I am so inspired by your reading of Oblomov! I watch the YouTube videos and I am feeling really excited to both read Oblomov but also do more rereads, I hardly ever do.
I love the format of this post! It operates as both more mysterious and more intimate that a review - I feel more compelled by this than any other coverage I have seen to add Nova Scotia to the mental tbr!
Also, thank you for your kind words about the format… I wasn’t sure if it would work but trying to allow myself to play a little more (on Substack and elsewhere).
I subscribed to your stack when I saw you with Sara and Emma. You are sharing your notes and your handwriting. 😅 Nice vulnerability. I cringe thinking about sharing both. But it's encouraging to see you do it. All the best! 💖
Thank you so much for tuning into our LIVE and for your note. It felt super cringe to me too but - as I am sure you’ve already gathered - I am super into journaling and note taking and absolutely lose my mind when others share their pages… so trying to put more of what I love into the universe, partially inspired by the book itself too.
Thank you again for the interesting 'Live' with Sarah and Emma, Petya. And for sharing your reading thoughts and processes in this post. It was really inspiring!
Thank you, thank you… This book is truly special - in content, in style, in emotional power. It made me wish we all lived in the same city so we could discuss it over drinks in person! 🥰🥰
Loved reading this! Seeing your real-time notes just feels really cozy ❤️ I usually journal after I’ve finished a book, sometimes a couple of pages, sometimes just two or three bullet points. But recently, I read I book that I hated so much and made me so (admittedly irrationally) angry, that I could not stop taking breaks to write down my thoughts and I ended up with about 6 pages of notes and an endless scroll of text on my notes app 😅
It might be controversial because I know A LOT of people love the book, but Biography of X by Catherine Lacey. Some notes include “why am I reading about a shitty talentless hack who negs everyone” and “Connie Converse???!?!?!?!? What did she do to deserve this???!?” in all caps 🙃 despite this, I finished it in two or three days because I actually couldn’t put it down!
I love your authenticity...so much of what you do and how you express it really resonates with me. Being a type-A high school math teacher (lover of the written word who is very in tune to my emotional side)... I really appreciate many of the points you make here in your Substack. I have a journaling passion as well. For my books I always include the first sentence and last sentence. Sometimes that simple aspect helps me recall so much about the book.
Thank you so so much, Kim. Vulnerability actually is very hard for me, which is why I push myself to be open ... I was raised to always put my best face forward and sharing the messy process feels so hard...
I love that practice - the first and last sentence. I was thinking recently that sometimes the rush of finishing a book is so overpowering, I almost feel like I blackout while reading the final passages...
I love this sneaky peak into your notebooks. I am just at the beginning of my multiple notebook journey (and your Substack too actually) after being introduced to your notebook ecosystem on YouTube! I’m terrible at remembering anything after finishing a book so I am hoping this practice will help me to remember at least one little anecdote (please at least one!). I hope you are having a lovely week 🌻
Yes! One little piece from each one, I think that's a great goal! Also - I fully believe that the experience of reading a book can be amazing on its own ... the act of appreciating a book and getting immersed in it is so special. So what if we don't remember it afterwards?!
This is so wonderful to get a live peek into your reading brain ... your Substack has been transformative for my reading, encouraging and inspiring me to read more deeply and deliberately. I have started keeping my own notebook of reading reflections - reactions, questions, asking myself 'how did the writer do that?!' I used to keep my commonplace on my computer but I am increasingly using an e-ink notebook, which I have found the best of both worlds - I like to feel the words as I write them out, and it's also nice to be able to access them in a few places!
I love the idea of writing inspired by another's writing. And that experience of reading words that inflict some sense of feeling, good or bad, being captured in thoughts, lists, and musings! You've inspired me!
I am curious what folks do with their library books? More than half of the books I read are from the library and I would love to still record things from them, but wonder how to do that. I guess placing tabs or post-its would work.
"Memories got scattered like loose change. She put the episodes in order and worked out a story that suited her." - And Their Children After Them by Nicholas Mathieu.
I loved this book and this quote captures what we do - we tell our stories to live.
This post was magic, and makes me want to read this heart breaking but memorable book. I track my books read in StoryGraph and Notion, but I feel my heart yearning for something more analogue like yours!
I am so inspired by your reading of Oblomov! I watch the YouTube videos and I am feeling really excited to both read Oblomov but also do more rereads, I hardly ever do.
I love the format of this post! It operates as both more mysterious and more intimate that a review - I feel more compelled by this than any other coverage I have seen to add Nova Scotia to the mental tbr!
It is such a heartbreaker of a book but makes you feel so open and loving in the end.
Also, thank you for your kind words about the format… I wasn’t sure if it would work but trying to allow myself to play a little more (on Substack and elsewhere).
