My dearest incurable humanist,

Summer is flying by, and can’t believe there’s already hints of pumpkin madness out there. This week I’ll keep it brief and dive right into The Incurable Humanist’s August/September reading list:

1. The Renoir Girls: A Hidden History of Art, War & Betrayal by Catherine Ostler

I’m looking forward to reading Catherine Ostler’s The Renoir Girls, which tells the story of the Cahen d’Anvers sisters, who were painted by Renoir. It follows their lives from Belle Époque Paris through war, antisemitism, and the Holocaust.

2. Villa Coco: A Novel by Andrew Sean Greer

I hadn’t been in a novel mood in a long time, but since reading Yesteryear, a few months ago I’ve somewhat started to want to read novels again. Villa Coco is the newest book from Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less. It’s a story about a young woman who moves to a crumbling villa in Tuscany to work for an elderly Baronessa.

3. Lost Lambs: A Novel by Madeline Cash

Following the novel theme, Lost Lambs is Madeline Cash’s debut novel. I’m curious to read this as it tackles family problems, online radicalization, and paranoia…

4. All That's Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir by Emilee Hackney

I saved this one for last because I think this one is the one I am most excited and intrigued about. Part coming-of-age story, part reckoning, the memoir follows Emma Hackney’s experience growing up in the coalfields of southwestern Virginia, falling into a radical Pentecostal community as a teenager, and later leaving for Harvard. What makes it even more interesting to me is that in way, it is also about migration. Hackney writes about leaving Appalachia and discovering how difficult it can be to belong fully to the place where you came from and to the new one.

Until next week!