The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
―
Was there ever a better time to go on a book-reading binge? We’re all spending more time at home out of circulation, self-quarantined or otherwise, and we’re all at risk of having the steady stream of amazing coronavirus headlines short-circuit all consideration of anything else. Movies are a help, but getting lost in a good book is the ultimate escape and the ultimate way forward.
For writers, it’s kind of hilarious to hear people talking about how weird it is to be stuck at home, banished from work places. Welcome to our world! Yes, one does go a little crazy sometimes when you don’t even have coworkers to bump into at the coffee pot. That’s why we need the companionship of reading books that take us somewhere.
Also, the federal government is happy to run up debt by spending billions or trillions on targeted bailouts for the already privileged, but local businesses – including your local independent bookstore – are at severe risk. Do what you can to help out by ordering books from them – after all, you can actually dive in and read the books you’ve just bought, instead of putting them on your shelf and dreaming of that magical day when you have a lot of reading time. That day is here.
As Bookshop Santa Cruz owner Casey Coonerty Protti emailed me (and probably a few others) this morning, as part of a general suggestion to support local businesses: “Check to see if a local store has a website or will take phone orders to ship items. Bookshop is now offering $.99 shipping of any books to a Santa Cruz County zip code with orders at www.bookshopsantacruz.com or on the phone (831-423-0900).”
If you’re a baseball fan, reeling from the cancellation of spring training and the postponement of the regular season, you’re in luck. Among the books I’d recommend are Paris Review editor Emily Nemens’ debut novel The Cactus League, which evokes the experience of being in Arizona for spring training so throughly, you’ll definitely feel like you’re there.
Or for a different sort of journey, Gish Jen’s new novel The Resisters, which as The New York Times Book Review recently noted, “might be the only dystopian novel whose climax involves a tense, high-stakes baseball game.”
I haven’t read longtime Times baseball writer Tyler Kepner’s K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, but I can highly recommend it nonetheless. Or, going way back, for a recreation of a single game, try Daniel Okrent’s classic Nine Innings or my own One Day at Fenway.
For an especially timely read, how about the latest from Howard Bryant, an accomplished baseball author who has much bigger fish to fry with The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism.
That’s just a sampling of books related to sports. Next week, I’ll check in with more on novels to read in the time of the virus.
Let’s make this a thing. Read books. Recharge the mind instead of deplete it. Give the soul some respite. Encourage others to dive into books. Post on social media about what you’re reading – and what you recommend to others.
– Steve Kettmann
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