Reading for Comfort, Escape, and a Little Bit of Education
Here's a partial list of what I’m reading these days – what are you reading?
Some of my earliest memories are of my parents reading to my brothers and me. I don’t remember when I transitioned into reading for myself, but I do remember hiding in my bedroom and reading to escape the chaos created by two little brothers and a dog. My parents used to try to entice me to go outside and play, but I much preferred the world of my books. Reading was always a comfort as well as a window into other worlds, including the world of the human psyche. That double gift from reading hasn’t changed as I’ve gotten older.
I’m amazed and impressed by the number of people writing about aging these days. And in the process of writing this blog, I’ve been comforted to find other people who are looking for and sharing their own paths through this time of life. New maps are being drawn.
I am using today’s post to share some of the readings I’ve been finding comfort from. Some of them are about aging, others are just about life. I’d also like to ask you to post anything you’re reading that you’re finding interesting, useful, or just plain comforting on your own journey into this new time of life. I’m always looking for something new to read, and I’m guessing that many of the subscribers to this blog are as well. So please feel free to share yours in the comments!!
Some of my offerings, below, are escapes, plain and simple. Others are descriptions of how someone else is managing life, whether it has to do with aging, the state of the world, or other events life has thrown at them. Many, but not all, of these authors are in the Third Age themselves. All have some light to shed on this mysterious path, not only into age, but also through the world we’re living in, with its growing sense of crisis, and our growing sense of unease. No one knows where we’re headed exactly. But I find it very comforting to hold figurative hands, or just be in the same space, with others on the journey.
Following is a list of just some of what I’ve been reading, and how I’ve found it helpful. What about you?
I’ve put them in alphabetical order of the authors’ last names.
Readings:
Sari Botton, Oldster https://oldster.substack.com/s/personal-essays. This blog has many wonderful essays by a variety of authors – scroll through and see what appeals to you.
Susan Caine, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole. The title says it all. The idea of bittersweet as part of human experience – the good with the bad – is something I think, write, and talk about a lot. I was going to use the name in a title of my own, but then found Susan Caine’s book. She also wrote Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, which I referenced in an earlier post and is well-worth reading if you’re at all introverted (or have friends who are, to whom you might recommend it).
Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American. Cox Richardson, a professor of history at Boston College, describes her incredibly popular “Letters from an American”
as “A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.” The NY Times columnist Ben Smith says she brings “a historian’s confident context to the day’s mundane politics.” I, like many of her subscribers, find it soothing to read her contextualization of the bizarre and often troubling events of contemporary history.
Crow’s Feet . Like Oldsters (see below), a newsletter filled with essays about aging. Some wonderful, some not so great, but worth checking out.
Hernan Diaz, Trust. A novel that is not exactly comforting, but engaging, an escape, and a reminder that the world has been problematic, difficult, and frightening many times before. And oh yes, that there is good and bad going on at the same time. This is not a straightforward novel, so be prepared for some odd literary twists and turns.
Deborah Harkness, All Souls Trilogy. This three-volume story of vampires, demons, and humans struggling to live in a world of mistrust and hatred, is also a love story, an adventure into the past, and an enchanting, although sometimes disturbing fantasy of history, human nature, and love. Harkness, a professor of European and science history at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, is also a well-respected scholar. While these books, which have been New York Times bestsellers, offer escapism reading, like some of the best science fiction of the past, they also manage to address contemporary political and human problems.
Robert B. Hubbell, Today’s Edition Newsletter. Hubbell describes himself as “Citizen. Optimist. Realist.” While I’m not always sure that those last two descriptors go together, I find his daily comments about what is happening in the world at large and in our country thoughtful and comforting. I appreciate that he, like Cox Richardson, seems convinced that democracy is not finished.
Eloise James, Not That Duke OK. I admit it, I love historical romances! They’re great escapes, they always end up with the bad guys punished and the good guys falling in love and living happily ever after, and they give me a little bit of time in a make-believe world where events can work out for the best. Yes, I do wonder how in the world I manage to convince myself that a happily-ever-after can really exist when the epilogue says the couple eventually has seven children. And oh yes, they never seem to grow old, but hey – it’s fantasy, right? I am picky, however. I like strong female leads and men who love them, and Eloise James offers those up in every book of hers that I’ve read.
Suleika Jaouad, The Isolation Journals , which she subtitles “Transforming life’s interruptions into creative grist.” Jaouad started this blog in March 2020, and draws on her ongoing experiences with leukemia to explore some of the issues that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. “When I saw how people were struggling, I was reminded of the 100-day creativity project I’d done with my family during treatment that kept us grounded, hopeful, and connected. I decided to reprise the idea, and I reached out to some of my favorite writers, artists, and community leaders, asking them to share some words of inspiration and a journaling prompt.” It’s a warm and highly engaging, often incredibly moving personal invitation from a very talented author and motivational coach to all of us to “use creativity for survival.”
Ann Patchett, Tom Lake. I love some of Ann Patchett’s novels and others, not so much. Although I found Tom Lake slow-moving at the beginning, I ended it thinking Patchett had made a beautiful return to the quirky, nonlinear, and psychologically profound writing I have enjoyed so much in some of her other books. She’s also an advocate of recognizing that nothing is all good or all bad. For instance, as her main character says at one point, “It’s not that I’m unaware of the suffering and the soon-to-be-more suffering in the world, it’s that I know the suffering exists beside wet grass and a bright blue sky recently scrubbed by rain. The beauty and the suffering are equally true.”
Jo Saia, I’m Not Dead Yet. One of many wonderful writers for Crows Feet, cited above, Saia describes herself as “Writer and artist exploring the many gifts of aging, both light and dark.” Her popular blog is personal and filled with many touching moments that invite us to reexamine our thinking about aging.
Martin Walker, A Chateau Under Siege. This is the most recent book in a series about Bruno, chief of police of a small town in southwest France. It’s a bit complicated and twisty and, at times, doesn’t always make sense. But I love the characters and the local color, and, like all of the best mysteries, it takes me out of myself, my daily life, and my worries about everything.
Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming. This book is written for young readers, but sometimes they are my favorite forms of comfort reading. Although I’m not much of a poetry fan, since I don’t usually understand what I’m reading,
Shutterstock image # 1964183584 Photographer CandyRetriever
the poetry in this book is simply a delightful part of the story. I was touched, saddened, and comforted by Woodson’s writing. Here’s just one sample: “When my mother comes home from the hospital with me, my older brother takes one look inside the pink blanket, says, Take her back. We already have one of those.” Something probably a lot of us felt on seeing our newest sibling.
I’m looking forward to reading about what you’re finding interesting, meaningful, or just good escapism!
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. The legendary music producer helps provide clarity and even portals of transcendence. I know, that sounds like a lot...but give it a try!
When world events become overwhelming, I gravitate to mysteries and recent ones I read are by Charles Todd (pen name for a mother-son team) who writes the Bess Crawford series, featuring a nurse in World War I who gets involved in various situations that require her expertise. Also anything by Alexander McCall-Smith.