Friday Favorites 10

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday,

Cue the music, brew that pot. Minnesota’s afternoon rainstorms have been perfect for reading, writing, and sitting on the couch.

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

Funny how we assume the artists we look up to must be so literary, serious, and important compared to ourselves — then learn that’s exactly how they feel about who they look up to! I’m going to have to watch this entire Karl Ove Knausgård episode from BBC’s Arts in Motion.
Maria and I loved watching Desk Set last weekend, a 1957 rom-com about a whip-smart reference librarian and the computer engineer replacing her entire research department with a computer. Very funny, and unfortunately timely with AI!
I’ve been reading why people like Dante’s “Inferno” so much, so naturally I’ve been listening to Hozier’s “Unreal Unearth” album again and again.
“Oh Lord. I could talk about the various ways — in nature, in folklore, things like that — but honestly, the surest one? Spite.” T. Kingfisher on the surest way for him to find inspiration. This is my surest way, too! Austin Kleon recommends it, too.
I recently read “The Emerson Circle” and loved learning more about the Transcendentalists, but mostly Margaret Fuller, Louisa May Alcott, and Thoreau. Just in time to watch this new PBS miniseries on the Thoreau! Robert Gross’ book is up next to read.
“Well, I don’t have to worry about how to pay the mortgage. I get to write the stories I want to write.” Octavia Butler on the best parts about her success as a writer — the dream! I’m also an early-morning writer; by 5 p.m. my brain’s largely unhelpful and annoying.
I read the first Knaussgard book in 2016, and autofiction was this new, interesting genre to me. This week I revisited a LitHub article written by Robert Moor in 2024 (whose new book I’m v. excited to read) about the book “Bjarki, not Bjarki,” a great book about creativity, writing, and autojournalism.
Speaking of autojournalism: it’s starting to feel like summer, which means I want to float in a pool, drink gin and tonics, and read Hunter S. Thompson. Van Neistat likes him for his adventures and prose; I love him writing so politically and entertainingly.
Literary fly fisherman! I read “A River Runs Through It” in college in two days (molecules, molecules) and loved it. “Ninety-two in the Shade” felt like Norman Maclean meets Hunter S. Thompson. I’d add Callan Wink as a favorite modern literary fly fisherman, a form I hope continues.
We forget how much agency we have; you can just email people stuff. I’m not great at taking this advice often but it has worked well for me in the past.

See you on down the dusty trail,

Robertgross on Isak's Blog

Friday Favorites 10