Volumes. | Matthew Morgan | Substack

The Look of the Book

On book covers, in the words of the people who make them.

Mar 16 • Matthew Morgan

Why do some books impress the intellect but fail to stir the soul? And does Sylvia Plath understand how paragraphs work?

Mar 2 • Matthew Morgan

On fighting over what's funny.

Feb 16 • Matthew Morgan

A Half-Panicked Epiphany

Stockpiling literature in case of a digital apocalypse.

Feb 2 • Matthew Morgan

Talking Past Each Other

On the radioactive waste of toxic friendships.

Jan 19 • Matthew Morgan

Most Popular

On Collecting Books

Jul 20, 2024 • Matthew Morgan

Re-reading "The Great Gatsby"

Mar 28, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

Notes on a Reading Life: The Only Way to Read a Book

Oct 27, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

Overlapping Books

Jul 14, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

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Recent

Lost in the Library

I plan therefore I am.

Jan 5 • Matthew Morgan

The Art of Understatement

A softly thrown punch that hits hard.

Dec 22, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

On winter pessimism, seasonal hope, and against-the-grain Christmas stories.

Dec 15, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

My Essay in 'Inner Life'

A trip to the beach inspires an examination of what we put at the centre of our lives.

Dec 9, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

Notes on a Reading Life: What's Truth Got To Do With It?

“I don’t think the truth is some kind of polestar in the sky that we will one day get to. It’s more like an incessant striving.”

Nov 24, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

The Last Book You'll Ever Read

On dreaming of death beds, reading about book burning, and thinking your way out of thought.

Nov 10, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

Notes on a Reading Life: The Only Way to Read a Book

“Begin at the beginning ... and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

Oct 27, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

Haunted by Choice

"The Haunting of Hill House" isn't just ghosts and haunted houses and family trauma — it's also about being unable to choose a pen.

Oct 20, 2025 • Matthew Morgan

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