic reviews (I now fear I'm about to embark on a time-consuming but ultimately rewarding deep dive into your archive 😂)
'Soviet Milk' has been on my radar for a bit and this is now right at the top of my TBR - I lived in Latvia many years ago and did a lot of research into the Latvian/Russian situation, the history, citizenship, language, etc (which an ex-girlfriend then 'borrowed' for her Master's research and then dumped me, but no I'm not bitter 🤣😭)
You are the second Substacker to give a glowing recommendation of 'Small Boat' and this is another I'm eager to read. It sounds a bit like Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits.
I've read a few books on nationhood, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, but let me think about it more and get back to you.
And your next book club - Rock, Paper, Grenade, okay, I may have to join though it's a hectic month coming up for me. I have it already and here's a fun fact- I know his wife, Iryna Tsilyk and was hoping to interview her for a piece a few months ago but her visit to Vienna came when I was away for the week and we missed each other.
Anyway, I'm rambling, thanks for this inspiring book list 🤗
Haha thank you for the shower of praise Daniel! I appreciate it - I have always tried to read and speak differently about books to everyone else on here (no shade obvi!) so it is always affirming when someone comments saying something like you have!
Soviet Milk was SO good - very much recommend! What an interesting life you have had living in Latvia and Ukraine! Peak about the ex-girlfriend borrowing the research but that sounds so fascinating! I feel like I am (very slowly) working my way around fiction which is exploring the Soviet era and I am learning so much from it.
I will have a look at Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits bc you've compared it to Small Boat. I am on the hunt for more fiction written by philosophers now because fiction and thinking about why we are alive are basically two of my favourite things. I look forward to your nationhood recs - esp Eastern Europe ones! Too Great A Sky is a good one I would rec too.
Would love to see you in the book club but no pressure because you can read the book regardless if you can make the discussion! What a fun connection you know he wife !! What a small (literary) world. Thank you for reading and enjoying this Daniel!
Just added Too Great a Sky to my TBR, not familiar with that one.
I've had a wee think and here are a handful of books that may interest you -
Purge (Sofi Oksanen) - though I haven't read this yet, it was recommended by a fellow Substacker who's Finnish and has excellent judgement
The Snows of Yesteryear (Gregor von Rezzori) - fabulous book, from an author with a remarkable background
The World of Yesterday (Stefan Zweig) - I read on another post that you were eager to read Zweig and I'm not sure if you limit yourself to fiction. I've read many of his books, including Beware of Pity, but this one is his best, I think. Have read it twice, for the second time just after I left Ukraine and came to Vienna, so it was timely and very appropriate
Ali and Nino (Kurban Said)
Secondhand Time (Svetlana Alexievich)
Goodbye Eastern Europe (Jacob Mikanowski)
I've been reading some of your archive and I see you've already read Forgottenness and The Ukraine. I was so-so on Forgottenness, like you I believe, but I enjoyed The Ukraine. If you're interested in more contemporary Ukrainian fiction, you can give Serhiy Zhadan a try, he's the fashionable author of the moment that most Ukrainians recommend. I've read three of his books and to be honest, I'm not a fan. But you might enjoy him - Voroshilovgrad is a good one to start off with.
Also noticed you read An African in Greenland - loved it!
Loved Small Boat, and sad I forgot to snag Jean when I was over there!
Small Boat is such a rocket of a book. Now in the market for more fiction written by philosophers bc it scratches such an itch in my brain! Also gutted for you that you forgot to snag Jean here - although there is a US pub for it I think!
I was just wondering what I should read next from Peirene Press so 'Soviet Milk' is going straight on my tbr! The last one I read was one you'd recommended, 'Imagine Breaking Everything' which I LOVED, and I feel like it would make a good summer coming-of-age pick.
Yess put it on the Peirene tbr!! Their next release that I’m really eyeing is The Family by Sara Mesa (I read Four by Four last year by her which was strange and fun) & I have As The Eagle Flies on my shelf that I found in a second hand book shop (a great day).
