vol. 5 summer reading

back by "popular" demand 5/21/22

In a shocking turn of events that surprises absolutely no one, I’ve once again shirked the made up responsibilities of this newsletter to pursue more academic and vocational endeavors. That is, April is the cruelest month, Eliot. And the end of March. And all of May. Basically, the spring semester was (is) bonkers.

As the answerer of email, phone, and incessant adolescent questions at school, I’ve thought to myself throughout the school year, “What are on earth will I do if I get Covid?!” Well, it turns out the answer is sleep, eat, read, and answer emails (and lean on generous, flexible colleagues filling me in for me while I’m gone).

I had an idea a few weeks ago to organize my unread books by the date I acquired them and then read them in that order. It seemed like a good idea at the time, until I realized I will be reading Anna Karenina and Caste back to back. Please send all of the lighthearted TV recommendations my way. I will need them between these two books.

However, I’m still feeling committed to this task, and I’ve just finished the first book on my list: A Gentleman in Moscow. I received this book for Christmas my senior of college, I believe, and I tried to read it the summer after I graduated from college. But of course life got in the way, and I just couldn’t sit down to read 700 large print pages. Over the years, as I’ve added and culled books from my collection, I couldn’t let go of this one because I always had this desire to try again.

Thus, the end of my first year in this counseling program seemed like the perfect time to devote myself to a book that happens in one place. And then, I came down with Covid. And I also happened to be in one place. And so Count Alexander Rostov and I whiled away our days in the Metropol Hotel (ahem, my room in Austin). Review coming soon!

In the meantime, here’s my backlist of books that have been on my shelf for far too long. Not sure how many BIG books like Anna Karenina and Caste I can make my way through, but I will certainly try!

1. A Gentleman in Moscow

2. Dracula

3. The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

4. Anna Karenina

5. Caste

6. Jefferson’s Daughters

7. Faithful Place

8. Detransition, Baby

9. Kafka on the Shore

10. The Heart’s Invisible Furies

11. Harlem Shuffle

12. One Hundred Years of Solitude

13. The House in the Cerulean Sea

14. Finlay Donovan Is Killing It

15. The Four Winds

16. Somebody’s Daughter

17. Firekeeper’s Daughter

18. Lincoln in the Bardo

19. Read Dangerously

20. The Guncle

Have you read any of these? Are any of them on your “to be read” (TBR) list too? Maybe we can read one together!