Robert Breen
@robertbreen.bsky.social
Writer, lifelong reader, and retired strategist sharing reflections on books, journaling, and the examined life. Finding meaning through the quiet art of paying attention. #Sober. Essays and posts at robertbreen.com.
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Robert Breen
@robertbreen.bsky.social
· Aug 12
Mornings in New York - Robert Breen
While every day in New York brings something new, life with dogs means every morning begins exactly the same way. The routine offers an opportunity to reflect on our lives in the city and the benefits of immersive travel.
robertbreen.com
Mornings in New York: https://robertbreen.micro.blog/2025/08/12/mornings-in-new-york.html
A heart-breaking memoir from Yiyun Li about losing two sons to suicide. There's often little you can say to parent who's lost a child. But sometimes the words from a fellow sufferer get through. This book was one of those. ★★★★★ 💙📚
@appletwigli.bsky.social
books.robertbreen.com/2025/11/29/t...
@appletwigli.bsky.social
books.robertbreen.com/2025/11/29/t...
Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li - Robert Breen 📚
★★★★★ | Memoir | Print | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads There are levels of hell on earth that only a parent who has lost a child have traveled. YiYun Li, a successful novelist and mother of two, lost h...
books.robertbreen.com
November 30, 2025 at 3:10 AM
A heart-breaking memoir from Yiyun Li about losing two sons to suicide. There's often little you can say to parent who's lost a child. But sometimes the words from a fellow sufferer get through. This book was one of those. ★★★★★ 💙📚
@appletwigli.bsky.social
books.robertbreen.com/2025/11/29/t...
@appletwigli.bsky.social
books.robertbreen.com/2025/11/29/t...
"If you want to write, practice writing. Practice it for hours a day, not to come up with a story you can publish, but because you long to learn how to write well, because there is something that you alone can say."
— Ann Patchett, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
— Ann Patchett, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
September 30, 2025 at 3:43 PM
"If you want to write, practice writing. Practice it for hours a day, not to come up with a story you can publish, but because you long to learn how to write well, because there is something that you alone can say."
— Ann Patchett, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
— Ann Patchett, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
"We talk of choosing our friends, but friends are self-elected. Reverence is a great part of it. Treat your friend as a spectacle."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
September 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
"We talk of choosing our friends, but friends are self-elected. Reverence is a great part of it. Treat your friend as a spectacle."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is the way.
September 17, 2025 at 9:53 PM
This is the way.
"There is nothing so often condemned, and so deeply loved, as the past."
— Will Durant
— Will Durant
September 7, 2025 at 11:47 AM
"There is nothing so often condemned, and so deeply loved, as the past."
— Will Durant
— Will Durant
Finished reading: The Best American Essays 2024 💙📚
I’m on an essay kick, and the latest “Best American” series provided a wide range of thought-provoking takes and introduced me to some new voices. I share my five favorite essays in the full review. ★★★☆☆
Full review.
I’m on an essay kick, and the latest “Best American” series provided a wide range of thought-provoking takes and introduced me to some new voices. I share my five favorite essays in the full review. ★★★☆☆
Full review.
The Best American Essays 2024 by Wesley Morris (editor) - Robert Breen 📚
★★★☆☆ | Essays | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads I’m on an essay kick, and this annual “Best American” series always provides a wide range of thought-provoking takes. Unlike past years, where I tended to pick and choose what I read, for this latest volume, I read each essay in order, skipping none. […]
books.robertbreen.com
September 6, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Finished reading: The Best American Essays 2024 💙📚
I’m on an essay kick, and the latest “Best American” series provided a wide range of thought-provoking takes and introduced me to some new voices. I share my five favorite essays in the full review. ★★★☆☆
Full review.
I’m on an essay kick, and the latest “Best American” series provided a wide range of thought-provoking takes and introduced me to some new voices. I share my five favorite essays in the full review. ★★★☆☆
Full review.
Rats are invading strollers in and around Central Park:
"They’re bold. You can stomp your foot all you want, but they’re New York City rats. They are not afraid."
Those many years on an island in Washington state taught me all about rats. But here in NYC? They really are something else.
"They’re bold. You can stomp your foot all you want, but they’re New York City rats. They are not afraid."
Those many years on an island in Washington state taught me all about rats. But here in NYC? They really are something else.
September 4, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Rats are invading strollers in and around Central Park:
"They’re bold. You can stomp your foot all you want, but they’re New York City rats. They are not afraid."
Those many years on an island in Washington state taught me all about rats. But here in NYC? They really are something else.
"They’re bold. You can stomp your foot all you want, but they’re New York City rats. They are not afraid."
Those many years on an island in Washington state taught me all about rats. But here in NYC? They really are something else.
"What absurd victims of contrary desires we are! If a man is settled in one place he yearns to wander; when he wanders he yearns to have a home. And yet how bestial is content — all the great things in life are done by discontented people."
Christopher Morley
Christopher Morley
September 3, 2025 at 1:34 PM
"What absurd victims of contrary desires we are! If a man is settled in one place he yearns to wander; when he wanders he yearns to have a home. And yet how bestial is content — all the great things in life are done by discontented people."
