This month: Bolaño's enigmatic poets, and a non-fiction recommendation about the animal sensory world

A note

Hello friends, welcome to newsletter #3. A couple of thoughts on doing this for 3 months:

I've found that every English teacher was totally merited for making us write papers for each novel we read. Writing reviews for books, as opposed to just writing notes while reading, considerably improved the way I remember and appreciate the books.
I've been motivated to read more than ever before (I didn't know it was possible!), I believe in part to reach and hear from all of you!

What's next? I've been quite interested in reading more Herman Hesse, so picked up Steppenwolf, and already jumped over to Demian. I've been enjoying how he explores characters finding their 'self' and incorporating both turn of the century German psychology and eastern philosophy in his stories. I'm anticipating some more fun reads coming my way: another Bolaño book (By Night in Chile), Lonesome Dove, and Mary Renault's rendition of Theseus' story (The King Must Die). I was a huge fan of her books on Alexander the Great (Fire from Heaven and The Persian Boy).

Very interested in hearing what you all are reading, what surprised you, what can't you put down?

— Sabtain

01 — Featured August review

The Savage Detectives

Roberto Bolaño

★★★★☆

A sprawling fictional history of the Visceral Realist poetry movement in Mexico, tracking two enigmatic, nomadic poets, Arturo Belano and Ulises Lima, through the eyes of everyone who crossed their path across decades and continents. Hard to recommend to most people, but it's a real treat of a novel with a unique exercise in exposition.

Read the review →

02 — From the archive

An Immense World

Ed Yong

★★★★★

Genuinely one of the best books I've ever read. Someone recently mentioned they were going to pick this up, and I was so excited for them. You'll learn so much about the sensory world different animals hold, and be astonished with what they are capable of. I came out of this with a whole new appreciation for animals, one that has made me much more sympathetic than ever before in terms of how we perceive and interact with them and our shared environments.

Read the review →

03 — Currently reading