Great Things I Read in February
a monthly link round-up
I sort of can’t believe February is already ending. Didn’t the year just start? How did we get here? Good ol’ Feb being the shortest month probably contributes to the feeling, but still! Weird.
Frequently I find myself falling prey to the idea that there will be more time, more space, more energy in some distant, obscure future. But if the past couple of months taught me anything, it’s that there’s a such thing as tempting fate with promises of “more” and “later.” (I will never forget sitting on my friend’s couch on January 11th and saying, “How much worse could life get, really?” And then breaking my rib on the 15th. “The fates can hear you and are cackling,” he told me. He was right.)
I know we all know that nothing is promised to us. But somehow, it’s easy to procrastinate on joy, health, fun, organization, et cetera anyway. So, what have you been procrastinating on? What can you finish today?
What I Read & Loved This Month:
Europe’s bog bodies - there’s a story here, I can feel it
Boiling to be Beautiful - again, there’s a story in here, someone find it
Five Anti-Poems by Shriram Sivaramakrishnan
Do Not Use AI to Write your Query by Kate McKean in
- I feel like we shouldn’t have had to say this, but she proves that I’m wrong about that; we have to say it. Also, as I was curating this list, I honestly received an email from someone offering a $160 class all about how to use AI to write grant proposals, so. Buckle up folks, the next few years are going to be rough.The Secret to Success is Delusion by Ali Vingiano in
It’s not a book ban, it’s ✨ Sparkling Content Curation ✨ by Lyz Lenz in
Unfree Associations: Parasitic Whiteness On and Off the Couch by Hannah Zeavin
An ode to swearing, which I’m working up the courage to send to my mom
George Saunders writing a letter on rejection
Coffee Costs More, So Why Aren’t Farmers Being Paid More? by Ashley Rodriguez in
The tyranny of faux self-care, by Anne Helen Petersen in
- if you’re feeling burned out, this is the only one you should read.Writer’s Block: Fact or Fiction? by Summer Brennan in
It’s Very Weird to Have a Skull Full of Poison, by Adam Mastroianni in
- Okay, it feels weird to say I “loved” reading about someone else struggling with depression, but this was written really beautifully.Cheese Party, or An Existential Crisis in Ten Shows, by Jay Light in
- Sort of ditto for this one; feels weird saying I “loved” reading about someone having a hard time, but here we are. It was well done.Desiderata #9, by Erik Hoel in
- Maybe it should be illegal to include a link round up in your link round-up, but, number 4! About ChatGPT and writing and why we can tell when something was written by AI and not a human!
As for me… I didn’t write much this month.
Actually, that’s a lie. I didn’t publish much this month. But February was probably the most productive writing month I’ve had in a while. My book went through a huge edit and then a second smaller one. I started really digging into a novel I’ve been wanting to write for a few years. I finally managed to get my head around freelancing again as well.
Basically… most of the words that I wrote and I’m proud of aren’t out yet.
That’s okay. It’s like that sometimes.
(You can check out my book review of Foundations though!)
Did you read anything you really loved this month? Drop a link in the comments.