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.
Imaginary Museums
This is Shel Silverstein for adults. But not like “for adults” with an “only” tagged at the end.
Mouthful of Birds
I admit I’ve grown a bit tired of people using the phrase “fever dream” to describe a book. Are we describing a rave, a haunted house, or what? Some phrases get thrown around so much and then become somewhat meaningless and amorphous. What do they really MEAN in real-life parlance? (Is this just my issue?)
Let’s BeReal
From Newsletter Issue No. 12:
Sometime this autumn, I became a BeReal-er. (I just made up that term. We have TikTokers, so what shall we call people who use the app BeReal?) If you’re not familiar, BeReal sends a notification at a different (i.e. unexpected) time each day to all users with the cue, “It’s time to BeReal!” Users then take a photo of whatever they’re doing, wherever they are at the moment — simultaneously, the app takes a quick snapshot of your face. Here's a rundown of the app from the New York Times Magazine back in August.
Seven Empty Houses
First book of 2023: FIN. (To be fair, I had literally 3 pages left when I put it down yesterday. What is my problem.) Seven Empty Houses, by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell.
