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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Spring break books!

2014-09-21-Columnists-6-copy
Helen Schmidt

Unfortunately, my dear readers, you won’t be hearing from your favorite literary columnist for a couple of weeks. We’re less than five days from spring break, something that -- for me at least -- doesn’t seem real. This semester has been crazy and disjointed, so it’ll be nice to relax and spend some time reading instead of worrying about classes. I will be taking a lovely excursion to Mexico, and you can bet anything I’ll be spending most of my time relaxing on the beach with a good book. While hopefully no one is too swamped with work, spring break is my favorite time to get started on a few new books. Below I’ve listed some of my recommendations, each falling under very different categories.

I’ve never been one for celebrity memoirs, as I’ve often found them to be uninspiring and poorly written, but recently I have found a few that are surprisingly well worth the read. An avid fan of "Parks and Recreation" (2009-2015), "The Office" (2005-2013) and "30 Rock" (2006-2013), I knew I had to try out Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and B.J. Novak’s books, entitled “Yes Please” (2014), “Bossypants” (2013) and “One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories” (2014), respectively. Each book takes readers deep into the mental recesses of the brilliant actors who wrote them as they describe the paths they each took to get to the successful place they are today. I couldn’t get through more than five pages at a time without laughing aloud. If you’re looking for lighthearted, funny and absolutely genius writing, then look no further.

I’ve also found that truly relaxing reading often comes in the form of short stories. Because of their confined length, short stories can be more intricately detailed than longer novels. The concentration needed to sort out the fine details, however, takes me out of the world I’m sitting in and completely transports me to the world of the story. My most recent find, which makes me think so much of spring, is “The Architect of Flowers” (2011) by William Lychack. His stories deal with simple interpersonal interactions of love, anger and sadness, and they focus on parts of our everyday lives that most people often don’t acknowledge. There is a magical quality to Lychack’s writing, making each story a beautiful song in a larger, elaborate symphony with every turned page.

Last week, I had the immense pleasure of discussing one of my favorite essay authors, David Sedaris. Over the course of this week, I’ve devoured another of his collections. This one, entitled “Me Talk Pretty One Day” (2001), describes Sedaris’ life throughout his childhood and during his years spent living in France. In one essay, “Twelve Moments in the Life of the Artist,” Sedaris discusses his failed attempts at attending art school, and how he instead joined underground art collectives that made “art” out of the garbage collected from trashcans. In “The Great Leap Forward,” he talks about his ridiculous employment under a woman named Valencia, who was unbelievably wealthy yet pretended she was struggling to get by. Sedaris writes with a humor unlike any other author, as his life experiences are seen through the eyes of a timid, self-conscious and overanalyzing man.

I truly believe reading is the best way to de-stress. To me, television and movies don’t have the same appeal as curling up in silence or with ambient music to devour page after page of an excellent book. I can’t wait to spend my week reading as much as I possibly can and getting to every book I haven’t yet had a chance to read. Enjoy your week off, and happy reading!