It’s become a tradition by now. In the beginning of the summer, I get that feeling, freedom bubbling in my belly, an itching in my bones – and I just have to go to the library and go bananas with my library card. This year, it was the first weekend in June and the sun was shining, I got on my bike and cycled into town. But, as it turned out, it wasn’t only the day of my big summer library visit – it was also the day of the Stockholm Marathon. Getting to the City Library with a bike turned into a logistical nightmare, with the marathon runners cutting off my access between the south and north across the entire inner city! Why would anyone want to run a marathon – and why did they have to do it when I needed to get my summer reading fix!
But I had a mission. I managed to cross, finally, and made it to the library before closing time. About an hour later, I left with 17 books in my backpack. When it comes to books, I have no inhibitions. I couldn’t wait for summer reading time to start!
I did not end up reading all the books that I borrowed that day in early June. Some, I returned without reading, and instead picked up new ones. I haven’t read as ferociously for years. During the months of June, July and August, I read 19 books in total. Here are a couple of highlights:
- When the emperor was divine and The Buddha in the attic by Julie Otsuka. The books are tiny, telling some of the stories of Japanese immigrants in the US during the 19th and 20th centuries. Amazing how much she manages to say with so few words. Every sentence pregnant with meaning, emotion, ambiguity.
- My brilliant friend by Elena Ferrante. Anyone who is into books must have heard about this one by now, it’s a world phenomenon, describing the friendship between two girls in suburban Naples after WWII. It was really slow to start, but about halfway through. Like a tidal wave, the attention to detail, the complex characters. I lived in southern Italy for four intense days at dad’s cottage, the people in the book seeming more real than the sun on my skin and the breeze in the aspen trees above my hammock. I did not want to leave.
- The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I love Katniss. I understand the hype. I was consumed, transported back to the teenager who lived with her nose in a book.
- A visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. A novel about music that travels seamlessly between the characters, decades, styles. When a book makes you cry, just because you find the characters so touching and sincere and because you understand their desperation, that’s the mark of really good writer’s craftsmanship.
In another life, I would read way more than I have time for now – just for the pure enjoyment of it!
Katja Malmborg 