What I Read This Week (1)
Tracking reading in the final week of August 2024
This post is “Overflow” from the Sunday, September 1, 2024 post. I’ve decided to just tuck overflow away out of sight. Some people like all the detail and may appreciate the extra. Some people think the main posts are already too scattered and too long. I understand! Please note, this isn’t an essay. It isn’t pretending to be an essay.
What I Read This Week
I had some weird impulse Monday to track (and share) my Substack reading through the week. While my “book” reading continues to suffer, I actually read a lot of Substack posts. It’s convenient. (I don’t read in email.) I go to the inbox in the browser or in the app, look at what’s in the carousel, and pick and choose day to day. I also read a lot of new-to-me posts based on other people’s notees.
I actually read more than what I've listed here. It's a pretty crazy list. I contemplated not listing a few of these that only allow paid comments — with no warning. I've marked them with a *. (In some cases, you can still read the post, you just can't comment, so it's more of a frustration than a wall—which is sort of the point.)
I am not tagging these authors. The goal isn’t to get them into this post. I'm not summarizing or providing commentary. I’m not fishing for readers. This is just a compendium of (many of) the posts I read early on this week. I stopped tracking Thursday. It was already unwieldy.
There are lots of wonderful writers at Substack who don't necessarily have paid cohorts or lots of exposure. (I don't either.) Read broadly. Find your people.
Monday (8/26/24)
Enemy of Joy (Susan Marte)
Three Lies About Hard Things (Chris Guillebeau)
I remember what's IN the book, not where I've put it (Melissa Wiley) *
Debate Debating (Liza Donnelly) *
On COVID, at Long Last (Mary L Trump)
Seed Pods, Featured Posts, and Launch News, oh my! (Robin Taylor, Robin Cangie, and Erin Michaela Sweeney)
I went on holiday and I packed... (Rebecca Armstrong)
it's always been a dance (Duane Toops)
Tuesday (8/27/24)
Gardens by the Sea (Candace Rose Rardon)
Doing Substack Imperfectly (Sarah Fay)
Which sketchbook are you? (Carolyn Yoo)
Wednesday (8/28/24)
Kind of like baggage, but not (Elizabeth Beggins)
Potential Voice Loss: A Side Effect Of New Chemo (Andrea Gibson)
One of Twelve (Nan Tepper)
Six games to replace Carcassonne (Matt Montgomery)
163. Coastal creativity (Rebecca Holden)
Dear Fellow Voter (26thAvenuePoet (Elizabeth)) — about sending postcards
8 Ways to Feel Better About Yourself (Chris Guillebeau)
Thursday (8/29/24)
A Western Tanager (Paula Borchardt)
What I Did on my Summer Vacation (part two) (Linda Epstein)
What If You're Already Doing it Right? (Evelyn Skye)
A Toast Timer
After reading one of the posts above that included a photo of a cute toast timer (like this one), I got hooked on browsing timers at Instagram. Here are a few interesting ones.
Cube timer (different colors have different durations)