Going back to blogging in the year 2024

Part of the reason I decided to create this website was to have a place to write posts sometimes.

I used to blog, a lifetime ago, at The Arabist (which was created by my brilliant then-boyfriend now-husband Issandr Elamrani). I am always startled when I visit the blog’s archives and realize just how much I wrote there at one point.

In fact blogging is the only way I’ve ever enjoyed writing online. I’m not witty or aggressive or thick-skinned enough to be good at Twitter. I don’t want to provide free content for Facebook or Instagram and whatever marketing schemes/AI training they are deploying over there. Using Substack means giving myself deadlines, a job. I figure if I’m going to write for free, for fun -- why not do it somewhere where it belongs to me? What I mostly plan to share here are short book reviews and book recommendations.