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.
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.
The Material
A+++ and 100% to this clever and skewering novel about a Stand-Up MFA program. (Haha)
Snowy Day Book Club for 1
Snowy Sunday Book Club: “En Sueño” by Sandra Dooley, featuring a pensive + relaxed woman looking up from her book and staring right back at me as I do the same.
Birthday Book Recs 31/50 : The Lifespan of a Fact by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal
Birthday Book Recs: 31/50
The Lifespan of a Fact by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal
On Social Captal & AI
From Newsletter Issue No. 23:
On New Year’s Eve, we got together with friends. Aside from the general joviality of a post-Christmas catch-up with some of our favorite people, we played a game called Priorities. It’s fast and easy, and the basic gist is that one player at a time is given five cards, each with a very specific “thing” on it, and then proceeds to prioritize them in order of how much they value/like these things.
Birthday Book Recs 30/50 : The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein
Birthday Book Recs: 30/50
The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein
ee cummings + visual poetry
E.E Cummings (or e e cummings if you wish) + his visual poetry, the formatting of which Instagram can *almost* handle:
[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]
Birthday Book Recs 29/50 : Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Birthday Book Recs: 29/50
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
