Reading the world from my New York City apartment

When I visit other countries, I always try to seek out a bookstore. My purchases are usually but not always tied to the place. Years ago in London, I discovered Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, while in Amsterdam I bought a copy of the sci-fi novel The Book of Strange New Things by Dutch-born writer Michel Faber, and in New Zealand, I found An Angel at My Table, an autobiography by one of that country's most famous writers, Janet Frame. On my vacation to Sweden last summer, I

A few months ago, I wrote about my happy discovery of the first installment in the planned seven-book series On the Calculation of Volume. This inventive novel explores the idea of being trapped in time, living the same day over and over. What especially piqued my interest is that this ceaseless day – November 18th – also happens to be my birthday. On the Calculation of Volume, written by Danish author Solvej Balle and beautifully translated by Barbara Haveland, is hard to ca

Last weekend, I traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas for the first time. One highlight was visiting the place where, in 1957, a group of brave Black teenagers attempted to walk through the doors of the all-white Central High School, surrounded by mobs of enraged segregationists. These students, known as the Little Rock Nine, became enduring symbols of the civil rights movement. Little Rock Central High School, now a national historic site run by the National Park Service, remain

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Vladimir Nabokov’s century-old novel Mary and the futility of trying to relive the past. I didn’t plan for this next book to cover similar ground, but the obsession with memory also underpins Brit Bennett’s The Mothers, a contemporary novel set in Southern California. Both stories hinge on a teenage love affair that echoes into adulthood. In each book, it’s clear that the past cannot be recreated. Yet The Mothers, published in 2016, is alt

The World Cup is a big event in my household, and it’s particularly exciting to see it unfold on our home turf. Besides watching a lot of soccer these last few weeks, I’ve also spent far too much time scrolling through Instagram videos from tourists, Europeans mostly, who have come to support their teams and fallen in love with America along the way. These visitors have been documenting their delight and astonishment over many things Americans take for granted: central air co

After spending last week immersed in Wall Street’s 1929 crash, I’m now rewinding three years and shifting continents to meet a group of Russian émigrés in Berlin. One of my literary through lines this year is to explore books written or set in 1926. I started with The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, followed by Jazz by Toni Morrison. My latest pick is Mary, Vladimir Nabokov’s first novel. It’s a beautifully written and poignant book about a young man consumed with memori