I took a sip of lemon water.
“You made a face,” my husband said.
“It tastes like onions!”
“Oh,” he grimaced. “You used the cutting board for the lemon?”
I laughed. The cutting board had looked wet, as if it had been rinsed. I’m not sure why I didn't smell the onion.
Surface and substance are two different things.
And that particularly applies to reading.
As soon as school got out in May, I read some fluff books, quick reads, books I had purchased for a dollar each at a thrift store. And I don’t mean “fluff” in a derogatory way.
The first novel was a 1989 Ann Cleeves’s murder mystery, and the other was a post-World War II historical fiction. On the surface, both books appeared interesting. I did buy them after all.
I did not solve the murder case before the detective did, but I wasn’t trying. I was reading as an observer, a face in the crowd on the other side of the police tape. In the other story, I learned about the history of bell ringing in English villages, but it was incidental, not intentional learning.
Surface reading.
But my summer read stack below was and is intentional. I hope to learn. I’ve read four so far and started the other two.
I’ve heard people describe books as substantial or meaty, even tasty. But that begs the question—what is substance?
The books in my stack are substance to me, at least I hope they are, but they may not be to another reader. I wrote about The Liberating Arts: Why We Need Liberal Arts Education last month. It’s a “big picture” book while Small Teaching proves something with cognitive science that I’ve thought about for awhile as a teacher. I naturally teach in small bites and have students apply knowledge immediately in writing if possible. According to Lang, this is good but can be improved upon. Small Teaching shows how creating opportunities for students’ brains to make connections and make mistakes is actually fruitful. One of the first chapters is about using pre-tests and predictions in class time, an exercise that has been shown to improve memory and retention. Lang’s intended audience is college professors.
Strange Vernaculars discusses words, phrases, idioms, and their etymologies. Strange and fascinating. I hope I land on some word stories to use in my Humanities classes.
Unaccustomed Earth allowed me to experience the consequences of modern Indian immigration and family dynamics through a short story collection. I’m new to Lahiri, and I like how she examines relationships and their shifts over time.
So how about it? Have you read some great fluff? Have you read something expecting the delight of lemons and got an onion instead? What makes a book meaty to you?
Comment below or feel free to email me! And don't forget that the List Library at my website is always available to you, my readers.
Christine
P.S. I’ll be sharing more next time about my research and book stack for the book proposal I’m polishing!