Nonfiction gets a bad rap. When we think of nonfiction, we think of textbooks, flowery essays, and dry biographies of famous dead people, all requiring knowledge of field-specific jargon or a dictionary to decipher. I’m guilty of perpetuating this stereotype; for years, when people asked me what I read, I told them I was game…
I finished On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous sitting in the passenger seat of my car. The tollway roared beneath me. Closing the book, I looked out over the empty land blurring past my window and said to my partner, “God damn. That was a book.” I couldn’t think of any other way to describe it…
New writers are inundated with advice. Whether you’re in a workshop, discussing ideas with a friend, or watching an interview with a famous author, everyone wants to tell you how to write well. Even I, your friendly neighborhood hobbyist, am sitting here tapping away on my keyboard to put my writing opinions into the world.…
Tea has been drunk for hundreds of years. Camellia sinensis is a steady fixture in an ever-evolving world, maintaining its relevance regardless of industrialization, war, or societal drift. What has changed is how we drink it and the culture surrounding it. How people drink tea now is different from how people drank tea a hundred…
All language is communication. That may sound stupidly obvious from someone who runs a blog, but it's good to remind ourselves. Every time we chat about the weather with a colleague, get into arguments with someone who watches too much Fox News, or order food at a restaurant, we’re employing different modes of communication. When…
I jinxed myself. Contrary to May’s introduction post, this month was more hectic than the last few. I should’ve seen that coming- birthdays and warm weekends make for a packed planner. It made me glad to have chosen In The Watchful City as the Book of the Month. Short, easy, and physically small enough to…
Every book is a journey, from the copyright pages to the acknowledgments. It could be a literal journey, a fictional hero traveling great distances to accomplish their goal like Frodo or Odysseus. Others are more cerebral, characters going on an internal journey of self-reflection and discovery. Nonfiction can take us on real, historical journeys or…
Throughout our tea series, we’ve covered a lot of ground- herbal infusions, loose leaf teas, different processing methods- but fellow tea fans may have noticed a conspicuous omission. This unmentioned tea has had steady market growth for years, once only popular in Japan and now sold at every Starbucks in the US. Its history bleeds…
Exercise, in any form, goes hand-in-hand with rest. No bodybuilder lifts billion-pound dumbbells seven days a week. No marathon runner runs twenty miles every day. Proper exercise involves planning days of lighter exercise between the days when your muscles get put to the test. These rest days are critical for preventing injury and building muscle…
I’ve developed a process for writing my book reflections. Once I’ve read the book, I go back through any notes I took and look up unfamiliar concepts or questions I might have. I delve into reviews to give myself some background about what other people thought. When I’ve decided I’ve read and learned enough, I’ll…
Tea Reads 