A breakdown of why I walked away from one of the most hyped books of the year (less than) halfway through. A somewhat harsh but honest look at specific "red flags" that could trigger any discerning reader's exit strategy.

Introducing (Better) Books, a reading filter for your mind, a newsletter rebranding, and an antidote to the algorithmic rot destroying our brains. This post breaks down why the book form is irreplaceable and shares the 9 "Super Soft Skills" that reading books helps you build to navigate real life.

Originally published as an ebook in 2019, Pumpernickel & Peanut Butter is now available to read here, unaltered and in its entirety. Through original charts, tables, and case studies, the book-turned-essay explores seven reasons why weird works, when it doesn’t, why it’s difficult to maintain, and how to reclaim your own weirdness if you’ve lost it.

Above all, it challenges you to consider why you haven’t been compounding your weirdness all along. I hope you enjoy it. (If not, just remember: I wrote this seven years ago. 🙃)

From time to time, my friends in their twenties will reach out to me. They’ll ask me questions about life. Some of them are more direct than others, but it’s always about “finding” themselves. It’s like they’re searching for something. 

I mean, Aren’t we all? 

Most of the time I think to myself, How can anybody, honestly, help anybody to “find” who they are? Let alone me. It’s such a loaded question. I mean, everyone’s situation is different and unique, mine included. But I get it. Most everyone is confused in their twenties: “Is this the right career? Am I going to get married? Should I buy or rent? What makes him or her so special? How can I do this? Should I do that?” On and on it goes. I can’t pretend to know all the answers to these questions. I won’t even try, but here’s what I do know…

Here I am sandwiched between two blue marvels. Spinning like a mobile hanging from the sky, suspended above the ocean. As I float in the air, things seem to be moving much slower than one would expect.

It feels like a different kind of freedom than I experienced just moments ago. A waiting process that’s out of my control. Something I just have to believe in. Now I know why religion became so popular throughout time. In the grasp of no one and nothing, controlled by the uncontrollable, what else do you have to rely on? Right or wrong, being in this moment has made me realize that sometimes all you have is hope. Fate is your only destiny…