Summer is upon us! It’s always been my favorite season, thanks to having a summer birthday and growing up near the beach. This year it’s looking even better. Emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic is bringing me, along with so many of us, a tremendous sense of relief. Being able to see (and hug) my friends and colleagues in person is pure joy.
But Covid-19 has cast a long shadow. It’s changed the way I see the world. I’m thinking a lot about what surviving the collective trauma of a pandemic means for us as individuals and as a society. It makes me want to engage differently with my work and my life. It’s certainly an opportunity to live more meaningfully.
To that end, reading books continues to provide me with an invaluable way to understand and interpret the world. Whether the books are fiction or non-fiction, reading is even more important to me right now as I try to make sense of what’s just happened to us and how to move forward. Alternatively, I sometimes read to just relax and have fun(!). This reading list can help. Enjoy!
Two books that gave me a better understanding of where we’ve been as a country and some ideas for how we can move forward. They convey optimism while still providing a good dose of reality:
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Well: What We Need to Talk About When We Talk About Health by Sandro Galea
Two books that helped me to reflect on how to navigate a post-pandemic world, where being back “in-person” can feel challenging and defining a meaningful path forward is even more important:
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Women Rowing North by Mary Pipher
Two books that provided terrific depictions of what being a strong family means over time, and how to handle the inevitable challenges and crises that life presents. These were wonderfully immersive page turners!
The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
You can find additional and future book recommendations by following my Goodreads bookshelf here or my Instagram.
I’d also like to thank all readers who continue to support and promote Marching Toward Coverage. Each review, e-mail, and social media post helps propel my message about the fight for universal healthcare forward. If you post something related to Marching Toward Coverage, please be sure to tag me on Twitter at @Rosemarie_Day1 and on Instagram at @RosemarieDay_author and I will happily cross-post. Thank you!
I hope you have a great summer!