Neil's Monthly Book Club is my oldest and most popular email newsletter. Click here to subscribe.
Hey everybody,
How’s your reading habit?
Do you find it waning as the weather warms? Or are you cobbling together a big pile for the summer? As always, I am being hemispherist to the Aussies, Argentinians, and Angolans, who I expect may be waxing or cobbling the opposite way. Either way, I’ve got you covered!
Btw, we are now officially up to 75 chapters of 3 Books! That podcast sprang out of this email list. A book lovers feast! That’s the goal here. Want to join us? Maybe start with Seth Godin, Angie Thomas, or David Sedaris.
And now let’s hit the books…
Neil
1. The Country Bunny And The Little Gold Shoesby Du Bose Heyward. It’s almost Easter! And if you want a perfect Easter book for children of all ages I have just the book for you. Or, rather, my wife Leslie does. Since Leslie completely nailed the interview with Brené Brown I’ve been getting many notes about her. Most are of the vein of “Can you hire Leslie to replace you as host of 3 Books? She is much better than you.” To which I reply “I’ve asked her and it’s a hard no.” But! We decided to introduce a new section to Neil’s Monthly Book Club. Now, without further ado, here is the very first ever LESLIE’S PICK. Enter Leslie: “Have you ever wondered why the story goes that Mrs. Claus just stays home and bakes cookies while Santa travels the world delivering all the presents and getting all the credit? I have. If you have too, you absolutely have to read this book. Written in 1934 (!!!), The Country Bunny is a must have for every family’s book collection (whether you celebrate Easter or not), a tribute to mothers everywhere, feminism at its finest, and an amazing way to celebrate the often thankless, always demanding, and incredibly meaningful work of raising children.”
2. How To Do Nothingby Jenny Odell. I would like to apologize to Jenny Odell for horribly judging her book by the cover. How to do nothing? On a pile of flowers? I thought the book would have the density of meringue. MY BAD JENNY! The book actually is the densest, richest, sweetest dessert imaginable. “Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing,” it begins gently, before quickly pushing you down a steep mineshaft tunnel. You gain speed as you veer into dark, twisting arguments in favor of using your attention and, really, your entire personhood as a form of resistance against our fitter, happier, more productive society. Feels like a distant cousin to the incredible Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino. Here’s a tiny (out of context) taste from Page 137: “When the language of advertising and personal branding enjoins you to ‘be yourself’, what it really means is ‘be more yourself,’ where ‘yourself’ is a consistent and recognizable pattern of habits, desires, and drives that can be more easily advertised to and appropriated, like units of capital. In fact, I don’t know what a personal brand is other than a reliable, unchanging pattern of snap judgements…” A ‘why’ book more than a ‘how’ book, I would put it in Cultural Studies over Self-Improvement. How To Do Nothing shaped and squeezed my brain the whole time I was reading it. Highly recommended!
3. The Reluctant Fundamentalistby Mohsin Hamid. I find myself rereading this novel every few years. It’s a quick read, which helps, and the style is entrancing. It’s a single conversation between ‘you’ and a stranger who approaches you on a busy patio in some unnamed foreign country. He does all the talking but seems to respond to you throughout the book. Masterful, absorbing, and builds towards a wild finish. Here is the first paragraph for a taste: “Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard: I am a lover of America. I noticed that you were looking for something; more than looking, in fact you seemed to be on a mission, and since I am both a native of this city and a speaker of your language, I thought I might offer you my services.”
4. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: Edited by Eric Jorgenson. Naval Ravikant was born in Delhi, India in 1974 and moved to Queens, New York when he was nine. After graduating from Dartmouth he founded a number of startups including Epinions.com, Vast.com, and, perhaps most famously, AngelList.co. Through his popular Twitter account and appearances on The Knowledge Project and The Tim Ferriss Show he dispenses advice on (mostly) wealth and happiness in an unconventional, poetic way. As Tim Ferriss writes in the introduction: “Naval is one of the smartest people I have ever met … he is rarely part of any consensus, and the uniqueness of his life, lifestyle, family dynamics, and startup successes is a reflection of conscious choices he’s made to do things differently.” Eric Jorgenson took the trouble to sift together all the advice Naval has dispensed across years and mediums and channels and sorted it into this book. (Says he was inspired by The Almanack of Charlie Munger which you may remember was one of Shane Parrish’s 3 most formative books.) I admit I approached the book skeptically: Is this just a pile of bumper stickers for literate Silicon Valley alphas? But I found a quest for a quiet peace and contentment I wasn’t expecting. “Sharks eat well but live a life surrounded by sharks”, he says, and “Very smart people tend to be weird since they insist on thinking everything through for themselves.” I loved the Reading section (there’s a Reading section!) including gems like: “Read what you love until you love to read”, “If they wrote it to make money, don’t read it”, and “It’s not about educated versus uneducated. It’s about likes to read versus doesn’t like to read.” I found the Recommended Reading list at the back narrow since it seemed like a dozen pages of only non-fiction books by men but I think that’s an assembly issue as I got the sense from other quotes that Naval reads much more diversely. In the end, what emerges is a set of unconventional ideas that would do great service to get passed around corporate settings (including the gems “Networking is overrated” and “There is no skill called 'business.' Avoid business schools and magazines”) all presented in a trim, choppy way. I admire how Eric and Naval made the book available completely free in ebook and audio formats with only hardcover and paperbacks sold for money. This book is definitely worth the money.
5. Notes of a Native Sonby James Baldwin. A wonderful collection of long (and occasionally long-winded) essays published in 1955 about issues of race in America, from deep class issues to simple take-downs of clichéd or problematic pieces of pop culture. (I could picture a 1950s Roxane Gay weighing in on some of these.) I read it and got the feeling that so much in the United States has changed and, holy cow, so much has not. It’s been seventy years since most of these essays were published in places like Harper’s. No surprise it’s on the Modern Library Top 100 List of Best Nonfiction published since 1900.
