Recent Posts
So you want to write and publish a book?
Most authors don't make bank. They write to share a message, promote their expertise, or build their brand. Here's advice from a panel of six academics and authors.
Book Review: Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life by Zena Hitz
A good life means you don't work for the sake of work—you work for the sake of leisure. But what is leisure? What are the benefits of reading, studying, or thinking for its own sake?
Book Review: Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity by Charles Marohn
American cities are failing. Most cities are insolvent, carrying debt they can't pay off as instructure maintenance costs loom and land values fall. What do we do?
How Do We Fix Sprawl? Book Review: Sprawl Repair Manual by Gail Tachieva
Suburbia sprawls endlessly. Cities are insolvent. Entire neighborhoods slump into disrepair. How can we fix it all? This practical manual details a difficult, but doable, way forward.
Book Review: Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure by Maggie Jackson
Uncertainty can be stressful. We crave predictability and answers. But uncertainty enables creativity, better performance, predictions, life planning, leadership, and more.
PUBLICATION DAY: Grad School Life: Surviving and Thriving Beyond Coursework and Research
Publishing a book can be a long road—but here we are at the destination! Read about my book: How to thrive in graduate school while keeping a healthy personal life!
Book Review: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Extroversion is the gold standard of personality in the Western world—but why? How can introverts get ahead and use their own strengths? This book explores the impact our temperaments can have on careers, learning, creativity, and more.
Book Review: When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink
Have you wondered how to take the ideal nap? When to take breaks for improved performance? The best way to start a new project? <I>When</I> has the answers.
Book Review: Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids by Kim John Payne with Lisa M. Ross
Make your home quieter and calmer, with less clutter, less media, and less stress. Home is supposed to be your restful home base. This book shows you how to make it so!
Book Update #5: Grad School Life: Publication Day is March 19, 2024 + Cover Reveal
Exciting news: I have a book cover and pub date! Plus, details on the rest of the book production process, receiving page proofs, and figuring out book promotion.
Book Review: Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar
More space in America is dedicated to parking cars than to housing people. How did our built environment become this way? Why is parking so frustrating, the center of every zoning debate, and the key to reviving our towns?
Book Review: The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World by David Robson
What you think and how you approach a situation can significantly affect what happens. This book explains how your beliefs influence real-world outcomes—health, sleep, stress, memory, concentration, fatigue, creativity, and more.
Book Update #4: Chugging Through Copyediting
How is a book edited and produced? Here what's happening with my book on the slow road to publication.
Book Review: Changing Our Minds: How Children Can Take Control of Their Own Learning by Naomi Fisher
Different kids need different learning environments; they're interested in different topics; they thrive on different tasks. So why force them to learn the same things in the same ways at the same times in schools?
Book Review: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
Habits are the backbone of daily life. How do you form new habits and create better habits? In this book, Duhigg explains how habits work—for individuals, organizations, and societies.
Book Update #3: Revisions Complete, Entering Production!
I'm inching my book from idea to final product! Here's what the review and revision process was like, and my next steps as the book moves into production.
How to Start a Reading Habit
What if you don't like reading? What if you don't have time to read? What if you want to read, but just can't make yourself do it? Here's how to make reading a hobby—it's simple, and you can start today.
Book Review: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
This book is a fascinating examination of belonging, attachment to place, heritage, culture, connection to ancestors, and, our relationship with the world around us.
Book Review: Retrosuburbia: The Downshifters Guide to a Resilient Future by David Holmgren
Not everyone has 40 acres and a mule. This book explains how to be more sustainable, off-grid, and productive on a regular neighborhood lot!
Book Review: Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz
No one reads, but everyone skims. How do you write shorter and smarter to reach your audience? This book shares the secret.
Book Review: Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
'People don't buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.' This fast-paced marketing and business book will help you better understand and brand yourself and your company. What is your WHY?
Book Review: Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation by Ayelet Fishbach
If you want to know how motivation works and how to set better goals, achieve more, procrastinate less, and sustain your motivation through the long haul, this book is for you.
I wrote 200 words a day for two years. Here's what I learned.
I wanted to write regularly. I had writing goals! To meet them, I needed to make consistent progress... so I began writing daily. Here's how I did it, the methods that worked for me, and the best lessons learned.
How Do You Write and Publish a Nonfiction Book?
Drawing from a recent panel discussion held by the Ronin Institute on book publishing, I answer questions about how to develop ideas, find an agent and publisher, and what the whole publishing process is like.