A book I read recently placed the main character in New Zealand on the solstice – winter solstice here and summer solstice in the southern hemisphere – which gave me pause.
Here's why: for years, I suffered with seasonal depression (SAD). Thankfully, these days it's mostly controlled with tons of exercise and a (reasonably) good diet. But the idea that the longest days happen depending on where you are on the planet is interesting. It's a more global take on standing in someone else's shoes, but just as helpful a shift of perspective.
I recognize there's an ineffable loveliness about the low angle of the sun in winter, the way it slants through south-facing windows gently seeking the back corners of rooms. But still I crave the long days and the intense light of summer. In August, I usually feel a slight panic, knowing that the days will be getting shorter for the next few months.
That awareness is one of the reasons I time my newsletters to the solar calendar: solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarter days. I feel those passages. Noticing of those cycles makes me feel more alive. How do you mark the change of seasons?
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I've included my reading list from this year below. It seems a little sparse, so I might have forgotten a few titles. I'm always looking for a good read, so reply with your suggestions for 2025, please.
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My 2024 reading list, in no particular order
*= started, not yet finished.
My Father's Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer's, Sandeep Jauhar
Reef Life, Callum Roberts
The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic, Salisbury, Gay; Salisbury, Laney
Notes on a Life, Eleanor Coppola
The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control, Katherine Morgan Schafler
*The Marvelous Clouds: Toward a Philosophy of Elemental Media, Peters, John Durham
Riverman: An American Odyssey, McGrath, Ben
Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America, Essays by various authors, edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Kate Harding
Believing: Our Thirty-year Journey to End Gender Violence, Anita Hill
Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo
Be Ready When the Luck Happens, Ina Garten
Three Keys, Laura Pritchett
Still Life, Sarah Winman
The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters
Tom Lake, Ann Patchett
Why Fish Don't Exist, Lulu Miller
*The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese
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I hope you find a little time for joy this season,
