2020 in Reading: The Big List

The landing outside our bedrooms is tiny—barely big enough for one person to stand alongside the single floor vent that’s supposed to heat the entire upstairs. But! There’s enough wall space for two tall pieces of paper, so that’s where Zina and I have kept our reading lists since 2015. I’ve never really gotten into … Continue reading 2020 in Reading: The Big List

The Infinite Carrier Bag

Ursula K. Le Guin’s written worlds, and the ways they bring us back to ourselves.

Perfectionism, Process, Patterns

How do I write about talking about how writing is hard?

Literary Archipelagos

Last week, in a moment of Peak Bellwood Weakness I signed up for an online class/study group called Literature at Sea: A Brief History of Existence. The facilitator shared something in today’s intro call that I can’t believe nobody sent me when it was released back in July. It’s called An Ocean of Books and … Continue reading Literary Archipelagos

The Electric Pinball Machine

“If you’re not doing everything in your power to live in this electrifying pinball machine all the time then what are you even DOING WITH YOURSELF?”

The Lexicon

I was in high school when I started my first list of unknown words. It happened because I was tired of acing vocab quizzes in English class without having to study, and that was happening because I was a precocious kid who read a lot of books and seemed unable to stop adding to her … Continue reading The Lexicon

This Book, That Book

Katherine Kwong is a delight. She’s smart and earnest and curious and very, very kind. We first met in person at my book tour event for 100 Demon Dialogues at McNally Jackson in New York, and her online exuberance is even more tangible in person. When she told me she was launching a podcast to … Continue reading This Book, That Book

A Year in Books

Those of you who were here for my last Year in Review post will recall that I didn’t read as much as I would’ve liked to in 2014. So, spurred on by Austin Kleon’s excellent “How to Read More” list, I set out to read… Good News: I’m currently at 63, and will probably have knocked … Continue reading A Year in Books

Boston Bound

The time is upon us! I’m departing for Boston this evening for a week of historical research and sailing aboard the Charles W. Morgan, an original 1840s wooden whaling ship. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, feel free to refresh your memory with this post. I’ve got some fun stuff scheduled for … Continue reading Boston Bound