From the Camas Editors: We have some recommendations for you!
Here at Camas, we understand and want to acknowledge that we are experiencing challenging times. Things feel broken and scary. But, we are also hoping that this moment of pause allows the world to reflect on how we live and what is important while increasing connection and time spent with loved ones.
We are writers. We are also readers: because as we’ve all learned, you can’t be a writer without reading. The Camas Editorial team put together a list of books we think you might enjoy while hunkering down for an uncertain amount of time. We hope you find something here that inspires you!
Jackie Bussjaeger, Senior Editor
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
A New York Times bestseller I picked up at the Fort Missoula Museum Used Book sale last fall. It's set in modern-day England and has a lot of the quaint comfort that I've enjoyed in Agatha Christie books. It's an interesting twist on the classic countryside romance, in that old-school retired Major Ernest Pettigrew begins to fall for the widowed village shopkeeper, Mrs. Ali. Mrs. Ali comes from a Pakistani family, and the two have to battle out the prejudices of their community and the pressures from the younger generation.
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
This is actually a young adult book, but it takes place among the Ojibwe who historically lived on Madeline Island on Lake Superior. Since I'm very far away from Lake Superior at the moment, it's giving me a little glimpse of home.
Spillover by David Quammen
This one might seem a little weird for the times, but I pulled out my copy of Spillover by Montana science writer David Quammen to learn more about infectious disease. The chapter about the SARS epidemic, caused by the spread of a different coronavirus, was an in-depth look at how this type of viral epidemic originates and spreads. It provides a very educational, science-based way to look at the similarities to our current situation without the constant worries and uncertainty of the day's headlines.
Claire Carlson, Senior Editor
A couple of books I love and would be great to curl up to during ~isolation~ are The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin and I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
This is a brilliantly written book that follows the lives of four siblings who, as children, were each given a prediction by a psychic about the date they would die. The book follows them through their lives and you see how they both make and break this prophecy.
I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
This hilarious book by essayist Sloane Crosley writes about the ridiculous reality of being a twenty-something in New York City (this sounds like the premise of a hundred subpar TV shows that float around on Hulu, but I SWEAR IT'S NOT!). I rarely laugh out loud while reading, yet this book makes me laugh nearly every page. My favorite essay is "Smell This", which might possibly be the best and funniest essay written of all time (my unbiased opinion).
Elizabeth Pellegrino, Poetry Board Chair
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.
Parable of the Sower is one of those sci-fi books that was written in the 1990's, but rings even truer now. Set in the 2020's, this book discusses issues of climate change, wealth inequality, and corporate greed from the perspective of a young woman, who knows her current way of life won't be able to last forever. It's a book about the sacrifices a person makes of their own will and the sacrifices that they are forced to make as a result of things out of their control.
I finished this book just as the first cases of community spread were being reported in Washington state, and I imagine this book would read differently even just a few weeks later. But I think it's one of those stories that allows the reader to grapple and process the difficulties of the time that we're living through, but to do that processing with the cognitive distance a fictional story provides.
The Tribute Horse by Brandon Som
The Tribute Horse is one of my favorite books of poetry. Som is brilliant and precise in his use of language, word choice, and even the sound of the poems themselves, which makes his poems a joy to read. This book unravels and investigates the ways migration impacts culture, language, and the generations that come after the act of migration. My favorite poem in the collection is called "Coaching Papers," and it plays around a lot with language, translation, and the type of exclusion Chinese immigrants faced when coming into San Francisco. The poem uses language in ways that are playful and sorrowful and interrogating. I highly, highly recommend this book of poetry.
Timefullness: how Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World by Marcia Bjornerud
If you're at all interested in climate change, geology, or science writing, please read this book. Bjornerud writes for a non-scientific audience and explains how the discipline of geology (one of the more over-looked natural sciences, if I can be biased) can help aid in our current thinking about climate change and our future. It's a great read, and I think it does a lot to shift the average reader's perspective on time and how we perceive it.
Katie Hill, Nonfiction Board Chair
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
This is a super fascinating dive into the very kinds of global panic events we are facing right now. Elizabeth Kolbert has mastered the art of writing nonfiction page-turners, and for those who might feel like all this quarantining is a bunch of nonsense, this might serve as a good reminder that we aren’t any more invincible than those creatures who succumbed in the first five extinctions.
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
This short memoir follows Steinbeck and his pet poodle, Charley, as they traverse through 40 of the States in a pickup truck hauling a camper. Steinbeck’s writing about travel and wanderlust will carry any reader right along with him, giving a temporary and safe pass from lockdown. He falls madly in love with Montana the most, and his quotes about which are a source of hometown pride in many souvenir shops.
Sydney Bollinger, Fiction Board Chair
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
An interesting novel about a world after climate change and concerning science. It's really fun and also a bit creepy.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
I just finished reading this and it's a good philosophy for the moment we're in right now with the pandemic and all the other things going on.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
my all-time favorite book. It draws you in and doesn't let go.
Stephanie Maltarich, Blog Editor
Tribe by Sebastian Junger
I couldn’t put this book down last winter break. It’s a first-hand reflection with a journalistic approach. Junger explores the loss of connectedness among humans in the West. He argues that our loss of community and relationships is the root of many problems, but if changed, it could be a remedy for many if not more. He uses the experience of veterans to tell the story, diving into why they prefer war over peace—the community they find in combat brings more happiness than isolation at home. I think this is an important read during this time when being “together yet apart” – is fostering connection and community.
Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage
This book has remained a favorite for over a decade. The story follows a young couple in their mid-twenties on a two-year bicycle journey around the world. They start in the U.S. but make their way to Europe, Morocco, Thailand, Nepal and New Zealand. Their adventures were rich— their connection to the world beautiful. I remember reading in awe that this true adventure took place before the internet, before phones. Their willingness to see the world by bike was truly remarkable.