World Travel: The New York Times Books dd Tuesday July 31,2018

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

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Our inaugural Instagram post. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

I have spent a lot more time than usual looking at Instagram (please imagine my sons chastising me for looking at my phone) but I have an excuse: the Books desk is now on Instagram. We’re excited to join its vibrant community of book lovers; we’ll show off beautiful pictures of books (as above) but also offer a new perspective on the work our writers and editors are doing. Please follow along.

Now, here are the most recent books stories from The Times, plus a look at one of my personal favorite Instagram accounts, @lastnightsreading.

Book news of the week:

In a new installment of The Enthusiast, an occasional column dedicated to the books we love to read and reread, Lauren Groff sings the praises of the midcentury novelist and essayist Elizabeth Hardwick.
Ibtihaj Muhammad, the Olympic fencer, spoke to The Times about her new memoir, “Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream.”
Michael Lewis is best known for narrative page-turners like “Moneyball” and “The Big Short.” In his next book, “The Fifth Risk,” he looks at the departments of Energy, Agriculture and Commerce.
The Tour de France wrapped up this weekend, but it’s still a great time to read these books about that race.
Porter Fox answered a few questions about his new book, “Northland: A 4,000-Mile Journey Along America’s Forgotten Border.”

The critics:

Dwight Garner reviewed Sayaka Murata’s “Convenience Store Woman,” calling it “a thrifty and offbeat exploration of what we must each leave behind to participate in the world.”
Jennifer Szalai looked at Beth Macy’s “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America,” a chronicle of the opiod crisis, noting, “Macy has waded into a public health morass that has also become a political minefield.”
Weighing in on Craig Brown’s “Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret,” a new biography of the royal, Parul Sehgal wrote, “I ripped through the book with the avidity of Margaret attacking her morning vodka and orange juice.”

Words of Wisdom

Courtesy Kate Gavino

My favorite bookish Instagram account (besides ours, obviously) belongs to the blog Last Night’s Reading, which is run by the writer and illustrator Kate Gavino.

Gavino started Last Night’s Reading in 2013. She worked in publishing at the time, and regularly attended literary events. “I'd always be doodling in a notebook and jotting down quotes that interested me,” she explained over email. “Some of these quotes seemed too good to not share, so I posted them on Tumblr, alongside a simple portrait I did of the author.”

It’s a straightforward project — pairing profound (or just funny) observations with charming art — but it works. Gavino collected several of these illustrations into a 2015 book, also called “Last Night’s Reading.” It’s a delightful treasury of wisdom and humor.

As she notes in the book’s introduction, “Writing is a solitary activity, but at a reading, writers are with their audience, talking about what matters most to them.” Gavino captures that intimate moment between writer and reader. And such writers: recently she’s seen Zadie Smith, as above, as well as A.M. Homes, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Rebecca Solnit and Rachel Kushner.

I asked Gavino to name a particularly memorable reading. “A few years ago I saw the poet Elizabeth Alexander in conversation with Hilton Als at the New York Public Library,” she said. “My favorite events are always conversations between two authors or artists. They covered everything from poetry to grief to family and much more. She made most of the audience tear up at some point in the night, just with her words. It was a perfect book reading.”

Gavino not long ago left New York to live in Paris, but still attends and documents many readings. She assured me that French literary culture isn’t so different. “There are still people who have ‘more of a comment than a question’ during the Q and A,” she said. “The bookstores themselves are still the best parts of attending a reading. And there's still the joy of seeing an author you love speak passionately about their work. The biggest difference? There is much, much more wine at a Parisian book reading.”

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