(nov 3-9) — the week's essential short-form, essays, op-eds, and discussions • on justice, child marriage, ai in classrooms, history of gaslight, watson's dna, beauty politics, literacy
Read slow. I've eschewed the Goodreads headspace of previous years, where the quantification of "things not yet read" tends toward anxiety, when it should really entail excitement, ambition, cultivation. It's good to see pushback on the shortcomings of "X books a year", especially when accompanied by directly personal prompts towards finding a deeper resonance.
hey adam, you’ve taken the words straight from my heart. the “10001 books to read before you die” phenomenon is maddening, sets impossible standards, unnecessarily, and out of touch. the whole point for me is to read the pools of books that mean something to YOU. the books that are relevant to YOU. not every single thing that’s ever been relevant. for instance, i love cozy murder mysteries. it’s more important for me to see knives out than it is to see seven samurais 🤷♀️ thank you for your incredible intelligent perspective on this. it’s obvious you’re a reader and you’ve seen a lot of this already. also, would love to find you on goodreads!
Hi Tulipe, I am glad the comment resonated. It’s tough now that reading, seemingly being one of the last bastions of slow activity, isn’t immune to quantitative hyper-optimization. But I saw some article about Dostoevsky trending on TikTok the last few years, so the upside is maybe more people will discover good non-contemporary things? I am no longer on goodreads as I cannot handle all that “mark to-read, update progress, mark read, mark to-read, mark to-read, update progress, mark to-read, mark read” stuff without falling into the very same psychological traps I mentioned.
I have two little kids, and I hope and pray that by the time they start school, OpenAI will be highly regulated and prohibited in schools. I want them to find pleasure in using their brains, reading, writing, exercising critical thinking, etc.
Speaking of slow reading, I found so many benefits of it for myself. I used to rush through books, considering it was almost mandatory to read at least twenty books a month, until I realized I couldn't remember most of them.
Instead, I started treating reading as conversations with the author, and that is so much more educational and thought-provoking than reading has ever been to me.
maria, this touched me. what i’ve always wanted was to write something that makes people reflect and the fact that you’ve made us all reflect with your postulations about your own children, makes my heart burst with joy.
slow reading has completely changed my life. we have to keep talking to each other about the things we’re reading. together, let’s tell the world to do it and reconnect with themselves again.
THIS IS EVERYTHING!!! i love the way you describe all the articles so much (informative but also entertaining!!! hooked and couldn't stop reading) and i've added so many of them to my reading list! so excited for all the upcoming essays you have planned ❤️❤️
you made my heart leap, anoushka. thank you so much for sharing this. you doing that has made me want to keep doing this. can’t wait to share more with you!!!
Really enjoyed this. Recently I tried to get an AI agent to summarize finding from various fields for me.. but your write up is far better. And love the tips on approaching reading with intention too- something that's getting lost these days.
I am following you! These prompts are btw very interesting and you’ve given me reasons to believe I have been reading but not asking myself many questions about what I’m reading.
I really appreciate how widely you’ve scoped the curation. In this growing bipartisan divide, it’s essential to read widely. The child marriage article was haunting.
love how comprehensive this is. I have been meaning to read more but like you said, there is so much out there. the reflection prompts are super helpful.
Read slow. I've eschewed the Goodreads headspace of previous years, where the quantification of "things not yet read" tends toward anxiety, when it should really entail excitement, ambition, cultivation. It's good to see pushback on the shortcomings of "X books a year", especially when accompanied by directly personal prompts towards finding a deeper resonance.
hey adam, you’ve taken the words straight from my heart. the “10001 books to read before you die” phenomenon is maddening, sets impossible standards, unnecessarily, and out of touch. the whole point for me is to read the pools of books that mean something to YOU. the books that are relevant to YOU. not every single thing that’s ever been relevant. for instance, i love cozy murder mysteries. it’s more important for me to see knives out than it is to see seven samurais 🤷♀️ thank you for your incredible intelligent perspective on this. it’s obvious you’re a reader and you’ve seen a lot of this already. also, would love to find you on goodreads!
Hi Tulipe, I am glad the comment resonated. It’s tough now that reading, seemingly being one of the last bastions of slow activity, isn’t immune to quantitative hyper-optimization. But I saw some article about Dostoevsky trending on TikTok the last few years, so the upside is maybe more people will discover good non-contemporary things? I am no longer on goodreads as I cannot handle all that “mark to-read, update progress, mark read, mark to-read, mark to-read, update progress, mark to-read, mark read” stuff without falling into the very same psychological traps I mentioned.
thank you this is such a helpful compilation!
thank you so much for saying that! i appreciate you!
I have two little kids, and I hope and pray that by the time they start school, OpenAI will be highly regulated and prohibited in schools. I want them to find pleasure in using their brains, reading, writing, exercising critical thinking, etc.
Speaking of slow reading, I found so many benefits of it for myself. I used to rush through books, considering it was almost mandatory to read at least twenty books a month, until I realized I couldn't remember most of them.
Instead, I started treating reading as conversations with the author, and that is so much more educational and thought-provoking than reading has ever been to me.
maria, this touched me. what i’ve always wanted was to write something that makes people reflect and the fact that you’ve made us all reflect with your postulations about your own children, makes my heart burst with joy.
slow reading has completely changed my life. we have to keep talking to each other about the things we’re reading. together, let’s tell the world to do it and reconnect with themselves again.
THIS IS EVERYTHING!!! i love the way you describe all the articles so much (informative but also entertaining!!! hooked and couldn't stop reading) and i've added so many of them to my reading list! so excited for all the upcoming essays you have planned ❤️❤️
you made my heart leap, anoushka. thank you so much for sharing this. you doing that has made me want to keep doing this. can’t wait to share more with you!!!
i love your article recommendations. The lily allen one >>>
thank you so much, page. she’s literally an icon right now. have you listened to her latest album at all?
Love this roundup! I read that New York Times article about AI and I totally agree!
wasn’t it scary?!
ooh i love everything about this
thanks, L! 🤍🤍🤍
Really enjoyed this. Recently I tried to get an AI agent to summarize finding from various fields for me.. but your write up is far better. And love the tips on approaching reading with intention too- something that's getting lost these days.
this means so much to me. i was hoping to do just that. hope you’ll watch this space every sunday! thank you so much
Looking forward to it!
The politics within the Supreme Court has been disturbing to say the least.
tmai!
I am following you! These prompts are btw very interesting and you’ve given me reasons to believe I have been reading but not asking myself many questions about what I’m reading.
that makes me indelibly happy! 🫶
I really appreciate how widely you’ve scoped the curation. In this growing bipartisan divide, it’s essential to read widely. The child marriage article was haunting.
thank you for the recognition 🤍
love how comprehensive this is. I have been meaning to read more but like you said, there is so much out there. the reflection prompts are super helpful.
so glad to hear this!!
such a helpful list!
thank you!