I'm subscribed to the Tor.com newsletter, and in general I agree with your opinion on email newsletters.
The only other one I really like is Amal El-Mohtar's weekly newsletter. The free version comes out once a week on Fridays, and it's always a prompt or question. For example, this week she was reminiscing about cocktails and cocktail bars, so she asked people to talk about meaningful/memorable drinks that would be impossible to recreate. I love her newsletter not only because she asks questions of her readers, but also because she has such a way for noticing details of the mundane — tastes, smells, the look and feel of particular trees or skies or rivers — and capturing those details in such a way that anyone reading can visualise and feel similar emotions.
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The only other one I really like is Amal El-Mohtar's weekly newsletter. The free version comes out once a week on Fridays, and it's always a prompt or question. For example, this week she was reminiscing about cocktails and cocktail bars, so she asked people to talk about meaningful/memorable drinks that would be impossible to recreate. I love her newsletter not only because she asks questions of her readers, but also because she has such a way for noticing details of the mundane — tastes, smells, the look and feel of particular trees or skies or rivers — and capturing those details in such a way that anyone reading can visualise and feel similar emotions.