Daphne Gordon

This book about cat walking brings me joy in a dark time

What gives me joy, you ask?

I know you didn’t, but I’ve been asking myself this question during pandemic lockdowns. And the short answer is: Trees, books, words, sneakers, spring, and cats.

It’s a nice list, I think, because it’s simple. There’s one quirky joy though, which can’t be expressed in a single word. This one requires a bit more explaining.

It might seem weird to some, but I get effervescent feelings from collecting quirky books. Often small in size, but not exclusively so, and written by obscure authors, these are books hardly anyone has ever heard of, let alone read. I hold these books in a special place in my heart. They tell me stories about me. 

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Daphne Gordon

Digital Minimalism questions the productivity imperative

Cal Newport’s book about minimizing screen time convinced me to do less in the digital universe

Call me a convert.

I casually picked up Digital Minimalism, thinking, maybe, just maybe, I might possibly think about reducing my screen time next year. And thanks to Newport’s storytelling, fact-gathering and simple prose, I’m now a devoted digital minimalist.

As a computer science professor at Georgetown University, Newport is no luddite. He’s been experimenting with different ways to hack technology to improve productivity and study for years, as the author of Deep Work and a blogger at Study Hacks.

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Daphne Gordon

How to Break Up with Your Phone will help you reset your brain

By guest reviewer Nicole Baute

Smartphones are destroying our ability to think, relax and notice things — but there’s a book for that

I’ve never thought of myself as addiction-prone. But since the advent of email, social media and smartphones, I’ve become as hooked to technological devices as anyone, and I hate how it makes me feel.

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