Books and Reading
What I Read in 2023
What I Read in November 2023
The end of the year is list season, which I love. I don’t need to know what’s best, I don’t think any of us do, but I do love learning about new things. That’s something that happens across the year, of course, but it’s something that’s easier to do at the end of the year when everything gets compiled into list after list after list. I love book and music lists in particular. I’m not choosy about where they come from, though I stand by the Stereogum albums of the year and the NPR “Books We Love” tool. (I also take recommendations!) A good list is a place to wander and wonder and see what’s out there. It isn’t about ranking things, it’s about learning. I know my book lists are in a rough order, but I’m not here to say that’s right — it’s just what works for me at the moment. A ranking isn’t what I want during list season. I just want to discover a few wonderful things.
What I Read in October 2023
October is a strange month. On the one hand, it always feels like something new to me. I celebrate my birthday (quietly, I don’t like to make a big deal out of it) and look toward the next year, excited to see what will come. At the same time, fall in Duluth gets cold quickly and October very much means The End, the point where we all go hibernate until April. It’s confusing, is I guess what I’m saying. Climactic and temporal confusion are fine, though, if I get to read. And read I did. It was magnificent.
What I Read in September 2023
I wrote this month’s entry while eating mochi cake in a coffee shop. It was very nice to have the bustle around me. I am not usually a person who absolutely must write around people, but equally I do not need things to be perfectly quiet. Today, though, I enjoyed thinking about books with my cake and tea while listening to the Kirill Gerstein recording of the Busoni piano concerto. It was perfect. Call it silly if you want! I had a great time. As a person who works in higher education, I find early fall to be a very stressful time. Cake, tea, music, and time to write are balms in the face of this busy time of year. I hope that you, if you also find this time of year to be a stressful one, can also find your cake, your tea, your music, and your time to write, whatever those may be to you.
What I Read in August 2023
Happy September! I did not read a lot this last month, but it was a great month for music, music, music. My wife and I saw Bon Iver to kick things, then caught Brandi Carlile and Kamelot to end it. Each show was truly great, but I have a special place in my heart for Kamelot, a band I’ve wanted to see for nearly 15 years. They were fun in a way only power metal can be fun, all bluster and drama in the service of lyrics that make very little sense. It’s theater with guitars and the odd scream. Who wouldn’t want to spend their time at a show like that?