Reading, Writing, Being
In which I choose my own book adventure! Plus, Taylor Swift's 'LWYMMD' debuts on TV, Amy Poehler's 'Good Hang,' and remember this bad fall?
Recently overthinking…
…what book to read and review (aloud!) at a Pages + Pours event in Brooklyn!
There was a mic! I wasn’t expecting a mic. The last time I attended this book swap event at the same snug wine bar in Brooklyn, it was more campfire vibes. But this time, where I’d be the first of five reviewers to read aloud their mini book review, it was more off-Broadway, Show Girl vibes — complete with a “testing-testing” apparatus to hold in my hands along with the book itself.
Hours earlier, though, I wasn’t even sure I’d have a book to hold.
There were no real rules in choosing a book to review, and since I’m in a bit of a reading lull right now, not to mention that most of the hard copy books I own I want to keep (and/or don’t have with me at my sublet in Brooklyn), I figured I’d just go with a book I loved, read awhile ago, and happened to score for $1 outside the subway a few weeks prior: Circe by Madeline Miller.
And so there sat the fantasy-esque paperback, with its orange and black cover, taunting me to flip through its pages for inspiration. Since my intent was to write a short “Haiku Review,” I left it until the day of the event…which is also when Kelly, of Pages + Pours, wrote to ask me what book I’d chosen. When I told her, she mentioned that someone had already reviewed that book back in January at an even I didn’t attend. D’oh. She assured me that it didn’t matter, and my review “may differ from the original,” but it seemed silly to repeat a book so recently reviewed. Plus, while a haiku review would likely be original, I’m an overachiever, too. So I decided to pivot and make things even more difficult for myself.
The only book I’d read recently enough was The Wedding People by Alison Espach, but I didn’t own it, and the point was to swap the book. I could (finally) finish the book I acquired at the last event—How Should A Person Be? by Sheila Heti—but aside from the fact that I wasn’t finished reading it, I didn’t want to give it up! I was loving it and wanted to keep it for my collection.
It was in an admittedly ridiculous conundrum.
So, I did what no one in such a situation would do: I considered (and reconsidered) a myriad of options.
First, I scoured the shelves in my building’s mini shared-space library. (I know. There’s a mini library. This is actually where I got the book I brought to the last P+P event! Thanks, High Rent. Don’t mind if I do!) Sadly, this time I didn’t find anything.
Then, I texted a friend who lives nearby. Did she have any books on her shelves that she didn’t mind losing? One I’d read and loved, perhaps? In came the screenshots. She had two copies of Life of Pi by Yann Martel, which I did read twice—but not recently enough. Still—a solid option!
Finally, I decided to venture to a nearby second-hand bookshop to see about purchasing (!) a book to review and then give away.
I knew this errand was silly. I also knew it was an A+ example of the Fine Art of Procrastination. And yet off I went. The absurdity of the errand became strikingly evident as I scoured shelves for favorite tomes only to check their not-$1 prices. Needless to say, I left empty-handed and ended up on what could’ve been the path of least resistance had I not already succumbed to lots of self-imposed resistance: I decided to attempt to finish the book I’d recently acquired (How Should a Person Be?) and release it back into the wild. At least it’d be fresh in my mind.
Spending the remainder of the rainy afternoon, not only horizontal on my couch, devouring writer Sheila Heti’s savvy language, but then feverishly jotting down notes before compiling them into my own fresh take, reminded me of two things: One, how fortunate I am to be able to do that. Despite my yearning for a more stable job with a higher income and benefits, there’s nothing quite like having the freedom and the flexibility to read and write all day. And then there’s the act of reading and writing itself, which I love so very much. Getting lost in a plot. Navigating a writer’s words, and then even the spaces between the words, to uncover a narrative that makes me feel—full stop. But also admiration and respect for the writing itself. For the story, and the wit to create it. And, finally, for the inspiration to concoct my own little literary adventure. It’s both a privilege and a right that I wish more of us could earn a respectable, less complicated living from.
So! What began as a simple, “Sure, I’d love to participate in your book event!” committment made weeks prior, and evolved into a frustrating endeavor because I left the preparation to the last minute, ended up being a beautiful lesson to continue reading, writing, and, as Heti pens, being — even if, as I wrote (and read aloud) in my review, “the answer for how to do so remains a mystery.”
I hope you all find a bit of joy in all of the above this weekend. And if you’re looking for some summer reading inspo, check out the reviews below. 👇 xx — Sara
Clickable
There’s lots to read this summer! | The Atlantic (gift link)
Lena Dunham love-hates NY and wasn’t afraid to leave it. | The New Yorker
What your birth year says about your travel style. Gen X planners FTW! | AFAR
Love, patience, and resilience vs. science and medicine. | The Atlantic (gift link)
“Uncle Ollie’s” guide shows both change and endurance in Paris. | The NY Times (gift link)
Personalities big and small share notes “from the road.” | T Magazine (gift link)
Watchable
The penultimate episode of the long-running, life-imitatingly eerie series The Handmaid’s Tale aired this week, and it featured, quite possibly, the most powerful opening scene I’ve ever witnessed on television. Now, granted, I’m a Swiftie. But even if you’re not, and you’ve been following this show since it began in 2017, there’s no denying the impact of June and all her fellow handmaids, dressed in their red cloaks and white bonnets, walking towards a revolution, all the while Taylor’s revenge song “Look What You Made Me Do” plays in the background. The lyrics are apt (“I don't like your little games / don't like your tilted stage / the role you made me play of the fool / no, I don't like you), as the poorly treated women [SPOILER ALERT] finally escape hell, aka Gilead. If you gave up on the series or can’t watch it because of its haunting, art-imitates-life-imitates-art plot, I get it. But I also urge you to go give it another chance.
Listenable
I don’t usually love conversational podcasts where the host and guests just blabber on about this and that without any structure. But Amy Poehler can do no wrong. Also, she manages to be both conversational and journalistic in her questioning, so it doesn’t even seem too all over the place. Also, I love her laugh so much. And I love that she laughs at herself. So far, she’s had “good hangs” with some of my favorite comedic actors from Paul Rudd and Kathryn Hahn to Jack Black, and last week she spoke with Michelle Obama, who, of course, was as down-to-earth and lovable as ever. How two successful women can take a topic such as saliva and make it funny is beyond me, but they do! You won’t regret hanging with Amy and the gang.
Have you told your writer friends to subscribe to Word Doc yet? 👇
Souvenir: ‘I’ve Fallen’ Commercial
It’s wild how, with time and age, things that were once very funny appear not to be funny at all. I mean, I can see how this ’80s commercial for Life Call, a technologically advanced (for the time!) device for the elderly to wear in the event of an emergency, could be amusing—especially to grade schoolers. (The hairdos! The positions! The catchphrase!) But despite the archaic footage and blunt overacting, the concept and message it sends are important. As my family and I juggle to care for my 96-year-old grandmother, who miraculously still lives (mostly) alone, I now watch this commercial and think it’s genius! Cringe, but genius!
That commercial sent me right back to childhood— triggering! 😆