I agree! A wonderfully intimate format. Thanks for sharing!
I subscribed to your stack when I saw you with Sara and Emma. You are sharing your notes and your handwriting. 😅 Nice vulnerability. I cringe thinking about sharing both. But it's encouraging to see you do it. All the best! 💖
Thank you so much for tuning into our LIVE and for your note. It felt super cringe to me too but - as I am sure you’ve already gathered - I am super into journaling and note taking and absolutely lose my mind when others share their pages… so trying to put more of what I love into the universe, partially inspired by the book itself too.
Thank you again for the interesting 'Live' with Sarah and Emma, Petya. And for sharing your reading thoughts and processes in this post. It was really inspiring!
Thank you! Just here trying to make my own little life interesting to myself, doing all the things I liked to do when I was a child. 🥹🥹
I love being brought in this close for your review! It’s like reading your reading journal, and having a chat about it together 🩷
So glad you loved it!!
Thank you, thank you… This book is truly special - in content, in style, in emotional power. It made me wish we all lived in the same city so we could discuss it over drinks in person! 🥰🥰
A tea and coffee chat about the book sounds heavenly!!!!
Loved reading this! Seeing your real-time notes just feels really cozy ❤️ I usually journal after I’ve finished a book, sometimes a couple of pages, sometimes just two or three bullet points. But recently, I read I book that I hated so much and made me so (admittedly irrationally) angry, that I could not stop taking breaks to write down my thoughts and I ended up with about 6 pages of notes and an endless scroll of text on my notes app 😅
You know I have to ask - which book!!!!?
It might be controversial because I know A LOT of people love the book, but Biography of X by Catherine Lacey. Some notes include “why am I reading about a shitty talentless hack who negs everyone” and “Connie Converse???!?!?!?!? What did she do to deserve this???!?” in all caps 🙃 despite this, I finished it in two or three days because I actually couldn’t put it down!
🤣🤣🤣 I loved that book!!!! But I can totally understand how it could be annoying. It is so specific which of course means it will push some buttons.
That book is well-loved! Despite not liking it, I was still desperate to finish it AND it inspired some crazy journaling 😅
Literally me and The Calculation of Volume v1
Lovely 💕📚💕
Thank you so much!!!
I love your authenticity...so much of what you do and how you express it really resonates with me. Being a type-A high school math teacher (lover of the written word who is very in tune to my emotional side)... I really appreciate many of the points you make here in your Substack. I have a journaling passion as well. For my books I always include the first sentence and last sentence. Sometimes that simple aspect helps me recall so much about the book.
Thank you so so much, Kim. Vulnerability actually is very hard for me, which is why I push myself to be open ... I was raised to always put my best face forward and sharing the messy process feels so hard...
I love that practice - the first and last sentence. I was thinking recently that sometimes the rush of finishing a book is so overpowering, I almost feel like I blackout while reading the final passages...
I love this sneaky peak into your notebooks. I am just at the beginning of my multiple notebook journey (and your Substack too actually) after being introduced to your notebook ecosystem on YouTube! I’m terrible at remembering anything after finishing a book so I am hoping this practice will help me to remember at least one little anecdote (please at least one!). I hope you are having a lovely week 🌻
Yes! One little piece from each one, I think that's a great goal! Also - I fully believe that the experience of reading a book can be amazing on its own ... the act of appreciating a book and getting immersed in it is so special. So what if we don't remember it afterwards?!
Also, where did you get a copy of Nova Scotia House? Blackwell's?
I got it from Blackwell's, yes. It took a couple of weeks to get here.
This is so wonderful to get a live peek into your reading brain ... your Substack has been transformative for my reading, encouraging and inspiring me to read more deeply and deliberately. I have started keeping my own notebook of reading reflections - reactions, questions, asking myself 'how did the writer do that?!' I used to keep my commonplace on my computer but I am increasingly using an e-ink notebook, which I have found the best of both worlds - I like to feel the words as I write them out, and it's also nice to be able to access them in a few places!
I love the idea of writing inspired by another's writing. And that experience of reading words that inflict some sense of feeling, good or bad, being captured in thoughts, lists, and musings! You've inspired me!
I am curious what folks do with their library books? More than half of the books I read are from the library and I would love to still record things from them, but wonder how to do that. I guess placing tabs or post-its would work.
"Memories got scattered like loose change. She put the episodes in order and worked out a story that suited her." - And Their Children After Them by Nicholas Mathieu.
I loved this book and this quote captures what we do - we tell our stories to live.
I love the intimacy of this post 🤩 Thank you for pulling back the curtain for us 💘
This post was magic, and makes me want to read this heart breaking but memorable book. I track my books read in StoryGraph and Notion, but I feel my heart yearning for something more analogue like yours!