Well, we’re already ten days into September and I’m finally getting around to blogging about my August reads. But I have a good reason. I finished my book proposal! Or at least, it’s finished for the time being. Now is the part in the process where I wait, which means I have time to catch up on other things. (Like blogging and indulging in a new old hobby. More on that in a minute!)
I started August out with Hooked: Art and Attachment by Rita Felski and while it was a bit academic, I really loved this deep dive into the ways we become attached to art. For my purposes, the first half of the book was more relevant and I found myself underlining and dog-earing almost every page. One of the things I loved most was the way that Felski puts to bed the myth that the best kind of criticism is detached, or that it is even possible for a critic to detach from the work they are studying or writing about. I really love when someone challenges the prevailing wisdom of academia, and Hooked had that in spades.
One of the essays that Felski examines in Hooked is “Notes on Attunement” by Zadie Smith, which led me to pick up Smith’s essay collection Feel Free. And holy crap, how have I not read Zadie Smith before?!?! I love the way Smith blends her own life experiences with art and popular culture and just so many ideas. Her writing is incredible and not only did I enjoy Feel Free, but it also made me want to write more. (Those are always my favorite kinds of books.) I can imagine myself going back to feel free, especially pieces like “Notes on Attunement”(which had one of the most relevant things I’ve ever read about a creative career) many, many times.
I’m not usually one to share whole pages from a book on my blog, but this is so core to understanding the evolution of our creativity and our relationship to our audiences that I feel the need to share the whole thing here:
I read much of Feel Free on our annual trip to the lake, and one morning I posted an image of the book along with my new mug by Julie Harbers on my Instagram stories.
In one of those happy life coincidences, Julie replied to my story to say that Zadie Smith had written her favorite book of the year. So of course, I had to pick up Smith’s newest essay collection, Intimations. Written during the early days of the pandemic, Intimations is a much slimmer book than Feel Free, but the essays are still lovely and thought-provoking. If you’re looking for a shorter entreè into Smith’s work, Intimations is a good place to start.
The final book I read in August was The Power of Knitting by Loretta Napoleoni. This book kept catching my eye on the bookstore shelf (that bright pink color plus a feeling that it might be related to my book proposal kept drawing me in) but it took me a few trips before I finally picked it up. I’m glad I did though, because this fairly quick read was a super enjoyable romp through the history of knitting, as well as an exploration of the ways knitting can help us through trying times. There were a few moments in the book where I was annoyed by Napoleoni’s privilege and felt like she was sliding into a white feminism, but overall, I really loved it.
In fact, I loved it so much that is ALMOST made me want to start knitting. I say almost because, while I can knit, I’ve always preferred to crochet. In college, I used to carry crochet hooks around in my backpack and would crochet anything I could get my hands on. (Like a ball of twine I found in a desk drawer.) Crochet for me wasn’t about making something specific, just keeping my hands busy. I’ve crocheted off and on since college, but hadn’t done much in recent years. My concern with crochet (and really any other hands on hobby) was that it was more wear and tear on my hands, which is a concern when you make your living making things. And it’s a valid concern, but one that seems a little overblown right now, since I’ve been doing more writing and less making during the day.
So between The Power of Knitting and my obsession with Tom Daley’s Instagram account, I decided it was time to bust out the crochet hooks again. I’m currently working on two blankets (one that I started ages ago and never finished, and another one I just started, pictured below). My hope is to use them in the camper, and maybe I’ll manage to finish one or both before next summer! Either way, I’m loving falling back in love with this process and giving my hands something to do that isn’t just mindlessly scrolling my phone.
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