A Year in Reading: Abraham Verghese
As 2022 wound down, once again the floor-to-ceiling bookcases that cover every wall in my study groaned with more volumes than they could hold. I only keep those that I want to return to for inspiration, for memorable passages, for technique… or sometimes in the hope that by cradling a volume its magic rubs off on me. I stood gazing at this chronicle of my reading history. As with prize-winning rose bushes or facial hair, periodic pruning is necessary. Earlier in the year, my novel—the labor of nearly a decade—finally went off to the printers with a launch date set for May 2023. In the lull following its departure, I had felt lost. The pruning task over many weeks would turn out
