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Driving a horse to the vet this morning (the kind of work that can’t be carried out with AI), I serendipitously caught an interview with Cal Newport, author of Deep Work. I’ll put his link below.

He was absolutely brilliant about why sitting down and reading works to keep us human. Reading isn’t a thing that we evolved as a survival strategy. It’s a learned behavior that links together parts of our brain that otherwise wouldn’t connect with each other. When we read for twenty or thirty minutes per day, we’re exercising and strengthening those connections. If we don’t read, those connections wither away.

I read all the time for work—whenever I’m sitting down to write, I’m constantly referring to histories, biographies, monographs, and other works of scholarship. But I’ve been increasingly aware, over the past year, that this sort of pragmatic, goal-focused reading (which tends to be in shorter chunks) isn’t the same as sitting down and reading. Which is something that keeps falling off the to-do list. It isn’t, after all

So for the past month, I’ve been putting “Read in the Library” on my to-do list. We recently moved all of the books from my parents’ offices into an upstairs room that now has two chairs, a table, a good light, and a cat that insists on sleeping there (that’s the library, pic for your reference). When I get to “Read in the Library” on the daily schedule, I go into the Library, sit in the chair that the cat’s not occupying, pull a blanket over me (the blanket seems to be important), and spend at least half an hour reading something that has nothing at all to do with anything I’m working on. I’ll list a few titles next week, if you’re interested.

It’s been a sabbath of sorts, a recapturing of a joy that I remember from childhood (sinking into a book without having to USE it for anything), and an oasis in the middle of a work afternoon.

I guess I’m just letting you know that even those of us who do word-work for a living have to continually re-start the deep work of reading.

calnewport.com/deep-work-rules-for-focused-success-in-a-distracted-world/
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8 hours ago

Driving a horse to the vet this morning (the kind of work that can’t be carried out with AI), I serendipitously caught an interview with Cal Newport, author of Deep Work. I’ll put his link below.

He was absolutely brilliant about why sitting down and reading works to keep us human. Reading isn’t a thing that we evolved as a survival strategy. It’s a learned behavior that links together parts of our brain that otherwise wouldn’t connect with each other. When we read for twenty or thirty minutes per day, we’re exercising and strengthening those connections. If we don’t read, those connections wither away.

I read all the time for work—whenever I’m sitting down to write, I’m constantly referring to histories, biographies, monographs, and other works of scholarship. But I’ve been increasingly aware, over the past year, that this sort of pragmatic, goal-focused reading (which tends to be in shorter chunks) isn’t the same as sitting down and reading. Which is something that keeps falling off the to-do list. It isn’t, after all

So for the past month, I’ve been putting “Read in the Library” on my to-do list. We recently moved all of the books from my parents’ offices into an upstairs room that now has two chairs, a table, a good light, and a cat that insists on sleeping there (that’s the library, pic for your reference). When I get to “Read in the Library” on the daily schedule, I go into the Library, sit in the chair that the cat’s not occupying, pull a blanket over me (the blanket seems to be important), and spend at least half an hour reading something that has nothing at all to do with anything I’m working on. I’ll list a few titles next week, if you’re interested.

It’s been a sabbath of sorts, a recapturing of a joy that I remember from childhood (sinking into a book without having to USE it for anything), and an oasis in the middle of a work afternoon.

I guess I’m just letting you know that even those of us who do word-work for a living have to continually re-start the deep work of reading.

https://calnewport.com/deep-work-rules-for-focused-success-in-a-distracted-world/

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Do you think the positive effects of sitting down to read for pleasure are lessened at all by choosing ebooks or audiobooks over paper books? This isn't to throw shade at those formats. I use all three formats in my reading life. I'm more curious if you or anyone else has thoughts on this.

To read for reading sake what is your favorite? I know this is a loaded question especially for am author and educator

I’m building my library, if you look closely, you should see three of yours. Yours was the history timeline I decided to use for my “clothesline” on which to hang more facts as I discovered them.

I needed this post. After a wretched divorce, I left my books on the shelves for “a time that seemed right.” Today, I picked up All Creatures Great and Small. I’m healing.

