Whomst?
I love reading, and, lately, I’ve been reading a lot, like more than ever, maybe too much? I think about writing, am working (occasionally) on a novel or two, might throw down a short story here and there, but mostly I read. I’m a doctor of fiction writing (graduated 2019 with the Ph.D. alongside my badass readerly wife, Ally), but in essence I’m more like a doctor of reading, probably.
Why tho?
I decided a while back that I wanted to read more, because amazing people keep putting out amazing books, and I haven’t even put a dent in the past century’s crop yet. So at some point, I decided against savoring—a real downside, I’ll admit; I’m not saying what I’m doing is good by any means—and instead, devouring as much as possible as often as possible (I’m currently at 125-ish books a year) until I get caught up (a few more millennia ought to do it). In the meantime, I thought it’d be nice to record a few thoughts about the mountains of books I’m imbibing, so that’s what this newsletter is all about.
Wut?
I plan to post monthly lists of what I’ve read with tiny little blurbs (“microviews”) for each, and then slightly longer reviews of a handful of my favorite books from that month. Mostly, this is so that I can remember what I’ve read, since I churn through books too fast for my poor, failing memory to keep up, and so, a few months in, nearly everything from earlier in the year is gone.
But hey, if other folks might want to take a gander at my reading lists and thoughts, that’s pretty cool, too. It shouldn’t spam your inbox, just a lil monthly email.
Anyway, it’s going to be a mix of things: literary fiction is my sweet spot, but I’ve been going hard at Non-Fiction of late, too, and I love an essay collection, memoirs rule, graphic novels/comics are freaking amazing, and I’m a sucker for occasional genre flings (Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller, etc.). Mostly stuff from the last several years, but also classics. It tends to be heavier material these days, so apologies in advance, and when I’m working on writing projects, you may notice a theme (unfortunately, mass shootings is one now—again, apologies), but I try to read fun things, too. Sometimes.
K, coolcoolcool.
So that’s the deal. If you want to, you should subscribe to get full access to the newsletter (monthly update in your inbox) and website, where all previous posts will be housed, and where there will be occasional between-newsletter stuff in the “StoneWright Bonus Reads” tab.
And feel free to comment and share with people who might also appreciate this thing.
Cheers!
Michael StoneWright
