read with me: fall 2021
read with me!
hello! i don't even know what i've been doing these last few months other than being "busy" and trying to spend every free moment i have outside. but, I've read some amazing books and find myself gravitating to non-fiction, which is unusual for me.
i hope you're taking care and enjoying the cooler days
love,
julia
books
rising by elizabeth rush
a disturbing and emotional look at sea-level rise across parts of the united states. the writing is clear-eyed and i loved how the author interspersed essays written by people living in impacted areas between each chapter.
spilt milk by courtney zofness
a short memoir in essays about anxiety, motherhood, and faith. i thought the writing was really smart and even funny at times despite the heavy subject.
beloved beasts by michelle nijhuis
a sweeping history of the conservation movement and efforts to protect public land and species from human destruction (light, i know). there were parts that were a bit slow, but i learned so much, like how hunters (including good old teddy roosevelt) were a driving force behind efforts to conserve land to preserve the great frontier masculinity, the history of the whooping crain and controversial captive breeding, and the colonialist history of land conservation in africa.
beautiful world, where are you? by sally rooney
do i need to tell you about this book!? what can i say... i love sally rooney. i love the tortured characters she creates and their fucked up lives and relationships and drama. i love the psuedo political commentary and that i can't seem to put any of her books down.
the housekeeper and the professor by yoko ogawa
i wrote about the memory police, a book by ogawa (and one of the best i've read this year) a few months back and was happy to stumble on another one of her books when i was browsing the library (god isn't it so nice to be back in libraries?!) i am in love with her subtle writing and the way that she makes you feel like you're in conversation with her characters. this is one of those cozy-feeling quirky books about a housekeeper who forms a friendship with an elderly mathematician who cannot hold new memories for longer than 90 minutes. read this in one sitting while curled up in bed.
the day the world stops shopping by j.b. mackinnon
you know when there's a book that you just can't stop talking about to everyone you meet? that's this book. mackinnon explores what would happen if we slowed global consumption (hello, amazon) to reduce emissions. it's a thoughtful exploration of how changes in consumption would impact the global economy, particularly for those who produce the goods most westerners are consuming. talk to me if you decide to read it!
other reading i've enjoyed
One Day—And One Night— In the Kitchen At Les Halles
The Seas Are Rising. Could Oysters Help?
things that made my month(s) better
botnia skincare (Ugh i'm becoming one of those people who talks about skincare in normal conversation, but they really do have the most delicious-smelling natural products), cooking a perfect halloumi salad, binge listening to your own backyard on a long winding drive through yosemite, the joan mitchell exhibit at sfmoma, block parties, visiting mt rainier, biking everywhere, natalie smith's newsletter, ice breaker sake, bade beer/cider, cozy autumn morning playlist and the new lorde album, for my bay area friends: beit rima, bar part time, which is a new natural wine and dance bar that just opened in the mission, and peaches patties,
how are you? what are you reading? what are you enjoying? listening to? doing?
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