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David Nash's avatar

I enjoyed your summary, Kolina! This week I'm reading The Book of Disappearance, which is a little act of rebellion. I recently came across a review of old book on writing I remember loving at the time - Several Short Sentences on Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg. He writes that the most subversive thing you can do is to write clearly and directly, asserting the facts as you understand them and your perceptions as you've gathered them. So that's what I'm doing.

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Kolina Cicero's avatar

Oh how I love that. I haven’t heard of the book but now I want to read it!

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Annabel Monaghan's avatar

Thank you for reading It's A Love Story! I hope you enjoy it!

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Kolina Cicero's avatar

I’m certain I will. I’m a huge fan of your other books! 💛

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Beverly Burch's avatar

I'm going in search of The Eights. Love the phrase, citizenship of the mind.

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Kolina Cicero's avatar

Isn’t it an amazing phrase? The book comes out next week! Thanks for reading, Beverly!

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Heather G.'s avatar

This was so fantastic, thank you! And The Eights sounds like such a good read!

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Kolina Cicero's avatar

Thank you Heather! Cheers to us being citizens of the mind. And yes, The Eights was fabulous!

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Ali Kriegsman's avatar

appreciate you reading my book and hope you love it. also loved your recent note about embracing being annoying for the sake of creative output. i’m very pro annoying 🫢

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Kolina Cicero's avatar

Being annoying is the best! And yes I loved your book. So empowering! 💓

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Sue Likkel's avatar

I'll be sharing this with my students. They know I'm a reader, (duh, I'm an Eng tch) but my younger students who are just figuring me out have not yet heard my impassioned plea to read, read, and read some more. I'm going to make a presentation out if your points for my What are you reading this summer? talk. Thank you for the titles. I'll be reading them for sure.

I appreciate your work!

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Kolina Cicero's avatar

Sue, what an absolute honor! I’m thrilled you’ll be sharing it and I hope it gets your students reading and reading and reading! Thank you!

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Amy Shearn's avatar

Love alllll of this 💗

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Kolina Cicero's avatar

Thank you! I think citizenship of the mind is such a cool concept. Now I just want to talk and talk about it 🤣

Thanks for reading!

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Amy Makechnie's avatar

I agree with you absolutely, that knowledge is power and it gives us the capability to participate in society. Teaching our children - and all children - to read and write is perhaps the most important work we'll do. My current audiobook read is James by Percival Everett. It's astoundingly good and speaks directly to this resistance - I want everyone to read it!

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Kolina Cicero's avatar

You’re right, it really is the most importantly work! And I agree about James. I was telling my mother-in-law last night she has to read it! It’s sooo good.

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Matthew Morgan's avatar

Than you for bringing to our attention that wonderful phrase, "citizenship of the mind". I hadn't heard it before. It resonates deeply with a book I'm currently writing about, having re-read for the umpteenth time: "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi.

There's a wonderful line where Nafisi writes of Scheherazade telling her stories to the tyrant king: “She fashions her universe not through physical force, as does the king, but through imagination and reflection.” If you haven't already read it, I think you'd love it.

Oh, and I'm also reading "Careless People" — it's a wild ride, isn't it?

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