Happy Saturday, friends, and a bright solstice to all. I hope this week was a good one for you.

As we like to do every December, on Monday our editors shared some of the books that stayed with us this year. If you want even more recommendations, we also shared some suggestions from the first half of the year back in July.

Then on Wednesday we finished our series of Hunger themed stories with "On The Air" by Penn Stewart. We'll take next week off from publishing a new story, then will kick off a new year of fiction in January.

Contributor Willem Marx wrote with a recommendation of his own: 

One 2024 book (which is actually an 1899 book) that I absolutely loved this year is The Tower of Love out from Wakefield Press--one of my favorite indie presses! It's the first translation of a 125 year old French novel about a strange psycho-sexual relationship between two lighthouse keepers. It was wild for the time and honestly still is. The language has the same frisson and adrenaline rushing energy as the first chapters of Moby Dick. I think anyone would be crazy to miss it.

Finally, our fiction editor Lacy Dunham will be teaching a few writing classes in January and into spring. Learn more about what those will offer and how to register at her website.

Until next week, thanks for reading.

Steve Himmer