Read More Books
Help independent & local booksellers
I’ve seen many people say that although they are stuck at home they have been unable to sit down and read a book because they are to distracted by everything happening around us. I get that. For those of us that are still able to read, and in fact, may be reading more than usual I wanted to share a few books that help explain and can guide us through this moment.
Links to books are through the bookshop.org and here is advice on how to help your local bookstores during these times. If you want more disaster book recommendations I have a list of 365.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein
The book that explains this moment is not one about the 1918 pandemic even though you all seem to think it is (see below), it’s the damn Shock Doctrine. Just read it.
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit
This book is about disasters but it disrupts the prevailing public narrative of disasters as times of chaos and panic. Solnit uses the disaster sociology research as a foundation to demonstrate the altruistic communities that arise around the world in times of crisis.
Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times by Kenneth Whyte
I do not believe a good (i.e., accurate) book about Herbert Hoover exists but this is the usual starting point. I will write one for you someday. In the meantime, please read any and all books about Herbert Hoover, the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, and/or the New Deal. There is no perfect comparison between this moment and other historical events but I think you’ll find some parallels that can inform the way you understand these COVID-19 times.
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John Barry
I find comfort in reading about historical disasters because it helps me understand our current disasters. I can see the ways we’ve become more effective in our responses. At the same time, you can see the ways things have not changed. So, if you’re up for it. There are a number of other books on the 1918 Pandemic. I find this is the most accessible one that offers a full overview.
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
This is a children’s book but you should read it even if you are not a child. This is a Maine staple but given that it won the National Book Award, etc. I assume everyone reads it as a child? Anyway, it’s a lovely story about a woman who throws lupine seeds everywhere to make the world a little brighter. Go plant some flowers, the world could use it right now. (I do also have a BRILLIANT idea for a sequel but when I shared it with my mother several months ago her response was that it “would terrify children”. So, stay tuned for that.)