What are we reading?
It's almost summer...
My friend Ginny in front of the New York City Public Library on our trip in 2006.
My local library branch sees me every week or two, dropping off and picking up books. Most of the books I read are those I've put on hold and checked out. Today I dropped off one novel and picked up three more, including a new one by Denise Mina I hadn't heard about.
The stack on my nightstand: Nadine Gortimer's July's People (currently reading), Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades, The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr, Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, and the Mina book Confidence. This stack is all fiction and contains at least two mysteries. It should go down pretty fast -- except for one thing: it's summer. More daylight for me means less reading, not more. I usually do my main reading at bedtime, and my bedtime gets later and later as the sun stays up longer and longer. This also means I'm getting less and less sleep because my body will not stay asleep very long after dawn.
My daylight hours are spent gardening, sewing, writing, doing household chores and errands, and being online. This past week I've been out in the garden by six a.m. or a bit after. I don't do well in the heat, so once the temperature reaches eighty degrees, I'm back inside, preferably with all errands finished and no need to go back out until it cools down a bit.
But maybe I'll get some hammock time in, and can read there. Mina's book is sure to keep me awake! I discovered Denise Mina one year when I was waiting for Val McDermid's next book and wanted to read another Scottish mystery writer. (This was before I started challenging myself to read more widely and deeply.)
These days I read more authors of color, more LGBTQIA+ authors, more authors from non-English speaking countries, more poetry, more nonfiction, more graphic novels, more books by Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners.
Summer traditionally is the time for thick tomes -- but with light-weight content. So-called "beach reads." I've never followed that tradition, have you?
What are you reading this summer? Anything you are particularly excited about?
When it comes to genre, my favorites are mystery, thriller, and historical fiction. Last year (or maybe the year before) I read David Grann's "Killers of the Flower Moon." This is a nonfiction true-crime book about the massacre of the Osage people (the massacre which gave rise to the birth of the FBI). It's a gripping story, and held my interest as easily as any thriller. But of course the reality is more horrific than a fictional thriller. I felt cheated that I had not heard of this tragedy in my history classes.
There's another good reason to read, in case you know someone who needs one: we often receive more education from books we read on our own than we do in school.
Books in my permanent personal library.
Because my great-great-grandmother on my mother's father's side was supposedly Native American (Indigenous), Mom was always interested in Indians (as we said back then). She passed that interest along to me, such that I joined VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) in order to work on an Indian reservation. And caused me to have an interest in genealogy. I even made a trip to Tahlequah, Oklahoma trying to find my g-g-grandmother registered. Her brother was registered, but she was not. When DNA testing came along, I was tested and no Indigenous genes were found. So who was she? Who were her people?
Don't get me wrong. I do not go around pretending to be Indigenous. I'm not. I'm white, I was raised white. And the interest in the original people of this land continues. How we have treated and continue to treat the rightful owners of the land on which we live is shameful. The least we can do is inform ourselves.
Off my soapbox. Re Killers of the Flower Moon -- it has been made into a movie directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. The film opened at Cannes this month.
Speaking of books made into movies, what are your thoughts and feelings on this subject? Do you see the movie if you've read the book? Do you read the book after you've seen the movie? Do you join the debate on which was better, the book or the movie?
What are your favorite genres? Do you read more fiction or non? Do you read poetry? What about plays? Do you challenge yourself, or do you stick to what you know you will enjoy?
Were you read to as a child? Did you read to any children (your own or otherwise)?
I enjoy reading your comments, I'm genuinely interested in hearing about your own experiences with reading.
Enjoyable piece, Sandra. I just finished The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher, a historical fiction book about Silvia Beach and her opening of the original Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris. Her lover, Adrienne Monnier, also ran a bookstore nearby. The two were prominent figures in the Paris literary scene of the early 1920s. Silvia took on publishing James Joyce's Ulysses after was banned by the US Postal Service...I enjoy mysteries and novels and tend to stick to those, though I do make forays into memoirs and non-fiction throughout the year. I read poetry but that is like eating chocolates. I read one or two poems at a time, not an entire book in one setting.
Funny, I wrote about writing less now that it is gardening weather. I like this thread Sandra because I realized this weekend that I need some escape reads after focusing on books that better myself and better my world. I have been enjoying this much and my Sunday post gave me many more books I’m eager to read, but I find I also need break books, books that ask less of me and allow me to escape into a different world, allow me to think less of this one for a little while. If you have any suggestions, I’m open. I think this will be my topic for next Sunday. 😊
Also, I teach Killers of the Flower Moon to my students. I think it is a book everyone should read. I can’t wait for the film. It’s been years in the making.