reading habit
Books Editor’s Note
A dreaded heatwave is supposed to start today, everyone, so please be careful and remain hydrated, sunscreen-ed and, if possible, sheltered and cool. I have some fun and thought-provoking bookish reads for you to jump straight into. Let’s go!
A list of good literary reads
One: A treat for your eyes and your mind to start you off: in Financial Times, five women writers, including Torrey Peters and Megan Nolan, talk about the rooms in which they write. And there are beautiful pictures!
Two: New York Times talks about (and to) a growing cohort of young collectors and experts of rare books around the world. It’s an interesting look at a niche industry that is seeing more and more youth and women joining; a 22-year-old Australian woman talks about becoming a partner in her mother’s antiquarian books business, her love for metaphysics and her deep knowledge of Greek, Roman and Egyptian rare books. It’s fascinating and…maybe even aspirational?
Three: Did you ever love the choose-your-own-adventure-style Goosebumps as a kid? Or, perhaps, as an adult, enjoyed the novelty of ‘Bandersnatch,’ the special Black Mirror episode on Netflix? I had a love-hate relationship with the books—I was fascinated by the concept but hated the lack of a unified ending—but I love this piece on Zócalo, which does a deep dive into the history of interactive fiction and, in its penultimate paragraph, leaves you thinking about choices, possibilities and consequences.
Four: While multi-book series, especially in SFF—duologies, trilogies, seven instalments, name your number—can be like catnip to some readers, others are beginning to feel what Molly Templeton on Tor.com is calling “series fatigue.” Spoiler alert: there’s probably no single answer to whether this is true—everyone reads differently—but the author writing so thoughtfully about the decisions behind publishing series is absolutely worth your time.
Five: A video from 2012 created by the Washington Post and its Books Editor, Ron Charles, takes a hilarious, self-deprecating look at sh*t (in their words) reviewers say about books. It’s amazing how universal some of these phrases are and will likely remain this way forever. <3
Six: And finally, a roundup of some themed books, also in the Washington Post, where columnist Michael Dirda talks about a set of books that fawn over the wonders of the printed word—from simple fare like the way of the independent bookstore and classic science fiction, to things more esoteric like “neglected, strange and kitschily awful books” to the memoir of one of the people who wrote the beloved Hardy Boys mysteries under the pseudonym Franklin W Dixon.
Quick fixes, aka, a few varied recommendations
What I am currently reading: ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern, practically a classic that I am woefully late to. It is a magical story and a love story and the writing is so good, some of the sentences just take my breath away. Truly hope this feeling continues all the way through.
Bookish adaptation that I’ve been watching: and absolutely adoring is ‘This is Going to Hurt’ based on the memoir of the same name by Adam Kay. Adam kept a lot of diaries as a junior doctor in the NHS in England, and his stories range from being harrowing and hilarious to horrifying and heart-breaking. Plus, it’s so, so funny, even in the heart of tough times and tragedy—both things it deals with respectfully. The always great Ben Whishaw does a tremendous job being Adam, and I cannot recommend this more.
Book adjacent rec of the week: is Desk Notes, a weekly newsletter that explores writing, travel and literature. This one talks about the struggles of learning and losing a language through Nabokov’s experiences, while this one takes you on a short trip to São Paulo.
Note: Reading Habit is curated by our book editor Anushree Kaushal. Want to send along recommendations, feedback or just say hi? Email her at kaushalanushree@gmail.com.
