A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit, best book to read
Welcome to Reading Under the Radar, where every Tuesday you’ll receive a book recommendation right to your inbox that hasn’t hit any major lists or book clubs but definitely deserves to be read.
The best way to support this newsletter is to become a paid subscriber, but if that isn’t your thing and buying books is, consider sending me a book from my wishlist to review for an upcoming weekly recommendation.
This is a book that many seem to have vaguely heard of but rarely have read, and I’m so glad I made the time to pick it up a few years ago.
It’s been a book I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, trying to find my own bearings and directions, and I plan on rereading this (as soon as I can find it in my moving boxes) to reorient myself and remind myself that it is, indeed, okay to be lost. In fact, Solnit argues, lost can be a necessary place we all need.
She explores, in memoir-style essays, how distance, loss, grief, and other dark places don’t have to be the abysses we think of them, but rather needed spaces we must traverse and the joy of being in the unknown.
Solnit, through her essays, meanders on pop culture, meditation, “self-care” rituals, nature, poetry, and more, and how each of these can help or hurt our own journeys, and why it’s okay to not quite know where we’re going next.
“The world is blue at its edges and in its depths. This blue is the light that got lost . . . The color of that distance is the color of an emotion, the color of solitude and of desire, the color of there seen from here, the color of where you are not.”
During these winter months when life can be either quieter and sadder or more hectic and lively, spending time slowing down with lovely prose can be a solace. Thank you so much — you, dear readers — for giving me the space for a break and quiet rest. This is the book that I’d give to friends going through the same.
Solnit’s writing reminds me a bit of George Saunders and a bit of Carmen Maria Machado, both literary and haunting yet deeply personal.
Know someone who would love this book? Send them the issue and let them know — people love book recommendations!
What do you like reading during winter months? Are you usually more busy, or does life slow down? I also plan on picking up the second book in this series — a middle-grade favorite that I recommend to kids and grown-ups alike, especially for the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
Read a warm and fuzzy snowstorm mystery
What to Read This Week Greenglass House by Kate Milford Prologue I’m switching it up and recommending something a little different this week—I couldn’t pass up the opportunity, with a snowstorm heading imminently for large swaths of the Midwest, I had the perfect opportunity to recommend a cozy, snowstorm, warm and fuzzy read. As you can see, it’s won some…
2 years ago · 8 likes · 10 comments · Cassie Gutman
Can’t get enough, or looking for a different recommendation? Browse the archives, or check out some popular past recommendations:
I also love hearing from readers! Let me know what kinds of books you’re looking for that you’d like to see featured, or send in your most recent five-star read (or two) and get a recommendation just for you. You might be featured in an upcoming newsletter! Reply to this email to get in touch!
Sponsor an issue of Reading Under the Radar! Add your own banner image or use text only, and link to your publication, product, or service. Fill out this form to inquire about sponsoring a newsletter and featuring your book or publication!
ncG1vNJzZmiqlZaxqrrGrqWdnaKptaa%2BwJ2Yq2ajqq%2B0wMCcomebn6J8sXvFopylnF2cwqqwxGarqGWXmsG1tc2gZKWno6k%3D