February Wrap-up

All the things that caught my interest - February 2024

End of the month bonus post - Yeah!

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Hello readers and those who wandered in out of the cold! I hope you had a great February. Here in Tennessee, we had some very cold days and some unseasonably warm days. Mostly, I noticed that the time flew by. In one respect, I am fine with this as it is another month closer to my retirement in June and our family trip to Italy in July. On the other hand, time is really going by fast and I am trying to slow down and enjoy life a bit more. As I continue to grow as a writer, this publication continues to evolve with me. This included a name change this month and some formatting changes. It is important to me that books and literature have a prominent place in my writing but I also want to recognize that in our lives, we can find stories in a wide variety of places. Exploring where literature intersects our lives is one piece of this, but we can also find stories in writing outside of books, in music, in art, and in oral traditions. I look forward to exploring all of these together.

Excited to have received The Requisitions by

Samuel Lopez-Barrantes

in the mail a few days ago. I am happy and honored to support a writer I discovered on Substack. I am in the middle of reading it now, so look for my review in the coming month.

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In case you missed it, here are a couple of recent posts:

My Willa

This is not the article you are looking for...

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Without further ado, here are some things I appreciated during February.

Books:

• Beowulf: A Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney - I last read this in high school, and it was a very difficult translation. This time around, I joined

  John Halbrooks
  for his read-along. John is a first-rate scholar and loves the classics. His knowledge of this work was impressive and his recommended translation made the experience that much more enjoyable. John has several other group reads planned for this year, so check out his publication,
  Personal Canon Formation
  .

• The Long Valley by John Steinbeck - check out the March edition of the Steinbeck Review for more details.

• A Lost Lady by Willa Cather - One of Cather’s classic frontier stories prominently featuring female protagonists. I wrote an article on the influence of Cather’s life and work, which was released last week. Please check it out.

• Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, edited by Robert DeMott - check out the March edition of the Steinbeck Review for more details.

• The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday - As a lifelong learner, I am always looking for books that provide practical wisdom. Ryan Holiday has made a name for himself by taking the writings of the Stoics, particularly that of Marcus Aurelius, and making them relevant for modern readers. This volume discusses how the thing we see as the obstacle can often be what we need to succeed.

• The Forgotten Village by John Steinbeck - check out the March edition of the Steinbeck Review for more details.

• The Circle by Dave Eggers - this book and its sequel were recommended to me by my boss. Both are excellent reads and, honestly, a little terrifying. Eggers is very prescient in his vision of the future as much of what he wrote about in the first book has come to pass, with the remainder a dire warning for a society hell-bent on selling its soul to social media. These books are entertaining fictional accounts that dive deep into themes of corporatocracy and privacy (or lack thereof). Highly recommended.

• The Every by Dave Eggers - sequel to The Circle. See above.

• How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler - I have reviewed this book over a series of three articles; the first two can be found in my archives, and the third will be released next week.

• The Crew by Michael Mohr

  Sincere American Writing
  . This is a well-crafted and fast-paced story of a group of high school kids in the 90s. The protagonist, Dog, attends a fancy prep school but gets involved with a punk rock loving gang of misfits called The Crew. The reader is pulled into the narrative and action that is, at times, reminiscent of The Dead Poet's Society but with a lot more sex and punk rock action. Highly entertaining! You can find it on Amazon in Kindle or Paperback versions.

• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - check out the March edition of the Steinbeck Review for more details.

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Articles:

• Sam Kahn
  provides a balanced take on current affairs in his Commentator.

• Jayshree Gururaj
  retells an ancient legend about The Wrath of Women.

• John Halbrooks
  writes a fascinating series on the relationship between Icelandic Sagas and the musician, Prince. Part One Part Two Part Three

• Peco
  and
  Ruth Gaskovski
  explore agency and communion in their most recent article on tech in the modern age - Build a Songbird Compass

• Sarah Robertson
  reflects on 40 things she knows to be true.

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Music:

• Matthew’s Writing Playlist on Spotify - this is an instrumental/thematic playlist that gets me in a creative mood.

• Coffee Table Jazz - this is my go-to playlist for relaxing. I will often listen to this on my drive home from work to help me decompress or when reading.

• The Ultimate Classical Music Guide by Dave Hurwitz - My friend John Halbrooks pointed me in the direction of this YouTube channel and it is nothing short of amazing. If you have ever wanted to learn anything about classical music, Dave Hurwitz is a wealth of knowledge. There is something here for everyone from beginners to long-time fans.

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As most of you are aware I do not have a paywall on my content and I intend to keep it that way as I don’t want finances to be a barrier to participation. However, if you enjoy my work and would like to contribute to my Tip Jar, I am offering 33% off FOREVER on my annual subscription. You can click below to contribute if you have the means and the desire. I thank each and everyone of you, free and paid, for your support. Must be redeemed by 1 March 2024!

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