📚Finished Reading: Travels with Charley in Search of America, John Steinbeck.

Steinbeck’s ability as a stylist are really on display here. Other than a few interesting encounters not much happens in this book. It is described so beautifully, though, you just want to keep reading.

📚Finished Reading: The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion.

I had no idea what I was getting into, I’ve just been meaning to read a Didion book for a long time and that’s one I had on a shelf. A beautiful and tragic piece of writing.

📚Finished Reading: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar.

Phew, what a book this was. The highlight was the first half (the plot twist resembled that of a book I really don’t like, which cooled me on it a bit toward the end). I have read some of Akbar’s poetry as well, a writer to keep an eye on.

📚Finished Reading: Matilda, Roald Dahl.

My son loved this one, I was horrified by how much worse the adults are than I remembered.

📚Finished Reading: Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather.

An understated book with a big impact. Just packed with passages of incredible beauty.

📚Finished Reading: What Art Does: An unfinished theory, Brian Eno & Bette A.

I intended to start this while I ate lunch and read the whole thing. Some nice inspiration for the start of the semester.

📚Finished Reading: Four Seasons in Rome, Anthony Doerr

Lovely little memoir of a year spent on a writing fellowship in Rome with his wife and infant twins (spoiler: he didn’t get much writing done). There isn’t very much literature about having twins (too tired to write); lots of solidarity here.

📚Finished Reading: As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner.

Phew, short book with a huge punch. So much more accessible than the other Faulkner I’ve read, and perhaps the only book I know with a woodworking project as a central plot point.

📚Finished Reading: The Hum of the World, Lawrence Kramer.

Fascinating book, pulled on many threads at once.

📚Finished Reading: The Odyssey, Homer (Trans. Robert Fitzgerald)

Great book, you should read it.

Not sure what I expected, but this was just pure fun. It’s the original fun summer read. And yes, I do have IMAX tickets later this week.