11 Best Literary & Books Newsletters to Subscribe (FREE)

Who can get enough of bookish newsletters? Not me. I have subscribed to many newsletters over the years, (and unsubscribed to many as well). But there are some that are close to heart, that always put a smile on my face when I see the darkened ‘unread’ in my inbox. Here they are — the best literary newsletters to subscribe to. Also, the good news is that they are all free.

This list is divided into three — literary newsletters that focus on book recommendations, poetry newsletters for your poem fix and literary newsletters that present curated literary think pieces and essays. When I started compiling this list, I promised myself to limit the list to 15. Secondly, I wanted to showcase bookish and literary newsletters written by one (or two) people (who I assume would read a couple of books, then sit down to write all about them), not newsletters sent by bigger publications compiled by many staff members. But as I was listing the names, I thought if you are looking for a good books newsletter to subscribe to, chances are you might also love to have something on the side — maybe an essay, an interview, a memoir or a reading list. Hence the last section on literary newsletters include literary newsletters from bigger publishing names. I have taken care to list those that are collaborations and those that feature good writing from other websites instead of those newsletters that are a marketing extension of the posts published on their own platform. For more books stuff (and newsletters), there are amazing, famous websites and publications like Millions, The Rumpus, Buzzfeed Books, Book Riot, The Paris Weekly, The NYT Books, The Guardian Bookmarks etc which have not been included in this list. Maybe another list for another day.

For now, here are ten best literary newsletters to subscribe right now.

To make things easier for you, I have included snippets to older editions of the newsletters — just follow the links and you can get a taste. Hopefully this should make it easier for you to decide if you’ll love subscribing to them. I find all of them fabulous additions to the inbox.

Best Bookish Newsletters

These newsletters focus on book and short story recommendations. Each recommendation is personal (yeey!what’s not to love), and you’ll often find more books that are similar to the one being recommended. I love how each of these literary newsletters take an effort to describe their reading experience effectively. Always helps me decide whether a book mentioned is for me or not.

1.Dear Reader by Deepanjana

I eagerly await Dear Reader every month. This bookish newsletter straight from the ‘Dear Reader’ address to the very end is an absolute joy to read. It features books that journalist and author, Deepanjana, has read over the month. Dear Reader shines with good writing and great storytelling; it really does feel like reading a very personal letter, addressed to you, about books. The kind of letter that makes you restless until you reach the very end. Sometimes, a book featured in Dear Reader would be one that I wouldn’t be caught dead reading (because I am least attracted to the topic, not because it is a bad recommendation). But I still can’t skip the paragraph or tear myself away from what Deepanjana has to say. She can talk about binge-ing the dragon series by Marie Brennan and about Genghis Khan with equal ease to capture your attention. Dear Readeris a mix of fiction, non fiction, children’s books and sometimes even TV. It occasionally features something Deepanjana enjoyed watching or a musing about art but it is mostly all-books. It is one of the best bookish newsletters and I’d love to make my way through the whole archive one day. Check two favourite older editions of this books newsletter – Latitudes + Jasmine Country and Fierce Femmes.

PS : This newsletter is not good for your book budget at all!
Type : Monthly

Subscribe to Dear Reader here

2. Read like the Wind by Molly Young

I love Molly Young’s newsletter from Vulture for many reasons. It feels wonderfully personal. And it makes you want to read all of the titles mentioned. Young has the best book descriptions. In addition to a few highlighted books, mostly new releases, there’s a ‘Suggested pairing’ section recommending what to read if you loved a current hot read and also a ‘Why don’t you’ section of one-liner (usually) book recommendations that are nearly impossible to skip. For example, why don’t you “Embrace the scent of Northern California noir: earthy and complex, with notes of REDWOOD and SHARK-INFESTED ocean?” (in September 2020) or “Enroll in a prestigious religious academy and go off the DEEP END? (…described by a user on Goodreads as “a Jewish The Secret History,” which beats any logline I could dream up.)” (in December 2020) — this newsletter is too delicious to not subscribe to. The best part isn’t either of these. Young has a Recommend me a book excel sheet where subscribers recommend books to her. It is a treasure trove of books you’ve not head of, books that’ll eat you whole, and books that’ll make you stay up all night—I speak from experience. Young leaves her own notes in this list and it has more fantastic recommendations than you can ever imagine. Read a sample here</span?.

