Hello, reader…
*Note to first time readers: the following is a summary of a discussion by friends and bookworms who gather monthly in a virtual space called Second Life. Book notes are lightly edited reflections shared in real time via text chat.
Our first gathering at the new reading room was lovely and cozy. We have just two book recommendations – but they’re really good ones!
Fourteen Days – edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston
This unique book is a collaborative novel written by thirty-six American and Canadian authors. Many of the authors are considered eminent in their genres – Zoe immediately recognized names like Celeste Ng, R.L. Stine, Dave Eggers, Mira Jacob, John Grisham, Meg Wolitzer, and a few more. None of the authors are given a byline in the novel, though they are credited for their specific contributions in an appendix.
The book is set over fourteen days in 2020. Though it’s set during the pandemic, the focus isn’t on the pandemic per se. Rather, it’s about neighbors who make their way to the rooftop of their apartment building to get fresh air for a few hours – and end up swapping stories with one another about their lives. Zoe thought it felt hopeful and uplifting. She enjoyed reading about this gathering of New Yorkers – the novel is set in NYC – who ordinarily wouldn’t bother with each other but end up bonding because of their circumstances.
Half Life of a Secret by Emily Strasser
Veyot heard about this book in a Minnesota newspaper. The author interviews relatives and former neighbors trying to get a better understanding of her grandfather who was a chemist who worked in Tennessee at the Oakridge atomic laboratory in 1942. The employees and their families did not know know that the product they worked on would become the atom bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The author’s grandfather suffers from depression all of his working career, because of it all.
It starts when the govt. buys the land to set the lab and continues until the govt. tries to reclaim the land from pollution. Veyot said that it’s an interesting story with politics, psychology, prejudice, and pollution. Although it’s non-fiction, it reads like a novel.
Our next gathering is July 14 at 1pm SLT. We’ll meet at our new location in Seogyeoshire. All are welcome – bring a friend!
The Reading Room 