Open Thread: Summer Reading
What are you reading, and what's on your list?
Happy Friday folks.
We’re into the height of summer1 meaning everyone is sharing their beach read book lists—here’s The Guardian and The New York Times with a few ideas, if you’re struggling.
But I’m sure you’re not. If you’re anything like me, it’s too many books, and not enough time. So tell me: have you read anything great recently? Something you’re enjoying as you work your way through? Or maybe you haven’t started yet, but have one or two books peering at you from your Tsundoku that you’re eager to start.
I’m two-thirds of the way through Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe’s spectacular book on the Sackler family and the drug OxyContin, which came to define the opioid crisis in America. This was after reading Say Nothing last year, which my dad—who lived through The Troubles—said was the best thing he’s ever read about it.
I’m also hoping to get to Andrew O'Hagan’s Mayflies next month. I’ve heard so many rave reviews, with Douglas Stuart (author of Shuggie Bain) blurbing the book with a promise of “A beautiful ode to lost youth and male friendship by one of our sharpest observers of modern masculinity.” Sounds perfect. Although I hope it doesn’t knock the wind out of me as wee Shuggie’s story did.
Enough about me. What are you reading—or hoping to—this summer? Let us know: what, where, when and why. Also, if you’re struggling to find the time or motivation to stick to a reading habit, share it here. We’re a helpful bunch and might be able to offer tips and tricks that have worked for us.
Apologies, folks in the UK, where a month of rain is expected this weekend. I am sure you read that one through gritted teeth.
Few books I read recently with some great fatherhood angles: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (how to take care of others when you're struggling to take care of yourself), Edison's Ghosts (nonfiction book on how a lot of purported geniuses were absolute weirdos, which taps into some of the imposter syndrome stuff that we all deal with), and The Ferryman by Justin Cronin (can't really speak to this without spoilers). I'm hoping to read In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune, which I think might have some connections as well. Thanks for the thoughtful and challenging newsletter!
I always have a few books on the go, at least one fiction and one non-fiction, and then usually one parenting book that I'm working through slowly and maybe an ebook to read on my phone to keep me off Twitter. I've been on a geology kick lately (I am a geologist but haven't read a lot of popular geology books) and right now I'm reading The Map That Changed The World by Simon Winchester. I'm also reading Siblings Without Rivalry looking for help with my kids' endless squabbling!
On the fiction side I just finished Soul Music. Terry Pratchett is one of my favourite writers but I'm scared to finish Discworld so I'm stretching the remaining books out.