The New Dork Review of Books would like to take this opportunity to officially endorse Kamala Harris for president. Because obviously.
A couple weeks ago when I was in Berlin, I walked through Bebelplatz outside of the The Alte Bibliothek (the Old Library). On May 10, 1933, the Nazis had themselves a book barbecue on this site. Crazed by a speech from Joseph Goebells, the Nazis burned 25,000 books deemed "un-German."
Today, there's a below-ground memorial titled The Empty Library with empty shelves enough to house the same number of books the Nazis torched. Friends, I'm not ashamed to admit I got a little choked up. What an absolutely travesty. And that was just the beginning.
Are we headed towards a place in this country where book burning is normalized? Though book bans are slightly down this year compared to the past several, according to American Library Association data, the book ban-ners have been exploring other avenues of nefariousness, like trying to make librarians criminals. It's utterly absurd! And there's little doubt that if the wrong candidate wins this election, book ban-ners will be emboldened. It's not hard to imagine Bebelplatz-like scenes all over the country.
So, like many of you, my election anxiety is absolutely through the roof, and when my anxiety maxes out, I find comfort in books. If you do too, here are 20 suggestions (I started with 10, and couldn't stop) for books to get lost in to help ease your anxiety this week. Criteria: Long, imaginative books you can read for hours without even realizing you're reading...and having nothing to do with politics. Here's my list:
20. The Most Fun We Ever Had, by Claire Lombardo -- We love a good family saga, and this is one of the best you can find.
19. The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss -- You want to see someone get riled up? Ask a fantasy fan which they think will come first, the third book in this series or the next Game of Thrones book. Real funny, I know. 😅 But for real, after cajoling from several Rothfuss fans, I did read this, and I unexpectedly loved it. And I think you will too. Very sink-in-able.
18. Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee -- If historical fiction is your jam, it doesn't get much more immersive than this novel.
17. Night Film, by Marissa Pessl -- A long, but riveting, cross-genre delight. Fully get-lost-in-able.
16. Last Night In Twisted River, by John Irving -- Or, of course, A Prayer For Owen Meany. There isn't a better pure storyteller alive than John Irving.
15. Book Lovers, by Emily Henry -- Sometimes you just need something sweet and funny.
14. Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, by Tom Robbins -- This book is so funny you'll forget all about your existential dread.
13. The Brilliance Saga, by Marcus Sakey -- This trilogy (Brilliance, A Better World, Written in Fire) is more than 1,000 pages of pure adrenaline. These are books that read like a movie.
12. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte -- Reader, I jest not. I love this book. It's all drama and manners and gossip and wonderful throwback to a "simpler" time.
11. Broken Monsters, by Lauren Beukes -- Why not distract yourself by scaring yourself silly with this bonkers thriller about a Detroit serial killer?
10. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski -- A long story about dog breeders in idyllic northern Wisconsin -- a novel that absolutely whisks you away. (Note: A sequel arrived earlier this year -- Familiaris -- which is 900+ pages. I'm saving it for this winter.)
9. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami -- Weird weird and more weird. But an absolute reading delight.
8. The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt -- This was a book I stayed up all night to finish. It's just one helluva great story.
7. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole -- Maybe this is too on the nose. 😂 But for real, laughter is the best medicine for anxiety, and it doesn't much funnier that this.
6. The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell -- Here's what I wrote when I finished this magisterial novel 10 years ago: "In total, The Bone Clocks is just about the bravest, smartest, most entertaining, most inventive, and most fun to read novel I've put into my brain in a very long time."
5. Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel -- What this novel doesn't have in length, it more than makes up for in impact, so I'm including it among the rest of these longer books. In tough times, I love books that remind us how important art is. No book I've read in a long time does that better than Station Eleven.
4. A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara -- Comparatively speaking, suddenly, our lives don't seem quite so bad.
3. Version Control, by Dexter Palmer -- This time-traveling, reality-bending novel may just blow your mind enough that if flushes all the anxiety into another dimension.
2. Ducks, Newburyport, by Lucy Ellmann -- Caveat here: You may read this book for hours, stop for a break, and realize you have NO idea what the hell you just read. So it's sort of perfect for this week.
1. The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton -- When you put every ounce of your mental energy into puzzling through this novel, there's no room left for worry.
There you have it. Definitely read a ton this week, but also talk to friends and family. Donate if you can. And GO FREAKING VOTE!