Type : Monthly
Update: Read like the Wind is now part of NY times. Subscribe here.

Subscribe to Read like the wind here

3. Crib Notes by Elizabeth Morris

Elizabeth Morris who worked in publishing, book selling and literary events before the birth of her son says her newsletter is built on ‘a year of reading on borrowed time’. It is wonderful to read especially if you are short of time yourself. Elizabeth often talks about where or how she read the book, making her own reading experience come further alive. She also takes care to explicitly mention sensitive content or red flags in the books, which makes it easy to skip a book if you are triggered by those points. Plus, there is almost always a book recommendation to ‘read next’ after you are done with the one you picked. So you never have to worry about running out of books to read. To get a sneak peek into Morris’ books newsletter, read #2 – Unputdownable books to get you out of reading slumps and her latest #6 – Soothing reads for anxious times.

Type : Monthly

Subscribe to Crib Notes here

4. Mr. Knightley Must not Marry by Mikaella Clements

Mr. Knightley Must not Marry is a furball of energy and passion. With subject lines that make you click even if you are deep in important work — ‘as long as someone’ll bleed’, ‘crack your knuckles, get the gifs’. Mikaella is brilliant at describing her favourite books with passion — the kind that makes you think you just cannot live through another day without getting yourself a copy. She has successfully made me revisit passages in some of my favourite books because I am suddenly reminded through the newsletter how good they were! One of the most fun bookish newsletters to read. Read a sample here.

Type : Monthly

Subscribe to Mr Knightley Must not Marry here

5. Learn This Phrase by Blair Rose

Blair Rose is an avid reader. Her recommendations include old books that might’ve been missed in the hype of new releases as well as new titles. Her best book roundups usually feature underrated books that seldom make their way to other book lists. I have kept many of her recommendations on my TBR like The New Me, and Paper Wasp. Blair’s emails arrive at your inbox in occasional spurts and each one is long, and brimming with books. Read a sample here.

Type : Occasional

Subscribe to Learn This Phrase here.

6. A Small Good Thing by Thomas Morris

A Small Good Thing is the best bookish newsletter for short story lovers. Thomas Morris features a short story (and also gives a link to where you can read it online) and writes his thoughts on the story and similar stories that you might enjoy. What I love most about A Small Good Thing is how fuss-free it is. There are no million links to skim through and abandon at a glance. The short story featured is the star and the few links are often to supplement your own experience of the story. Sometimes the stories are from a new writer, sometimes from an beloved old favourite. As I mentioned earlier, the story always remains in the spotlight, not how famous or currently-in-demand the writer of the story is. A Small Good Thing is a great bookish newsletter to read and ponder on the craft of writing short stories. Check the archives — Guadalupe Nettel’s Felina and Clarice Lispector.

Subscribe to A Small Good Thing here

7. Books on Gif

A bookish newsletter that’s both fun and thought provoking where the written and visual forms merge together in book reviews. Written by Mike and edited by Donna, Books on Gif is an “animated alternative to boring reviews”. Every week you receive a new recommendation with apt gifs that make you laugh, smile, think, or simply think ‘I need that book ASAP’—You’ll be surprised to find out how well a review can be conveyed with visuals. Esquire describes Books on Gif as a “brilliant high-low fusion of an old art form and modern story telling device.” To read a sample, check out Severance by Ling Ma, The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

Type : Bi-Weekly

Subscribe to Books on Gif here
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Poetry newsletters

I don’t read a lot of poetry and when I do, I do not talk about it. Poetry has always been something very personal to me. I don’t think I will ever be a person who writes about poetry or even recommends them (but who really knows?); I always feel if a poem is good it will speak to you in an intense one-on-one connection. I savour the few poems I read and most of my choices over the week come from these newsletters. They always make my screen readings a bit better, a little nicer, be it for the excellent curation or introduction to new poets.

8. The Alipore Post by Rohini

Every email from The Alipore Post has been a lovely surprise. I often myself taking a screenshot of a poem and forwarding it to a friend or attempting to copy it down in a diary (often left unfinished. It is a good thing I don’t delete The Alipore Post archives from my inbox). The newsletter is also rich in links that you can check out (also excellently curated). There are links to watch or listen or read. There’s poetry, art, photography and features of Instagram accounts that you might love. There was even a poetry month which included more poems than usual. I always take away something new from each Alipore post and that’s satisfying. To get a taste of the newsletter, try #92 – a glimmer of hope, #76 – on books and writing and #86 – stay home, stay safe.

