Summer in Singapore is meteorologically perennial. If you’ve lived anywhere but the tropics, summer probably meant something to you - a marker in time and a state of mind. So irrespective of the unchanging weather, in our House of Nerds, it means reading. We take summer reading very seriously. We keep a keen eye on NPR’s and FT’s reading lists. It’s almost like a competitive sport. Veena is winning this year. Gautam hopes to catch up before the equinox.
Here is our summer booklist so far:
(V) Kitchen and Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto: Both books deal with the grief of losing a loved one and finding peace & belonging through the mundane & unglamorous day-to-day. Loved the importance of good food and companionship in both stories. Both books are strangely unsentimental yet deeply moving. The focus on the small rituals of everyday is something I like more than a thrilling plot twist. It’s something I deeply cherish in my own life.
(V) Another India by Chandan Gowda - As a person who speaks and thinks in Kannada and considers it her mother tongue, I know very little about the language or the culture of my state. The only Kannada literature I read is that which is translated into English, specifically books by Vivek Shanbagh. - a grand total of TWO Kannada books which have been translated into English. Which is why Chandan Gowda’s book was such an education. It has short episodes and essays about the history, mythology, culture and pluralistic traditions of Karnataka - my home state. It’s simple, yet rooted in scholarship. And it feels like the writer has an immense affection and understanding of the people, temperament, language and culture of the state. Essays range from the mythology of Malaya Madeshwara (a local deity) to Dr. Rajkumar’s (Kannada cultural icon, movie star, singer) place in the state’s culture to the Irving Canal Agitation. Like all good non-fic it’s both educational and entertaining.
(G) Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World by Barry Lopez - One of the big changes in my framing of the world after our round-the-globe trip was take climate action at every possible step, and this book has a lot to do with it. I picked up this book at the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver during the first half of the trip and then proceeded to mark multiple passages throughout the rest of the journey. Barry’s message is that things are getting very bad for us as a planet, and yet we ought to “not to give in to the temptation to despair.” It’s a book about exploration of many crevices of the world - sure. It’s a book about the climate crisis - definitely. But most of all it’s a book about attention and love - for ourselves and the world we inhabit. . Here’s one of my favorite paragraphs:
Change is coming fast, though, on multiple fronts. More of us begin the day now uncertain of exactly where we are Once, we banked on knowing how to respond to all the important questions. Once, we assumed we'd be able to pass on to the next generation the skill of staying poised in worrying times. To survive what's headed our way global climate disruption, a new pandemic, additional authoritarian governments—and to endure, we will have to stretch our imaginations. We will need to trust each other, because today, it's as if every safe place has melted into the sameness of water. We are searching for the boats we forgot to build.
(V&G) The Skull by Jon Klassen - Since the youngest member of the House of Nerds is also now a voracious reader, we will occasionally recommend a children’s book. Based on our study of ONE kid, sometimes children love a dark tale and this one has all the elements of a good thriller. A protagonist on the run, an evil villain, an unlikely ally who becomes a friend and of course a clever plan and some good violence. Good for anyone over the age of 4.