I love to hear you read Imagine Breaking Everything on my recommendation and loved it so much!!! I agree that it would make such a good summer coming of age pick (I had a coming of age summer list on the translated summer reading guide with it on it but for reasons known to me then, but I can’t quite remember now, I cut the list) maybe it’ll make the cut next year haha
Soviet Milk is an instant add to the tbr ✍️ so glad you had a good reading month Martha, enjoy the start to summer!
You’d love Soviet Milk! Well deserved to be put on the tbr. Thanks Regan I hope you enjoy the start to summer too! 💙 It’s crazy it’s now summer but here we are. I must accept the unrelenting movement of time.
I am reading A Month in the Country right now -- it's the perfect hot summer day book it's so true. Been meaning to get to Small Boat! This is a good nudge :)
Twins!! It’s a lovely little book. Happy to nudge you on Small Boat which is also a small book, great to read on a sunny day! It absorbed me entirely while on a train (which I always get very distracted on while reading bc people watching is often more entertaining) xx
I enjoyed the summer reading rec list you put up and it lead me to adding a few things to my TBR (not that it needs help at this point, but I can't help it). I specifically picked up Land of Snow and Ashes and Summer Breeze. And now your May Reads post makes me want to get ahold of Soviet Milk!!
I read Grey Bees (Andrey Kurkov) and The Orphanage (Serhiy Zhadan) recently and both really dug into the emotions of nationhood, particularly along the borders of the invasion in Ukraine. The Orphanage was a tough nut to crack initially, but well worth the work. Both of these books have become favorites.
Sofia Nalkowska's Choucas is set (and was written) between WW1 & WW2 and felt very relevant when I read it this spring. It takes place in a TB sanitarium in Switzerland, with a bunch of guests of all different nationalities coming together to be friends but also the unwitting mouthpieces of their own national prejudices, signalling the next war. Beautifully written work of observational fiction from Poland.
And soon I am onto Rock, Paper Grenade for book club! I can't wait :)
Forgot to add, I read A Month in the Country not so long ago, and yes! A restrained text that barely mentions the war, but there's still such emotion and, ultimately, hope. I'm glad you had a day for it!
Fascinated by The Birthday Party!
Be fascinated it was a ride!! I would recommend!
loved this as usual! ‘jean’ sounds really interesting, i’ll have to pick that up. ‘small boat’ was incredible, i wish i could force so many people to read it
Jean surpassed my kinda low expectations! Obvs a beautiful cover but expected it to be a very 'typical' coming of age queer story but was pleasantly surprised by the class chat! 'Small Boat' should be compulsory reading for the country before the next election
i had a very similar experience reading A Month in the Country last month and it was so lovely!
Great minds think alike Rebecca!
Thank you for another great selection! I have been to Latvia for a few weeks last summer and loved the place, it’s so underrated. Definitely putting Soviet Milk on my list.
I am currently reading A Disappearing Act by Maria Stepanova (mine is with a familiar blue cover by Fitzcaraldo editions) and can wholeheartedly recommend, also as you asked for some Russian literature a while ago. the topic of nationhood / belonging in exile runs deep there.
Another novel I am finishing is The Duke, recommended by you, a bit slow to get into the story but now I am fully invested :)
Thank you for being a reader for so long Yana!! You’re not the first person to tell me great things about Latvia & say it’s underrated! Will have to go one day for myself. Lmk what you think of Soviet Milk if you read it! I think it’s going to be a favourite of the year for me.
I have a copy of A Disappearing Act !!! I just haven’t got round to it yet, but thanks for endorsing it and reminding me to get to it soon. I have heard really good things about it.
Yes to The Duke!! Agreed it takes a while to get into the story but once you’re in, you’re SO in! Enjoy the rest of it :) it only gets better!
I really enjoyed A Month in the Country when I read it maybe a year ago. Definitely a buy for me for just how gentle and wonderful it was, though I did find one part clumsy.
I have put a couple here on my library wishlist, as I always do after your newsletters. Thank you for making my reading life better!
