iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 16h

Thursday October 25: "The Acute Wing" by John Jeremiah Sullivan. "The man had been on the ward for only a couple of weeks when a nurse was fired, or at least resigned, for talking to him inappropriately."

A copy of Granta: Issue #176 American Berserk

120

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

The 2027 galleys keep arriving! Today's excellent book mail! Burn and Rave by Max Porter and The Corpses We Planted by Lina Wolff; translated by Frank Perry

030

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Wednesday October 14: "Transit" by Morgan Thomas. "She mistook me for a vampire. It's an easy mistake to make."

A copy of Manywhere displayed on a placemat decorated with colorful birds

110

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Excellent book mail day with @fsgbooks.bsky.social galleys! Yes/Maybe/Never by Jon Robin Baitz, My Stalkers by Catherine Lacey, Swans by Claire Luchette, and The Stuttering Kitchens by Jake Wolff. All due to land in early 2027!

Two galleys Yes/ Maybe / Never
Zand My Stalkers

Two galleys Sean's and The Stuttering Kitches

140

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Tuesday October 13: "Cicisbeo" by M. John Harrison. "Summer was half over before it had even begun."

A copy of You Should Come With Me Now displayed on a wooden shelf.

100

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Monday October 12: "Intercession" by Mary Gaitskill. "That day another one of Laurie's friends had gone crazy."

100

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Excellent recent book mail from @openletterbooks.bsky.social! The Family by Sara Mesa; translated by Katie Whittemore and Boudoir by Sigrún Pálsdóttir; translated by Lytton Smith. I started The Family immediately.

A copy of my The Family in front of an overstuffed bookcase

A copy of Boudoir in front of an overstuffed bookcase

130

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Here's my current staff favorite shelf at Island Books! All paperbacks! The titles are in the alt text.

Our Life in the Forest
I Liked Rex
Flowers of Mold
Phantom Lim
The Queen of Swords
We
Plastic
The Song of Stork and Dromedary
One Hundred Guinea Pigs
Acid Green Velvet

250

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Sunday October 11: "Manywhere" by Morgan Thomas. "My father walks cicles around my kitchen."

A library copy of Manywhere displayed on a placemat decorated with colorful birds.

110

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Saturday October 10: "The Factory" by Cristina Cerrada; translated by Lisa Dillman. "They left in the middle of the night."

A copy of McSweeney's #83 the cover has many details including a castle and a rabbit.

100

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"When he wakes up this morning, only two thoughts cross his mind: that he is going to kill the woman he loves, and that he is going to do it today." I'm currently reading and loving In One Brief Moment All Eternity by Elif Shafak. Coming from @aaknopf.bsky.social in early 2027.

A galley of In One Brief Moment All Eternity in front of an overstuffed bookcase.

010

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Friday October 9: "Bump" by Morgan Thomas. "To those who accuse me of immoderate desire, I say look at the oil executives."

200

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Thursday October 8: "Dathun" by Amie Barrodale "We would get into a cart and ride out onto the green. Down the fairway, around the slope, past the sand traps and over the rise."

A smirking annoying looking white male wearing a suit. His tie is decorated with branches of the American military.

220

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Many congratulations to Anne Carson winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature!

A drawing of Anne Carson from The Nobel Prize announcement.

050

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

"It is a known fact that some people grow to be old, while others become birds or panthers or beasts." Set in the 1990s Bogotá queer underground Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You by Julián Delgado Lopera is a rich and vibrant read. A finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction.

A copy of Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You displayed on a wooden shelf

150

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Wednesday October 7: "Dog People" by M. John Harrison. "I met Myra at the Arts Club. It was lunchtime on the sort of summer day which makes you want to eat outside, off a table with a luminous white cloth."

A copy of You Should Come With Me displayed on a wooden shelf.

110

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I love these two covers together. Great reads too!

Covers of two books each feature a woman on a horse

040

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Tuesday October 6: "That Drowning Place" by Morgan Thomas. "Driving north on the island road, they were mostly innocent."

110

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

🎉 The 2026 National Book Award Finalists! 📚 Several of my favorites! Let’s celebrate the finalists! A high five to the judges for all their hard work and reading!

The NBA Finalists!
A selection of titles:
Paradiso 17
Dèy
Beginning Middle End
Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You
Mad Eden
Let the Poets Govern
Mother Tongue
Spawning Season
Huna
The Midnight Special
Centroeuropa
School of Night
Night of a Thousand Hells
Pure Men
Tree of Knowledge
Hide
Exhibit G
Holloway
When Tomorrow Burns
The Fight of Our Lives
Shook
That Which Feeds Us

130

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Recent galley mail from @twolinespress.com. The Good Denis by Marie NDiaye; translated by Jordan Stump. On the cover: "Marie NDiaye will win the Nobel Prize." - The New Yorker Why not this year? The Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced on Thursday October 8.

A galley of The Good Denis displayed on a wooden shelf.

050

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'm honored that my quote for The Vanishing Family by Robert Kolker is featured on the October Indie Next list. This is a book written with compassion about a family of high achievers who due to a flawed gene some are predisposed to early onset form of dementia. Out now @doubledaybooks.bsky.social

A copy of The Vanishing Family on a wooden display shelf.

My quote for The Vanishing Family
"A compassionate and heartbreaking look at a family of high achievers...."

