I think I'll add The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon to my stack of to-be-read books. I think it was Michael Silverblatt (Host of Bookworm on NPR until 2022) who said,"There are so many great books. What is more rare is great readers." I used to consider myself a great reader. Or at least good. I received a BA in English Lit from a top tier University and loved reading and analyzing heavy, dense, beautiful prose and stories. It seems the past half decade or so, I only want to read lighter stuff for pure entertainment and escape. Not Marvel movie levels of vapidness, but still. I'm not sure how I feel about this state of being.
this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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I can relate to that. I’m pretty firmly in the “read what you want” camp, and I mostly try to adhere to that for myself. I try to strike a balance between escapist, light books, and books that are more challenging (and I enjoy both!). But it’s hard to shake that feeling of “I ought to be reading XYZ book instead of this,” no matter what I’m reading.
I am very, very excited for Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake. I don’t even know how to explain it but her novels are like some sort of mix of hypnosis and dopamine to my brain.
I read Bel Canto earlier this year and it was fantastic. I was hooked immediately and engrossed the whole way through! I’ll definitely have to pick up her new one!
That was a very good one. I also loved her last novel Dutch House. I read it when it came out and then listened to the audio read by Tom Hanks a couple times during the early days of the pandemic when all I could really do was go for long walks. It’s not exactly a cheerful book, but I found it very comforting.
I loved the audiobook.
Me, too. I have always been pretty neutral about Tom Hanks, but now I am wishing he read more audiobooks.