For coming of age novels: most Hesse, including Demian and the Glass Bead Game/Magister Ludi (translated), Middlesex by Eugenides (not translated), and Oman Ra by Viktor Pelevin (translated) which is strange and wonderful and one of my favorite books I've read in the last few years, a view of the Soviet era from the end of that era.
And since you like novels by philosophers, I'd like to suggest The Fall by Camus, a long monologue/confession in a seedy bar that keeps changing until you start to wonder if it's a confession after all! And the Glass Bead Game is sort of about philosophy. Frankly the Hesse I like best (so far) is Journey to the East, which is shorter, also philosophical, and much more mysterious.
Valentino is on my list to read this summer, and I now have added Soviet Milk and Jean to my never-ending TBR HELP!
After reading A Month in the Country last year, I watched the film adaptation with a very young Colin Firth and Emma Thompson, and it made me appreciate the book more. I highly recommend! A great lazy day summer film.
Lmao sorry not sorry for adding to the tbr!! Thanks for the film rec - I don’t know if I knew it existed?! Off to see where I can watch it rn - would love to see it on screen to help bring the story even more to life
Adding Soviet Milk to my list!!
Do it !!!!
I've been so curious to hear a British take on "Small Boat"! This incident was not really talked about very much over here in the states (at least not in the midwest where I am) and so my introduction to it was through this book. It utterly blew me away for all the reasons you already listed and I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it.
A book by a "philosopher" (though I'm not sure I would call him that?) is "The Night Theater" by Vikram Paralkar. I reread it recently and goddamn it holds up--a big-city doctor must work out of an underfunded rural clinic. One night a family of three show up with grievous wounds and the doctor has just that night to save their lives.
Another that might fit is "It Lasts Forever and then It's Over" which is from the perspective of a zombie shambling toward the sea, following the only memory it has of being loved. It's kind of a ship-of-Theseus book and asks how much of yourself you can lose before you stop being yourself (it was also one of Hudson Williams's [of Heated Rivalry fame] favorite reads).
Yes unfortunately small boat crossings is literally *all* this nation is talking about either in the news items or political debates in government down to people chatting in the street. I restrained myself a lot in that review to strictly talk about the book & what I thought rather than divulge into a lot of the noise about it here and the nuance that the book maybe missed (easier said than done).
People blame migrants for fucking everything here (which is so exhausting) and the right and left is OBSESSED with ‘stopping the boats’ (can’t wait to see how they’re going to do that). All devoid of so much empathy & compassion but I also do very much appreciate that on an island like the UK there is a limit (literally - the sea) to how many people can come here to have a safe life, with adequate housing & healthcare. It’s very tense here and I think it’s only going to get worse. It’s really upsetting, and the thought exercise of Small Boat is something everyone should engage with! But I did also wonder if my ‘Britishness’ (meaning closer proxy to the issue) meant I understood some of the issues the naval officer mentions bc the volume of people crossing is not stopping. I want everyone to have a safe life! I’m pro immigration until the end of time but there are a lot of processing failures that are happening, so many criminals who are profiting of the small boat ‘industry’ and migrants living in horrific conditions bc once they’re here they can’t get the help. Small boat is literally the tip of a mammoth nightmare iceberg. It’s obvs the same issue different font worldwide, and reading it just made me so emotional and stressed about what is coming next. Just want everyone to have a safe life 😭 is it too much to ask lol.
But to your point - small boat crossings are like the no1 political agenda, it’s quite obsessively reported on and it’s the one thing that really gets people going in debates. Lots of people really don’t want to talk about it here bc it’s so divisive and I think people are scared of engaging in debate or discussion bc of fear. And obvs those that shout the loudest about it don’t give a shit anyway.
ANYWAY thank you for the recs! I will take a look at The Night Theatre (sounds intense but in a good way) and I have always sort of eyed It Lasts Forever and It’s Over but not quite pulled the trigger on it!? But I will in the next Fitzcarraldo sale to satiate my philosophy vibe.