I don't know where this idea of reading one book at a time came from. I followed it for a long time, pushing through books in chunks, like eating a meal, laboriously. Then I paired serious reading and self-help books. But lately, given the way the libraries are working, with book requests and pick-ups, starved for the chance to browse for ideas, I ordered a variety of essay collections.

I always love starting a book, finding out what its flavour is. And so, right now, I have bookmarks in Nobody Cares, Known and Strange Things, Literary (V.S. Naidal), Boom Town, The Power Broker and Harold Brodkey's Stories in an Almost Classical Mode. And this buffet of books is especially pleasing for the contrasts it provides. Caro and Anderson are both talking about cities, but how differently they go about it! Cole and Donahue offer such different perspectives, and even though I might be tempted to grade them on a scale of personal preference, I think that would be wrong. Nobody grades flowers for blooming, comparing a lily of the valley to a geranium... they are so different. Or perhaps, more accurately, I am reticent to write an opinion. When asked “Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?” for a New York Times “By the Book” interview, Gretchen Rubin answered: “I don’t want to supply the titles of any unfinished books […]. As a writer myself, I know how much work and love goes into every book.” (Link). The interview was printed in 2016 and that answer has always stayed with me.