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Seattle Review of Books readers, meet Julie Yue! Julie has just started helping us out behind-the-scenes with some editorial work, but no doubt she'll be out in front as a byline in no time at all.

Besides being my coworker at Textio, where she is a Data Insights Manager, Julie is a life-long literature nerd. She used to study Chinese and British history (and received her MA from the School of Oriental and African Studeies, at the University of London), before transitioning into working with language data. She spends most of her free time cataloging cookbooks, buying obscure condiments, and trying to convince everybody that history is the best. (I suspect she'll find a willing audience here). Welcome, Julie! We're lucky, and glad, to have you.

What are you reading now?

I'm always going through a few books at a time. Right now, I'm reading Norwegian Wood by Murakami — which I have mixed feelings about so I'm hoping the ending will move me. Also, I'm loving the autofiction trend so reading Rachel Cusk's Transit, and My Struggle: Book 4 in Karl Ove Knausgaard's series.

I've also been struggling my way through a decidedly medium Basque history for the last 6 months and I'm only on page 146.

What did you read last?

I just finished Iris Murdoch's Under the Net, and Elif Batuman's The Idiot. They were both excellent. I don't think I'm smart enough to fully comprehend Murdoch. On the other hand, The Idiot was so funny and relatable and I wish it was published before I started college.

What are you reading next?

I'm in two reading circles with some friends so for one of them, we've decided on Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland. All three of us realized that we all already had a copy sitting around unread!

For the other, we're starting on Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. I need to start on both because deadlines are looming!