Amy Makechnie

3 weeks ago | amymakechnie.substack.com | Amy Makechnie |Alex Reisner |Emma Gannon

Meta stole millions of books to train its version of AI. Two of them were mine. Oh, happy April 1. Sadly, this is not an April Fool’s Joke. This is a true story:I’m not flattered. I’m really sad. They stole 72 books from David Sedaris, 200 from Jodi Picoult, Kate Dicamillo. It goes on and on. On March 20, 2025, journalist Alex Reisner wrote an article for The Atlantic about it: THE UNBELIEVABLE SCALE OF AI’s PIRATED BOOKS PROBLEM.

1 month ago | amymakechnie.substack.com | John Green |Amy Makechnie |Jillian Hess

Hello my little leprechauns,Here are ten things so lit(erary-ish) and otherwise worth sharing…The snow is melting, the earth is warming. What this means in New Hampshire? MAPLE SYRUP! Sap has begun to flow from the mighty maples into buckets on trees all over town. The sap is then boiled down into syrup. Did you know that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup? Trees are so generous. Never let the good stuff go to waste; lick your pancake plate clean.

2 months ago | amymakechnie.substack.com | Amy Makechnie |Jillian Hess |Mari Andrew

“Attention is the beginning of devotion,” Mary Oliver wrote in her essay, Upstream. And, of course, this is so. The unnoticed can’t possibly be loved. I read this line from this Atlantic article after reading ‘s 5 Love Notes, both featuring Mary Oliver’s poetry, and it stabbed me right in the heart. If we do not notice, we cannot love. In that spirit, here are some things I’ve noticed…Heart attacking walls makes people feel seen and loved…Listen, I don’t make the rules.

2 months ago | amymakechnie.substack.com | Samantha Silva |Liz Moore |Sharon McMahon |Amy Makechnie

I read a lot in January, more than usual. This makes me happy as I’m always trying to read more. It helped that it’s been absolutely frigid and hard to leave the house (see? I’m trying to be positive about -4 degree temps). All fantastic reads:Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva. Historical Fiction. 1843 London. Christmas is approaching and Charles Dickens is facing a terrifying writer’s slump. Bills are piling up. The threat of bankruptcy, shame, and “the poor house” is looming.

Jan 14, 2025 | amymakechnie.substack.com | Amy Makechnie

One day, while driving down a scenic New Hampshire road, I spied a huge patch of bamboo. It was taller than me, shooting straight up toward the sky. I’d driven past the bare spot dozens of times, but suddenly - there it was!Bamboo is an interesting plant. For the first five years, bamboo can barely be seen as it builds extensive underground root networks. And then within six weeks, it can explode ninety feet into the air.