Yipppeeeee! For the first time in quite a while I read more books than I bought this month, giving me the feeling that I have added the tiniest grain of order to an entropic universe, doing my smallest part in the fight for organisation in an uncaring, chaotic world.
It’s even better than the tally of 22 bought, 25 read seems, since several of those were presents, (or headed to the increasingly bulging Books To Gift stack), meaning I managed to get a few books ahead of myself in the past 31 days. This was almost miraculous given that I began a new job two weeks ago, and am spending much of my spare time trying to figure out the difference between computer storage and memory.
Sure, many of the books I read were (as ever) graphic novels, but when Neil Gaiman declares a work “The best graphic novel I’ve read in years” you know it’s going to be worthwhile, and it was: Scott McCloud’s ‘The Sculptor‘ was a tender, mythical look into art, life, Faustian bargains and final intentions by the writer/artist who brought us the excellent ‘Understanding Comics‘.
Many were Penguin Great Ideas, the series of beautifully bound, 100-page selections ranging across styles, centuries and themes, from Orwell on the price of books to Marco Polo on his adventures, and one each came from Penguin’s Great Journeys series (shipwrecks in the Americas) and their Great Loves collection (the slightly interminable Abelard and Heloïse), as well as the highly (and rightly) acclaimed Paul Kalinithi on turning from doctor to patient when cancer curtailed both his career and his life in ‘When Breath Becomes Air‘.
But I also found time to finally devour George Saunders‘ debut novel, ‘Lincoln In The Bardo,’ a sweet, smart sea of voices from beyond the grave commentating on life, death, politics, and everything else which makes us human, with all of Saunders’ typically tender touch.
In ever-eclectic fashion, I devoured books on feminism (after attending a talk by the excellent Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie); modern American racism (by the powerfully persuasive Michael Eric Dyson); and the history of Dungeons & Dragons in graphic novel form.
But this month’s highlights were stories: firstly from one of my favourite Young Adult authors, David Almond, who crafted a collection of childhood memories into allegorical tales so powerful one of them left me in tears.
And secondly, a first collection from The Moth story-telling events, which take place monthly at my workplace, Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, and which I finally plan to attend next month.
Ranging from the famous to the everyday, from euphoric yarns to tragic tales, from universal themes to the peculiarly personal, these snapshots of life should be enough to entertain anyone, whatever you’re looking for.
And, of course, Neil gets to write the foreword.
Books Bought, May 2017
We Have Always Lived In The Castle, (Shirley Jackson)
Tasty: the art and science of what we eat (John McQuaid)
The Shadow Of The Sun (Ryszard Kapuściński)
Setting The Table: the transforming power of hospitality in business (Danny Meyer)
The Polysyllabic Spree (Nick Hornby)
Rise Of The Dungeon Master: gary gygax and the creation of d&d (David Kushner)
The Sandmeyer Reaction (Michael Chabon)
Hostage (Guy Delisle)
Wall And Piece (Banksy)
Nobody’s Fool (Yoshitomo Nara)
The Sculptor (Scott McCloud)
In Persuasion Nation (George Saunders)
Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman)
The Moth Presents – All These Wonders: true stories about facing the unknown (various)
The Book Of Cheese: the essential guide to discover chesses you’ll love (Liz Thorpe)
The Dinner Party and other stories (Joshua Ferris)
Last Night’s Reading: illustrated encounters with extraordinary authors (Kate Gavino)
A Graphic History Of Sport: an illustrated chronicle of the greatest wins, misses, and matchups from the games we love (Andrew Janik)
The Greek Myths (ed.Robert Graves)
Scribbled In The Dark (Charles Simic)
A Book Of Sleep (Il Sung Na)
Books Read, May 2017 (Recommended books in bold)
Tasty: the art and science of what we eat (John McQuaid)
Tears We Cannot Stop: a sermon to white america (Michael Eric Dyson)
Absolutely On Music: conversations with (Haruki Murakami & Seiji Ozawa)
When Breath Becomes Air (Paul Kalanithi)
Dear Ijeawele, Or A Feminist Manifesto In Fifteen Suggestions (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
Occupy (Noam Chomsky)
Books vs Cigarettes (George Orwell)
Travels In The Land Of Kublai Khan (Marco Polo)
Lincoln In The Bardo (George Saunders)
Rise Of The Dungeon Master: gary gygax and the creation of d&d (David Kushner)
The Shipwrecked Men (Cabeza de Vaca)
Forbidden Fruit: from the letters of aberlard and heloïse
The Sculptor (Scott McCloud)
Half A Creature From The Sea: a life in stories (David Almond)
Setting The Table: the transforming power of hospitality in business (Danny Meyer)
The Sandmeyer Reaction (Michael Chabon)
Hostage (Guy Delisle)
Snow White (Donald Barthelme)
The Moth Presents – All These Wonders: true stories about facing the unknown (various)
Last Night’s Reading: illustrated encounters with extraordinary authors (Kate Gavino)
A Graphic History Of Sport: an illustrated chronicle of the greatest wins, misses, and matchups from the games we love (Andrew Janik)
Scribbled In The Dark (Charles Simic)
Go Tell It On The Mountain (James Baldwin)
A Book Of Sleep (Il Sung Na)
House Mother Normal (B.S.Johnson)
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