If we were hanging out after school with you, we would talk about your kids and...
Blair:
Reading: At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life, Fenton Johnson and "My Three Fathers," Ann Patchett (The New Yorker, Oct. 5, 2020 issue)
Enjoying: Marvin Gaye singing the national anthem at the 1983 NBA all star game ("It might be the most beautiful version I've ever heard.")
Listening: Justin Bieber and Chance the Rapper's song, "Holy."
Sarah:
Reading: cozy English/Icelandic murder mysteries and knitting myself some mitts,
Listening: Awar-recommended podcast "Nice White Parents."
Megan:
Reading: The Watsons Go to Birmingham, Christopher Paul Curtis (I love when my kids recommend books for me, so gratifying), The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson, and Waking Up White, Debby Irving
Howard:
Watching: Shetland (BritBox, Prime Video, now Netflix) -- Scottish crime drama series, Miles Davis -- Birth of the Cool (Netflix, 2 hrs), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Amazon Prime Video)
Reading: A Woman of No Importance, Sonya Purnell, Born a Crime, Trevor Noah, and A Time for Mercy, John Grisham's latest
Nicole:
Watching: Virgin River, Netflix Series
Stephanie:
Reading: The Secret Teachings of Plants, by Stephen Harrod Buhner
Daniel:
Reading: Great Short Stories by Great American Writers, Thomas Fasano
Michael:
The War for the Poor, Éric Vuillard and old issues of The New Yorker, a gift of my parents
Jonathan:
Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art, Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Eric:
The Genius in All of Us: New Insights into Genetics, Talents, & IQ, David Shenk, Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, & Spirit (with a group), Mary Frances Winters, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay, and Vacationland by John Hodgman
Jolee:
Reading: The Dutch House, Anne Patchett, Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art, Mary Gabriel (finished this summer with Grace and Tom Trotter), and A Wish in the Dark, Christina Soontornvat, an unhealthy amount of news interspersed with research on "how to grow lots of flowers"
Listening: to my daughter's Spotify playlists after being shamed into finding misplaced password
Janel:
Reading: The Bootlace Magician, Cassie Beasley, and Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo
Mariclaire:
Race Against Time, Jerry Mitchell
Meg:
Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. It's a Chinese sci-fi novel about an earth-like planet traveling between three stars and experiencing radical shifts in climate and civilization. I don't usually read scifi recreationally, but this one came very highly recommended, and so far it's a page turner!
Jess:
Reading: Songs of Love and Horror, Will Oldham, and a collection of Appalachian music and history inherited from my parents
Listening: Daniel Johnston's "Hi How Are You?" album