A Summer Reading Announcement

The 2020-2021 school year has transformed the way I read and write, all thanks to this blog. When my AP Lang teacher encouraged us to publish our classwork online, I created the website “Sherbert Illuminated” and started posting book reviews alongside my assignments. At the time, books were the most interesting part of my life: I’d started a serious campaign of reading in the summer of 2020 and since then had discovered new favorites and literary trashfires. I figured that if I could learn to communicate my love (or hatred) for a work, I’d become a more thoughtful reader. Heck, I might even refine my writing style.

My speculations proved correct: over the course of the year, the quality of my writing improved dramatically. I developed a stronger line of reasoning, added supplementary quotes and images, and even started reading my reviews aloud before publishing them. Since I began Sherbert Illuminated in October, I’ve written more than 60 essays, and I’m particularly pleased with my most recent posts. Not that I’ve become a master wordsmith or anything; in a few years, I’ll probably look back on these reviews and cringe. I’m already cringing at my early reviews. But I know that each work is a stepping stone in my development as a writer, and improvement is nothing to be ashamed of.

In fact, I’m proud of myself for broadening my literary horizons. When I selected a to-be-read (TBR) shelf for the summer of 2020, most of my choices were set in America and only two books out of 35 were written by authors of color. Now, nonwhite authors make up half of my summer 2021 shelf, which includes more than 70 books in total. However, this unequivocal improvement in reading material has brought an added challenge for the summer to come: I just can’t write fast enough to cover all the books I want to read.

When I started this blog, I promised myself never to finish a new book before I’d published my review of the old one. This method encouraged me to contemplate each book’s merits, but it also slowed down my pace of reading. Sometimes I would choose not to read further until I’d finished an essay. If I took to long to write a review, I would feel ashamed.

I can’t do that anymore.

This summer, I plan to do a lot of travelling, and I won’t always have access to Wi-fi for speedy review-writing. And since I love literature so much, I plan to do a lot of reading. I don’t want the stress and shame of finishing a book in the middle of a long car ride and being unable to pick up the next one.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: if these rules are self-imposed, can’t you adapt them to fit the changing circumstances?

Why, yes I can.

In order to sharpen my writing skills while keeping my reading fun, I’ve decided to spend this summer writing micro-reviews. Each week, instead of writing a series of full-length reviews, I’ll post a report of everything I’ve read. Every review will feature an image of a book cover, a one-sentence summary of the plot, my opinion of the book and a quote that sums up its themes. This format will teach me to capture the essence of a story in fewer words.

As I did this year, I plan to learn a lot from my summer reading. If you’re a fan of my current reviewing style, don’t despair; I’ll probably return to longform reviews in the fall. They just may not be in English… 

“Why’s your heart grown heavy, boy, when things are feeling light?

Turning this June morning into some dark judgement night

This ain’t the end of nothing much; it’s just another round

I can’t carry you forever, but I can hold you now”

(Koenig, Ezra ft. Haim, Danielle, “Hold You Now” 2019)