In general, and especially in this world saturated with technology to a somewhat alarming degree (I sounded like an out-of-touch parent there, didn’t I?), reading is important. Even more important, however, is reading not just literature (you know, the thing that saps you of both your love of learning and your will to live on a daily basis), but reading things you actually enjoy. In my opinion, all reading is good reading, and the dense, convoluted texts usually assigned for class make us forget that the original purpose of reading is not to bore you or confuse you, but to get your mind working, your thoughts flowing, and your mind expanding. Don’t get me wrong—the things we read in college are important. Very important. But I have talked to so many people at school who say they “hate” reading or “don’t read,” and I am convinced that it has something to do with the relentless academic grind we all experience, a grind that has turned reading into a mechanical chore rather than a self-chosen activity that brings joy, entertainment, and inspiration. I make it a priority to always have a non-academic book going (recently I’ve been on a short story kick), and the following list reflects the books I’ve read most recently. So here is the second installment of my series Books To Read For Pleasure (while you’re at it, you might want to read part one)! Let’s get to it.
1. Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
Now that I’ve started school again, finding the time to read non-academic books has been really difficult. That’s why I love short stories: the book is broken into smaller, more manageable chunks, and you get a new storyline, a new set of characters, every 20 pages or so. It makes reading less of a daunting task, and makes taking half an hour to just read more justifiable. Birds of America, which is (in my opinion) author Lorrie Moore’s best book, is a collection of short stories about loss, mistakes, relationships, and the melancholy of human life. Sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious, my favorite stories of the collection are “People Like That Are The Only People Here,” a story about two parents dealing with the diagnosis of a tumor in their baby, and which is loosely based on Moore’s own life, and “Terrific Mother,” about a woman grappling with a mistake of hers that led to the death of her friend’s baby. A pointed glimpse into the exhaustion of daily life, Birds of America is relatable, funny, devastating, and just plain weird.
2. Naked by David Sedaris
I fucking love David Sedaris. He is intelligent, hilarious, sad, and just plain weird, and it comes out in each and every one of his essay collections, of which a favorite can hardly be picked. Naked, however, takes the cake in my book, and probably solely because of his funny, disturbingly real, graphic depiction of his absurd obsessive compulsive disorder behaviors. As someone with OCD, I really liked the way in which he brought light and humor to something so pervasive, destructive, and misunderstood; but the other stories in the book, all of which center around Sedaris’s upbringing and family, are equally incredible. From stories about his senile grandmother (“Cyclops”) to his sister getting her period at a golf tournament (“The Women’s Open”), Sedaris approaches the most traumatizing, absurd, and formative events of his life with humor, grace, and irreverence. If you read anything this semester, have it be this.
3. There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce by Morgan Parker
This is not a collection of short stories, but a collection of poems. Which makes it even fucking easier to read it between assignments and meetings and classes. There is literally no excuse not to add this to your reading list, because poetry is so easy to read. Like, so easy. And these poems are good. Parker explores what it means to be a black woman in America in the present day, examining issues of sex, race, misogyny, and celebrity. For an enjoyable read that will also open your eyes to issues of race, gender, and class, pick up this book. You won’t regret it.
Read all of these when: you have no time because you have 100 pages of feminist theory to read and you’re running on 3 hours of sleep and more coffee than you’d care to admit but you’re going to read for fun because you’re a self-care queen.