Christopher Morley
Christopher Morley
The 15” M4 MacBook Air: https://robertbreen.micro.blog/2025/09/02/the-m-macbook-air.html
September 2, 2025 at 3:57 PM
The 15” M4 MacBook Air: https://robertbreen.micro.blog/2025/09/02/the-m-macbook-air.html
Nancy Pearl’s Revised ‘Rule of 50’:
"When you are 51 years of age or older, subtract your age from 100, and the resulting number is the pages you should read before you can guiltlessly give up on a book … When you turn 100, you are authorized (by the Rule of 50) to judge a book by its cover."
💙📚
"When you are 51 years of age or older, subtract your age from 100, and the resulting number is the pages you should read before you can guiltlessly give up on a book … When you turn 100, you are authorized (by the Rule of 50) to judge a book by its cover."
💙📚
August 31, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Nancy Pearl’s Revised ‘Rule of 50’:
"When you are 51 years of age or older, subtract your age from 100, and the resulting number is the pages you should read before you can guiltlessly give up on a book … When you turn 100, you are authorized (by the Rule of 50) to judge a book by its cover."
💙📚
"When you are 51 years of age or older, subtract your age from 100, and the resulting number is the pages you should read before you can guiltlessly give up on a book … When you turn 100, you are authorized (by the Rule of 50) to judge a book by its cover."
💙📚
I’m late to the discovery of @annahavron’s wonderful Analog Office blog. Her Lumpers vs Splitters post on whether to keep one notebook for everything or many specialized notebooks is pure gold. Anna could write about staplers, and I would read it. Full disclosure: I am and forever will be a lumper.
Micro.blog - @annahavron
micro.blog
August 29, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I’m late to the discovery of @annahavron’s wonderful Analog Office blog. Her Lumpers vs Splitters post on whether to keep one notebook for everything or many specialized notebooks is pure gold. Anna could write about staplers, and I would read it. Full disclosure: I am and forever will be a lumper.
The Kobo-Instapaper integration has officially launched, replacing the now defunct Pocket app for reading articles on the ereader. I’m curious to know if highlights made on Kobo sync back to Instapaper (and thus to Readwise). If so, this could be the tipping point for this long-time Kindle owner.
Rakuten Kobo Integration is Live!
Rakuten Kobo Integration is Live!We’re excited to share that Instapaper is now live on all Rakuten Kobo eReaders. Now you can log into Instapaper on your Kobo, download your list of articles, and read...
blog.instapaper.com
August 28, 2025 at 8:54 PM
The Kobo-Instapaper integration has officially launched, replacing the now defunct Pocket app for reading articles on the ereader. I’m curious to know if highlights made on Kobo sync back to Instapaper (and thus to Readwise). If so, this could be the tipping point for this long-time Kindle owner.
Reposted by Robert Breen
The mental health benefits of not knowing any history right now must be massive. Moving through your day with total equanimity. What happens next? Who knows? Maybe something good
August 26, 2025 at 7:51 PM
The mental health benefits of not knowing any history right now must be massive. Moving through your day with total equanimity. What happens next? Who knows? Maybe something good
"To see a thousand objects for the first and for the last time, what can be deeper and more melancholy? To travel is to be born and to die at every instant."
— Victor Hugo from Les Misérables
— Victor Hugo from Les Misérables
August 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
"To see a thousand objects for the first and for the last time, what can be deeper and more melancholy? To travel is to be born and to die at every instant."
— Victor Hugo from Les Misérables
— Victor Hugo from Les Misérables
Finished reading: On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) by Solvej Balle 💙📚
It’s Groundhog’s Day but with an existential slant on the meaning of self, time, mortality, sustainability, and the inevitable progression of love and marriage. ★★★★☆
Full Review.
It’s Groundhog’s Day but with an existential slant on the meaning of self, time, mortality, sustainability, and the inevitable progression of love and marriage. ★★★★☆
Full Review.
On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) by Solvej Balle - Robert Breen 📚
★★★★☆ | Literary Fiction | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads This insightful review by Adam Woods of On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) intrigued me enough to read this puzzling book, the first of a planned seven-volume series. Five books have been published in Balle’s native Danish with just the first two […]
books.robertbreen.com
August 17, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Finished reading: On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) by Solvej Balle 💙📚
It’s Groundhog’s Day but with an existential slant on the meaning of self, time, mortality, sustainability, and the inevitable progression of love and marriage. ★★★★☆
Full Review.
It’s Groundhog’s Day but with an existential slant on the meaning of self, time, mortality, sustainability, and the inevitable progression of love and marriage. ★★★★☆
Full Review.
You would think after three months, I would be tired of all the crowds, noise, and concrete. But I couldn’t shake the feeling during a walk through the East Village last night that I was on an elaborate movie set or maybe the holodeck on a starship. NYC might really be the center of the universe.
August 16, 2025 at 1:49 PM
You would think after three months, I would be tired of all the crowds, noise, and concrete. But I couldn’t shake the feeling during a walk through the East Village last night that I was on an elaborate movie set or maybe the holodeck on a starship. NYC might really be the center of the universe.
