What to Read During the Coronavirus Quarantine
Hi, how are you feeling? Have you been practicing social distancing? Self-quarantining?
I’m in Tahoe for the week, working from home and leaving the house as little as possible. I’m enrolled in a 3 month yoga teacher training right now, and we’re even doing that digitally. Being at home non-stop is just about the opposite of how I normally live my life, but I’m trying to take deep breaths, cook yummy food, and read a ton.
Some of my friends and newsletter subscribers mentioned wanting a “quarantine reading list,” and I think that’s a great idea! This list doesn’t have any reads from this week—I’ll send that newsletter on Friday, as usual—but more evergreen, longform pieces, as well as a ton of book recommendations and some community recs (and a new idea I had which I hope you’ll participate in!).
It's also important for me to note that I don't mean to minimize the real fear and pain people are feeling as a result of this unprecedented experience. I know people are losing jobs, losing loved ones, and that a long form article doesn't help that. But it's what I have to offer right now—a little distraction, some ideas for how to get out of your head if, like me, it's been a scary, anxious place to be.
Wishing you peace, wherever you are, however you're feeling.
Articles: Long Reads
Invisible Child (NYT): This 2013 piece on homeless children in New York City, in particular a young girl named Dasani, is what really turned me onto long form content. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for months.
The Mixed Up Brothers of Bogota (NYT): If you watched the documentary Three Identical Strangers, you’ll love this real-life Parent Trap tale.
Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter to be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom Murdered (BuzzFeed News): Another one you won’t be able to stop thinking about.
Maybe She Had So Much Money She Just Lost Track of it (The Cut): If you don’t want to invest in reading an entire book (My Friend Anna) on Anna Delvey, the fake German heiress, here’s the long form article that originally exposed this whacky story.
The Doctor, the Dentist, and the Killer (Texas Monthly): Skip Hollandsworth writes reported long form pieces for Texas Monthly, and I’d recommend them all. This one involves a love triangle, stalking, a hit man, and of course, social media.
What is a Woman Worth? (Blood + Milk): This piece was published in October 2018 but I think it's worth a re-read as we head into another woman-less election.
The empty promises of Marie Kondo and the craze for minimalism (The Guardian): A really interesting look at one of 2019's buzz words: "Most of all, the minimalist attitude speaks to the feeling that all aspects of life have become relentlessly commodified. Buying unnecessary items on Amazon with credit cards is a fast and easy way to exert some feeling of control over our precarious surroundings. Brands sell us cars, televisions, smartphones and other products (often on loans that inflate their costs) as if they will solve our problems. Through books, podcasts and designed objects, the idea of minimalism itself has also been commodified."
Book Recommendations
My book recommendations for if you loved…
The Nightingale
Night, Man’s Search for Meaning, City of Thieves, The Sympathizer, A Little Life, First They Killed My Father, Sarah’s Key
Conversations With Friends
Animals, Topics of Conversation, Expectation, Everything I Know About Love
Queenie
On Beauty, Such a Fun Age, American Spy, An American Marriage, The Mothers, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Pachinko
The Dutch House, Dominicana, Homegoing
Educated
Hillbilly Elegy, Unfollow, The Glass Castle, Tightrope, Maid, Jailbirds
Exit West
Home Fire, White Teeth, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Kabul Beauty School, The Nix
Bad Blood
Dopesick, Duped, My Friend Anna, Catch and Kill, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
Girl on the Train
Social Creature, Into the Water, The Dinner, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Secret Place, The Silent Patient
Becoming
Save Me the Plums, The Rules Do Not Apply, When Breath Becomes Air, Tiny Beautiful Things, The Moment of Lift
Daisy Jones and the Six
City of Girls, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Interestings, Tales of the City