HeyJaredcool gal writing
book-related thoughts, author interviews, deep dive recommendations and essays on topical subjects.
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- Sep 28, 2026
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so you want to get into literary fiction (opens the original)
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literary fiction — what is it, exactly?as someone who reads mostly literary fiction, it’s a question i get asked a lot, and there are a lot of ways to describe it.the way i try to describe literary fiction is that it’s primarily focused on the characters rather than the plot. social and political themes, the human condition, and the way the author approaches the story are also important parts of the equation.the term literary fiction is also a pretty broad umbrella, with many subcategories exist
what is cool gal writing? (opens the original)
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hi hello, thanks for being here! i launched this substack in may 2025 and had a bit of a rebranding towards the end of last year, and haven’t really done an introduction on what my substack is about. as i’m sure you can gather, coolgalwriting is where i share longer form book recommendations, essays and opinions and, when i have time, author interviews (i haven’t had an opportunity to do this in a while, so maybe me writing this here will force me to make an effort to do them more.)if you’re new
14 books i've never stopped thinking about (opens the original)
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i only mention how much i read because people seem to think i can’t or don’t remember the books i read, which is simply not true. do i remember every single thing about every book i’ve read? no. do i remember what i ate for lunch yesterday? also no. so take that as you will. (on the flip side, do you remember those things, too? probably not, so stay in your lane.)here are 14 books i’ve read over the last few years that i deem unforgettable and that have staying power in a multitude of ways.<a cl
in defense of unlikeable and unrelatable characters (opens the original)
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as someone who reads a lot, one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to reading is when someone says they didn’t like a book because the characters weren’t likeable or relatable.that being said, there is a key distinction: there are times when i personally don’t like a character because they’re supposed to be likeable. the author makes it very clear that we’re supposed to root for them and their storyline, but they’re written in such an unbearable way that i simply do not care what happens to
10 unique books for the readers who read a lot (opens the original)
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because i read over 200 books a year on average — sometimes over 300 books a year, sometimes under 200 books a year — i’d like to think i come across some unique books in my reading journey.and before you say something, yes, it is possible to read this much. i’m not sure where the hate comes from towards people who read a lot or the suggestion that people who read this much aren’t actually reading what they say they are. maybe there’s a small minority, but i honestly don’t know what there is to
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