💬 You learn to dance with the limp.
Sometimes I’ve thought of grief as missing an amputated limb, but walking with a limp is better. Thank you @chrisheck for sharing this.
My blog had its tenth birthday last July, and I forgot to celebrate: Why Blogs Matter
Think different. 💬
Finished reading: Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks 💙📚
An entertaining book filled with practical advice on how to improve your storytelling, whether in front of a live audience, on a date, or in a written essay. Dicks shares examples of his own stories, then breaks down why they work. ★★★★☆
Incredible update to the Readwise app today. You can now “chat” with your highlights, which uses AI to find connections you probably overlooked or forgot from your reading. Since it only draws from the highlights you saved, the results are astonishingly personal. This is my kind of AI! 💙📚
Finished reading: Fallen Leaves by Will Durant 💙📚
In 208 eloquent pages, Durant shares his views on death, religion, education, war, politics, spirituality, and, through it all, the meaning of life. Truly a gift to humanity from a scholar who devoted his long life to the study of history. ★★★★★
Connor would have turned 23 today. The very prime of life. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him, but these birthdays are tough. Hug your kids. #forever20
Finished reading: Just After Sunset by Stephen King 📚
Read: 2025-01-27 | ★★★★☆ Horror
On a quest to read the few Stephen King books I missed along the way. I forgot how great of a short story writer King is. Probably some of his novels should have been short stories! Gingerbread Girl and N were my favorites in this collection.
Finished reading: The Godfather by Mario Puzo 📚
Read: 2025-01-13 | ★★★★☆ | Mystery-Suspense
I read the book during a recent visit to New York City and watched the movie on the plane ride home, which made for an immersive experience. The movie stayed very true to the book, though some big sections were left out. I loved reading the backstory of how young Vito Corleone eventually became the Don. Yes, some of it is dated, and yes, there were a few choppy parts that felt in need of editing, but I was pleasantly surprised by how really good this book was. If you loved the movie, you’ll enjoy the book.
Highlights
The word “reason” sounded so much better in Italian, ragione, to rejoin. The art of this was to ignore all insults, all threats; to turn the other cheek.
a friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults.
Finished reading: The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen 📚
What a delightful book. The first chapter reeled me in with the story of how the Moleskin notebook exploded in popularity in the 1990s. The author clearly has been bitten by the same notebook fetish bug. He cites brand names of notebooks that are all too familiar to me. He decided to write a history of the notebook about ten years ago and proceeded to fill four or five notebooks with scribbles and quotes and references that ultimately became this book.
Allen used effective storytelling techniques to share dozens of examples of notebook usage over the past six hundred years from accounting ledgers in the 1400s, artist sketchbooks in the 1500s, Darwin’s field notes, to modern day journaling. Definitely a niche book, but great for any lover of notebooks and journals.
★★★★★
New post with my favorite books from 2024 along with updates to my reading system. My year in books for 2024.
Finished reading: Rousseau and Revolution by Will Durant 📚
The tenth volume of the Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. This one provides an immensely readable history of Europe leading up to the French Revolution. This series has been such an education. ★★★★★
Finished reading: The Work of Art by Adam Moss 📚
Finished reading: The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl 📚
Finished reading: The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke 📚
Finished reading: Thinking on Paper by V.A. Howard, J.H. Barton 📚
Finished reading: James by Percival Everett 📚
Finished reading: A Rage in Harlem (Special Edition) by Chester Himes 📚
What a crazy rollercoaster ride through Harlem in the 1950s. I’m just now catching my breath! ★★★★☆
Finished reading: Needful Things by Stephen King 📚
This one missed the mark for me. Too many characters — almost the entire town of Castle Rock. With so many, I had a hard time connecting with any of them. Any other author would get a two stars, but King gets a pass. ★★★☆☆
Finished reading: A System for Writing by Bob Noto 📚
A guide to the Zettelkasten method of note-taking. Writing and linking atomic notes feels so non-intuitive and…nutty? The examples late in the book of the poor quality of published books compiled from atomic notes did not help the cause. ★★★☆☆