What to Read When
-
What to Read When You Don’t Want to Write
Writing is a solitary venture that can get very lonely. I like having the presence of other writers around and just thinking about writing can generate a spark.
-
What to Read When You Want to be Stirred
I like books that mean something in and outside of their own narratives, impacting my worldview. The stirring can be felt in beautiful writing, or powerful concepts, deep analysis, or emotion that resonates off the page.
-
What to Read When You Want to Get Lost
I wanted my novel, Lesser Ruins, to feel at ease getting lost, to relish in its obsessions and procrastinations, from long descriptions of electronic music to digressions about coffee to the strange, suffocating world of academia.
-
What to Read When You Need The Help of Mystical Forces to Combat Human Failure
It takes a whole library to make a book…
-
What to Read When You Want to be Changed by a Work of Art
Some of the work is simply slowing down visitors and sustaining their attention long enough for the pieces to click together, or for their perspective to shift, or for a light bulb to—literally—go off.
-
What to Read When You Want to Leave
No one can do the hard work of leaving for you, but you can arm yourself with the stories of others—the closest I’ve come to finding a blueprint.
-
What to Read When You Want to F*ck with Genre
Sometimes, the phrase “formally inventive” ends up being used as a polite synonym for “highbrow, but boring” (or “man, I couldn’t really follow the narrative of this book at all”).
-
What to Read When You’re Crushing
Crushes don’t have to be romantic, or brief. They are best when unrequited.
-
What to Read When You Want to Listen
In the last few years, audiobooks have helped me rekindle my identity as a reader.
-
What to Read When the World Is Run by Billionaires
If we can’t beat them—and the deck is stacked heavily against us—the least we can do is try to understand them as best we can.
-
What To Read When The World Is On Fire
Last year was officially the hottest year on record. Deadly wildfires tore through Maui and Canada. Orange skies hung over New York City full of smoke and ash. Extreme floods swept through Greece, Italy, and other parts of Europe. Historic…
-
What to Read When Falling in Love Hurts
Falling in love for the first time or millionth time—or potentially final time—is never for the faint of heart. Love is messy, reckless, changeable. Love can be unkind, selfish, gut-wrenching, and yet it is capable of producing deep beauty and…