Here & There #19
Summer reading recs from former Vanity Fair EIC Radhika Jones, who recently launched a Substack we love, and the most well-researched sun and skincare products from our favorite expert at Dangene NYC
You Should Meet… Radhika Jones
Summer is nearly half over, and I don’t know about you, but I have barely managed to crack a book (blowing through Yesteryear and Strangers on audiobook at 1.2x doesn’t entirely count, I know). And yet this is the season I most look forward to turning actual pages: in a backyard lounger, on a beach blanket, on a plane to some summery destination I’m trying to understand through a vividly drawn novel or biography. (I’m clearly not alone in my atrophy: The Atlantic recently declared “The End of Reading is Here,” noting that fewer than half of American adults had read a book in the past year.)
But I still believe travel—getting there, being there—is one of the last sanctuaries where a reading habit can be reclaimed (clawed back?). So, wanting to know what transporting stories we might be filling our heads with this season and beyond, we turned to Radhika Jones. The former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and a veteran of the NYT Book Review, Radhika is working on a book that explores chapters of her life through the touchstone of books, and recently launched a Substack, Radhika’s Book Club, devoted to what she’s reading, re-reading (and not reading!). She answered our questions about the books that shaped her as a traveler, what she always recommends to fellow itinerants, and what’s on her current “beach reading” list. —Alex Postman, deputy editor
P.S. Looking for more book recs? See our Giant Travel Reading List!
What piece of travel writing—essay, book, even something that isn’t officially travel writing but is deeply rooted in place—has had the greatest influence on you?
When I was young, my parents had a copy of Paul Theroux’s 1975 best-seller The Great Railway Bazaar, about his travels by rail through Europe and Asia. I was very taken with the idea of exploring the world by riding on famous trains. I was lucky in that I traveled a lot as a child. My mother is from India, so we spent every Christmas in Bombay, often stopping over in London or Paris. My father was a producer of jazz festivals, and we spent our summers on the festival circuit with him. But it wasn’t until I was 24 that I got to make good on my train inspiration. I took the Trans-Siberian railroad—technically the Trans-Manchurian route—from Beijing to Moscow in the summer of 1997. I had been living in Moscow for two years and was preparing to move back to the U.S., and I decided that I couldn’t in good conscience leave Russia until I’d seen the vastness of Siberia. It was a twelve-day trip, including a stop in Irkutsk, where I swam in Lake Baikal, which they say adds 25 years to your life. So I have Paul Theroux to thank for my future longevity.
You dedicated a few early posts of your Substack to re-reading Wuthering Heights. Have you ever been to the Yorkshire Moors? If so, how did it feel to encounter a landscape you’d first known through fiction? If not, is it somewhere you’d still like to see?
I haven’t been to Yorkshire yet. I’ve traveled to various places in England, Scotland, and Ireland, but I have a dream of doing a full literary tour of the region, reading across genres and periods as I go. Wuthering Heights for Yorkshire, of course, and also Boswell’s Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, and J.M. Synge’s plays in western Ireland. Jane Austen in Bath! There’s so much to choose from.
More broadly, have certain books ever inspired you to travel somewhere—or changed the way you experienced a place once you arrived?
E.M. Forster’s A Room With a View and the exquisite Merchant Ivory film adaptation basically scripted my first trip to Italy. I went in the spring of 1996. I was living in Moscow and arranged to meet an old friend in Rome, and from there we went to Florence. I’d just been through my first Russian winter, so everything in Italy was a balm. The sun! The wine! The tomatoes! When we got to Florence we sought out all of Lucy Honeychurch’s spots, and did our best imitation of peevish cousin Charlotte, aka Maggie Smith, saying, “This is not at all what we were led to expect” when their rooms didn’t look out on the Arno, and made jokes about sightseeing without our Baedeker. Whenever there was the slightest prospect of a view, we climbed whatever steps or hills were required to see it. I like to think we were two in a long line of young women who have followed in Lucy’s footsteps.
Do you read your way into a destination before you travel? What books have most enriched a trip (or set you down an unexpected path)?
