Sanity Reads

what i read when i'm spiritually empty

Welcome to Sanity Reads – a bi-monthly series for paid subscribers where I share written work (fiction, non-fiction, essay collections, research papers, hidden gems) that has, in one way or another, been of great sustenance and salvation to me whenever I’m feeling spiritually, circumstantially, hormonally, or generally low.

Each selection is either grounding in its cushiony soft support, or just immersive in a way that permits an escape from real life — which is sometimes what I need and not much more. The recs are fine-tuned and selected with great care, so consider upgrading because the full list is taken very seriously by me and goes beyond a listicle in small and big ways (this one contains a mini-interview with one of the authors!)

Find Sanity Reads part I here.

Rabbit — Sophie Robinson

Have you ever felt an acute need to go home at a party you can’t leave, so you manage to trap yourself in the bathroom for claustrophobic catharsis? This is what Rabbit feels like. Sophie Robinson uses human fragility as raw material for all kinds of indentations; some cruel, others kind. Walking the line between honest and vulgar without ever crossing it is no easy feat — any confessional writer and poet knows. It’s a voyeuristic read that soothed my mind and calmed my crazy, and though my general relationship with poetry is best described as a situationship where I consistently keep dismissing it and making space for prose, I loved every part of Rabbit. I’m excited to eventually get to Robinson’s queer novel Prairie Oyster.