I had to choose my books carefully for each of our classes. Though being at home seems like it should provide plenty of time to read anything I want (and complete all kinds of projects along the way, too), I’ve found that the opposite seems to happen. Part of this is Baby O needing time and attention, and part of it is the quarantine introducing its own projects: more home-cooked meals, learning to sew face masks, gearing up with Lysol wipes for a simple run to the grocery store. Added to these is the simple truth that daily life now is emotionally exhausting. There are a million things I’m either worried about or trying not to worry about in each moment of the day.

But! Reading is one of the things that helps me shut off those little, panicked voices in my head. Same with watching TV or movies that take me to a different place. The three books I’m reading (to start) will take me away from our current reality and into a different one:

Summer of the Mariposas, by Guadalupe Garcia McCall (327 pages)

I started this book in July and never finished it, so this is my time! It follows Odilia and her four younger sisters as they go on a modern-day Odyssey to Mexico in order to return the body of a dead man to his home. The story does this cool interweaving of Greek mythology with Mexican folklore: Circe makes an appearance, as do La Llorona, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the chupacabra. It should be a great escape for me at the end of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? by Michael J. Sandel (audiobook)

I found this book while I was looking around for “pop-philosophy” books for my debate class to read while we’re out, since our next unit was a study on ethical questions: basically, what’s the right thing to do, and how do you measure “right” in any given situation? The author is a Harvard professor, and the book is based on his classes. They’re also available on YouTube for free, so it’s very likely I’ll pull some of the better videos/chapters to use in our class!

 

 

 

 

The Year of Less by Cait Flanders (200 pages)

All of us are being forced to live a life that is a little (or a lot) less than we’re used to: fewer outings, fewer activities, fewer social connections, and definitely less spending. I know the least about this book of the three I’m reading, but I’m hoping it will help me reframe my thinking about our time in quarantine. Instead of looking at it from the angle of all the things I can’t do, maybe this will help me see the things that are really important that I can still do from a distance.