Sometimes the reading really clicks while I’m there. My family and I went to Japan this year. It was my first time, and though I’ve read some Japanese fiction, I realized when we arrived in Tokyo that I had no way of getting my head around the complexity and specificity of Japan until I saw it. I’m a very textual reader; I sometimes find it challenging to convert descriptions into visual images. We stayed at a ryokan in Hakone, and I was reading a mystery called The Inugami Curse, by Seishi Yokomizo, in which the detective stays at a ryokan near the scene of the crime, and thanks to our own experience I could picture his setting so clearly, down to the configuration of the tatami mats. I loved feeling that connection.
Are there books you find yourself recommending when someone is heading somewhere in particular?
In general I think mysteries are terrific choices for travel reading, because those writers excel at depicting an environment. They have to, because the setting plays such a key role in the solving of the crime. When I was last in Mumbai, I discovered Sujata Massey’s Perveen Mistry series, set in 1920s Bombay. Not every city has the benefit of a mystery series to illustrate it, but I like the idea of historical detective fiction to peel back the layers of a place.
What are you reading this summer—and what are you recommending to friends? What counts as “beach reading” for you? ;)
I am happily all over the map this summer. I’m rereading A House for Mr. Biswas, by V.S. Naipaul, set in Trinidad, for my book club. I’m in the middle of very slowly rereading The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen, about his search for that elusive animal in Tibet. I recently finished Ann Patchett’s Whistler. As for beach reading, I keep about half a dozen Kate Atkinson novels on hand in Rhode Island, where we spend time every August. They’re so smart and entertaining. My favorite on-theme beach read is William Finnegan’s memoir Barbarian Days about his lifelong pursuit of surfing, which took him around the world. Truly the perfect book to accompany waves.
Your forthcoming memoir, called Bookish, explores pivotal moments of your life through the books you were reading. Did travel—or a particular place—shape any of those moments?
Absolutely. At the moment I’m writing about the years I spent abroad, in Taiwan and Russia, when I was in my early twenties. They were profoundly formative years, partly because of being young and far from home, but also because I was reading voraciously, anything I could get my hands on. I was guided purely by appetite and instinct. One of the most important moments in my reading life happened in Hong Kong in 1995, when I picked up a copy of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy in a bookstore. It has traveled with me ever since.
Do certain books remain inseparable from the places where you read them? In a hammock, train compartment, Adirondack chair overlooking a lake? Which pairings have stayed with you?
Oh yes. I remember finishing Colm Tóibín’s The Master at dawn in Rhode Island. It’s such a brilliant novel. He manages to imbue a fictionalized account of Henry James’s creative process with suspense and high emotion. I love being the only person awake in the house, alone with a book as the sun comes up. It’s the closest I come to meditation. The final scenes of that book are very important to me, and I think it’s partly because I got to read them in a moment of private illumination.
I read Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled on the Trans-Siberian. That was quite a ride.
About that Atlantic cover story on the end of reading: is this something you worry about, and does the act of reading a book feel different today than it used to?
I worry about it for young people. This relates to travel too. I worry they won’t know how to get lost—lost in a book, lost in a city. They won’t know how joyful it can be to let go in that way. You really do discover things when you allow yourself to wander. This is what Eleanor Lavish wants for Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View. You put down the guidebook, or in our case the phone, and take sharper note of your surroundings, and you embrace serendipity. It requires focus and commitment, and a willingness to surrender control. I do feel that it takes more effort now, even for me, to shut off distractions and lose myself in a book. But it’s worth it, because the distractions are temporary, but a good book will stay with you for the rest of your life.
