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April 2025 Reading Roundup

April 2025 Reading Roundup

The absolutely final, no-changes version of my master's thesis was due on April 1, and you can tell because I finished reading a bunch of books last month that have nothing to do with medieval literature. Graduation is at the end of this month, and my cap and

Review: Ordinary Time

Review: Ordinary Time

Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put Annie B. Jones HarperOne, April 22, 2025 I don’t often like books of essays because I read them too fast. Essays that were originally published months or years apart turn out to be repetitive when collected. Little quirks that seemed charmingly idiosyncratic

Paperback copies of Memoirs of a French Courtesan Volumes 1 and 2 sit side by side on a shelf.

Copyright Confusion Means You Get Free E-books

Memoirs of a French Courtesan is a four-volume set of books written by a woman known as Céleste Mogador and published in 1858. There is a two-volume set that she published a few years earlier; like any savvy author, she capitalized on its success and released an expanded edition. I&

DNF: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

DNF: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

I made it two stories into Rejection before I returned it to the library. Reviewers whose writing I like and whose taste I trust loved the latest book from Tony Tulathimutte, and its exploration of rejection sounded deep and thought-provoking while being funny and sharp. I think those reviewers were

Feathers

This is the third circle of white feathers to appear in our yard this year. The first two were under the plum tree, between the front porch and the sidewalk. The white feathers fluffed against the dark, half-decomposed mulch surrounding the dormant blackberries and spirea. It’s the Pacific Northwest,

Repost: Automotive R&D for Writers

Repost: Automotive R&D for Writers

This week is the last spring break of my master's degree, so I'm taking time off to bask in the glow of a completed thesis. In the meantime, here's a popular post from 2023 for you to read while my brain takes a break.

Get Ready for Memoirs Volume 3: Luck!

Get Ready for Memoirs Volume 3: Luck!

The penultimate installment of Mogador's memoirs is almost here! Memoirs of a French Courtesan Volume 3: Luck will be in stores and available online May 13, 2025. This is the longest of the series, and it covers her rocky relationship with Robert as well as the most glancing

Review: The River Has Roots

Review: The River Has Roots

The River Has Roots Amal El-Mohtar Tor, March 4, 2025 I will admit to not being the biggest sci-fi and fantasy fan. I have read plenty of books that fall into those genres, and I trust the publisher Tor and the magazine Uncanny to bring the best of these genres

A cartoon brain strains to lift a barbell with stacks of colored books at either end instead of weights.

Resistance Training

I had insomnia last night, a not uncommon occurrence throughout my life. I was thinking at 3:17 a.m. about the lack of overt political stances or calls to action on The Wingback Workshop, especially in These Troubled Times. Here are the ideas that form the foundation of everything

Cover of Orbital by Samantha Harvey, colorfurl orbs against a starry background

Space Time

Orbital Samantha Harvey Grove Press, 2024 Orbital by Samantha Harvey won the 2024 Booker Prize, and it was widely hailed, despite not having anything resembling a plot. The word “meditation” or “meditative” appears in almost every review, and it’s hard to dispute that assessment. The novel feels as suspended

Review: There's No Turning Back

Review: There's No Turning Back

There’s No Turning Back Alba de Céspedes, trans. Ann Goldstein Washington Square Press, Atria, February 11, 2025 Without opening the cover or cracking the spine of Alba de Céspedes’s 1938 novel There’s No Turning Back, it was pretty much a given that it would be banned by

Walking a Well-Worn Path Is a Thing with Feathers

Walking a Well-Worn Path Is a Thing with Feathers

I have pages of notes that I thought were so fucking genius comparing the crow that lives inside the zombie's rib cage in It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over by Anne de Marcken and "'Hope' is the thing with feathers—," one

Reading Roundup: January 2025

Reading Roundup: January 2025

Hello everyone, and a special welcome to the handful of new subscribers who've joined us this month. Everyone find your virtual wingback chair of the mind; we have plenty. Sip the beverage of your choice while I share what I finished reading to start 2025. The Sovereignty of

Turn Your Attention Toward Something You Love

Turn Your Attention Toward Something You Love

Mike Montiero shares his strategies for staying online (but not on Instagram) In These Times. These are solid ideas, and he's bringing years of personal experience to the problem. The idea is to turn your attention away from the figure in the spotlight, the one who is so

ARC Alert: There's No Turning Back

ARC Alert: There's No Turning Back

A book nearly a century old, about eight women attending college in Rome, translated by Ann Goldstein (she did Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet). The copy from Atria press says it was considered "experimental and revolutionary" and it was banned by the Fascisti. Every single thing about this

Two gray wingback chairs and a low rectangular table in front of a bookshelf labeled "Geography"

Why the Wingback Workshop?

It occurred to me that I should answer the question that not one person has ever asked me, in person or online: Why the Wingback? Why the Wingback Workshop? The Wingback In the summer of 2023, I was on the Harvard campus as part of my master's degree

ARC Alert: The River Has Roots

ARC Alert: The River Has Roots

Look at that cover! Amal El-Mohtar's novella The River Has Roots comes out in early March, so look for my review then. - khg

New Year, New Start

New Year, New Start

Hello, readers! I am hoping that you notice very little that is new about this newsletter, but it seemed only fair to tell you that I have moved The Wingback from Substack to a platform called Ghost. The whole website is now called The Wingback Workshop, and the newsletter you&

The cover of Imagine a Door by Laura Stanfill is blue with an illustration of an open book sprouting colorful flowers.

ARC Alert: Imagine a Door

Is there anything better than getting an ARC from a friend? Laura Stanfill's book for writers arrived in the mail today, and I cannot wait to dive in.

A wingback chair is outlined in blue with the phrase The Wingback below it.

Coming soon

This is The Wingback Workshop, the new home of the Wingback newsletter and a host of forthcoming multimedia literary guides by Kristen Hall-Geisler. Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and receive