Summer Reads

[Katie]

Here in the Northern Hemisphere summer has arrived, and what better time to get stuck into a good book? (I know some of you on the southern side of the planet will be experiencing mid-winter, but I find a book is equally good to curl up with on a cold day too!) 

Sunshine or not, with lockdown restrictions in place over the last few months, I know I’ve certainly been reading more. My preference tends to be something which is a page-turner, and comes recommended by a friend, but I’m pretty open to different genres. 

I’m currently two-thirds of the way through Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which I’m really enjoying (I’d recommend it!).

@Laura2592 recently got stuck in with a great book-related topic, and lots of you shared the books you have in your listing, but what do you like to read yourselves?

What are you reading right now, and what would you recommend?

[Nick]

I'll share anything you want to know as long as I can jump in that pool right about now 🙂 @Katie 

I'm actually listening "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari as an audiobook. It's a brief history of humankind and a great...  read, full of interesting facts that show how we evolved. At the same time I'm reading "Find Me" by Andre Aciman which is the sequel, (although actually a prequel) to "Call Me By Your Name",  also an amazing book that was made into a movie a few years ago and was nominated for the best motion picture Oscar at the time. 

Now, about that pool... 

[Francesca]

I wish I was floating there... 

[Nick]

you and me both @Francesca 

[Ann72]

@Nick I love André Aciman but have only read his essays.  @Katie I've been wanting to read the Adichie, but this year I'm only reading books by dead authors.  THE SO-BLUE MARBLE by Dorothy B. Hughes (author of IN A LONELY PLACE, which was made into a Humphrey Bogart film) was one I loved for its depiction of an incredibly stylish pre-WWII New York and some of its chic - and violent - denizens.  I've just finished PD James' THE PRIVATE PATIENT and recently started MIDDLEMARCH, so check back with me in a few months because that sucker is SLOW.  But oddly compelling.  I can't stand Dorothea, though!

[Ute42]

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@Ann72 

How many times are You planning to mention the war on this forum?

[Ann72]

@Ute42  I'm fixin' to work it into just about every post!

[Nick]

I'd love to get my hands on those essays @Ann72 - are they published or is it something you had access due to your profession?

[Ann72]

@Nick  He has several essay collections in print!  The one I have is called ALIBIS.  I got it from a bookstore :), but I did meet him 10 or so years ago when he invited me to a conference at the university here in New York where he teaches.  A charming and delightful man.

[Katie]

@Nick @Francesca it's a dreamy pic isn't it? 😍

@Nick I've heard great things about Yuval Noah Harari (Homo Deus is also on our bookshelf as my boyfriend is a fan).

I've never heard of André Aciman so need to explore some of his work! 

@Ann72 I love your resolution to only read deceased authors this year! The depiction of 30s/40s New York sounds really fascinating so I need to stick that one on my list. 

I really need to read more classics - I'm not very good with anything that's set in pre-20th century England though as I can't stand the stuffy social rules! I've just spotted that George Eliot is a pseudonym for female author Mary Ann Evans - I had no idea! Great that they're now publishing her work under her own name 👌

@Ann72 one for next year, but Adichie's Half a Yellow Sun is also great. I think one of the few dead authors' books I have on my shelf is Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl - it's quite intense though as it's about the Holocaust.

[Nick]

My holidays are about to begin in a few minutes, so I will be looking for ALIBIS in different bookstores during the weekend, before heading to the beaches. Thank you for the suggestion @Ann72 🙂  

[Ann72]

@Nick  Have a great time!!!

[Ann72]

@Katie  I think Man's Search for Meaning is a really good book to read in these times.  Not a parallel to the Holocaust but to the idea of purpose and positivity.

I understand what you mean about classics.  We've arrived abruptly at a time when the power of storytelling is no longer enough to overcome the era-specific racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, and elitism in so many classic works.

All the dead authors I've read this year are women.  You might enjoy an early 19th century writer named Emily Eden, whose book THE SEMI-ATTACHED COUPLE AND THE SEMI-DETACHED HOUSE is witty, fresh, and modern feeling.

[Katie]

@Ann72 yes, I hadn't even thought about it being particularly pertinent to the current time, but it definitely would be.

True, it can be a bit jarring to read classics with a modern eye, but I think you have to appreciate the classics as a product of the time and culture that they emerged from, and I'm a big proponent of reading things that you might not agree with but can still learn from. 

Great, I'm going to try and get to the bookshop and add that one to my collection, thank you! 📚

[Ann72]

@Katie   I definitely think that - of course that was my training - but it's no longer a slam-dunk argument.  When you think of the #ownvoices movement, you realize Madame Bovary, for instance, wouldn't be published in this atmosphere.  To me, it's about freedom of expression and the need for artists to follow their imagination wherever it takes them; to militant others, it's about righting the historical wrongs of the world.  I can't say either side is more right than the other.  Such polarization is just a sad fact of contemporary life.