Here’s what I’ve been reading this week (I call it my “Reading Blob.”):
- The New York Review of Books. This is a weekly pleasure. The essays are so well written and they make me aspire to write better. Also, I always learn something unexpected.
- Writer’s Forum. This is my favorite writer’s magazine. Unfortunately, it is based in the UK, so I don’t always find it. It’s dense with information about the craft of writing.
- Poets and Writers. This is an occasional read for me. It tends towards literary fiction and feels a little bit hoity-toity, but a little bit of hoity-toity is OK.
- Writer’s Digest. Probably the best U.S. reference for the writing business, both fiction and non-fiction. I read it every month.
- Philosophy of Mind. This is my big, deep read—one that I have been plowing through for several months. It’s the textbook for Oxford’s continuing education Philosophy of Mind course, which I am considering taking this fall. (One of my habits, for better or worse, is to always read the full textbook before the first day of class.) This branch of philosophy is one of the hardest for me to understand and requires all of my focus.
- The Elements of Style. This is one of four books on writing I reread several times each year. I want to make it a part of me.
- The Haiku Handbook. As I work on my own haiku (which is based on my black and white photography), this gives me some historical context of the great haiku masters. I will probably work my way through it by the end of the year.
- Cedar. A great find. I am using this book as a reference for a novel I am working on, one which involves both the practical and spiritual aspects of cedar trees as used by Native Americans.
- The Ancient Greeks. Knowing my interest in the Ancient Greeks, my wife bought me this book as a surprise the other day. It’s a great reminder that all cultures and civilizations eventually fall.
Anyway, I have a few other reading items in the wings (my Mac magazine, a Kindle novel about talking dolphins, and my Obesity medical journal), but overall this blob of reading is an accurate reflection of my intellectual interests right now.