♪ 🎶 Happy 1st Birthday 🎶

This Week, Those Books community

Dear Subscribers,

🎈 🎉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THIS WEEK, THOSE BOOKS COMMUNITY!! 🎂 🎈

Today, we turn one and it has been an amazing year.

From an idea we have become a community of more than 10,000 people in 113 countries. From Algeria to Armenia, Mauritania to Mexico, Papua New Guinea to the Philippines, Zambia to…(I’ll stop, you get the idea), we are a community that is interested in the news and books and wants to understand our world.

Screenshot of Substack subscriber report, as of June 13, 2024. The map shows our footprint. The five top subscriber countries are listed on the right

This Week, Those Books is a labour of love. As a news junkie, I constantly follow developments around the world, and as a passionate book lover, I’m always reading. An experienced journalist, I distil the news down to its essence and provide crucial context from key books. The result is this newsletter, which takes just a few minutes to read, as well as a quick podcast.

I really hope you find This Week, Those Books useful and a conversation-starter and that it makes you smarter, faster.

As we enter our second year, I need your help. The objective of This Week, Those Books has always been clear: to promote news literacy. In the last year, I have looked at a range of topics including Eurovision, women’s football, climate change, fashion week, global trade and elections around the world. It is a pleasure and a huge privilege to do this but it does take time and resources, so I am asking all of you who can, to subscribe. I have kept the cost as low as possible and payment is possible in several local currencies. But I know that even this small subscription fee may be difficult for some people, so it would be fantastic if readers who can afford it, donate to help cover the cost of others.

If you’d like to continue reading This Week, Those Books, but can’t afford to pay, just email me and I’ll match you with a donated subscription.

Thank you to those who have already supported This Week, Those Books by upgrading to a paid subscription. It is your incredible vote of confidence in this project that motivates me to keep going.

Here’s what happens next:

There will be a few changes in our second year. From next week, I’ll be launching a paid subscription tier. Paid subscribers will have full access to the weekly newsletter, the complete archives and exclusive bonus takes. For example, two authors will be writing for us about next month’s Paris Olympics.

Everybody will continue to receive the summary of the week’s big story and the short introduction to the relevant books. And everyone will also get a free full post every three weeks.

Whether you pay to subscribe or not, thank you once again for reading This Week, Those Books.

I am always just a note away. Please message me with suggestions, requests, comments and criticism. I ask only that your comments be about This Week, Those Books. I can’t hire anyone or get visas, and I am happily married (no proposals or love notes, please).

Yours, in news and books

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