I just finished a murder mystery by Ruth Ware and am starting a memoir by a professional dominatrix. What books or essays have caught your attention this week? 😊
Oh I really liked Severance! I found it super funny and yes very grim. That paragraph that goes "I know you too well. You live your life idealistically. You think it's possible to opt out of the system. No regular income, no health insurance. You quit jobs on a dime ... I used to admire this about you, how fervently you clung to your beliefs--I called it integrity--but five years of watching you live this way has changed me. In this world, money is freedom. Opting out is not a real choice." What a description of the world we live in.
Read 10:04 by Ben Lerner this week—nice and charming, but maybe we don't need more Brooklyn-based authors doing autofiction. Also working on "Invisible Users", which is an ethnography of internet cafe users in Ghana—sorta submerged in a bit too much / not good enough theory, but with some nice anecdotes.
I have a soft spot for Ben Lerner, I love Leaving the Atocha Station... plus he's a poet and I feel like that should be encouraged. Btw do you have any recs for history of Silicon Valley/San Francisco/internet culture type of books? I've been looking but everything I've stumbled upon feels kinda trite. I did love What Tech Calls Thinking by Adrian Daub.
I think I’ve mentioned before having liked The Boy Kings. Beyond that though, I’m not sure… has been a while since I’ve engaged with the genre. I started “The Cybernetic Brain” and have found it fantastic, and I’ve heard very good things about “Electronic Value Exchange,” which is a history of Visa.
"A Man, A Village, A Museum." Really interesting diary-esque account of a chinese artist recreating work by folks like sol lewitt and dan flavin in his small hometown village in the countryside.
Oh, super cool, I might buy a copy (like everyone else, I love sol lewitt). For some reason this reminds me of an article I read recently about Huawei's giant new campus in Dongguan, where they have replicas of Paris, Verona, Bruges... an eerie and interesting take on East meets West.
"Azadi" by Arundhati Roy. Prior to this, I'd only read her fiction work, but her essays are even better! Poignant, political, philosophical, and powerful.
ahhh I LOVE both. There’s this one letter where he’s like “I love you very much. Love you in a bad way (don’t be angry, my happiness). Love you in a good way. Love your teeth” and every time I’m like 😭😭😭
so good!!! "when I imagined that your undelivered letter, stuck at some unknown post office, was being destroyed like a sick little stray dog... But today it arrived--and now it seems that in the mailbox where it was lying, in the sack where it was shaking, all the other letters absorbed, just by touching it, your unique charm and that day all Germans received strange wonderful letters"
I'm Canadian so this is very relevant!! My parents immigrated to Canada when I was three and both worked full-time, so until I was old enough to stay home from school alone (around 9 or 10) I was essentially raised by my grandparents. Can't imagine what we would've done if they weren't around.
I just finished "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh. It's incredible how much things change when the focus moves from what can I get to, how can I build this relationship.
I'm reading "How Ike Led" which is a book about Dwight D. Eisenhower's decision-making during WWII as a General, and of course during his presidency. He had to make some very difficult choices that impacted thousands and eventually millions of lives. It's very interesting to read about how this stuff went down. It's one of these books I am taking my time reading, stopping and starting, and digesting.
Just finished the Annie Dillard collection The Abundance and fell in love with her writing all over again, all kinds of beautiful. Just started Ministry for the Future and enjoying so far…good long novel to get absorbed in :)
I definitely read a couple of those as a teenager but I think I gave up around around the 4th book... will remember to check out if I’m in the mood for pulp. I just read Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz who wrote all the Alex Rider books and it’s actually very good, if you’re in the mood for a murder mystery 🤷🏻♀️
Cakes and Ale by Maugham and the new Keynes bio by Zach Carter. Seem to be in an early 20th century England phase. Still early but enjoying them both. More in common with your reading list than you might think haha.
Ooh, the only Maugham I’ve read is Of Human Bondage (but I should reread bc this was a long time ago and I don’t think I fully “got” it at the time...), lemme know if you like Cakes and Ale.
