What writers are reading

🎆 Thomas Jefferson shared an early draft of the Declaration of Independence with Congress on July 2, the day they first declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, leading many to celebrate 7/2 as the United States’ true independence day.
Issue #112: the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, French elections, and not taking the hint
By Harris Sockel

In the words of high-school English teacher and Medium writer Evan Miller: “Nothing makes me consider my own mortality like thinking about the number of books I won’t read.”

My to-read list right now is (:: checks notes ::) 17 pages and nearly 500 books long. If I read 1–2 books per month — my current rate — and don’t add a single new one, I’ll finish the list by the time I’m 64.

On Medium, executive coach Julie Kenny catalogs the eight books that changed her life, meaning they literally changed her actions. One of her favorites, Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks, happens to be one of mine. A quote from that book that I love, and think about a lot: “Choose curiosity (wondering what might happen next) over worry (hoping that a certain specific thing will happen next, and fearing it might not) whenever you can.” Maybe I’ll reread it this weekend.

A few more reading lists from across Medium, for summer reading or any-season-reading:

• Bestselling author Ryan Holiday’s “If You Only Read a Few Books in 2024, Read These.” One rec that stood out to me: Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea, an apparently gorgeous book about the value of rest and relaxation. I want to read it immediately.
• Every book that poet and essayist Elisa Gabbert read in 2023, with commentary. What I love about this list is that it goes deep; they’re not all rave reviews, but they’re (a) books I don’t see on everyone else’s lists, and (b) Gabbert really dissects them. You don’t have to love a book to learn from it.

For more, head over to Books Are Our Superpower, a publication for book obsessives everywhere.

What else we’re reading

• A retired lawyer breaks down the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s presidential immunity. “Official acts” of the President are immune from prosecution, while “unofficial acts” are not. The Supreme court loosely based its decision on Article 2 of the Constitution, which essentially gives the President broad executive powers, though the Constitution doesn’t actually mention immunity from prosecution.
• Luc Olinga, a French journalist now based in the U.S., writes a meditation on the rise of the far-right National Rally party in his home country: “If you are white, Catholic and speak French you will be welcome. For the rest, you will be an enemy from within.”

Your daily dose of practical wisdom: on leadership

“I’ve seen far too many managers hint at what they need or want instead of being explicitly clear,” contends leadership coach Zach Montroy. Better to assume no one will get your hints, ever.

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Edited and produced by Scott Lamb & Carly Rose Gillis

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