(Better) Books — The May ‘26 Digest
Featured Books
The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne by Ron Currie (2025 / Crime)
The Gist: Crime fiction with soul. It’s a story of family loyalty and addiction in Maine, but the real draw is Currie’s ability to handle complex, damaged characters without over-explaining. Best-in-class dialogue keeps it from being just another genre exercise.
"'Besides,' Babs said, 'it’s kind of nice, knowing when your ticket’s going to get punched. Most people aren’t that lucky. They have to worry and wonder every day of their lives. Me, all I have to do is sit here and wait.'"
🎙 LISTEN on the podcast: Apple / Spotify
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2011 / Literary)
The Gist: Book one of the Neapolitan Quartet, a visceral look at a complex lifelong friendship between two girls set against the class struggles and violence of 1950s Naples. A pillar of "friendship" literature that belongs on your shelf regardless of gender.
"When there is no love, not only the life of the people becomes sterile but the life of cities."
Deep Dive
Revisiting Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
The Gist: A return to the list for the definitive American epic. McMurtry managed to take the myth of the West, stripping it of its sentimentality and replacing it with a profound, character-driven look at friendship, loyalty, shame, guilt, and mortality.
"It wasn’t rational to think of driving cattle over eighty waterless miles, but he had learned in his years of tracking Indians that things which seemed impossible often weren’t. They only became so if one thought about them too much so that fear took over. The thing to do was go."
Off-Script
Forget the Hype — 7 Red Flags That Force a DNF
The Filter: A breakdown of why I walked away from one of the most hyped books of the year halfway through. A somewhat harsh but honest look at the specific "red flags" that should (or could) trigger every discerning reader's exit strategy.
🎙 LISTEN on the podcast: Apple / Spotify — or READ on the Blog
From My Reading Pile
(This past month)
Audition by Katie Kitamura (2025 / Literary): A well-regarded, but slightly overcomplicated take on the performative nature of our lives. Be the judge.
Seize the Day by Saul Bellow (1956 / Classic): A slim novella set on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, examining a man's mid-life crisis and day of reckoning. A quick study.
Until next month, fellow-readers. Godspeed.
Douglas Vigliotti, 2026
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