"If you only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are."
— Montesquieu
— Montesquieu
August 14, 2025 at 6:49 PM
"If you only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are."
— Montesquieu
— Montesquieu
Mornings in New York: https://robertbreen.micro.blog/2025/08/12/mornings-in-new-york.html
Mornings in New York - Robert Breen
While every day in New York brings something new, life with dogs means every morning begins exactly the same way. The routine offers an opportunity to reflect on our lives in the city and the benefits of immersive travel.
robertbreen.com
August 12, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Mornings in New York: https://robertbreen.micro.blog/2025/08/12/mornings-in-new-york.html
I look forward to these Sunday morning walks in Manhattan. The city empties out over summer weekends. Fewer people out walking, even fewer cars. An hour’s walk along these streets and avenues is therapeutic for the body and soul.
August 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
I look forward to these Sunday morning walks in Manhattan. The city empties out over summer weekends. Fewer people out walking, even fewer cars. An hour’s walk along these streets and avenues is therapeutic for the body and soul.
Finished reading: On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder 💙📚
A concise summary of the tactics used by totalitarian governments to suppress freedom and democracy. Clear examples from twentieth-century despots support each of the twenty lessons. ★★★★☆
Full review.
A concise summary of the tactics used by totalitarian governments to suppress freedom and democracy. Clear examples from twentieth-century despots support each of the twenty lessons. ★★★★☆
Full review.
On Tyranny
micro.blog
August 8, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Finished reading: On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder 💙📚
A concise summary of the tactics used by totalitarian governments to suppress freedom and democracy. Clear examples from twentieth-century despots support each of the twenty lessons. ★★★★☆
Full review.
A concise summary of the tactics used by totalitarian governments to suppress freedom and democracy. Clear examples from twentieth-century despots support each of the twenty lessons. ★★★★☆
Full review.
Finished reading: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer 💙📚
I’m glad I read this hefty tome. I can put current events and government decisions into the context of what happened in Nazi Germany. I know better what to look for. ★★★★☆
Full review.
I’m glad I read this hefty tome. I can put current events and government decisions into the context of what happened in Nazi Germany. I know better what to look for. ★★★★☆
Full review.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
micro.blog
August 5, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Finished reading: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer 💙📚
I’m glad I read this hefty tome. I can put current events and government decisions into the context of what happened in Nazi Germany. I know better what to look for. ★★★★☆
Full review.
I’m glad I read this hefty tome. I can put current events and government decisions into the context of what happened in Nazi Germany. I know better what to look for. ★★★★☆
Full review.
Finished reading: Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard 💙📚
A recent New Yorker article by Anthony Lane prompted me to read this one, my first Elmore Leonard book. I enjoyed the pacing and dialogue and colorful cast of characters, all set in languid south Florida.
★★★★☆
A recent New Yorker article by Anthony Lane prompted me to read this one, my first Elmore Leonard book. I enjoyed the pacing and dialogue and colorful cast of characters, all set in languid south Florida.
★★★★☆
Maximum Bob
micro.blog
July 29, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Finished reading: Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard 💙📚
A recent New Yorker article by Anthony Lane prompted me to read this one, my first Elmore Leonard book. I enjoyed the pacing and dialogue and colorful cast of characters, all set in languid south Florida.
★★★★☆
A recent New Yorker article by Anthony Lane prompted me to read this one, my first Elmore Leonard book. I enjoyed the pacing and dialogue and colorful cast of characters, all set in languid south Florida.
★★★★☆
"America has been a terrific country for investors. All they have needed to do is sit quietly, listening to no one."
— Warren Buffett, 2023 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter
— Warren Buffett, 2023 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter
July 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM
"America has been a terrific country for investors. All they have needed to do is sit quietly, listening to no one."
— Warren Buffett, 2023 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter
— Warren Buffett, 2023 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter
"Take gratefully any pleasures the world provides, but don’t curse God when they fail. Nobody in the universe ever promised you anything. Most things break, including hearts. The lessons of a life amount not to wisdom but to scar tissue and callus."
Wallace Stegner, The Spectator Bird 💙📚
Wallace Stegner, The Spectator Bird 💙📚
July 24, 2025 at 12:53 PM
"Take gratefully any pleasures the world provides, but don’t curse God when they fail. Nobody in the universe ever promised you anything. Most things break, including hearts. The lessons of a life amount not to wisdom but to scar tissue and callus."
Wallace Stegner, The Spectator Bird 💙📚
Wallace Stegner, The Spectator Bird 💙📚
Good news for Kobo readers or those looking to escape the Amazon ecosystem: Instapaper Read-It-Later comes to Kobo e-Readers later this summer.
Instapaper Rakuten Kobo Integration
Instapaper Rakuten Kobo IntegrationWe’re excited to announce a new integration that will bring Instapaper to all Rakuten Kobo eReaders. The integration will provide Kobo readers with a seamless way to...
blog.instapaper.com
July 21, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Good news for Kobo readers or those looking to escape the Amazon ecosystem: Instapaper Read-It-Later comes to Kobo e-Readers later this summer.