The Year's Most Important Book Quiz
Be wyrd, wield destiny
Authors write books. Usually more than one. Sometimes too many. And often, more than one at a time.
This is occasionally discouraged. Some authors have included among their self-imposed rules a prohibition on working on books other than the one they’re writing.
This feels aspirational. I think I’ve always had other books in various stages of development while writing extant manuscripts. And this year has been no exception.
Next month brings the third anniversary of Human Forever, a book that — unfortunately for us humans — is more accurate and urgent than it was in 2021.
But much that has unfolded since then looms over the landscape in a way that (again, unfortunately) calls for some kind of treatment that just feels absent today.
Plus, time, as usual, is pressing. More than ever, we don’t need more books for books’ sake. Nor do I need to indulge myself for my own.
And so, I ask YOU:
Much obliged! One way or the other, big things are on the horizon that I’M enthused to share, real real soon now.
This is a tough one, since you listed multiple topics I'd be interested in.
Ironically, the one I'd least be interested in -- "What Christians should do today?" -- is the one that's leading in the poll. I think I'm least interested in it BECAUSE it's the leader in the poll -- it's by far the most oversaturated topic. I worry by the time you came to market with it you'll be competing with 50 other identical books.
The tech topic runs the risk of being the most obtuse, and unfortunately, the most overtaken by events -- witness all the "AI can't do fingers" hot takes that are now utterly irrelevant -- but is likely the one where you could possibly carve out some unique ground and say something not being parroted by 30 other books.
Maybe this is a decent idea for a follow-up poll -- give readers four topics and ask them which they think is the LEAST over-saturated topic in the ideas marketplace right now.
Thanks, James! As an avid consumer of all your "content," I notice you frequently mention Americans' needing to "roll up their sleeves" and tinker under the hood of bitcoin, block chain, et c. However, I've yet to hear you expound on any practical steps to take in this regard or why this is a better use of one's time than, say, study or contemplation or one of the many other things that nurture and celebrate our humanity. Is this something you could explore on Zero Hour?