What I've been reading this summer
The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman
The Antidote explores how we can attain happiness not by conventional methods of optimism or positive thinking, but rather through the “negative path”—acknowledging that life is fraught with suffering, failure and challenges, but even amidst all this we can still find peace in accepting “what is.” Burkeman’s earlier book, Four Thousand Weeks, is one of my all-time favorites, which is what spurned me to pick up The Antidote. The Antidote was plenty good, but for me ended up mostly a refresher of familiar ideas in Buddhism, Stoicism, and related philosophies.
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
I really enjoyed this meditation on the joys of reading books, and the challenges of doing so in our current technological environment. Jacobs’ advice is simple: read at Whim (with a capital-W), read for pleasure, read whatever holds your attention and brings you joy. Don’t worry about being one of those people who only reads “great works” or the classics. Refreshing!
Wind Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
My favorite summer read so far, and likely the best book I read this year. Beautiful prose, harrowing tales of adventure, and deep, profound reflections on the experience of being alive. It’s full of memorable, quotable passages, like this drawn from St. Exupéry’s experience of the Spanish Civil War:
No man can draw a free breath who does not share with other men a common and disinterested ideal. Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction. There is no comradeship except through union in the same high effort.
Thus enthralled, and having never read Saint-Exupéry before, I immediately picked up The Little Prince and read it with my son soon afterwards.
The Accidental Universe by Alan Lightman
I loved Lightman’s fictional work, Einstein’s Dreams, so I thought I’d try some of his other writing. The Accidental Universe is a series of essays ruminating on everything from theories of the multiverse to the ephemerality of being to the immense vastness of the cosmos. It’s a fun, quick read and I enjoyed it, but if you’re going to read Lightman, read Einstein’s Dreams first.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
I cannot possibly hope to capture my thoughts on this book in a few sentences. It’s the best Stoic text of all time—a wonderful trove of wisdom that I find myself returning to again and again.
There are multitudes of editions and translations. I’m reading the annotated edition by Robin Waterfield, which is abundant with notes providing historical context and commentary. If you’re going to read Meditations, get this one.
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
I’ve been reading Chiang’s collection of short stories intermittently, one at a time at a whim, and haven’t finished yet. But “The Tower of Babylon,” which envisions the biblical story in a world where ancient cosmology is accurate, was so brilliant I can’t get it out of my head. I’m looking forward to finishing the remaining stories.