Tana French! I've finished The Searcher and In the Woods (very different) & am now reading The Likeness. If you enjoy cop novels and books that emphasize place check them out.
I love Tana French!!! And have read all her books (except one of the Dublin Murder Squad ones). My fave is probably In The Woods. Lemme know what you think of The Likeness! Also recommend The Secret History by Donna Tartt if you haven’t read.
Loooooooved The Secret History. I'm about 16% of the way through The Likeness and I'm very impressed by French's choice of premise. It seems extraordinarily difficult to pull off lol.
I'm actually in the middle of writing my first novel so I feel *fascinated* by all the little choices authors make. I think French is an interesting case study in making spectacular things seem plausible, so if anyone can pull off this premise, it's her.
Yes! It flew by, and there was so much to dig into — our book club discussion at various points veered into semiotics, morphic resonance, and 18th century art. Would really love to hear what you think!
I had not heard of Hamnet, will have to look it up...
finished piranesi and it was AMAZING. eerie at times, kind of reminded me of house of leaves if you've ever read that. thanks for the rec, I really really enjoyed it!!
So glad you liked it - would love to hear more about what you thought!!! Feel free to drop me a line (davemholtz at gmail) if you wanna perhaps have a lengthier correspondence abt it!
Just finished Severance by Ling Ma. Timely and lucky and funny but not exactly cheery.
Oh I really liked Severance! I found it super funny and yes very grim. That paragraph that goes "I know you too well. You live your life idealistically. You think it's possible to opt out of the system. No regular income, no health insurance. You quit jobs on a dime ... I used to admire this about you, how fervently you clung to your beliefs--I called it integrity--but five years of watching you live this way has changed me. In this world, money is freedom. Opting out is not a real choice." What a description of the world we live in.
I’m interested in authors who can write stoic characters well- too easy to make them sentimental or ‘cold’. She nailed it.
Read 10:04 by Ben Lerner this week—nice and charming, but maybe we don't need more Brooklyn-based authors doing autofiction. Also working on "Invisible Users", which is an ethnography of internet cafe users in Ghana—sorta submerged in a bit too much / not good enough theory, but with some nice anecdotes.
I have a soft spot for Ben Lerner, I love Leaving the Atocha Station... plus he's a poet and I feel like that should be encouraged. Btw do you have any recs for history of Silicon Valley/San Francisco/internet culture type of books? I've been looking but everything I've stumbled upon feels kinda trite. I did love What Tech Calls Thinking by Adrian Daub.
I think I’ve mentioned before having liked The Boy Kings. Beyond that though, I’m not sure… has been a while since I’ve engaged with the genre. I started “The Cybernetic Brain” and have found it fantastic, and I’ve heard very good things about “Electronic Value Exchange,” which is a history of Visa.
The Splendid and the Vile.
Still have no idea what the title means 500 pages in, but great book.
Everything I know about Churchill I learned from that Gary Oldman movie Darkest Hour. Will look into!!
"A Man, A Village, A Museum." Really interesting diary-esque account of a chinese artist recreating work by folks like sol lewitt and dan flavin in his small hometown village in the countryside.
https://www.onomatopee.net/exhibition/a-man-a-village-a-museum/
Oh, super cool, I might buy a copy (like everyone else, I love sol lewitt). For some reason this reminds me of an article I read recently about Huawei's giant new campus in Dongguan, where they have replicas of Paris, Verona, Bruges... an eerie and interesting take on East meets West.
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/05/photos-of-huaweis-european-themed-campus-in-china/589342/
The campus is very surreal - escapism at a whole other level!
"Azadi" by Arundhati Roy. Prior to this, I'd only read her fiction work, but her essays are even better! Poignant, political, philosophical, and powerful.
!! I’ve also only read her fiction (The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, years and years ago) but I’ll check out her essays.
