What does your tsundoku look like?
Plus other cool things people wrote, illustrated, and photographed.
Piling Up
— BOOKS
I have a tsundoku problem. Over the years, I’ve bought books I fully intend to read but never quite got around to doing so. Every once in a while I sift through the pile, donate books I resignedly accept I will never read, and yet my collection doesn’t appear to diminish at all. I’m glad I’m not alone in it. Tsundoku is a common condition amongst bibliophiles, and Atlas Obscura asked its readers tell us about—and show us photos of—their tsundoku collections.
Say It With Flowers
— PEOPLE
When Alisha Gorder worked at a flower shop, she did more than assemble bouquets and trim the thorns off roses. She sometimes became part of people’s stories, from taking down messages for the accompanying notes to helping them pick the right flowers for unexpected occasions.
I would scoff at messages that seemed too sugary, trite or boring, and it disheartened me when customers asked what their sympathy card should say. But I also understood that finding the right words can be a monumental task and that sometimes those words just happen to be the same ones everyone else is using.
In her essay for New York Times’s Modern Love, Alisha writes about love and loss, hope and flowers. It’s a beautiful reminder that we are all made of stories.
The Nanny Diaries
— PHOTOGRAPHY
Vivian Maier might be one of the world’s most well-known street photographers today, but this wasn’t the case during her lifetime. The French nanny lived an unassuming life in Chicago where she died in 2009. It was only after her death that thousands of her photographs were discovered, and Maier became a sensation in the world of photography. I’ve had the privilege of seeing some of her prints at an exhibit in 2012, and the degree of skill she displayed for an amateur, untrained photographer was absolutely staggering. British Journal of Photography takes a look at Maier’s life and a documentary on her that was nominated for an Oscar.
The Shared Nostalgia of Set Menus
— TRADITIONS
I imagine that, when you have a parent who’s in the armed forces, change is inevitable. There’s a new location every few years, meaning a new school, new friends and neighbours, new experiences. But in the midst of all this change, is there any room for constancy? Writer Tapshi Dhanda says there is.
I found it both fascinating and comforting that no matter which part of the country I was in, the food in the mess there tasted like food in any army mess anywhere. I began to reason that perhaps, like most things in the army, food is a matter of tradition and precision – neither of which is achieved by introducing change.
Tapshi takes us into the world of the army mess—the set menus, the gin cocktails, the chefs’ training—and shares a sliver of life on an army base.
Surviving a Serial Killer
— CRIME / PEOPLE
Our fascination with serial killers has spawned countless books, TV shows, documentaries, and movies. Most of them focus on the killer. But what about his victims and survivors? We rarely know their names, even more rarely their stories. Kathy Kleiner Rubin is one such survivor, saved from death because she never drew her bedroom windows closed. Rolling Stone’s profile tells Kathy’s story beyond just one horrific night.
Sunlight falls heavy.
— MUSIC
I’m thrilled there’s new music from Rob Thomas, one of the best songwriters of our generation.
Into the wild.
— NATURE / ILLUSTRATION
Artist Rohan Chakravarty created this gorgeous wildlife map highlighting Maharashtra’s biodiversity for WWF India. Crested Hawk-Eagle, Black-bearded Tomb Bat, Humayun’s Wrinkled Frog…dive in and explore the abundant flora and fauna that call the state home.
Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash
Thanks for reading! I’m Shivani, a writer & editor, caffeine addict, and runner who loves tacos and has no hand-eye co-ordination. You can find me on Twitter at @wordsbyshivani.
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