A summary of the September posts from the MORE TO COME newsletter.
We’ve been traveling over the past few weeks: first in Ireland and now in France. Nonetheless, I still have a full monthly roster of posts and book reviews for MTC. My features were highlighted by our son Andrew’s fall singing schedule and the sharing of a lovely conversation I had with the author Robyn Ryle about her delightful and wonderfully written new novel.
I’ll catch up on my observations from the Emerald Isle, the Loire Valley, and the City of Light over the next few weeks, so please return as I revisit some of these magical places. In the meantime let’s jump in to see what did tickle my fancy this month.
READER FAVORITES
Two posts on MORE TO COME topped the list of reader favorites. Neither was unexpected. My conversations with authors are usually a big hit, and I can count on family highlights to draw a number of readers.
- A love letter to small towns highlights Sex of the Midwest, a refreshing new novel of linked stories about living in community. The author, my friend Robyn Ryle, sat down (virtually) with me for a thoughtful and engaging conversation about what she loves about small towns like Madison, Indiana (where she currently lives); the pandemic and its aftermath as experienced in small town America; and why stories that are less about sex and more about complex and complicated relationships in places where we least expect it are definitely worth your while. Don’t miss our conversation . . . you won’t regret it.
- Fall 2025 is a preview of the upcoming concert schedule of our son, the tenor Andrew Bearden Brown. Andrew is excited about each of these performances, but the opportunity to be the tenor soloist for Messiah at the Washington National Cathedral has special meaning. He grew up singing as a treble and a tenor at the Cathedral, so he notes that this is “truly a full-circle moment.”
AN APPRECIATION FOR THE GIFTS OF LIFE
Two additional posts also generated a great deal of reader interest this month.
- In Writing a present, I recounted three recent conversations with “a priest, a recovering lawyer, and a retired professor” where I note that sometimes others see things in your writing that are not always obvious as you put pen to paper. I also used this post to highlight Anne Lamott’s classic Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, which several readers have told me is one of their all-time favorite books.
- Late in the month I published Richard Moe: A personal appreciation after the passing of the longest-serving president in National Trust history. Dick’s generous and expansive spirit came through in everything he did.
READING DANGEROUSLY
I was able to post many of these pieces prior to our leaving on extended travel because I devoured several murder mysteries—which always fly by in the reading.
- Looking beneath the surface in a Japanese crime classic is my review of Tetsuya Ayukawa’s The Black Swan Mystery, a classic Japanese alibi-deconstruction mystery of the first order, available in a new English translation.
- Another look at the train murder genre appears in When everyone is a suspect. Five mystery writers come together to solve a crime that one of them probably committed in Benjamin Stevenson’s 2024 Everyone On This Train is a Suspect.
- The mysteries of the human personality is my review of Georges Simenon’s 5th book in the Maigret series—A Man’s Head—where a criminal mastermind doesn’t account for the Inspector’s tenacity. A New York Times article on Simenon suggested that “an Inspector Maigret mystery is like a shot of good liquor: sharp, tasty stuff that delivers a sock to the senses when you swallow it in a single gulp.”
EVERYTHING ELSE
At this stage in life my interests are much too wide to be bound by a single-focus newsletter; however, as a friend generously observed after a recent conversation, I seek to derive “simple, enduring meaning” from observing and writing about those diverse interests. So this is the section of the update that touches on “whatever else tickled my fancy” in September.
- Three recent pieces showed up in my newsfeed this month that all touched on the idea of cynicism vs. hope as I wrote in You are the way you play.
- In this age of rage, I highlighted—in Values and beliefs—the advice of a good friend and author who encourages us to take the time to articulate what we value and believe.
- Disengage with your misery machine examines the possibilities when we trade Doomscrolling for Hopescrolling.
- I love the pithy proverb — Volume 11 is the latest in my series of short, to the point adages that speak the truth in 20 words or less.
- It is my intention to read five books each month. See what made the cut last month in From the bookshelf: August 2025.
COMMENTS I LOVED
One of my brilliant readers at MTC is the internationally recognized graphic designer and author Michael Bierut. I came to know Michael through work at the National Trust and then we also got to know Michael and his wife Dorothy even better during our time at the American Academy in Rome. Michael wrote the following comment in response to Richard Moe: A personal appreciation.
“Dear David, This was such a great remembrance of Dick Moe. I met him when I was brought aboard by Paul Goldberger to do the branding for the Glass House, and later worked on a new logo for the Trust (eventually replaced by the current one, which I like) and, unless I’m hallucinating, something for the Lincoln Cottage. Doing this sort of work involves managing a lot of strong opinions. I don’t think I ever saw anyone do that better than Dick. We need more like him these days.”
I posted the essay Values and beliefs on LinkedIn. One of the authors I quote—brilliant reader Julia—reposted my essay with the following lead:
“Thanks to David J. Brown for fulfilling one of my lifelong writing ambitions: speaking of me in the same breath as Anne Lamott [followed by a laughing/crying face emoji]. But for real, thanks for reading and sharing, David. May we all ground ourselves in our own values and beliefs.”
Always glad to help authors fulfill a lifelong ambition!
DON’T POSTPONE JOY
Thanks, as always, for reading. Your friendship, support and feedback mean more than I can ever express.
As you travel life’s highways be open to love; thirst for wonder; undertake some mindful, transformative walking every day. Recognize the incredible privilege that most of us have and think about how to put that privilege to use for good. Women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, public servants, and others can feel especially vulnerable . . . because they are. Work hard for justice and democracy as the fight never ends.
But also keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable. Take time to dawdle and dream. Leave enough empty space to feel and experience life. Those gaps are where the magic begins. When times get rough, let your memories wander back to some wonderful place with remembrances of family and friends. But don’t be too hard on yourself if a few of the facts slip. Just get the poetry right.
Remember that “we are here to keep watch, not to keep.” Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. And bash into some joy along the way.
Life is finite . . . love is not.
Try to be nice. Always be kind.
More to come . . .
DJB
For the August 2025 summary, click here.
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Photo of Inishmore by Klaus Birner on Unsplash.
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