6. Sibley Birds Eastby David Allen Sibley. I found a tiny yellow feather in my backyard last year and texted it to my friend Alec for identification. He replied: “Moulting season, bitch!” Unhelpful as always. But then I was like wait, what’s moulting again? Who exactly do these birds think they are shedding feathers, changing colors, sprucing themselves up and down to mate or migrate? It was infuriating trying to spot a loon last fall when they’re suddenly drab and gray. Infuriating and inconsiderate! Not breeding so no need to dress up? Well, now I don’t have to worry, because I have equipped myself with Sibley Birds East, an incredible thorough -- and hand painted!?!? – set of every single bird I might come across in my half of North America. (Here’s the link for Sibley Birds Westwhich covers the other side of the Rockies. For those on other continents, what's your go-to bird book?) Every possible shade, color, and style is covered. Can’t fool me, juveniles. I see your black beak changing to orange, cardinals. Breeding, non-breeding, I got all y’all’s number now. Pairs perfectly with the Merlin ID app (which is free and run by Cornell University.)
7. Tenth of December: Storiesby George Saunders. The opening story in this book is called Victory Lap. It’s only 26 pages yet somehow builds from a disorienting opening into a final emotional wallop that will plaster your head back into your pillow while you stare at the ceiling for half an hour. I read it before bed and could feel my heart pounding faster and faster as I fell into the world of three slowly braided-together views of a horrifying scene taking place in the suburbs one day after school. After soaking it in I flipped back and read the entire thing again. Right away. I have never done that with a short story. What’s the good version of haunting? That’s what it did to my brain. I’ve read it a few more times since because I have just so rarely been this affected by writing. I agree with Junot Diaz (“Few people cut as hard or deep as Saunders does”) and Mary Karr (“For more than a decade, George Saunders has been the best short story writer in English -- not "one of," not "arguably," but the Best.”) But don’t take it from me, Junot, or Mary! Who cares about us? Read the story yourself. It’s right here. The whole thing. Thank you, The New Yorker! (#supportjournalism) And that’s just the first story in the book. Nine more doozies follow. I will also mention that in 2013 when this book came out The New York Times Magazine declared that “George Saunders Has Written The Best Book You’ll Read This Year”. The paperback features a wonderful interview between Saunders and David Sedaris which is a must read for all writers. Gorgeous, illuminating, emotionally shaking. I hope you listen to George Saunders in Chapter 75 of 3 Books which just dropped on Sunday's Worm Moon. Shall we plunge down the Saunders rabbit hole together? I expect great treasure awaits us both.
8. Warren Buffett: In His Own Wordsby David Andrews. I was hoping for a well curated set of Buffett’s best long quotes and … this is not it. Many quotes repeat themes. A lot of his best-known quotes aren’t included. There’s no index to try and look things up. Shall I go on? I’m sorry to say it adds up to something that feels like a cheap photocopying job. Read his Letters to Shareholders in the Berkshire Annual Reports instead.
9.The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonistby Adrian Tomine. I went to go speak at a local university a few years ago. They paid me money. Made posters. Sold tickets. Whole kitten kaboodle. When I arrived my host seemed nervous. I said, “What’s wrong?” and she said “We didn’t sell many tickets” and I said “That’s okay. Uh, how many?” and she grimaced and said “Six. But tonight’s the season finale of The Bachelor!” Well, I am happy to report she was actually wrong. The building’s janitor was able to end her shift early so she helped fill out the giant cavernous room. Or at least part of the first row. I took the ‘Party Platter’ of Subway sandwiches they left me in the green room out to the stage and we hung out in a circle dripping mayo all over our pants eating Cold Cut Combos. It was a humbling night but oddly beautiful, too. I thought about that night (and many others like it) while reading this new book by Adrian Tomine which catalogs the twenty years before his ‘instant fame’. I own pretty much everything by Adrian Tomine because I love his genius ability to plug into and reflect back so many invisible little cultural norms we’re all following … but maybe don’t quite realize we’re following yet. (Check out his New Yorker cover from a few months ago.) I highly recommend Killing and Dying or Summer Blonde as entry points into his stuff. And I might compare this one to Just Kids by Patti Smith. A story of an artist sharing the arduous journey. Great inspiration for makers of all stripes and many moments of odd beauty, too.
10.A Boy Called Batby Elana K. Arnold. How much do you know about autism? I know little. I have learned some from my friend Ryan, interviewing Temple Grandin (who is autistic) and David Mitchell (who has an autistic son), as well as reading The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida. I also remember hearing the line: “If you’ve met one child with autism, you’ve met one child with autism.” Depths beyond depths beyond depths I don’t and likely can’t know, but that’s why I love it when I get to experience another lens. This middle grade story about Bixby Alexander Tam (BAT) is an adult education, too. BAT lives with his sister and his mom and stays with his dad every other weekend. He doesn’t like to eat leftovers, sliced cheese, and most yogurt flavors. He has oversensitive hearing, flaps his hands, only takes things literally, and wants to call the police when his mom’s a few minutes late from her work as a veterinarian. One night she brings home a newborn skunk orphan whose mother was killed. And so the rest of the book tells the story of BAT’s quest to raise, nurture, and keep the skunk against all odds. Seems short and simple on the surface but a lot floats below. (PS Teachers, there’s a good teacher’s guide here.)
11.7 Ways To Calm Your Mind and Sleep Better. Not a book! But depending how you’re feeling these days you may enjoy this article I wrote at the start of the pandemic (aka 100 million years ago). I've been revisiting it again lately and thought I'd stick it in at the end for those who need it.