020

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Monday October 5: "Bubble" by Angie Sijun Lou. "Because I wasn't allowed to have soft drinks when I was growing up, I took to sipping from the Pepto-Bismo bottle my dad kept in the medicine cabinet."

A copy of The Paris Review Fall 2026 issue #257

100

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Tomorrow the finalists for the National Book Award will be announced. I've read the entire fiction longlist (I'd read all but one when the longlist was announced) and I could easily recommend any of these books. Yes, I have my favorites. High five to the judges!

The NBA 2026 Fiction Longlist
Paradiso 17 my favorite!
Red Ants
Dèy
Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You
The Python's Kiss
The Disappearers
Beginning Middle End
Passengers
The Renovation
Mad Eden

190

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I'm reading Pure Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr; translated by Lara Vergnaud. "'Have you seen the video that's been going around the past few days?'" Set in Dakar a young professor is haunted by a viral video. A finalist for The Cercador Prize and on the National Book Award Translation longlist.

A galley of Pure Men displayed on a wooden shelf.

020

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Sunday October 4: "Boundless" by Suyi Davies Okungbowa. "Townhouse 44 will be exactly like the two hundred or so others in Levesque Court."

A copy of Forged in Fiyah: Celebrating Ten Years of Black Speculative Fiction. Edited by Davaun Sanders.

100

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Saturday afternoon crow report.

030

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Look what's back after an absence of 16 years! Highlighting the great diversity of the south New Stories from the South 2026 is now available. Many thanks to @hubcitypress.bsky.social for bringing back one of my favorite annual collections.

A copy of New Stories from the South on a counter at Island Books

060

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Saturday October 3: "Taylor Johnson's Lightning Man" by Morgan Thomas. "October, 2008. I'm here in the photo booth on Ellis Island, waiting for you, lightning man."

A library copy of Manywhere displayed on a placemat decorated with colorful birds. The cover is white with three birds in a green lightning strike.

110

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I just read My Dreadful Body by Egana Djabbarova translated by Lisa C. Hayden. A coming of age novel Djabbarova starts with her eyebrows and continues through her body as a mysterious disease takes hold. A finalist for the Cercador Prize and on the NBA longlist for Translation. Highly recommended!

A library copy of My Dreadful Body the cover is blue with a woman's body her head, torso, and limbs are separated.

020

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Friday October 2: "Floods" by Scott McClanahan. "We were supposed to go to Rainelle for my birthday."

A copy of The Paris Review Fall 2026 Issue #257. The cover is a giant, creepy baby head in brown shadows with blurry people waving. Cover art by Elizabeth Glaessner, "Big Head" 2025 oil on linen.

131

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Thursday October 1: "Spider Web" by Elvira Navarro; translated by Christina MacSweeney. "'I'm Etienne. What's your name?' He asked, coming to stand beside her."

A copy of Blood is Dripping onto the Courtyard

120

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

October! October! October! A short story a day to keep the spooky politicians away. 👻

Granta #176 American Berserk
The Paris Review #257
McSweeney's #83
Manywhere by Morgan Thomas
Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night
Part II
Blood is Dripping onto the Courtyard by Elvira Navarro; translated by Christina MacSweeney

1120

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Wednesday afternoon crow report.

A crow perched on a lamppost against a blue sky

020

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Today's excellent galley mail from @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social and Astra House! The Statuary Gardens by Jacques Abeille translated; by Alex Andriesse. The finished copy will include an introduction by Brian Evenson. Also, Ackermann by Nicolette Polek. Both will be out in the coming months.

A galley of The Statuary Gardens by Jacques Abeille; translated by Alex Andriesse
The cover is blue with clouds and a bleeding statue head

The cover is gray and looks like snow is falling very atmospheric

010

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Today is International Translation Day! Here's a stack of some of my favorite translated books published in 2026. Titles, authors, and translators are in the alt text. Many thanks to all the translators out there I really appreciate your work!

Our Life in the Forest by Marie Darrieussecq translated by Penny Hueston
The Song of Stork and Dromedary by Anjet Daanje translated by David McKay
Body Double by Hanna Johansson; translated by Kira Josefsson
The Minister by Stefan Boskovic
The Disappearing Act by Maria Stepanova; translated by Sasha Dugdale
A Plan to Save the World by Hassan Akram; translated by Ibrahim Fawzy
Trans Poets by various translated by various
The Garden by Hiroko Oyamada; translated by David Boyd Lucy North and Yuki Tejima
One Hundred Guinea Pigs by Gustavo Rodríguez; translated by Daniel Hahn

Don't see your book here? We're either sold out at Island Books or perhaps I have yet to read it.

1102

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Wednesday September 30: "It Will Come Back to You" by Sigrid Nunez. "Apple and sheep: of the five words the neurologist asked me to remember the first time I saw him I still remember two."

A library copy of It Will Come Back to You: Collected Stories by Sigrid Nunez

010

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"I want to tell you, simply, joyful we were that summer." I just read and highly recommend Mad Eden by Morgan Thomas. Set in South, trans healthcare, found family, and caregiving. On the National Book Award fiction longlist. Published by @fsgbooks.bsky.social.

A copy of Mad Eden by Morgan Thomas. The cover is black with an alligator looking up at a red dragon in the lower outside corner.

031

Cait_onthe_luce @caitluce.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Tuesday September 29: "The Rabbit's Foot" by Sigrid Nunez. "He was a duke, or an earl—he was some sort of nobility—and not the first of his kind to visit the hotel."

110