Reading is a lifesaver, especially in the winter, and especially in these often dark and very strange times. We need light where we can find it. 

And I found it in a book a friend suggested: This Is Happiness, by Niall Williams. I felt like I’d discovered a long-forgotten classic. Afterward, not wanting to leave the small Irish town of Faha, I went on to read the sequel by the same author, Time of the Child. I still didn’t want to leave Faha but had to. 

Luckily I soon found Morley—The Very Best Basset Hound by Laury A. Egan, and joy bounded into my life again.

Some other great recent reads: The Art of Memoir, by Mary Karr; The Magician’s Assistant, by Ann Patchett; The Fraud, by Zadie Smith; Heft, by Liz Moore; The Giant’s House by Elizabeth McCracken; Ragtime (a re-read), by E.L. Doctorow; The Lying Life of Adults, by Elena Ferrante; and the remarkable Stoner, by John Williams, another near classic. 

I so enjoyed The Miniature Painter Revealed: Amalia Kussner’s Gilded Age Pursuit of Fame and Fortune, by my friend Kathleen Langone. And I love reading every story my friend Gail Therrien writes about her life and sends to me.

Thank you to all these writers.