Dopp Kitt Diaries: Talya Taylor of Dangene
I met Talya 19 years ago when she started working at Dangene, where I’ve gone for facials for close to 25 years. Talya has always had incredible skin—she sort of looks like a bad-ass version of Snow White. Of course she doesn’t take any sun, and is vigilant about this—down to wearing gloves when she drives. She’s the person in the office who meets with every skincare company, drills down on their ingredients, and tests them on herself. She hates fragrance, prefers natural ingredients but wants the science behind them, and is constantly on the lookout for new products while shifting away from ones that she thinks have changed their formula. Every time I go into Dangene I get sucked into the Talya vortex—she is so knowledgeable and knows exactly what works for my type of skin. Selfishly I wanted to get all of her summer skincare tips written down somewhere, and I’m so happy we have them all here now! —Yolanda
My Sunscreen Lowdown
In terms of sunscreen I have my favorite everydays, then I have my favorite tinted, full-coverage, etc. There are so many to choose from and I have a lot of opinions about this.
My favorite everyday treatment sunblock—a combination of sunscreen that simultaneously treats the skin—is Pavise. It has tranexamic acid in it, which is a really great ingredient for pigment—anyone with sun damage or excess pigmentation. It also has niacinimide, which treats redness and pigment by exfoliating. This is a 100% mineral sunblock, but it truly doesn’t have a white cast!
Another treatment sunscreen that I love is the IS Clinical Extreme Protect SPF 30. It’s part mineral and part chemical. However, the chemical ingredient is partially encapsulated, meaning the chemical does not release into the body, which is pretty cool! This leaves absolutely no white cast, and it’s super hydrating and moisturizing. This also comes in at a bit of a lower price point, and the only thing that it doesn’t have (which I love) is the tranexamic acid, but in terms of a healthy, everyday, glowy sunscreen, this is great.
Then I have my favorite everyday-tinted sunscreen, the Epicutis Lipid Shield. This is super-sheer tinted, with 21% non-nano zinc—some people are very concerned about nano particles, but that’s a whole different conversation! However, for those who are concerned, this is a great option. This sunblock also has TSB, a proprietary ingredient for tackling inflammation, redness, and collagen breakdown from UV damage. It’s a nice sunblock because it’s great for everyday inflammation and it’s also so sheer.
For those looking for a more full-coverage sunscreen, I would recommend Revision Intellishade. It comes in chemical and non-chemical formulations and what’s really nice is that it is anti-aging, thanks to its Vitamin C, peptides, etc. They call it a 5 in 1. I truthfully would recommend the chemical option if people don’t mind using a chemical sunscreen, because it’s nicer in terms of application and wear.
My favorite for the beach and the pool is Tizo Ultra-Zinc mineral face and body. It’s so good that when I went to the pool and the UV was 10, I didn’t get any color. I am the opposite of the rest of the world who wants to get tan! What I love about it is that even though it’s zinc, it doesn’t leave a white cast because of the anti-oxidant ingredients. It’s also super moisturizing and has Vitamin C, so it gives you a nice glow.
I put sunblock on every time I leave the house (obviously) on my face and my hands, and when I drive, I actually wear gloves that go up to my upper-arms. But if I have sunscreen on my face, I always have it on my hands, which is my automatic. I was never into tanning when I was younger, because my skin either burns or freckles.
For a younger person I would recommend the IS Clinical Eclipse 50, which is a really good sunblock for everyday (and honestly every age). If it fits your budget, the Epicutis is one I would recommend for every age, especially if you have redness and pigmentation in your skin.
My Everyday Skincare
Epicutis oil cleanser - My favorite everyday cleanser that leaves my skin clean and soft.
Hydrinity Hyacin Active - Hypochlorous acid mist that kills bacteria and on the skin, calms inflammation and irritation.
Hydrinity Restorative HA Serum - This is my go-to if my skin gets irritated, so I always travel with it.
Anfisa Dew - My go-to Azelaic Acid + PHA serum for a gentle exfoliation and to combat redness in my skin. Also great for smoothing texture.
Ourself Advanced Regenerative Serum - All-in-one vitamin C, hyaluronic and peptide serum.
Revison DEJ daily Boosting Serum - A light firming serum that energizes the skin.
Epicutis Shield SPF - A sheer tinted mineral spf that calms redness and gives a beautiful glow.
Systane Eye Drops - For moisture
Obagi Nu Cil - Lash and brow growth serum.
Makeup I Carry With Me