north hermitage summer reading list

Can I just say how sad I was leaving my sublease? It was this slightly suburban, urban oasis. I have a hard time calling it urban because clearly it isn’t like most neighborhoods in Chicago or other urban areas. Lush and green, lots of houses, tree lined streets and the occasional apartment building. Everything I needed was walking distance, biking distance, easy to catch a bus or train anywhere. I felt it was like living in a place where nothing was too terribly far away, but far enough that nights were quiet, cicadas chirped in the trees, and I could see the stars at night. I was grateful the place I leased was fully furnished and came with affordable internet and no tv.

So while I lived farther north in Chicago, the guy I was subleasing from had a pretty awesome wall of books. Most of which I had heard of but never was determined to buy and read on my own. What luck huh? I didn’t have to spend a fortune or fight my way through a library to read some of Michael Chabon's books, books on Chicago and several books on lifestyles…everything from vegetarianisms to how-to-live like an Orthodox Judaism strictly following the torah and unwritten Hebrew laws.

Before I moved at the end of August I finished reading Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon. I was instantly drawn to the cover of this book, but I had no idea what the premise or content was. So in a few lines, this book is about a guy fooling around all summer after he graduates from college, unsure how to proceed (relevant I guess?). So he works at a bookstore to stay busy, but clearly not busy enough because he is constantly internally conflicted with wanting to keep his past and present separate. His families humble beginnings and the world of prep schools and trust funds are all around him. Maybe this book should be called “The Great Gatsby” of Pittsburgh young adults.

Earlier in the summer I read Michael Chabon's Pulitzer prize winner, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay which was-- in fact--awesome! If you like amazing escapes, illusionist, killing Nazi/WWII heroes, New York City wonders of the 1930s-40s, Cinderella stories, and comic books… you will LOVE this book. I couldn’t put it down during my train commute every day. I don’t want to ruin the plot, so read it and find out why it’s called the Amazing Adventures.

So I decided mid summer it would be fun to read an embellished account of Chicago’s World’s Fair. The Devil in the White City sounds a little intimidating for conservative readers, but is basically the story of the world’s fair with the famous architects like Olmstead, Burnham and their contemporaries planning the spectacular event and the second story of the notorious serial killer H.H. Holmes who for several years ran a hotel near the fair where he could gleam from his guest to seduce/ kill/ dissect and then sell to medical colleges. It was not terribly graphic which was good, just eerie that these stories are all really from the past, and happened not terribly far from the sites I worked at down in South Chicago!

Ok, so the next interesting book I read was Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs. Interestingly enough, this man who grew up Jewish writes this sort of as a joke, but I think he missed the mark. I read the entire book, laughing at his clever banter as he felt in costume wearing the prescribed Hebrew garb dictated in Leviticus, eating only what is prescribed, following rules about pigeon sacrifice, clean and unclean, and general ten commandment laws. It was discipline for disciplines sake. What did AJ Jacobs learn after a year? That it was good idea not to lie so much, take care of his neighbors, he got used to being the curious looking middle easterner with the large beard on the train. He made a effort to pray every day. There was no true “seeking God.” It’s just a lot of religious rules he decides to follow. Clever and witty, but slightly irreverent.

And on of the last books I read from the shelf at Apt 3W on North Hermitage was Eating Animals by Jonathon Safron Foer (aka how to convince everyone that being a omnivore means you are heartless & uneducated.) Whatever helps you sleep at night j.s.foer...i will still eat my pork chicken and beef and feel no shame. It was part documentation of current meat farming practices in the US and part vegetarian propaganda. Let me just say I’m pretty familiar with the farming practices of our world. I eat far less meat as a 24 year old, it would be easy for me to be a vegetarian. But I can’t begin to understand the idea that fish and animals should be considered creatures of value on the same level as humans. That idea is a cultural crisis in the making. A natural hierarchy disrupted makes for disaster….for example the grizzly man… remember him???? A clear case of disrupted natural hierarchy. His disillusion the natural order and making himself prey to bears by thinking they have they same sense of morality, cognition, and culture is beyond me. I agree we have the responsibility to the world as the “caretakers” but beyond that, I will never be convinced a pig, chicken, or cow is on my level of value.

So that was my summer reading list. Books of culture and fiction. Try them out!