Midad Blog
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Five books that trusted the reader
Every book I loved this year had one thing in common: it trusted the reader. It did not explain its jokes, underline its themes or tell me how to feel. It left…
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A city is read on foot
Cities are read the way books are: slowly at first, then all at once. You can drive through a place a hundred times and never know it. Walking is the only speed…
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Writing in the quiet hours
There is a particular kind of quiet that only exists early in the morning, before the city remembers itself. The traffic has not started, the neighbours are still asleep, and even the…
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Notes from a slow train
The train left forty minutes late and nobody minded. There is a particular calm that settles over a carriage once everyone accepts that the journey will take as long as it takes.…
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On keeping a notebook
I carry a notebook not to remember things, but to notice them. Writing a line down is a way of looking twice. For years I tried apps, voice memos and photos of…
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Five sentences I wrote down this month
Not quotes from famous people — just sentences I overheard, read or wrote, and did not want to lose. Why I keep them A good sentence is a tool. I return to…
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The case for short paragraphs
Short paragraphs give the reader a place to breathe. On a screen, that breath is the difference between reading and skimming. Long paragraphs have their place — in essays that build slowly,…
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Morning light in old neighbourhoods
Old neighbourhoods are best read at dawn, before the shutters go up. The light is low, the streets are honest, and every doorway has a story. In the hour before the shops…
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A weekend with no itinerary
I arrived on Friday evening with a bag, a notebook and no list of places to see. For once, the plan was to have no plan. What I found instead A bakery…
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How I read more without trying harder
I did not find more time. I just removed a few obstacles between me and the next page. For years I told myself I was too busy to read. Then I counted…
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