Pages I've Read (part 1)

As I said in my last post, I want to start and end my day with pages, not screens. This doesn't mean I don't find tons of wonderful writing online, of course. I'm just on a mission to wake up and wind down the "old skool" way, with bound paper pages instead of a lighted electronic box. (It's more about quieting my mind chatter and letting my body rest from the constant onslaught of circadian-rhythm-disrupting light spectrums  than anything else.)

From time to time I'll share what I've been reading, both online and off, because let's face it, good writing is good writing, whether it's printed or pixelated. (And clearly I love the pixelated word for the way it allows me to connect with all of you.)

Here are some of the printed pages that I've read and enjoyed recently.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey (memoir)

This is a beautiful little book, inside and out. It had been on my list of books to buy for more than a year, ever since I first saw it at Ebenezer's Booktore in Johnson, Vermont, while visiting a friend at the Vermont Studio Center. When I found myself back in Johnson and back in Ebenezer's this January, the book was still on display, so I gave in and purchased it. As described on its back cover, it is about "the earthly adventures of a woman and a gastropod," and it's a good example of how writers can combine personal, memoir writing with external research.

Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami by Gretel Ehrlich (literary nonfiction)

This is a beautiful (and devastating) book about life after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. This is another book that I found at Ebenezer's in January. I picked it up at random, with no intention of buying it. I wasn't familiar with the author (which I'm embarrassed to say, since she's written a lot of stuff that's right up my alley), and I honestly wasn't in the financial mood to pay independent bookstore prices for a hardback book by an author I hadn't heard of. But I'm a wee bit obsessed with tsunamis, and as I flipped through the book, sentence after sentence caught my attention and begged me to read more. Ehrlich is a student of Japanese poetry, and that sensibility of sparse, raw beauty shapes her writing style. What finally convinced me to buy the book on the spot? This sentence, from page 10: "On March 11, 2011, Japan's earth-altar broke."

Boys of My Youth by Joanne Beard (linked essays)

As a student of literary nonfiction, I'd heard of Beard and this book for years, but somehow I never got around to reading it until another writer mentioned it to me and leant me her copy. This collection of linked essays is extremely readable and extremely well-written. It might sound funny to make a point of saying both "readable" and "well-written," but those two things don't always go hand-in-hand. Some page-turners are schlocky writing, and some excellent writing is too "meaty" to be a quick read. This is an easy read of great writing. Beard's writing voice is at once smart, funny, vulnerable, and rebellious. Certain passages are almost poetic, but I rarely found myself focusing on the way she wrote something -- which is why I think this book is so good. I've been trying to learn how to combine well-crafted sentences with a more relaxed voice and compelling narrative, and I know that I'll be referring to Boys of My Youth again and again as I figure out how to do that better.

 

Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing, by Lydia Peelle (short stories)

I have to confess that I picked up this short story collection in the bookstore's bargain bin, drawn to it solely for its strange title, intriguing cover, and nice feel in my hands. In fact, I put it down and picked it up again several times. I didn't need another book. I'd never heard of this author. I don't even read that many short stories (though I don't know why, since I do enjoy them). But finally I gave in to whatever was calling me and bought the book. I'm glad I did. It's a great collection. Something about Peelle's style reminds me of Robin Black's excellent short story collection, If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This. Maybe that's just because If I Loved You is the only other short story collection I've read recently, but I think it has to do with the way both Peelle and Black create rich and intricate worlds in relatively small spaces.

 

Tristimania by Mary Ruefle (poetry)

Published in 2004, this is Ruefle's eighth book of poetry. She is one of my favorite contemporary poets for her quirky and elegant style. I have a confession: Sometimes I dont have the patience to read poetry. It forces me to slow down in a way that I can't always manage. But Ruefle's poetry almost always breaks through my impatience and harried mind and puts me in touch with something slower and deeper than myself. The words of poet Mark Halliday, printed on the back cover of Tristimania, express it best: "I read Mary Ruefle. I frown. Look out the window. Read more Ruefle. Rub my eyes. Stare into space. More Ruefle. There is an emerald in the dark storage compartment. I blink. Breathe. Back to the poem. Life has deepened." If you're interested in Ruefle's other work, I also love and recommend A Little White Shadow (a book of erasure poetry), The Most of It (a book of short prose pieces), and Madness, Rack, and Honey (a collection of Ruefle's lectures, and a book which I could love for its name alone.)

I've also been reading a lot of essays in literary journals and anthologies. If you're interested in creative nonfiction, I recommend checking out these publications:

• Best American Essays: I've been reading the 2013 edition, which was edited by Cheryl Strayed
• Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction
• River Teeth Journal: A journal of Narrative Nonfiction

If you're interested in more things book- and writing-related, please check out my Pinterest boards with links to books I want to read, great writing I find online, and all sorts of resources for writing and living the writing life.

What are you reading these days?