Summer Plans for Books May Save Us

Hello Friends! I am truly excited to share some of the plans I have for the summer months here on Substack, and I hope you’ll join me!

I want to start by thanking everyone who has jumped in to follow, subscribe, comment, like, collaborate, recommend, restack, and encourage me in this Substack! I want to take a moment to reflect on what’s happened so far, and then outline some thoughts of where I’d like to go this summer while I’m on vacation from teaching.

It is so encouraging to see that since we started on January 8, 2026, the Books May Save Us community has grown to over 1,500 people following, including over 500 subscribers.

Thank you. We need each other. I can’t wait to see where we go from here!

Even though you never know what twists and turns will come into the calendar, I want to commit to writing more and regularly in the next two months of summer vacation from teaching.

Summer Schedule:

• Post Weekly Articles on Fridays that offer in-depth reflections on how and why books may save us and what we can do to use books to make the world a better place.

• Post Daily Notes that educate, inform, entertain, inspire, and encourage readers and offer opportunities for community building and discussion.

There are some things that I will be developing and learning for future content and other opportunities to connect.

• Audio Content: Substack already offers an automated AI reading of our articles, as I know many people are helped by audio reading, but I’m not a fan of using AI for any of my work. Instead, I really want the chance to let you hear my voice, inflection, laugh, and emphasis if that helps you to have a more personal connection with me as we build this community together. I love listening to authors read their work, so I hope to work toward this for all of you as an option.

• Video Content: I’d also like to offer videos that expand on some of the ideas in my articles. I’ve been talking to people I would like to interview and discuss books with, and I’d also like to offer companion video essays to my articles. This is not to replace the writing, as I feel like writing and reading is such an important part of what makes Substack different than other social media and such a special place, but as a teacher, I know the power of being able to communicate with people in a more face-to-face way.

There are other plans in the works in terms of ways that I’d like to collaborate and continue to build this community, so please subscribe if you are interested in being a part of what is coming!

Please take a moment to leave a comment to help me plan for what the community would be most excited to see.

• Are there certain authors whose work and philosophy you’d like me to discuss?

• Are there certain ways that books help you that you’d like to suggest I write about?

• Are there worries you have about literacy, education, or restrictions to reading that you’d like me to explore?

• Are there spiritual, communal, physiological, educational benefits from books that you’re most interested in?

• What brings you here and what would more encourage or interest you?