This summary of the September posts from the MORE TO COME newsletter focuses on the curiosity that is at the heart of the well-lived life.
In the past month I’ve attended a retirement party and a 90th birthday party. They were not for the same individual but the honorees—long-time and dear friends—have similar temperaments. Tom (the recent retiree) and George (the nonagenarian) both live in a state of continuous curiosity, are deeply thoughtful, and lead by example. In the spirit of my end-of-summer meditation Listen with more than your ears and see with more than your eyes, both have more expansive ways of listening and seeing. When they speak, others listen and are frequently moved.
There is a curiosity and sense of wonder at the heart of a life well-lived. In his book The Wisdom of Ignorance, my friend Alan Gregerman—author, community volunteer, speaker, and teacher—notes that curiosity is a skill we are all born with and that has guided innovation since the beginning of time. But “somewhere between the school bus and today’s meeting at work” most people lose the knack for exploring, putting things together in new ways, and asking “What if?” as a matter of course.
Curiosity plays a key role in many of the September posts in MORE TO COME. If you’re like me, you are curious to know what stories resonate with others. So let’s jump into this summary, beginning with the posts that topped the list of reader views in September.
READER FAVORITES
I have always enjoyed my conversations with the Jewish biblical scholar Amy-Jill Levine. With her deep theological insight, broad cultural knowledge, curiosity about the multiple meanings texts invite, and accessible writing, Levine (known as AJ to friends) leads readers on an exploration of stories we all think we know. In the beginning is the latest installment in my Author Q&A series, as AJ and I discuss her most recent book Genesis: A Beginner’s Guide to the Beginning. Our conversation was the top reader favorite this September.
Exploring DC’s independent bookshops: A Labor Day update was the other reader favorite. My decision to use this year to visit all the indie bookshops in the DC region—a quest central to the four pieces that follow—came out of my curiosity to know more about the people who have made reading and knowledge key to their lives and who want to build places for others to share their enthusiasm and love for books.
ROUNDING THE FINAL TURN ON THE INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOP TOUR
I’ve now visited all of the DC region’s 30 independent bookstores and in September passed the two-thirds mark in writing about my discoveries from the journey.
- Installment #18: ONE MORE PAGE BOOKS, Arlington
- Six beverages and the shaping of human destiny—Review: A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage
- Installment #19: LITTLE DISTRICT BOOKS, Capitol Hill
- A remarkable debut—Review: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
- Installment #20: BARDS ALLEY BOOKSHOP, Vienna
- The singularity of consciousness—Review: The Fifth Year by Marlen Haushofer
- Installment #21: SOLID STATE BOOKS, 14th and S Streets, NW
- A lingering, loving, nutty, melancholy portrait—Review: Lives of the Saints by Nancy Lemann
I’ll cover the other nine stores in the coming months then in December we’ll wrap this all up with a post on what I saw, learned, and loved from visiting all 30 of DC’s independent bookshops.
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
Fall 2026 highlights the upcoming concert schedule of our son, the tenor Andrew Bearden Brown. Solo appearances (see the listings above) include Washington Bach Consort (Bach cantatas) and St. Thomas Fifth Avenue & New York Baroque (Messiah). The St. Thomas Fifth Avenue performance has been hailed by The New York Times as “one of the most prominent and special [Messiahs] of the city.”
His full solo and ensemble schedule for this fall (along with ticket information) can be found at AndrewBeardenBrown.com.
And for something completely different: I love the pithy proverb: Volume 13 (The Dolly Parton edition) is the most recent in my series of aphorisms that have captured my attention. This post is a special tribute with music on 9-2-5, Dolly Parton Day. The Goddess of Kindness had such great sayings and advice, such as: “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
OTHER CURIOSITIES AND OBSERVATIONS
Three September posts clearly fall into the “observations from the slow lane of life” category.
- A Saturday grab bag: The 2026 Autumnal Equinox edition celebrates the turn of the calendar to fall and harvest moons while featuring links to stories from a few writers I follow who have important things to say.
- An eternal struggle is my review of Jon Meacham’s The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels, a book I read with my history book club.
- From the bookshelf: August 2026 highlights the books I read last month.
WHAT’S AHEAD FOR OCTOBER
October promises to be a pretty busy month on MORE TO COME. To stay on track for a year-end completion of my independent bookstore crawl, I’ll be reading and reviewing three books while highlighting the shops where I found these treasures.
In addition, it is baseball playoff time, so don’t be surprised by a post or two commenting on the national pastime. And yes, as this video of future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander’s final game captures, all final acts should be this wonderful.
Most importantly, however . . . October is the month for spooks and goblins, so I hope to read at least five murder mysteries before the 31st to celebrate Halloween. I have nine to choose from, which I’ll preview in the next From the bookshelf post.
And if that’s not scary enough for you, we have midterm elections coming up on November 3rd. I am sure I’ll have at least one post that considers why polling continues to show an “electorate curiously unimpressed with the administration’s ongoing efforts to rename theatre buildings” after “the world’s most obnoxious person.”
Stay tuned!
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. Let yourself be bewildered!
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.
Be comfortable in the mystery. Seek the uplifting spirit that leads to a life of grace and wonder.
Grace to help us remember that we can do hard things. “Grace to never sell yourself short; Grace to risk something big for something good; and Grace to remember the world is now too dangerous for anything but the truth and too small for anything but love . . .”
Wonder to help us 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 2026 summary, click here.
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Fall scene by Mathieu Odin on Unsplash
