guest room lit

when the structure makes the story

The book of love is long and boring

No one can lift the damn thing

It's full of charts and facts and figures

And instructions for dancing

But I, I love it when you read to me

And you, you can read me anything

–”The Book of Love”The Magnetic Fields

Dear readers,

If you coincidentally put three books where a woman has been banished to the guest room on the same reading list, are you uncovering a literary trend—or just projecting your own need to be left alone with a door that closes?

Love it or hate it, the marriage plot is a classic premise. More recently, divorce lit has had its moment. Without meaning to, I stacked my April Narrative Loops reading menu with books that twist these familiar storylines through a designing principle that makes them less typical. 

It was really fun to pay attention to how this is done in three very different books this month. 🤓

On the Calculation of Volume I

by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara Haveland

The premise: antiquarian book dealer Tara Selter …