2019 Summer Book Bingo: Start Your Next Square
June 12, 2019
By Danielle Palmer-Friedman
Your first #BookBingoNW2019 square is seemingly the easiest to knock out: the board dancing in front of you, all of your options open, untouched. But after you’ve crossed the first category off your list, what should you read next? The forever-growing stack of books at your bedside table looms, almost toppling over with possibility. All that opportunity can be paralyzing.
Never fear! Here are some suggestions, from our nightstands to yours, to help you cross of the next square on your Summer Book Bingo card:
DIY (gardening, cooking, crafting, etc.)
Secrets of Great Second Meals by Sara Dickerman
Sara Dickerman, a food writer who lives locally and has cooked at Le Pichet and The Harvest Vine, just released her third cookbook this past February. Secrets of Great Second Meals helps train your kitchen habits into sustainable practices. You’ll learn how to shop, cook, and re-use ingredients, starting from your grocery cart to your fridge. The book introduces recipes for foundational dishes that you can build on later in the week with more vibrant elements. It will help take you one step closer to “green living,” an important adjustment to make, as food waste currently emits about 8 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gases.
(Obligatory plug: As a SAL subscriber, you enjoy 10% discounts at our bookstore partners, including Fremont’s culinary treasure, Book Larder, where you can buy Dickerman’s book).
Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
Screens are everywhere you look, and Artificial Intelligence is becoming more of a reality every day. Sometimes, it can feel like you’re wholly unprepared if you’ve studied Greek classics and philosophy in school instead of computer science. But with so many subfields and topics, where should you start?
The book Algorithms to Live By is the perfect solution for those of us who didn’t specialize in things with wires in school. It offers a direct connection between technology and our daily lives. The book details a variety of decision problems that can also help humans qualify their everyday issues, like hiring a new employee or finding a parking spot. It will leave you with a better understanding of how human experience shapes technology. The best part? It’s not slathered in technical detail, but you’ll still pick up a handful of new vocab words and a few great anecdotes for your next dinner party.
By an author from Mexico or Canada
The Devil’s Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea
Luis Alberto Urrea, born in Tijuana and raised in the United States, brings together a weave of literary fiction and sharp investigative reporting in this non-fiction epic. The Devil’s Highway recounts the journey of 26 Mexican men crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2001—less than half of them came out the other side alive. The beauty of this book is the collection of narratives it provides, deftly illustrating the nuance of migration. And Urrea’s dual perspective – identifying himself on the borders of Mexican and American cultures – is the perfect framework for the tale.
Luis Alberto Urrea, who is famously a great storyteller, will come to Benaroya Hall as part of our 2019/20 Literary Arts Series on May 20, 2020. Subscriptions currently available here.
Published when the author was under 35
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Sally Rooney published her best-selling first book, Conversations with Friends, at 26. Her second novel, Normal People, comes at the ripe old age of 28. Following the old adage “write what you know,” Rooney is a 20-something writing about 20-somethings. Her work brings the raw realness of Salinger to the modern age.
Normal People follows the lives of two teenagers into their college years and shows how relationships fluctuate, how two people can remain tethered to each other through the years. It’s ripe with emotion, heavy with self-awareness, and offers an insider view into how millennials think, love, and live in this world.