Type : Weekly

Subscribe to The Alipore Post here

The Courier by Bappadittya

The Courier by Bappadittya hopes to ‘document time and geography through poetry’ and features excellent poems in a magazine-like format that you can download. I love how the poems are always a good mix of different parts of the world. There is a good chunk of poetry from India — all so irresistible — and they always manage to have diversity among the different regions of the country as well. The Courier hasn’t been active since February, but I am hoping they resume the dispatch soon. Check this poetry courier of poems from North East India and this #26 Poems.

Subscribe to The Courier here
Status : Inactive

Best Literary Newsletters

I have tried to keep only solo run newsletters in this list because I look for a personal connection in the newsletters that I subscribe to. I am hoping to have a separate longer list of newsletters that includes longform worth reading. This section includes some of the best literary newsletters worth checking out. Also worth noting are other literary newsletters like Electric Lit and Lithub that feature links to essays, short stories, think pieces and more.

9. The Internet Personified by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

Slightly cheating here. Author Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s newsletter, as the title says, is a mixed bag of the internet, not solely a books newsletter. So expect lots of thoughts on everything under the sun — maths, instant noodles, Dickens or boarding schools. Many of the letters contain a nice long winded write-up about a book that caught her eye recently. Meenakshi was a popular blogger before she became a successful author, and I suppose her (excellent) blogging skills are put to good use here. She is refreshingly personal, and chatty in her letters, making you think she is an old friend you’ve met after a long time. Most of all, her letters are always relatable, and I usually jump into them minutes after receiving them — The Internet Personified is exactly what I look for in a good newsletter. Most of her dispatches include books — all the good ones, new or old, Tudor mysteries or classics (I loved indulging in her Middlemarch letter after I devoured Eliot’s chunky classic in the pandemic and Meenakshi’s words infinitely elevated my reading experience). If you love people who read books and have strong opinions about them (and also talk about cats), I cannot recommend her letters enough. Read a sample here.

Type : Weekly

Subscribe to The Internet Personified here

10. Brain Pickings by Maria Popova

Here’s a literary newsletter for those who love meaningful, deep reading. If you are going for a very literary-ish meet, read the Brain Pickings archives and impress your colleagues and friends with your prepared intellectual façade. (Would not recommend if you tend to blurt out half baked blunders). Maria Popova’s “free Sunday digest of the week’s most interesting and inspiring articles across art, science, philosophy, creativity, children’s books, and other strands of our search for truth, beauty, and meaning” has been landing in my inbox for many years. Fair warning — you will find yourself in a maze because by the time you reach the end of the weekly letter, you’ll have opened so many tabs on the browser to read later.

Brain Pickings holds an esteemed place in literary newsletters. It always features a good mix of stuff; one day you’ll be listening to poetry tapes on the internet, the next week you’ll be rummaging through philosophical takes. If you detest shallow reading and would love to tickle your grey cells with thought provoking essays, look no further. Here are two samples of Brain Pickings newsletter — Mary Shelley on What Makes Life Worth Living and Virginia Woolf on Finding Beauty in the Uncertainty of Time, Space, and Being.

Subscribe to Brain Pickings here

11. Memoir Monday

Memoir Monday is a bible for memoir and personal essay lovers. I love it! The essays are of different flavours and even genres. So you never know what is gonna land in your inbox — Each week you are sent six best essays selected by the editors of Narratively, The Rumpus, Catapult, Longreads, Granta, and Guernica — the cream of the creamiest layers. I guarantee you’ll always find at least one essay in every newsletter that you know you need to read before turning in for the day.

Subscribe to Memoir Monday here

ALSO,

12. Satchel Notes by Resh Susan

Shameless plug. I send out a weekly monthly newsletter. It is an assorted mix-bag of books and culture. You’ll find absolutely awesome book recommendations — both old and new — some of which you wouldn’t find me talking about on my other social media channels, and links to stuff I write here. It also features culture and literary links on the internet that are worth a look including literary essays, culture think pieces, art, creativity and photography. There’s something for everyone in this bookish newsletter.

Updated archives : #37// the aunties are here and #32// mary, oh mary + wasps

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