This is the monthly reading list I send out to email subscribers. If you like what you see, you can subscribe here or through one of the banners on this site.
Thanks for reading,
— Charlie
Spring is here, and I’m blogging again. My goal is one post per week, and so far I’m on track. My self-imposed deadline is on Friday. It’s a nice way to unwind with some thought-for-the-day writing for myself. I spend my work week writing to help my clients‘ websites stand out–it feels good to do the same for my own site.
In April, I wrote about:
Writing rough drafts by hand
Net 30 payments
and Writing tips from Sex and the City
I know I said I was gonna take on Lonesome Dove next, but I’ve decided to make it a summer read after going on a Hemingway tear inspired by the new Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary. So far, I’ve only seen the first episode–he’s just become a literary success and hasn’t transformed into Hemingway the caricature yet. Looking forward to the next two parts.
In this month’s reading list, I also have a book on how to have good ideas on a regular basis, a punctuation guide that will make you laugh out loud, and Hemingway’s burger recipe.
Light Years by James Salter – I don’t know how I made it this far as a student of American literature without encountering James Salter. He’s been called the author who “freezes time” and has a reputation for writing the best sex scenes in American letters.
A Farewell to Arms (the Hemingway Library Edition) by Ernest Hemingway – I’m rereading this one for the first time since college. This new edition includes all 47 alternative endings, complete with strikethrough and markups by the author.
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway – As I watch the PBS documentary, I’m revisiting some of my favorites: “Big Two-hearted River,” “Hills like White Elephants,” “Indian Camp,” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”
One True Podcast – a podcast by the Hemingway Society.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves – A guide to punctuation that’s as funny as it is useful.
A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young – A book about the process of coming up with good ideas on command, written by a 1930s adman. This slim volume popularized the practice of walking away from a problem to let your unconscious mind solve it.
I was recently gifted a subscription to Monocle by my buddy Dan.
Subscribe to The Hustle if you haven’t already.
Matt Ruby on the freedom of low overhead and other life lessons.
“Time, Tarkovsky, and the Pandemic.”
Five (very) short stories by Lydia Davis.
How climate change impacts Japanese poetry.
Some history of the origin of keyboard layouts from The Atlantic, Wikipedia, Forbes, and the Smithsonian.
These videos from Vooza are hilarious.