Hello from Tokyo!
The whole fam is now spending the summer here. We've been here scores of times but all those those trips were just for a few days. Spending more than a month in place rewires your brain to respond to the city in a different way. You have to actively recalibrate from maximization-mode to imbibement-mode. Summer is a time to slow down, to saunter, to linger. To have a loose intention and not a rigid itinerary.
When I started snowbird, this self-determination of time and work was what I was hoping for. To be able to integrate family and work is a radical privilege I do not take lightly.
We've got snowbird work keeping us occupied for a range of companies in Tokyo - from product roadmaps to global expansion strategies. We have a ton of catching up to do with old friends and lots of family excursions. We've established our base in Minato-ku, gone grocery shopping, figured out our go-to playgrounds nearby and most importantly, made our summer reading lists.
I wasn't much of a reader growing up. No accessible libraries, no real bookstores in town, no disposable income. It was generally not a thing anyone I knew was doing. It's kinda sad to even think about this. My first real foray into recreational reading was in college, when V recommended I give Harry Potter a shot - like many millennials, this would become my gateway drug to reading. Decades later, we're raising our own little reader. Our painstakingly accumulated library being the only thing of any value in our home.
I am convinced that the ability to read deeply is what enables us to understand people, make better connections between ideas and write those connections into words. Translated fiction continues to be a crucial cog in my understanding of Japan. To read is to delve into the other without suspending your own imagination.
One of the movies I watched (and loved) last year was Perfect Days by Wim Wenders. The atmosphere created around the protagonist Hirayama's reading - the city, the sunshine, his little bedside lamp, the small bookstore he frequents - was exquisite. These books are not only part of his evening routine but also reflect his appreciation for literature and his contemplative nature. Reading all around Tokyo is a vibe.
Our Reading List(s)
Here are the books we want to read this summer, you can see my pile up front.
These are some of the books we're most excited about:
An Immense World - Ed Yong
Ed is a phenomenal writer. I've followed his work since he wrote about microbiomes and then later about the COVID pandemic. His writing has never failed to move me, while breaking perceived barriers between us and nature. A "young readers" version of his book just came out. So the kiddo and I are reading this in tandem.
No Straight Road Takes You There - Rebecca Solnit
Rebecca's ability to bring together radicalism and calmness is unparalleled. You read her and realize that all the major problems of the world are essentially connected. And that it's not about linear change. Or defeatism. It is accepting that there is a way out, and it's OK to not see it right away.
Lowriders series - Cathy Camper, illustrated by Raúl the Third
An antelope, a mosquito and an octopus live in the American Southwest. Each is obsessed with vintage cars: the antelope (Lupe Impala) is a master mechanic; the mosquito (Elirio Malaria) is a detail artist; and the octopus (Flapjack) an expert polisher. They dream of owning a car garage, and enter a competition for the best customized lowrider. The kiddo is HOOKED!
Parable series - Octavia E. Butler
I sometimes give a tiny volume of "A Few Rules for Predicting the Future" to my clients. Octavia's writing is filled with equal parts ambition and imagination. Every page has a sentence you want to highlight, underline, put on a T-shirt. Look at this beautiful passage that opens the book...
Prodigy is, at its essence, adaptability and persistent, positive obsession. Without persistence, what remains is an enthusiasm of the moment. Without adaptability, what remains may be channeled into destructive fanaticism. Without positive obsession, there is nothing at all.
Reading seems to be more in peril than ever before, in a time when it is probably what we need the most. While phones had already waged the first war on reading, that seems tame compared to what AI is unleashing on it.
"In our current reading regime, summarized or altered texts are the exception, not the rule. But over the next decade or so, that polarity may well reverse: we may routinely start with alternative texts and only later decide to seek out originals, in roughly the same way that we now download samples of new books to our Kindles before committing to them. Because A.I. can generate abridgments, summaries, and other condensed editions on demand, we may even switch between versions as circumstances dictate—the way that, today, you might decide to listen to a podcast at “2x” speed, or quit a boring TV show and turn to Wikipedia to find out how it ended. Pop songs often come in different edits—the clean edit, and various E.D.M. remixes. As a writer, I may not want to see my text refracted in this way. But the power of refraction won’t be mine to control; it will lay with readers and their A.I.s. Together, they will collapse the space between reading and editing."
Joshua Rothman
This is why we make reading lists in our family - as a bit of a fight against all this slop. V and the kiddo are way better at actually finishing their lists. But I'm not too far behind. What matters is intention and effort.
Tell us what's on your list.