One motivation for relaunching Quintessence of Dust was my desire to write about things I'm reading, whether books or articles. So here is the second (late) entry in my new series, What I'm reading, posted at the start of every month.
Fiction
Continued from April. I only recently read American Gods (I know, I know!) and of course loved it. (I was late to the party but at least I read the "author's preferred text.") My brother's favorite book by Gaiman is Neverwhere, and I'll get there, but I grabbed this nice collection of stories and poems at Bookmans and am almost through.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Recommended by colleagues on our PLOS Slack channel and in a great review at NPR. Plus, as a bardolator I am doctrinally obligated to read a book with a title like that. I'm a little more than halfway through, and LOVE the book.
Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
I bought this book in March at the Tucson Festival of Books after a fascinating event called "She persisted". Even got my copy signed! WBUR loved it. I asked the author whether it would matter that I (unlike, I think, everyone else at the event) have never read The Scarlet Letter and was assured that it would not. I'll start as soon as I finish Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
Non-fictionFrom Extraterrestrials to Animal Minds: Six Myths of Evolution by Simon Conway Morris
I'm currently blogging through the six misnamed chapters of this disappointing book. The most recent entry (about the second non-myth-he-calls-a-myth) goes up today. I'm trying to stay positive about the interesting science that fills the tome; I hope you agree when you read the second entry on the first chapter. Fun theme: superheroes!
I wrote about this book and my experiment (before and after reading). I will start this month, after I finally finish the Conway Morris clunker.
A Humanist Path: Confucius and Lao Zi for Today by Wei Djao
This book was strongly recommended to me by a friend here in Tucson. My friend has studied with the author, who was partly Tucson-based (and perhaps still is). I'm excited to finally experience the wisdom of these ancient teachers. The publisher's page has a little more information.
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