Used books are great for many reasons. After having served one life, they are sent into the world to serve others. There is a smell to used books that bibliophiles appreciate. The pages yellow, the…| Jamie Todd Rubin
On a recent walk, I saw in the distance a Commodore Vic-20, perched on a rock at the side of the bike path. I was first introduced to the VIC-20 in my 5th grade math class (ca. 1982). Our math teacher rolled it into the classroom along with a television set and we used it…| Jamie Todd Rubin
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com I read 101 books in 2023. I also read around 300 feature articles in magazines. What follows is my top 10 best book reads of 2023 and some of my favorite articles of …| Jamie Todd Rubin
I have been reading Robert D. Richardson’s 1995 biography Emerson: The Mind On Fire. I find myself more fascinated by Emerson’s use of notebooks than by his actual writing or transcendentalism. Halfway through the biography, it seems to me that Emerson thought through his notebooks. By the end of his life, he’d filled hundreds of […]| Jamie Todd Rubin
I am currently in the process of taking inventory of the books in my library. I’ve started with the physical books and so far I’d put the estimate somewhere between 1,200-1,400. I know that I have more than 1,700 audiobooks on top of that. And another 500 or so e-books. Call it 3,600 books all […]| Jamie Todd Rubin
Well, my desk is a mess and maybe I’ll put it into some order today. I have far too many books I want to read, all of them RIGHT NOW and on a wide variety of subjects. I want to re-learn science, not how it was taught in school, but with a historical backbone to […]| Jamie Todd Rubin
It recently occurred to me that I have been using and collecting Field Notes notebooks for more than a decade now. My first notebook dates from June 2015, which means I’ve been using these notebooks longer than our youngest daughter has been alive. In that time, I’ve collected a few hundred notebooks, thanks in part to the […]| Jamie Todd Rubin
The September / October issue of Smithsonian Magazine has a fantastic article by Richard Grant1 on Cormac McCarthy’s library. Over the years, I’ve read just three of McCarthy’s bo…| Jamie Todd Rubin
As of December 2021, I have been writing on this blog for 16+ years. In that time, I have accumulated more than 7,000 posts totaling more than 2.8 million words. With all of those posts, it can be …| Jamie Todd Rubin
All the stuff I’ve written Short fiction “Gemma Barrows Comes to Cooperstown,” InterGalactic Medicine Show (May 2015) Listed on Tangent’s Recommended Reading for 2015 “…| Jamie Todd Rubin
Hello World! Hi! I’m Jamie Todd Rubin. I am a writer. I write code, fiction, and nonfiction, and I’ve been writing this blog for twenty years now. My fiction has appeared in many of the…| Jamie Todd Rubin
While reading an article on “The Wonder of Insight” by John Kounios and Yvette Koumios in the March 2025 issue of Scientific American, I came across the following passage: In the 2010s Brian Erick…| Jamie Todd Rubin
I am trying to remember what my book collection looked like in high school. It was, at most, half a shelf of paperbacks. Probably ten or fewer. Until I headed off to college, most of the books I re…| Jamie Todd Rubin
We have too many rating systems and they get confusing after a while. I was browsing Amazon and, while I hate to admit it, I think the 5-star system is the way to go. This is a big change for me, a…| Jamie Todd Rubin
When it comes to discussion of books the three words I most dread are, “You should read….” I have developed a process for discovering books I want to read and I put my entire trus…| Jamie Todd Rubin
Sometimes, I need a breath of fresh air. Back in February, I discovered that one of my favorite writers, the late David McCullough, was coming out with a new book, edited by his daughter, Dorie McCullough Lawson. The book, History Matters, came out today and I began listening to it with delight on my morning […]| Jamie Todd Rubin
There are, from time to time, books I attempt to read that I am simply not ready for. They seem interesting, I start them, but I don’t make it very far. Years later I might come back to them, and find that I am ready, and I read the book with joy and delight that […]| Jamie Todd Rubin
Note: I’m cleaning up the blog for its 20th anniversary. This episode of my Vacation in the Golden Age only appeared on Medium, at a time when I was experimenting with that platform. I am moving here where it belongs. I wrote Episode 40 of this Vacation in the Golden Age in October 2012. Four years later, […]| Jamie Todd Rubin
At a recent back-to-school night, I was astonished to learn that science education takes a back seat to Virginia Studies in 4th grade. Part of the reason seems to be that 4th grade students take a standardized test on Virginia Studies, and there is much to pack in to prepare students for the test. I […]| Jamie Todd Rubin
There is something both exciting and comforting about having a large stack of books you are eager to read. Here is the “stack” in no particular order: In addition to these there are some books “coming soon” that I am eagerly awaiting: What’s in your stack?| Jamie Todd Rubin
Just a quick note to say I have made a few minor updates to the new minimalist theme here. When I introduced the theme last week, I knew it wasn’t 100% complete, and I also knew I would be ma…| Jamie Todd Rubin
Among my favorite types of books in my collection are ex-lib books—or as I like to think of them, retired library books. I received one in the mail recently, Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Paul…| Jamie Todd Rubin
I’m terrible when it comes to book ratings. I used to use them, but these days I’ve given up on them completely. I think of a 0-to-5 star rating as a bell curve where 3 stars fall right…| Jamie Todd Rubin
On a recent walk, I saw in the distance a Commodore Vic-20, perched on a rock at the side of the bike path. I was first introduced to the VIC-20 in my 5th grade math class (ca. 1982). Our math teac…| Jamie Todd Rubin
Sometimes, when I am close to finishing an old notebook, I get eager to start scribbling in a new one. There is something so encouraging about a blank notebook, so many possibilities. It is a fresh…| Jamie Todd Rubin
Just a heads-up for folks–I’m working on a new custom theme for the blog. I’ve been using the same theme for years now and I’ve gotten a little tired of it. I’m aiming…| Jamie Todd Rubin
This post is part of my weekly series, Shelf-Life. Each episode is about a particular book on my bookshelves. For more information see my introductory post. To read other episodes in this series, see the Shelf-Life Index page.| Jamie Todd Rubin
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died 199 years ago today. I once wrote a time-travel story where, on their dying day, Adams and Jefferson were brought together on the shores of New Jersey to watch …| Jamie Todd Rubin
I’m not normally one for prompts, but I saw prompt the other day asking about something the writer learned in high school. I found myself thinking about it throughout the day, and jotting not…| Jamie Todd Rubin
Photo by Olya Kobruseva on Pexels.com Welcome to my blog series, “Practically Paperless with Obsidian.” For an overview of this series, please see Episode 0: Series Overview. A couple of month…| Jamie Todd Rubin