Show threadTrevor BurrowsMar 4

"In the town they tell the story of the great pearl--how it was found and how it was lost again."

-- First sentence of Steinbeck's *The Pearl*

#ThePearl #JohnSteinbeck #ReadingNotes #FirstSentences #Bookstodon

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Started this morning. Will probably read quite quick, but notes will go here.

Hopfield is WritingFeb 19

When I finished the second chapter of The Caves of Steel, I had a lot of … opinions.

Check them out here: https://hopfieldiswriting.com/2026/02/19/entering-the-caves-of-steel/
#TheCavesofSteel #Reading #ReadingNotes

Show threadTrevor BurrowsFeb 6

"My beloved aunt,

I am as innocent and forged in the image and likeness of God as any other, as every other, though I have been a cabin boy, shopkeeper, and soldier, and before then, long before, a small girl at your skirts."

- #FirstSentences of *We Are Green and Trembling* by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (translated by Robin Myers)

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Started last night -- but was exhausted, so only got through three pages. Was awake enough to get excited by this first sentence though. Read a bit more this morning, and this is great so far.

#GabrielaCabezónCámara #Bookstodon #ReadingNotes #WeAreGreenAndTrembling

Trevor BurrowsJan 11

I absolutely *loved* this article, which is ostensibly an investigation of fandom, but ultimately uses that to poke at things like criticism, aging, community, and more.

Super well-written, super funny, and a bit moving. It even moves with the breathlessness, the rhythm of fandom. I loved everything about it. Could easily use it in a #Writing class of some sort.

#GiftLink below.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/magazine/operation-mincemeat-obsession-broadway.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DlA.-IbE._mcpSg1P5RR7&smid=url-share

#ReadingNotes

Why on Earth Have I Seen the Same Broadway Show 13 Times? An Investigation.

As a journalist, I thought I’d never join the ranks of obsessive superfans — until I suddenly became one.

The New York Times
Show threadTrevor BurrowsJan 2

"'What a piece of work is man!' marvels Hamlet, "how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! ... in action, how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! ... the paragon of animals!"

In a few short lines, Shakespeare gives us the most prominent theme in the history of Western thought: human beings are the most clever, moral, and capable spcies on earth.

But I wonder, if we truly believe we are so much better than other species, why have we spent thousands of years driving home the point?"

-- #FirstSentences of *The Arrogant Ape: The Myth of Human Exceptionalism and Why It Matters* by Christine Webb

Started today, 2026-01-02. Reading notes will be shared here.

#ReadingNotes #ChristineWebb #TheArrogantApe #Bookstodon

Trevor BurrowsJan 2

#ReadingNotes thread for 2026!

Going to try my best to corral my reading notes in this thread this year, making it easier to mute/filter (if you desire).

So first sentences, running commentary, etc. will be posted as responses to this thread.

Trevor BurrowsDec 24

"The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay."

-- #FirstSentences of John Steinbeck, *East of Eden*

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This is my first read of East of Eden.

I am finishing the first Library of America volume of his novels, 1942-1952. Page numbers for these #ReadingNotes will reference that edition.

#JohnSteinbeck #EastOfEden #Bookstodon

Trevor BurrowsDec 19

Where my imaginary line
Bends square in woods, an iron spine
And pile of real rocks have been founded.
And off this corner in the wild,
Where these are driven in and piled,
One tree, by being deeply wounded,
Has been impressed as Witness Tree
And made commit to memory
My proof of being not unbounded.
Thus truth's established and borne out,
Though circumstanced with dark and doubt --
Though by a world of doubt surrounded.
THE MOODIE FORESTER

-- "Beech" by Robert Frost

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I've been reading Robert Frost's *A Witness Tree*, the first full volume I've read of his (although as a volume, it's really quite slim).

Thought I'd share a few reading notes here.

#ReadingNotes #RobertFrost #Poetry #Bookstodon

Trevor BurrowsDec 19

"Two or three hours every few nights were hardly enough. I began finding ways to outwit the system during my day job. Books were too conspicuous, so I printed out magazine articles, essays, and book chapters in what was surely unauthorized use of military computers. I shuffled these printouts in with my translation tasks, all practicing, in Gulag slang, tufta — "the art of pretending to work." As long as the papers were in English, the officers didn't notice. Once I'd finished, off to the shredder they went."

Really enjoyed this essay from Sheon Han, "Reading Lolita in the Barracks," about his attempt to turn his mandatory military service into a reading retreat.

https://asteriskmag.com/issues/12-books/reading-lolita-in-the-barracks

#Bookstodon #WhyRead #ReadingNotes

Reading Lolita in the Barracks—Asterisk

What does it take to turn South Korea's mandatory military service into a literary retreat?

Trevor BurrowsDec 13

"For much of the eighteenth century, two men raced each other to complete a comprehensive account of all life on Earth. At stake was not just scholarly immortality but the very nature of our relationship to nature--the concepts and principles we use to comprehend the living world."

-- #FirstSentences of Jason Roberts, "Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life"

#ReadingNotes #Bookstodon #JasonRoberts #EveryLivingThing