December: Reading from our piles

Tsundoku beats list culture

Dear readers,

Has your heart skipped a beat yet this week, caught by a moment of unexpected recognition?

Look at this work of art by

Janet Asante Sullivan

of

Movement is Life Studio

:

Janet Asante-Sullivan (2024) Oil on Canvas

In a moment, the light will wake her. She’ll move back into the world, a bit different than she was before even if no one around her perceives the change. But right now? Just look at those piles. She’s finished. She has surrendered.

Head thrown back, arms akimbo. Kind of how I feel browsing all the end-of-year book lists.

It’s my literal job to provide a local platform for authors of this year’s most exciting books. I should see these lists and think “that’s dinner, baby.” So why do I feel like the woman in the golden dress right now?

Though I knew when I started this job that it would not involve getting paid to sit around reading books all day, of course a little part of me hoped that it would. Reading is a me-time thing and my to-do list is a novel of its own. So while I’ve read of most of the books on the b…