“ I am reading six books at once, the only way of reading; since, as you will agree, one book is only a single unaccompanied note, and to get the full sound, one needs ten others at the same time.” ― Virginia Woolf, The Letters of Virginia Woolf: Volume Three, 1923-1928 ”
Well, my friends, we are eight months in. Here in New England it’s getting dark early, and there is snow in the forecast, and the things that kept our spirits afloat through the warmer months—swimming, walking, outdoor and distanced gatherings with family and friends—are for the most part coming to an end. So what will get us through the long winter?
These are old arts and old skills—we don’t need to reinvent or improvise. For me it is: candles, good food, and at the top of the pyramid, books. “It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive,” wrote James Baldwin. “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book!,” wrote an enthusiastic Jane Austen.
Yes yes. Books keep me connected. Books keep me alive. Below is a list of the ones I’m reading now and the ones I’ve loved most the past few months. Send me a note if you’ve loved one of them, too. We need words AND connective tissue.
*
READING:
RED AT THE BONE, Jacqueline Woodson (Riverhead). I’m excited to dip into this lyrical and musical short novel by this master. My daughter and I have loved her YA books so much. Now I get to dine.
WILD MILK, Sabrina Orah Mark (Dorothy Project). Do you read Sabrina’s brilliant pieces in The Paris Review? If not, do so! Then read this alongside me and revel in the glory of her scintillating sentences.
THE ESSENTIAL RUTH STONE, edited by Bianca Stone (Copper Canyon). I have a lot to say about this one, and maybe I’ll write it down somewhere. For now: Ruth’s miraculous and gritty and astonishing poems have traveled with me for a long time now. I’m very excited to read some I haven’t read before, and to see them gathered through Bianca’s loving eyes.
PLANTING THE NATURAL GARDEN, Piet Oudolf & Henk Gerritsen. I had an immensely difficult summer, and this book, and the blooms within its pages, and the promise of a garden they carved, saved me. I still read it nightly, learning a little more every time, whispering the Latin flower names like incantations.
READ AND LOVED:
THE FIRE NEXT TIME, James Baldwin (Vintage). It’s been quite a few years. Read it again. Let it soak into your bones.
FUNNY WEATHER: ART IN AN EMERGENCY, Olivia Laing. I am obsessed with the mind and view and style of Olivia Laing. Here are essays on some of the artists and books she has loved most, plus extras with titles like Feral, The Future of Loneliness, and Skin Bags. Read and be subsumed.
DESERT CABAL, Amy Irvine (Torrey House Press). My, can Amy write. This book is a corrective and a medicinal tincture for all of the women who have loved the desert and for all the women who have read Edward Abbey and tried and failed to find themselves there. Hot damn. Thank you.
THE SHAME, Makenna Goodman (Milkweed). This book! I think everyone who reads it has that reaction. This book! Oh my god, how did she do that? It’s a slim miracle, published by the amazing Milkweed Books. Buy it. Read it. Smile for days.
That’s it for now, dear ones. Send me your thoughts. (Comment link above. Conversation is the jazz.) Stay lit. Stay warm.
xx
Robin