Archive

Dive into a collection of past posts and rediscover timeless content.

Weekly Scan

Before Something Else Takes the Saturday

Aug 18, 2026

•

7 min read

Before Something Else Takes the Saturday

Fall book events are arriving. So are football games, competitions, appointments, and everything else that wants the same space on the calendar.

Adam Burton

Weekly Scan

Aug 10, 2026

•

6 min read

What Else Is Happening at the Library?

The library is still about books. It’s also become one of the last places where ordinary public life can gather.

Adam Burton

Weekly Scan

Aug 3, 2026

•

8 min read

I Found the Competition

Why Lit Commons is betting on the whole regional book community, even if there is an easier business to build

Adam Burton

Weekly Scan

Jul 27, 2026

•

6 min read

Affection Does Not Keep the Lights On

What it actually takes to support the bookstores, libraries, authors, and book communities we say we love

Adam Burton

Weekly Scan

Books Gave Me Somewhere to Hide. Then They Gave Me Somewhere to Go.

Jul 20, 2026

•

8 min read

Books Gave Me Somewhere to Hide. Then They Gave Me Somewhere to Go.

How reading led me from online book circles to the literary life I had been missing across the Midwest. A Midwest literary events newsletter for readers who want somewhere to go.

Adam Burton

Weekly Scan

I Saw Hanif Abdurraqib Twice and Spoke to Everyone Else

Jul 13, 2026

•

6 min read

I Saw Hanif Abdurraqib Twice and Spoke to Everyone Else

At a book festival, thousands of solitary readers briefly become a community.

Adam Burton

Weekly Scan

Jul 6, 2026

•

9 min read

Bad at Book Trivia, Among My People

A corner seat at GR Lit Fest, plus the Lit Commons Calendar is back online

Adam Burton

Weekly Scan

May 11, 2026

•

7 min read

When Life Became Upkeep

A flooded basement, a spring break escape, seven indie bookstores, and the moment Lit Commons stopped feeling like a newsletter and started feeling like a map.

Adam Burton

Weekly Scan