read with me: march 2020
read with me!
I was slogging my way through It by Stephen King when I made the miraculous discovery that I could put the book down and pick up something else. It was a revelation. I spent the rest of the month reading books I actually enjoyed.
books
The situation and the story, Vivian Gornick
Vivian Gornick, who I started reading a few months ago, is apparently having a moment. Known for her memoirs, this book of essays is about her writing process. How do you write authentically and get beyond the what or the “situation” (as she calls it) to the real substance (aka the story)? If you’re curious about the process behind brilliant personal narrative, read this book.
Drive your plow over the bones of the dead, Olga Tokarczuk
Originally published in Polish in 2009, this gorgeous translation is haunting. The novel is an eerie noir mystery told from the perspective of an eccentric environmentalist who maintains a child-like naivete but gloomy melancholic outlook about our planet’s destruction and the suffering we’ve inflicted upon other living creatures. It’s good. Trust me.
This City is Killing Me, Jonathan Foiles
“Community trauma isn’t something that arrives out of nowhere.” This short book is written by a clinical social worker in Chicago and describes the intersection he noticed between his clients’ mental health struggles and broader societal issues. Told in five matter of fact case studies, Foiles describes how toxic stress from urban poverty and community trauma impact individual wellbeing.
Department of Speculation, Jenny Ofill
I hadn’t had one of those days where I crack open a book and finish it in one sitting in so long. Then I read Department of Speculation. This novel was the book version of Marriage Story but so much better. It captures a woman’s unwinding marriage and the challenges of being a creative person and mother. I loved this sentence: “Some women make it look so easy the way they cast off ambition like a coat that no longer fits.”
The Uninhabitable Earth, David Wallace Wells
🚨This book is required reading for anyone who cares even a smidgen about surviving the climate crisis. 🚨Wallace-Wells argues that for too long, humans have ignored how catastrophic climate change will be for human life. From raging wildfires to dangerous hurricanes and city-destroying floods, nobody, not even the wealthy and folks in western countries, can barricade themselves from the toll of climate change. Yes, I actually started to have nightmares about climate catastrophe while reading this book, but it is so important not to bury our heads in the sand to make changes to our energy grid, reduce consumption, and make real strides towards getting this crazy thing under control.
other reading i've enjoyed
How peer pressure can stop climate change
"The environmental impact of seemingly insignificant voluntary actions is far greater than most people realize, for two related reasons. First, they have the power to shift how the people around us behave. Second, and more important, they change who we are, making us much more likely to support the large-scale policies needed for progress."
my month was better because
Reading about nonviolent communication Woodenhead wine You’ve definitely heard this elsewhere, but watch CHEER! Cooking stuffed sweet potatoes, garlic naan pizza and this delicious chicken meatball orzo. Hiking at the sonoma coast state park & sugarloaf ridge state park (parks in general! They’re great!) Meet bob (via A Thing or Two aka my favorite newsletter of all time). This creative independent interview, Valley Ford Creamery. Finally visiting Nick’s Cove (kind of city brunch vibe relocated to point reyes, but i liked it not gonna lie). Andytown coffeeshop, Hope Gangloff, Small kindnesses
Tell me what you’re reading and all of the things you’re doing to survive coronavirus panic. And, share this newsletter with anyone you think would enjoy. Just send them this link.