How an amateur rider wins the world's toughest horse race 🐎

👋 Hello readers!👋

Over in the Facebook group, we're talking about our June pick, Lara Prior-Palmer's memoir Rough Magic. If you're just starting, the first impression thread is open for initial thoughts, ditto the thread for favorite quotes. (One of my faves: "I hadn't noticed until now that part of me preferred to travel slowly and catastrophically. Nor had I realized this preference would be at odds with participating in a race." Something about the idea of moving "catastrophically" resonates — not so much in terms of our effect on our surroundings, but on ourselves.)

One remarkable thing about this book is Prior-Palmer's ability to keep me at the edge of my seat, despite the fact that readers go into the story knowing the outcome — of the race, at least. So, I was curious: How do you think Lara brings tension into a story about a race when we already know the winner?

Amanda Zambito is looking for the how, not the what: "I think a lot of the tension comes from how unprepared she is at the start. It leaves the readers wanting to know exactly how she could have possibly won the race."

And Olivia Nixon-Hemelt is paying attention to the internal tension: "There are so many tactics she uses but the most insightful (and relatable!) is how she turns the race into a battle between different parts of herself. She explains in the beginning of the story that in school and other areas of her life, she always preferred to be the underdog, the self-proclaimed failure — but once the race is underway, she starts to feel the pressure to compete. I'm looking forward to seeing that being developed more, what exactly it is about competition that motivates her, and which parts of her are going to get her to the finish line."

It's so true! The conflict sort of becomes about what the race does to Lara — how she'll sustain it, how it might change her. These are the questions and curiosities that keep me flying through the pages.

Happy reading!

Arianna

💡 Points of Inspiration: G. Willow Wilson 💡

A list of people, places, and things the author was thinking about while writing. Here's G. Willow Wilson on inspirations for last month's read, The Bird King.

The Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar: This allegorical Sufi teaching poem is the basis not only of the title of the book, but also of the literary game Hassan and Fatima play together when they're bored. While the poem itself is written in Persian, the title (Mantiq ut-Tuyyur) is Arabic, and taken from a verse of the Quran.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes: What is there to say about this masterpiece that hasn't already been said? Written about a hundred years after the events of The Bird King, Don Quixote takes place in a Spain that has been transformed by the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the completion of the Reconquista, and the Inquisition — yet the profound cultural influence of the 700-year Moorish empire in Iberia is still very evident. Aside from its literary importance as a novel, Don Quixote is a fascinating look into the way 17th century Spaniards viewed their own history, and that is the primary lens I used to read the text while preparing to write The Bird King.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco: A young Breton monk plays a very important role in The Bird King, and I knew almost nothing about the day-to-day routine of late medieval monastic life going into this — so, any excuse to read Eco. For what it's worth, I also watched about ten hours of modern-day Catholic vocation stories on YouTube. Brother Gwennec's vocation story in The Bird King is inspired by that of a modern-day discalced Franciscan nun. I had so much extra monastic research in my brain after all this that I ended up writing an entirely separate book — the sci-fi comic book series Invisible Kingdom, with artist Christian Ward — about space nuns.

Fusus Al-Hikam (Bezels of Wisdom) by ibn Arabi: One of the greatest scholars of the Islamic Golden Age, ibn Arabi was born and educated in Spain, in the Taifa of Murcia — and its unique cultural and religious environment helped shape his worldview. Fusus al-Hikam is one of his most widely-read works, and while not the easiest book in the world, it's full of brilliant insight into Islamic metaphysics.

Mozart in the Jungle: What does this series have to do with The Bird King? Absolutely nothing. But I was binge-watching it while writing significant chunks of this book — I would reward myself with an episode or two for every x pages I wrote — and I sincerely believe that everything a writer consumes has an impact on what comes out, so I have to mention it here. This is a sublime, hilarious, tragic series about a group of musicians (and two competing conductors) working for the New York Philharmonic, and I'm still mad it got cancelled.

Ceremonials and Lungs by Florence+the Machine: See above. Can you have too much sad white girl music with harp accompaniment?Probably, yet here we are.

📚 Books to Read if You Liked The Bird King 📚

If you've found yourself jonesing for more fantasy post-The Bird King, we've got you covered: 15 fantasy books recommended by you , BuzzFeed Book Club members. Here are some of the books that got the most love.

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson: "The modern world of computers and hackers and technology meets the djinn of the Arabian Nights. Alif, a hacker, receives a strange old book, and this unleashes an even stranger series of events when he becomes enemy of the state and enters a parallel world — the realm of ghosts and spirits and djinn and other magical creatures. It's a different kind of coming-of-age as the main character discovers the limits of perception, the power of belief, and the gift of love. The style is alert, concise, and silky smooth; we are swept together with the characters, witnessing the battle between good and evil with an unexpected twist." —Andreea

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie: "Maybe This Time is romance–comedy–paranormal fiction, making it a delightful fantasy. It centers around the character of Andy (short for "Andromeda") who is unexpectedly thrust into helping her ex-husband with an unusual and unexpected problem — one that sparks old flames they thought had died out years ago. The characters are so entertaining, and it's easy to become immersed in the story. It has twists and turns, romance, and a ghost that just won't quit. I was in love at Chapter 1. What a page-turner!" —Sarena

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon: "The Priory of the Orange Tree is nothing less than epic. In one book, Shannon manages to create an entire world, complete with over a thousand years of history, various conflicting religions, generations upon generations of royalty, dozens of nations, and a sea full of pirates. Pirates! There is pirate action in this book! Are you not convinced? I mean, there's dragons — and not just one sort of dragon, either. Also, did I mention the whole book has a very, very strong feminist bent to it? How much more convincing do you need?" —A.W.

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville: "This book is incredibly dense, packed full of elaborate prose and heady ideas. A very inventive fantasy world with an unpredictable plot and intriguing characters. This is definitely not your average fantasy book — no knights in shining armor, no powerful wizards saving the day. Instead you have cactus people, strange spider gods, winged bird people from the desert who have a very nonhuman set of morals and cultural norms. The setting is almost a character in itself." —Chelsea

Want more? Read about the other titles here.

Want to catch up on past BuzzFeed Book Club reads? Pick up The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson, Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken, The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh, Sugar Run by Mesha Maren, My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez, or Family Trust by Kathy Wang. 📖