Some books from 2024

Hello!

Back in Ottawa, cozily ensconced in freezing fog and other “how’d they come up with this” weather phenomena. I woke at 4 this morning and couldn’t sleep for many hours, catching just a brief nap on the couch later in the morning; we’ll blame that for any off-kilter writing today.

I missed the tradition of sharing my reading highlights in the year’s penultimate newsletter, but there’s still today’s issue—the ultimate issue—so, fret not, here we go! As with last year, I no longer track my reading, so I’m doubtless missing a good book or two.

• Hild by Nicola Griffith: A book about the dividends of paying attention, with deep research into medieval material culture. What a world to inhabit—looking forward to Menewood, the sequel, which I picked up in paperback a few weeks back.
• The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin: Looooong time coming reading this book. The product of a deep, inspired imagination, showing what an anarchist society could look like—and revealing some of capitalism’s absurdities in the process.
• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami: Inspired by T’s recommendation of the book, I kept this at the bedside, picking it up to motivate exercise the next day. Sometimes it even worked! (Regardless, Murakami always delighted.)
• Loving Corrections by adrienne maree brown: Just getting into it, but the first few essays already have me stretching my brain (or nodding along intently).
• Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen: Specifically, the audiobook read by Springsteen himself. As with any celebrity memoir, hard to sift the legend from the truth—but that’s maybe less the point than listening to several hours of good story. (Also enjoyed There Was Nothing You Could Do by Steven Hyden, exploring the impact of Born in the U.S.A.)
• Watch With Me by Wendell Berry: This year, I dipped into Berry’s fiction—I hope to make that dip a dive in 2025. (I’ve fond memories of reading one of these stories perched in Amsterdam’s Oosterdok public library, trying to stay awake during a day-long layover.)

Kudos also to some woodworking texts that shaped my thinking this year, all published by the excellent Lost Art Press:

• The Joiner and Cabinet Maker by Anonymous, Christopher Schwarz and Joel Moskowitz
• The Essential Woodworker by Robert Wearing
• The Anarchist’s Design Book by Christopher Schwarz
• Dutch Tool Chests by Megan Fitzpatrick

Finally, two special links to close the year. Both are interactive, a good way to pass the time in this quiet week between year-end holidays:

• Mundango by Dave Rupert, a bingo game for noticing the small things.
• “Moon” by Bartosz Ciechanowski, an explorer for learning about the Moon and its impact on Earth.

Well, friends, it’s been a time. I hope you’ve been able to find time to rest, or do whatever fills you up. And, if not, I hope there’s been time to enjoy some quieter moments nonetheless. We’ve no idea what tomorrow, let alone the next year will bring—let’s hope simply for all the best for the week and year ahead. Thank you, as always, for reading.

Lucas