Who: Keith Burbank, journalist
Recommendation: “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson
Why it’s a good read: Like another reviewer said, “It’s choke-on-your-coffee funny.”
Synopsis: Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes—and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings.
Check if the book is available to borrow from your local public library.
Who: Lydia Sidhom, Bay City News intern
Recommendation: “We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live: Collected Nonfiction” by Joan Didion
Why it’s a good read: Many of Didion’s best works are tied up in a nice bow in this thick anthology, which I checked out from the Oakland Public Library. Read for everything from distinct takes on California in the sixties to Didion’s account of her lived journalistic experiences.
Check if the book is available to borrow from your local public library.
Who: Helena Getahun-Hawkins, Bay City News intern
Recommendation: “Slow Days, Fast Company” by Eve Babitz
Why it’s a good read: This short book of essays captures the opulence of 1970s Los Angeles in a way that made me nostalgic for a time I have never lived through. Babitz’s prose is just so enchanting and romantic! I would highly recommend.
Check if the book is available to borrow from your local public library.
Who: Deidre Foley, Bay City News intern
Recommendation: “Disability Visibility” by Alice Wong
Why it’s a good read: This collection of essays, edited by San Francisco-based advocate Alice Wong, opened my eyes to the breadth and complexity of disability issues in the U.S.
Check if the book is available to borrow from your local public library.