Finished reading: Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark 📚
A slow read over the course of a few months, one chapter/writing tool per sitting. Lots of great tips and advice to improve your writing.
Reading
Check out my separate reading blog for an index of book reviews and ratings.
Finished reading: The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan W. Watts 📚
Another compelling argument for being present in our lives, and paying close attention to the marvels that surround us.
How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such a fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself as anything less than a god?
Saturday, December 16, 2023 →
Currently reading: Wednesday’s Child by Yiyun Li 📚
Thursday, December 14, 2023 →
Finished reading: The Vagabond’s Way by Rolf Potts 📚
Wednesday, December 13, 2023 →
Finished reading: Christine and Blaze by Stephen King 📚
Continuing my quest to read the Stephen King books I missed along the way. With these two, I’ve now read thirteen King books this year. The 700-page Christine book flew by on my Kindle. Lots of supernatural fun mixed in with nostalgia for my late 1970s youth. I’m tempted now to watch the movie, which I somehow also missed.
I listened to the audiobook version of Blaze on long walks through the Arizona desert. I enjoyed the story with just a hint of the otherworldly, feeling sorry for the misunderstood and troubled Blaze.
Right now, I have just fifteen more books to go, until this prolific author publishes his next one. It feels a little like walking up the down escalator. But what a great problem to have.
The Age of Faith by Will Durant
Sunday, December 10, 2023 • 2 min read
Finished reading: The Age of Faith by Will Durant 📚
I finished this fourth installment of Will Durant’s Story of Civilization after three months of slow, careful reading. The Age of Faith begins with the fall of Rome and carries through the end of the Middle Ages. The writing is clear, colorful, engaging, often horrifying, and occasionally laugh-out-loud hilarious. Along the way, I encountered kings and popes, treachery and atrocities, saints and philosophers, economic systems, the building of cathedrals and castles, and primers on the great works of literature and philosophy across a thousand years of recorded time.
I’ve come to cherish these nighttime hours I spend with Professor Durant. I am pacing myself to read just twenty or thirty pages per night. I keep an iPad nearby for searches on historical figures or glimpses of the landmarks and architecture he paints with his words. A favorite moment during the book was playing an album of Ambrosian Chants (Apple Music Link) that, according to Durant, mesmerized the faithful within the already awe-inspiring gothic cathedrals of the 13th century. Between Durant’s descriptions and the music, I felt utterly transported.
There have been more than a few times when my jaw dropped open in sheer disbelief at what I’ve read; shocked not only by the crazy shit that took place during these dark times of our history, but that it took so many years for me to learn all of this. To quote Durant: “Education is the progressive discovery of our ignorance.” I am getting quite the education.
I’m moving on to the next volume on the Italian Renaissance as part of a slow but steady read through all eleven volumes of this incredible body of work. What a journey this has become.
Thursday, November 30, 2023 →
Finished reading: Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross 📚
Your Brain on Art is the latest selection from the Next Big Idea Club. The authors did a nice job of gathering scientific evidence of how art making and appreciation physically changes your brain. I loved the part where a scientist discovered that different sound waves can alter the shape and appearance of our heart cells. Lots of good science-based tips on how to flourish by incorporating art in your everyday life. For me, I’m planning to spend more time really listening (and dancing!) to new music, not just having it on in the background. ★★★★
Finished reading: The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now by Thich Nhat Hanh 📚
Impermanence is something wonderful. If things were not impermanent, life would not be possible. A seed could never become a plant of corn; the child couldn’t grow into a young adult; there could never be healing and transformation; we could never realize our dreams.
Sometimes the universe sends you exactly the book you most needed to read. What a clear-eyed and compelling manifesto of living your best life right now. ★★★★★
Tuesday, November 14, 2023 →
Currently reading: The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now by Thich Nhat Hanh 📚
Tuesday, November 14, 2023 →
Finished reading: The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King 📚
Continuing my quest to go back and read the Stephen King books I’ve missed along the way. I listened to the audiobook of this one, narrated by actor Bronson Pinchot. I’ve listened to hundreds of audiobooks, but the narration of the ending of this story was one of the most incredible I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear. Bravo! ★★★★
Finished reading: The Silentiary by Antonio Di Benedetto 📚
What a strange little book. The narrator is slowly driven insane by all the commercial sounds encroaching on his family home: an auto repair shop next door, a nightclub across the street, an idling bus outside his bedroom window, all told in disjointed Kafka-like stream of consciousness. Made me appreciate the relative quiet I enjoy here at home. ★★★
Started reading: Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen 📚
Finished reading: Skeleton Crew by Stephen King 📚
Working through the few books of Stephen King I haven’t read. This is a collection of his early stories. A few are dated, and a few are exceptional. There is a bleakness that pervades many of these stories. I hoped for a good outcome for the protagonist against all odds, but I was seldom rewarded. Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut and The Raft were my favorites. ★★★★
Currently reading: Skeleton Crew by Stephen King 📚
Working my way through the backlog of Stephen King books I haven’t read (I’ve read over 50 of his books!?!). What a gifted and prolific storyteller he is!
Finished reading: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride 📚
A good premise perhaps weakened by too many characters and side stories. The depression era setting, poor living conditions, and the horrors of racism and cruel treatment of people with disabilities felt Dickensian. McBride held my attention by the end, but a good editor might have helped maintain it all the way through. ★★★
Saturday, October 14, 2023 →
Finished reading: Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane 📚
Mary Pat Fennessy is one of the most compelling characters I’ve encountered in a while. She made the bleakness of the story worth it. And yes, the story is bleak!
Dennis Lehane is a terrific storyteller.
Thursday, October 12, 2023 →
Currently reading: The Age of Faith by Will Durant 📚