Get obsessed with July's book of the month

During the Covid-19 pandemic, once I had gotten my brain out of a strange panicked stasis, I went back to my bookshelves and re-read a few titles that I thought might make sense of what was happening.

Some of them helped, some didn’t, but one resonated particularly deeply: Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler’s 1993 science fiction novel about a near-future climate dystopia.

With hindsight it seemed remarkably on the money—a forward-looking, almost uncanny description of what happens when society’s rules start falling apart in the face of disaster. She seemed like such an interesting, thoughtful, unusual writer: an author of unusual dedication and determination as a black woman in a white man’s genre, who was dedicated to telling weird stories about weird things that somehow felt more real than so much of the Big Literature of the time.

So I wondered: Who was Octavia E. Butler? What made her tick?

That’s why last year I was excited to see a new biography of Butler appear, and why I’m excited to share it with you now. Our book of the month for July is Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Morris.

We don’t share many biographies, but I wanted to pick this one because it has a different texture than your typical history. Using Butler’s archives and correspondence, Morris splits the book between biography and literary criticism. It was a great read and got me wanting to read Butler’s books and wishing that she had lived longer than her 58 years.

Published in August 2025 by the Harper Collins imprint Amistad, Publisher’s Weekly called Positive Obsession a “moving study of the life and creative pursuits of a literary pioneer” while Kirkus called it “a sensitive examination.”

Books are making their way to subscribers as of today, and I’m delighted to say that Susana M. Morris will be joining us for a live Zoom Q&A later at the end of the month. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Onwards

Bobbie