I've been working on the exact same practice for a few months now! I limited myself to real books with paper pages because I have relied on audio books so much for the past five years that I wanted to reaquaint myself with the tactile experience of bound pages. Yesterday, I found out that four months of real books has ruined me for e-readers. I tried an e-book and did not like it at all!

Maryanne Wolfe has talked about this (with reading) quite a bit in her work, too!

I’m almost done with home schooling our tenth child. We’re downsizing dramatically for a cross country move and I’m daydreaming of reading by the fireplace in the living room. I just read Joan of Ark by Mark Twain and plan to rebuild our library in my retirement years. It’s enjoyable to return to my bookworm days.

I was speaking with my local independent book seller recently and she reminded me that not only reading, but also selecting books that we will enjoy, are muscles that must be exercised.

I've read three books of your history of the World Series through the Renaissance Is there a modern volume

I needed this. Thank you. ❤️

WHY-I-LOVE-YOU. 🧐🙌🏻👍🏻

SO smart. ✊🏼

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My brother is the featured speaker at William & Mary tomorrow.

My goodness, how we've grown.

And yes, given my last post, I am aware of the irony that he holds this particular job. But he's still a very good guy.

**

William & Mary alumni are on the cutting edge of innovation — including at Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company. Nvidia now holds approximately 80% of the artificial intelligence chip market and is worth more than $4 trillion.

Bob Wise ’86, vice president for engineering and operations at Nvidia DGX Cloud, an AI supercomputing service, is leading at a time of immense growth. On April 23, he will return to campus to share insights from his career in the tech industry with the W&M community as the inaugural speaker in the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics Class of 1975 Speaker Series.

**

news.wm.edu/2026/04/13/bob-wise-86-of-nvidia-to-speak-at-wm-april-23/
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1 week ago

My brother is the featured speaker at William & Mary tomorrow.

My goodness, how weve grown.

And yes, given my last post, I am aware of the irony that he holds this particular job. But hes still a very good guy.

**

William & Mary alumni are on the cutting edge of innovation — including at Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company. Nvidia now holds approximately 80% of the artificial intelligence chip market and is worth more than $4 trillion. 

Bob Wise ’86, vice president for engineering and operations at Nvidia DGX Cloud, an AI supercomputing service, is leading at a time of immense growth. On April 23, he will return to campus to share insights from his career in the tech industry with the W&M community as the inaugural speaker in the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics Class of 1975 Speaker Series. 

**

https://news.wm.edu/2026/04/13/bob-wise-86-of-nvidia-to-speak-at-wm-april-23/

Comment on Facebook

As a satisfied NVIDIA shareholder please tell your brother thank you.

Very cool, Susan! Sending the link to our two 20-something sons - one a robotics engineer in Boston and one a research oceanographer doing a post-doc in a climate lab in the geology department at an Ivy League university. Each was homeschooled for about 8 years (different years as they were 6 grades apart). They loved The Story of the World! But I don't think either of them has run into homeschoolers in STEM fields, other than a couple of childhood friends.

I had a dress very similar to yours!! 😄

Is that little Tom Hanks?🤭

Y’all are so cute! 🥰🥰🥰

I loved those playmates! Great memories Thanks for sharing, congratulations to Bob!

That's you on the left? Adorbs!

This photo is precious!! Sweet siblings 🥹

And I think today is Bob ‘s birthday too! Happy Birthday and what an incredible opportunity! I know your parents would be so proud.

Adorable photo 💛 Was he homeschooled too? Because the idea that a homeschooler can grow up to become a VP at Nvidia is very encouraging to those of us with little ones!

I love this photo! You all weren't too much older than this when we met!💕

My daughter is there-glad for the notice!

Will this be recorded? I am really interested in hearing this.

Wow, the 3 of you were absolutely darling!

As the parent of a programming and engineering-minded kid, I'd love to hear more about how William and Mary prepares students on that side of the postsecondary spectrum. I always think of W&M for letters, but it slips my mind for the sciences.

I love seeing you support your brother. The twist and turns of life’

Beautiful PHOTO, Susan! Great hearing the recent news about your brother, Bob, Old Man River,as your Mom would call him.🥰

SAME

Wow.

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