Letters to Véra! and Pale Fire
ahhh I LOVE both. There’s this one letter where he’s like “I love you very much. Love you in a bad way (don’t be angry, my happiness). Love you in a good way. Love your teeth” and every time I’m like 😭😭😭
so good!!! "when I imagined that your undelivered letter, stuck at some unknown post office, was being destroyed like a sick little stray dog... But today it arrived--and now it seems that in the mailbox where it was lying, in the sack where it was shaking, all the other letters absorbed, just by touching it, your unique charm and that day all Germans received strange wonderful letters"
I just finished reading a short essay in The Walrus called "The Case for Affordable Childcare". (https://thewalrus.ca/the-case-for-affordable-child-care/#.X8wS4WxgNps.twitter). It's from a Canadian perspective, but it's a compelling read and may be useful for American readers too!
I'm Canadian so this is very relevant!! My parents immigrated to Canada when I was three and both worked full-time, so until I was old enough to stay home from school alone (around 9 or 10) I was essentially raised by my grandparents. Can't imagine what we would've done if they weren't around.
The Overstory: "Richard Powers’s climate-themed epic, The Overstory, embraces a dark optimism about the fate of humanity."
Prose is beautiful. Reminds me a bit of Steinbeck. Just getting into it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/06/richard-powers-the-overstory/559106/
I just finished "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh. It's incredible how much things change when the focus moves from what can I get to, how can I build this relationship.
Reading "The White Album" by Joan Didion. Actually she reminds me of your writing!
I'm reading "How Ike Led" which is a book about Dwight D. Eisenhower's decision-making during WWII as a General, and of course during his presidency. He had to make some very difficult choices that impacted thousands and eventually millions of lives. It's very interesting to read about how this stuff went down. It's one of these books I am taking my time reading, stopping and starting, and digesting.
recently read Brigade de Cuisine by McPhee and absolutely loved it!
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1979/02/19/brigade-de-cuisine
Just finished the Annie Dillard collection The Abundance and fell in love with her writing all over again, all kinds of beautiful. Just started Ministry for the Future and enjoying so far…good long novel to get absorbed in :)
I'm reading the 16th dresden files book that was released a few months ago. extremely pulpy, just what i need
I definitely read a couple of those as a teenager but I think I gave up around around the 4th book... will remember to check out if I’m in the mood for pulp. I just read Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz who wrote all the Alex Rider books and it’s actually very good, if you’re in the mood for a murder mystery 🤷🏻♀️
ooh thank you!
Cakes and Ale by Maugham and the new Keynes bio by Zach Carter. Seem to be in an early 20th century England phase. Still early but enjoying them both. More in common with your reading list than you might think haha.
Ooh, the only Maugham I’ve read is Of Human Bondage (but I should reread bc this was a long time ago and I don’t think I fully “got” it at the time...), lemme know if you like Cakes and Ale.
Same here re Of Human Bondage. And will do re C&A. Take good care in the meantime.
Tana French! I've finished The Searcher and In the Woods (very different) & am now reading The Likeness. If you enjoy cop novels and books that emphasize place check them out.
I love Tana French!!! And have read all her books (except one of the Dublin Murder Squad ones). My fave is probably In The Woods. Lemme know what you think of The Likeness! Also recommend The Secret History by Donna Tartt if you haven’t read.
Loooooooved The Secret History. I'm about 16% of the way through The Likeness and I'm very impressed by French's choice of premise. It seems extraordinarily difficult to pull off lol.
I'm actually in the middle of writing my first novel so I feel *fascinated* by all the little choices authors make. I think French is an interesting case study in making spectacular things seem plausible, so if anyone can pull off this premise, it's her.
Just finished reading Piranesi and it was a delight. So much to unpack...
Ohhh should I read it? Hamnet and Piranesi are both on my list, saw a bunch of praise for both those books.
Yes! It flew by, and there was so much to dig into — our book club discussion at various points veered into semiotics, morphic resonance, and 18th century art. Would really love to hear what you think!
I had not heard of Hamnet, will have to look it up...
finished piranesi and it was AMAZING. eerie at times, kind of reminded me of house of leaves if you've ever read that. thanks for the rec, I really really enjoyed it!!
So glad you liked it - would love to hear more about what you thought!!! Feel free to drop me a line (davemholtz at gmail) if you wanna perhaps have a lengthier correspondence abt it!