What I'm Reading in the Sauna

Books to penetrate your (freshly opened) pores

No matter the gym, there always seems to be the same unspoken rule: don’t read the sign on the sauna door.

The girls are on their phones, AirMax Pros churning out Reels and Andrew Huberman podcast clips. Lulu, Alo, Athleta matching sets ON. (Never mind the microplastics.)

I don’t blame the girls. Minus the phone and plastic gymwear (more on this soon), sometimes I am the girls. But still, I long for another way…

In the spirit of honoring the sacredness of the sauna, here are three books I’ve recently read in the nude (or, at least, wrapped in an overly-laundered white towel).

1. How I Became a Nun by César Aira

For the XL sweat on an extra-humid day

On days when everyone is saying it feels like a sauna outside, you need extra motivation to attend the sauna inside. You need to lean into the discomfort. You need to make it worth your while.

Short enough to finish in just a few 30-minute sessions, How I Became a Nun begins with cyanide poisoning and ends with strawberry ice cream. Its 6-year-old narrator is, ostensibly, a young Aira, but also a sort of makeshift jeune-fille; the pronouns shift just as quickly as the storyline, as we’re taken from hospital to school, from Aira’s hometown of Coronel Pringles, Argentina to the far larger Rosario.

The description of the ice cream itself is quite disgusting, so you won’t be tempted to run out of the sauna and grab a scoop just yet. But the narrative will keep you hungry for something more (as if that, too, might be served up at the Argentinian ice cream stand).

Pairs well with: San Pellegrino, Haviana flip flops, freshly blown-out hair.

The author with her tape recorder

2. Talk — Linda Rosenkrantz

For the mid-day jaunt

Considering it takes place in the 60s, Talk — described as a ‘reality novel,’ in that it’s a real, word-for-word documentation of conversations between friends — feels remarkably contemporary. It’s slim enough to keep tucked away in your bag and relaxed enough to flip open a page at random and enjoy it. There’s no sense of urgency here (so much so that I haven’t even finished it yet…).

Pairs well with: nicotine, no bookmark, loud sauna companions.

Train ride home after one such session

3. Nod — Fanny Howe

For the late night session spent alone

Sometimes, when in a vulnerable state, it can be nice to read a really hard hitting novel. One that really penetrates your (freshly opened) pores.

If that’s the case, really any Fanny Howe will do. But Nod — a lyrical novel set in the Irish countryside in the wake of WWII — is especially gut punching. Read it and weep, then let the salt of your tears mingle with the salt of your sweat as you leave the sauna and embark on a long journey home

.Pairs well with: activated charcoal, full recline, a mason jar of nettle tea.

⋆｡˚ 🪷 What are your favorite sauna reads? 🪷 ⋆｡˚