Hello! This is the official substack of me, Daniel O'Brien, four-time Emmy-winning Senior Writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, author of How to Fight Presidents and its adaptation Your Presidential Fantasy Dream Team, Head Writer for the Cracked De-textbook
Kickstart a reading slump by rereading something that you loved. For me, that's always a Stephen King book because his pacing is perfect and they're always incredible stories.
I am blind and I generally have up to 5 audio books going at the same time on different apps and devices. It's kind of a sickness, but for whatever reason I can jump back and forth without ever losing my place in one of the books. I probably listen to about 2-3 hours of a book daily mostly while cooking. Also for the record, Obsessive Pop Culture Disorder is my absolute favorite Youtube series, followed closely by After Hours. Thank you for all the laughs.
When I suddenly realize I haven't read a book in weeks -or months, let's be honest- I will return to one of the low stakes, quick read, long-running series that my dad got me into. Stephen Hunter's Swagger series, Robert B. Parker's Spencer novels are great examples. Once I blow through one of those, I feel like I can handle a big sci-fi or fantasy novel again. And I'll have a heavy, philosophical type book in the background that will take me years to get all the way through, but make me feel very smart to have on my bedside table.
Daniel, I'm curious if your recommendations will eventually have sci-fi or fantasy novels. I've never heard you mention one on the podcast.
It's my new years resolution to get into reading again but I'm really struggling. I've only managed to finish 1 (very good) book this whole pandemic, How to Fight Presidents, a book I bought several years ago that survived a few moves before I got around to it. I really like the suggestion to have multiple books going at a time so I think I'll give that a whirl. Thanks!
Kickstart a reading slump by rereading something that you loved. For me, that's always a Stephen King book because his pacing is perfect and they're always incredible stories.
I am blind and I generally have up to 5 audio books going at the same time on different apps and devices. It's kind of a sickness, but for whatever reason I can jump back and forth without ever losing my place in one of the books. I probably listen to about 2-3 hours of a book daily mostly while cooking. Also for the record, Obsessive Pop Culture Disorder is my absolute favorite Youtube series, followed closely by After Hours. Thank you for all the laughs.
When I suddenly realize I haven't read a book in weeks -or months, let's be honest- I will return to one of the low stakes, quick read, long-running series that my dad got me into. Stephen Hunter's Swagger series, Robert B. Parker's Spencer novels are great examples. Once I blow through one of those, I feel like I can handle a big sci-fi or fantasy novel again. And I'll have a heavy, philosophical type book in the background that will take me years to get all the way through, but make me feel very smart to have on my bedside table.
Daniel, I'm curious if your recommendations will eventually have sci-fi or fantasy novels. I've never heard you mention one on the podcast.
It's my new years resolution to get into reading again but I'm really struggling. I've only managed to finish 1 (very good) book this whole pandemic, How to Fight Presidents, a book I bought several years ago that survived a few moves before I got around to it. I really like the suggestion to have multiple books going at a time so I think I'll give that a whirl. Thanks!