Over the course of a year, I find that my dedication to books waxes and wanes. Some months, I struggle to finish a single book. Other months, I read four or five. I can feel that I’m sliding into a “I need more books in my life” phase right now, so I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading.
As for me: As I mentioned in Tuesday’s newsletter, I just finished Ryan Holiday’s Stillness is the Key, which I loved. It’s a short and easy read, and it’s meditative and restorative: it helped me reflect on my priorities and consider how to treat myself better. Last night I started
’s new book On Our Best Behavior, which is powerful and intriguing and all about how the pressure on women to “be good” shapes our lives and holds us back. I’m also reading The Birth of the Pill by Jonathan Eig, which is about how the birth control pill came to be. And the thriller lover in me is deep in the Karin Slaughter book Fallen. I love everything Slaughter writes, but fair warning, her books can be dark and disturbing. (Also, yes, I am reading three books at once. Different books for different moods!!)What are you reading right now, or what have you recently read that you’ve loved? Totally fine if they’re fun beach reads. No judgment here!!
I just read, in rapid succession: The Light Pirate, The Ferryman, and How High We Go in the Dark. While they all represent a bleak picture of the devastating effects of climate change, I found them galvanizing and hopeful and they were all so so so good. I also enjoyed Yellowface for a nice reprieve from near future speculative fiction.
Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time by Sheila Liming.