The Spring term of the Creative Writing reading Series kicked off with Andy Miller, who came to talk about his new book, A Year of Reading Dangerously, which is part memoir, part book about reading, books, and family. Miller said the impetus behind the book was the realisation, as he approached 40, that there were still many books he hadn’t read, and that he would need to make a decisive effort to read more books. He then made a list of books to read by his 40th birthday, titled the List of Betterment, signed and witnessed by his wife. While he didn’t succeed with the List of Betterment, its failure motivated him to develop a list of 50 books he would read over the course of a year. Of the book’s message to readers, he said, “Keep going. It becomes a big thing in the book, and in life. If you don’t get it, keep going,” which was a sentiment he echoed later on his advice to writers in the room. “Writing books is hard,” he said, “and you go through all these emotions that aren’t necessarily delight with the book you are writing.”