đ Hark, by Sam Lipsyte
How I came to love my epic quarantine reading project
âI felt as though an ocular dial had been tweaked and the details of my lifeâobjects, surfaces, texturesâbegan to intensify.â
đ In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust
The exquisite pain of reading in quarantine
âIn exquisite prose, [Nan] Shepherd writes of and from the sensesâsound, smell, touch above allâwith such heightened awareness that what she describesââa sting of lifeâ from a cold-water current, the âjuicy gold globeâ of a cloudberryâfeels pristine and immediate. Engrossed in reading passages such as these, I felt present and disembodied.â
đ The Living Mountain, by Nan Shepherd
The surprising value of a wandering mind
â[Mary Cappello] believes that the lecturerâs role is to activate listenersâ mindsâand if that sucks some into daydreams or rumination, that means the lecture is a success.â
đ Lecture, by Mary Cappello
đ How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, by Jenny Odell
A literary companion for insomniacs
âFor sleepless readers familiar with the feeling of being trapped in anxious ruts, [Marina] Benjaminâs celebration of mind wandering as âfleet and light and connectiveâ may at times sound strained. But if her roaming induces fatigue now and then, her âborder-crossing braveryâ and curiosity prove highly contagious.â
đ Insomnia, by Marina Benjamin
About us: This weekâs newsletter is written by Kate Cray. The book sheâs reading next is Transcendent Kingdom, by Yaa Gyasi.
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