Read a book about the loneliness epidemic

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness — Kristen Radtke

What to Read This Week

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke

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What It’s About

Last week I mentioned I was reading Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton. Reader, I finished that book (nearly 500 pages) in two sittings. I was absolutely mesmerized and will do a full recommendation on this book in the future. For now, consider this my resounding endorsement!

While I was reading that book, I kept being reminded of Seek You and how much I loved this one. It came out in the summer of 2021, right after the height of the pandemic, a year into it, and everyone was feeling the strain. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked this up, but I didn’t expect to feel so seen.

Radtke mixes historical anecdotes and facts and research about loneliness with a more personal memoir-esque story, creating a layered and detailed account of what loneliness is, its effects on people, and why it’s a silent epidemic sweeping the nation, if not the world. We are more disconnected than ever before. I can personally attest to this, as I have lived alone for nearly a decade now, and most of my best friends live in completely different states than me. And it’s not just one group of people. Divides between generations, politics, religious beliefs, and more are creating more than just slight divisions—they are creating vast crevices that are too large to jump across. So we are left alone.

Art by Kristen Radtke, via New York Times.

You’ll learn about the psychological effects of loneliness through scientific studies and nighttime radio hours with callers who connect over airtime. But most of all, no matter who you are, whether you live alone or with a partner or with children, you will relate to the emotions Radtke brings out in discussing how loneliness can come for anyone.

Who Will Like It

This is one of those books I’d earnestly recommend to anyone. Particularly if you’ve never read a graphic format before, this is an incredible place to start, as the narrative structure is very similar to a typical nonfiction book, but the added artwork brings depth and emotion to Radtke’s words. 2022 has been a particularly difficult year for me, and, I think, for most people. We’re all exhausted and sad and overwhelmed, and being able to sit with those feelings and know you’re not alone by reading Seek You will be, I believe, a cathartic experience.

Next Up

The great book organization project of 2022.

I’ve officially begun the Great Book Organization Project of 2022, which is long overdue and extremely overwhelming. After years of collecting books and shelving them and getting books faster than I can read them, I have accumulated, well, a lot of books.

I’m going through, one shelf at a time, determined to cull books that past me was maybe interested in but current me no longer wants to read. It’s been a long lead-up to this project, as I have a fear of missing the perfect read. What if I get rid of a book that could change my life? Or become a new favorite? I had the opportunity to read it, and I gave it away?

But I finally realized that these books that I no longer want to read are holding me back from everything I do want to read. And if I end up wanting one of these books later? That’s what the library is for. Or, I can even buy another copy! It’s been very freeing to finally allow myself to move on, knowing that I’m a different reader now, at 30, than I was at 26, 22, or 18. It’s okay to let go.

I’m halfway through reading Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi from the early December poll, and while I’m enjoying it, I can see how it won’t necessarily be a book for everyone. It’s whimsical and odd and a bit confusing, but the author narrates the audiobook, and it feels like I’m being told a very strange bedtime story, a feeling I haven’t had in a while, which is why I think I’m enjoying the odd journey it’s taking me on. I’ve also just started The Gifted School and am already excited to see where these characters are going to go.

More Books

Can’t get enough, or looking for a different recommendation? Browse the archives, or check out some popular past recommendations: 

• Read a warm and fuzzy snowstorm mystery

• Read a small-town murder mystery set in an ice-cream shop

• Read about the longest and loneliest horse race in the world—and the woman who won it

I also love hearing from readers! Let me know what kinds of books you’re looking for that you’d like to see featured, or send in your most recent five-star read (or two) and get a recommendation just for you. You might be featured in an upcoming newsletter! Reply to this email to get in touch!

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