Meetings of the mind

Things to read this week

These articles caught my attention this week:

• Europe is turning libraries into “meetings of the mind”

• No one knows what’s happening online anymore

• Why novelists should embrace AI for their writing

  • You’re writing it together. To me it’s not that different than watching some videos about writing online. It’s not the same as in person, but you get active suggestions from AI

• Why life looks like a wobbly line

• A short history of the daily planner

• By me on Medium:

  • How to turn your note-taking into a daily routine

  • Micro-goals for writers

Books:

• I finished Birman Wood by Eleanor Catton

  • Started out as more philosophical literary fiction, a bunch of upstarts vs a billionaire, and then it became…something else. More action-packed and thriller-esque.

• Picked up The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis.

  • I like BEE when he’s on a meta-fiction bent, and this time he is

• Still winding my way through Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster

  • The chapter on simplicity really impacted me in college, and to re-read it now, makes me realize how much of the core message I missed!

• Bought LaserWriterII by Tamara Shopsin while at the bookstore the other day

  • Shopsin is a writer and artist and also runs an iteration of her family’s restaurant in Essex Market in NYC

  • I liked her other books —more travel memoirs— so I’m interested in trying out this novel

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“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.” — Edward Hopper

Keep going-

Josh Spilker

PS: This format is a little different. I feel like I need to shake things up a bit. IDK, we’ll see. I’m also writing more on Medium—more like productivity tips for writers. I like this being a more literary space, so perhaps I’ll just keep the articles and book thoughts. Anyway, cheers!