Robert Breen

@[email protected]
62 Followers
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167 Posts
Reader, writer, traveler. Essays at robertbreen.com.
Bloghttps://robertbreen.com
Bookshttps://books.robertbreen.com
Robert Breen10h ago

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner ★★★★☆
Two timelines, one quietly devastating story. Stegner tested my patience across 500 pages, then rewarded it with a spectacular ending. This Pulitzer winner might just be his most enduring.

#Books #BookReview #LiteraryFiction #AmericanLiterature #ClassicLit

https://books.robertbreen.com/2025/11/03/angle-of-repose-by-wallace-stegner/

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - Robert Breen 📚

★★★★☆ | Literary Fiction | Digital + Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads  This is a difficult book to describe without spoiling the entire story. There are two plot lines at work: the narrator, a severely disabled and reclusive scholar writing a history of his literary grandmother, and the life of that grandmother, her […]

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Show threadRobert Breen12h ago
@mako Ha! It's not really my jam either, which is why I'm still using Day One. 😜
Show threadRobert Breen12h ago

@warrick_w @mako

I use the Obsidian Day One Importer by MarcDonald (it's in the app's community plug-in directory). It's fairly straightforward to set up and brings over everything I needed, including latitude/longitude coordinates that work perfectly with Maps in Obsidian.

https://github.com/MarcDonald/obsidian-day-one-importer

Show threadRobert Breen16h ago
@mako I've just had a look at Everlog. Looks pretty good! I do a weekly export of Day One to #Obsidian using a plug-in for a peace-of-mind backup. I'd probably just move to Obsidian if/when I give up on Day One.
Robert Breen1d ago
Dallin1d ago

I have been a subscriber to Day One - a fantastic journaling app for years. They have always had a big emphasis on privacy, which I appreciate.

With their latest app update came a new "Gold" subscription tier with "AI" (LLM) features baked in. I also discovered that my subscription had automatically been upgraded to this new tier.

I immediately exported the contents of my journal, deleted it, and cancelled my subscription.

1/?

#dayOne #AI #LLM #journaling #privacy

Show threadRobert Breen1d ago
@markmcelroy so many similar thoughts! Thanks for articulating so well what I have also been feeling. Can't wait to see what future tech brings you joy. I'll buy it too!
Robert Breen1d ago

Day One is doubling down on AI journaling: https://dayoneapp.com/blog/introducing-day-one-silver-and-gold/

I've written thousands of entries in Day One, but despite their privacy assurances, I'm not enabling these features. Not yet.

These are the Wild West days of AI. Think carefully before you hand over your most private thoughts.

#DayOne #Journaling #Privacy #AI

Robert Breen1d ago

𝘖𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 by Joyce Carol Oates ★★★☆☆

Oates is the least likely boxing writer imaginable -- and yet she's a genuine fan, like me, who fell for the sport watching fights with her dad. Her poetic take treats boxing as a kind of religion.

"The primary rule of the ring—to defend oneself at all times—is both a parody and a distillation of life."

<https://books.robertbreen.com/2025/11/01/on-boxing-by-joyce-carol-oates/>

#Books #BookReview #Sports #Boxing #Essays

On Boxing by Joyce Carol Oates - Robert Breen 📚

★★★☆☆ | Sports | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph Joyce Carol Oates might be the least likely person ever to write a book about boxing. And yet she did. Like me, she developed a lifelong appreciation for the sport, ultimately growing to love it, by watching fights with her father as a child. But it’s […]

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Robert Breen2d ago

Ah, Ralph Waldo Emerson — what a treasure. His wisdom is simple to understand, yet difficult to practice. Trust your own thoughts. Be yourself. Be present. 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑂𝑡h𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 ★★★★★

https://books.robertbreen.com/2025/10/22/self-reliance-and-other-essays-by-ralph-waldo-emerson/

#Books #BookReview #Essays #Emerson #ClassicLit

Self-reliance and Other Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson - Robert Breen 📚

★★★★★ | Essays | Digital | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads  Ah, Ralph Waldo Emerson: what a treasure. I’ve read most of these essays before, but never so deeply, and never with such illumination.  His wisdom is simple to understand, yet difficult to practice in a world of popular opinion and distracted thinking. Trust your […]

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Robert Breen3d ago

Finished reading: So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan 💙📚

One new story (and two reprints) from Claire Keegan, the master of compressing so much into so few words. Men behaving very badly ought to be the sub-title here. As with all of her stories, these will haunt you long after you finish. ★★★★☆

#books #bookstodon

https://books.robertbreen.com/2026/03/29/so-late-in-the-day-by-claire-keegan/

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan - Robert Breen 📚

★★★★☆ | Literary Fiction | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads Claire Keegan is fast becoming my favorite living author. This latest book features three short stories, though just the title story is new. The others were reprinted from her earlier two collections of short stories (Antarctica and Walk The Blue Fields, both of […]

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