One Thing I'm Doing More This Year

Last year, I did a lot. I defended my dissertation, wore the robes, and graduated. I started commuting to New Jersey to start my new postdoctoral fellowship at Rutgers. I traveled to the Philippines on a medical mission.

Now, this year, one thing I've resolved to do: Read a historical monograph every week. Write a summary. Save the citation to Zotero.

In the storm of adjusting to a new position at a different institution, I feel like I'm falling behind on reading.

During my drives to Rutgers, I listened to the audiobook of Katalin Karikó's superb, inspiring memoir Breaking Through. Throughout her career, she loved reading scientific journals.

In her book, she recalls attending a guest lecture of a renowned scientist. During the Q&A, she listened to the scientist's answer, and she realized that the scientist was referring to older, outdated science, and she was disappointed to notice that this highly-regarded scholar had not kept up on reading newer work.

I don't want to fall out of this habit.

First book of the year: Health Colonialism: Urban Wastelands and Hospital Frontiers by Shiloh Krupar.