READ ALL ABOUT IT
Since 2012, I’ve been writing about books. And the act of reading. And the importance of story and narrative. But, mostly, the underlying theme of all I write is how taking a moment to stop and digest some longform text — instead of scrolling, instead of watching a video, instead of multitasking — can be one of the most grounding things we can do for ourselves. Here’s the one-stop online home for all this writing.
You can read more about me and my work by moseying over here. Want to peruse periodic “essay drops” — excerpts from my work-in-progress essay collection about Homesickness? Here ya go.
Reading = Humanly Possible
From Newsletter Issue No. 24:
“Helena Kim, a stay-at-home mother in Chula Vista, Calif., decided that when she turned 59, she no longer wanted to cook. ‘I was getting groceries delivered anyway,’ she said, ‘so if I am going to order groceries I may as well order the whole meal.’ She tips well and gives drivers high ratings… Ms. Kim, now 60, adores her automated life. ‘I get Amazon delivery, I get food delivery, I get grocery delivery, I get pet food delivery,’ she said. When she does leave the house, ‘I drive a Tesla and I use self-driving mode. If I could get a robot housekeeper, that would be perfect.’”
Beep-boop, beep-boop, let’s hear it for an automated life.
Birthday Book Recs 38/50 : Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
Birthday Book Recs: 38/50
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
Departure(s)
When it comes to the snooze button (which, have you noticed, is ginormous on the most updated iPhone OS?), here is my philosophy, at least with my own snooze button activity: The point is not so much to get more sleep; the point is to have an awareness that I am getting more sleep. I think that fundamentally, humans want to actively know that they are receiving or experiencing a benefit. Is being granted a bit of extra sleep without being alerted to it the same as actively choosing to get that extra time? I don’t think so. (Stay tuned for my exhilarating dispatches on my philosophy of laundry.)
Let’s Start Assigning the Hard Reading Again
The Brick came up in conversation with friends the other night. You know, this thing (?) that is heavily advertised as a way to curtail phone use. (Cue all the Brick ads in our feeds, starting now.) It was relayed that “I have my life back!” was the refrain from a person in his 20s who used a Brick. (Wow?)
Birthday Book Recs 37/50 : A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Birthday Book Recs: 37/50
A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
We Need Some Wendell Berry About Now
Lordy, I feel like we all need some Wendell Berry about now.
Birthday Book Recs 36/50 : Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Birthday Book Recs: 36/50
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Unlikely Animals
I didn’t know that Annie Hartnett was a philosophy major, but I learned that after reading her bio today.
Birthday Book Recs 35/50 : Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi
Birthday Book Recs: 35/50
Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi
Modern Maisons and Old Address Books
I came across this Carson McCullers gem today:
“There’s nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book.”
Sentimental Value and Buildings as Archives
When I tell you that I truly did gasp when this scene appeared as we were watching Sentimental Value…
Birthday Book Recs 34/50 : The World According to Garp by John Irving
Birthday Book Recs: 34/50
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Joyride by Susan Orlean, Bluets by Maggie Nelson, Paper Girl by Beth Macy, Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith
Been a while since I’ve done one of these. (Self-aware pattern recognition: I guess I say that every time.) Here’s a roundup of nonfiction I’ve read lately**.
The Ten Year Affair
The Guardian recently published a piece about tropes. You know, the prescribed templates that are staples of romance, a genre I don’t read but I’m clued in enough to understand the gist.
Some Little Free Library Love Letters
Two notes addressed “Dear stewards of little free libraries”
Birthday Book Recs 33/50 : Small Ceremonies by Carol Shields
Birthday Book Recs: 33/50
Small Ceremonies by Carol Shields
Trust Exercise
When I interviewed my niece for my homesick project, I asked her what homesickness feels like. Among other things, I loved that she very specifically said, “I feel it in my sternum.” Because there’s a real physicality to emotion, right? See: pit in stomach, butterflies in chest, etc.
A Luxurious Desk in Dalkey
Oh, this ol’ thang? I’m sitting at this desk that we bought at the Dublin IKEA after moving from NYC.
Building Thoreau’s Cabin
Front page of Sunday’s NYT: “They’re Not Alone in Copying Thoreau’s Cabin in the Woods.” Henry David Thoreau and his Walden cabin are as American as it gets. Rugged individualism? Check. Pioneering spirit? Check. Having to tell everyone about it? Check. (Just kidding…maybe?)
The Debut of a New Little Free Library
Stick Season is the worst. (Apologies to Noah Kahan, but it’s true.) But thanks to Matt, something cheery popped up in our sparse-looking yard today.
