8 Things to Read This Weekend Instead of Scrolling

essays & oddities to make your brain happy

Artwork by Mariam Chagelishvili

Hello friends,

I know there’s no dearth of round-ups & what-nots ‘round here so I’m not going to try & make this sound like some cool new thing, but at the end of the day, (& the start of a weekend) there’s always more room for nudging us all into a slower, more writing-&-reading-friendly life.

So, here’s a little weekend brain snack pack: eight pieces worth your time, attention, & maybe even your feelings. No doomscrolling, no bite-size content that leaves you emptier than when you started. Just that sweet promise of a deeper intellect.

If you want to understand why the quietest writing often hits the hardest…&q2 how minimalism, when done right, can feel more intimate than any grand metaphor — read this.

Minimalism. It's Good.

Buku Sarkar Makes the Case for Clarity and Simplicity |

Buku Sarkar

“What he meant was—as a writer, you really cannot be thinking in academic rhetorics. It’ll ruin you. Which is why I often think academia is a plague for any creative artist. In fact, in many ways, studying literature—at a (higher) academic level—is anti fiction writing.”

If you want to rethink Austen beyond the rom‑com & discover how she used clarity & wit to tackle power, inequality, & moral complexity — read this.

Did Jane Austen even care about romance?

Scholars contest novelist’s ‘rom-com’ rep as 250th anniversary ushers in new screen adaptations | Eileen O’Grady

“The marriage plot is not the thing Austen is most interested in,” Lynch said. “She’s interested in how difficult it is to be a good person. She’s interested in inequality and domination, and power. She’s interested in how people who don’t have a lot of power nonetheless preserve their principles. What is independence of mind even if you don’t have financial or political independence?”

If you’re tired of hand-wringing over the Male Reading Crisis & just want a quiet, true take on how reading habits actually form— read this.

There is a solution to the Male Reading Crisis, but it is boring.

That’s the thing about reading advice: the good stuff, the stuff that actually works, is boring. |

Jared Henderson

“When it comes to the Male Reading Crisis, I think we may have entered rationalization territory. We want comprehensive, structural explanations, preferably with a well-defined villain, for what is a rather boring continuation of long-running trends.”

If you want to trace how matcha went from ancient ritual to TikTok syrup swirl—& what that says about taste, memory, & cultural mutation — read this.

The Cult of Matcha

Matcha is at once a superfood, status symbol, and a source of viral pleasure. |

Arden Yum

“On the internet, I only see the matchas in their pre-mixed, pre-sipped state. They exist in my brain as sweet, fruity, creamy elixirs where the colors are preserved, the ice never melts, and I have to imagine how it tastes. Matcha represents a kind of aspirational, ultra-feminine life—no clumps, no mess. I can have as many as I want, if I just keep watching.”

If you’ve noticed every “cool” novel now looks like a museum painting got vandalized by a graphic designer with a neon font pack — read this.

The Book Cover Trend You’re Seeing Everywhere

Take a genteel painting, maybe featuring a swooning woman. Add iridescent neon type for a shock to the system. And thank (or blame) Ottessa Moshfegh for getting there early. | Elisabeth Egan

“It tends to lay blaringly bright type in a sans-serif font atop a painting, usually a few centuries old but not always. Facial expressions are baleful or dyspeptic; an aggressive burst of spray paint can change the tone entirely.”

If your writing brain feels like a dragon’s hoard of half-formed thoughts & scattered tabs, & you want to actually learn how to think through an idea — read this.

amateur hour

research for amateurs |

Brandon

“He said that it hadn’t occured to him that writing could be like that, a thing you study and do. And I told him that in fact, that’s all writing was. Learning how to do stuff.”

If you’re stuck on dating app filters & forgetting what actually makes someone a good partner — read this.

You're Screening Out Your Soulmate

maybe our perfect partner isn't even making it to the first date... |

Caroline Beuley

“We should have high standards for our partners, but I worry that too often the qualifications we add to our “lists” are arbitrary, shallow, and not at all tied to what makes a good partner.”

If you’re wondering why everyone’s picking up massive novels this summer & want to reclaim reading as leisure — read this.

Is Summer Actually the Season for Reading Big, Thick Books?

In Which James Folta Wonders If Bigger Really is Better | James Folta

“A big book, especially a classic, is a self-improvement project. We have the time to read something we’ve been telling our-selves we have to read and have been intending to get to.”