This page is inspired by Patrick Rhone. Here you’ll find a list of all books I’m currently reading or have read.

2022

Some Thoughts About Writing, Patrick Rhone. This is one of those books that does not put a huge wall between novices and writers. Quite the opposite. Patrick has had his blog for many years and he encourages you to do the same. And. Shocker. He wants you to call yourself a writer, not a blogger, no matter how much writing experience you have. The idea that resonates with me the most is this:

So why write stuff and put it out there with no promise of anyone reading it, let alone making money? That’s easy. As Kurt Vonnegut said, “To make your soul grow”.

That is exactly how I feel about doing a lot of things in my life. Including writing.

2023

Several Short Sentences About Writing, Verlyn Klinkenborg. Still reading this one but can already tell that it is amazing. I have to look up words here and there. Some of words and phrases go straight into my Words collection in my Bullet Journal. The more I read, the less I dare to write. But it is exciting.

Antinet Zettelkasten, Scott P. Scheper. Well it is hard to explain what this one is about. If you are familiar with the term Personal Knowledge Management or Zettelkasten, it is that, but analog. It is not an easy read, it is more than 500 pages and it is structured in a very interesting way. It makes you both annoyed and excited to continue reading. I find myself arguing with the author a lot. I’ll write a post about this book as soon as I’m done reading. Oh, the book is sold out but you can get on a waitlist. In the meantime you can check out Scott’s Youtube channel.

Your Head Is a Houseboat, Campbell Walker. I was intrigued about this one as soon as I heard the name of it, because my head does feel like a very messy houseboat! It has tons of odd doors that i’m afraid to open and it is steered my god knows who.

I can truly recommend it to everyone. It is beautifully written and illustrated. At times I felt like I was a kid again and was reading one of those fun books with pictures, not some boring book for adults. It is both for adults and for the child within every one of us. It is full of metaphors about the characters in your head and it gives you very practical and specific advice on how to “communicate” with each of them. For me the most impactful chapter was about the five bosses inside your head that represent different motives for my wants and needs. Every boss in my head tries to steer my boat and yells at the rest of them. There was a journalling exercise at the end of that chapter. It made me realise that though my bosses want different things, there is compromise to be found. That compromise gave me some clarity about my direction in life.

If you’re intrigued, check out the author’s video about this book. It is only 5 minutes long and gives you a pretty good idea about it.

The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1861. This one is an all-year reading project. I am reading all entries that correspond today’s date every day so I’ll be done with the book at the end of the calendar year.