As someone who’s always got at least one book going, I always appreciate Barack Obama’s reading lists. I’ve read a few of these, am in the middle of another, and now have about 10 new titles to add to my must-read list. I just finished American Spy which my book club was reading this month — it’s fast, fun, and a good story if anyone’s looking for a beach read. And I was just gutted by Young Mungo.
Here’s a book I will not read, I did however enjoy reading the review: I’ve Read Nearly All the Books by Former Trump Officials. Now We Have the Worst.
In Tripticks the little-known British writer Ann Quin adopted the techniques of the Beats to playfully mock their machismo and deflate the romance of nineteen-sixties drug culture. In 1968, the British literary quarterly Ambit ran an infamous competition for the best work written under the influence of drugs. “…in terms of literary quality, cannabis was the best stimulant, though some good pieces came out of LSD, but… the best writing of all was done by Ann Quin, under the influence of the contraceptive pill.”
From the folks who brought us Song Exploder, there’s a new podcast miniseries called Book Exploder, where authors break down a passage from one of their books, and discuss the creative process that went into writing it. Every other week, in between episodes of Song Exploder, you’ll hear from a new author, in conversation with host Susan Orlean. But for the first episode of the series, Susan is interviewed by Hrishikesh Hirway about her own book, The Library Book. Min Jin Lee, author of Pachinko, is on the second episode. Excited for this podcast.
Fun Twitter thread: Our maternal Grandma (aka Grandma Seaside), before she married Grandpa, had a boyfriend called Jimmy, who was a soldier & amateur artist. His traveling sketchbook from 1934 (a gift to him from Grandma) is such a lovely insight into the era. (Thanks for the tip, Barker!)
The History of the Trapper Keeper makes the kid in me who absolutely LOVED back-to-school shopping super happy.
Thank you! Great post, Melissa. I hope you're well!