I’m Vienna Castellaw
Reader. Writer. Gardener. Explorer of ideas (and maybe a few other things).
I’ve been reading for over 60 years. I still have the first set of books I received as a child — a gift when I was about six. One of those was Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which I read many, many times between the ages of 8 and 12. Those early stories were my refuge and escape from, well, lots of things that I may or may not write about here. I’ve been reading, collecting, and thinking with books ever since.
I recently reorganized my books by decade – thinking it might inform how I approach this “project”.
Why Vienna’s Views?
The inspiration for this website came from my friend Mike Harvey about 20 years ago. At the time, I didn’t even know what a blog was — but apparently, I had quite a lot to say about quite a few things. Mike wasn’t suggesting I blog about books or Zettelkasten, but he did come up with the name Vienna’s Views — and it’s been lingering in the back of my mind ever since.
I’ve started this blog two or three times before. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I could keep up with it, be creative enough, or offer enough value to make it worth anyone’s while. And frankly, all of that might still be true — but I’m doing it anyway. We’ll just have to see what happens.
What kind of value am I hoping to offer?
Well, for starters, it took me five years to build a Zettelkasten that worked for me. Along the way, I read everything I could find on the topic (there is more now, and I haven’t checked it all out, though I’m planning to) — anyway, most of it aggravated me. I found it overly academic, overly structured, and, in my opinion, often out of touch with how everyday readers and thinkers engage with books and ideas.
So, I’ve decided to share my version of Zettelkasten — built for readers, not researchers. If you find it helpful, wonderful. If not, I hope at least it’s not aggravating.
About the Reading Project, I Don’t Expect to Finish
Let me explain.
Over the last 60+ years, I’ve accumulated a personal library of around 2,000 books (that’s a guess I don’t really know). Some fiction. Some children’s literature (I collect it). Plenty of “self-help” — both metaphysical and not. And lots and lots of books on business, money, and finance.
Only 136 of those books are logged in my Zettelkasten, up from 105 when I originally wrote this. Around 200 of them live on my Kindle. The rest? In my bookshelves, given away, stored in boxes. We don’t have a room in my house, other than the bathrooms, without bookshelves. The books may or may not contain scribbled notes in the margins. They may or may not contain anything useful at all. Who knows.
I’m not planning to log them all. But I do intend to return to the books that I think made a significant impression on me and reread them. Slowly, deliberately, and with curiosity.
This blog will document that journey — a look back through my reading life and, in a way, through my past.
Maybe it’ll be worth reading.
And if it’s not?
I’ll go do something else.
Thanks for joining me.
About the Way I Post Things
You may notice that some/most posts on this site feel unfinished — that’s because they probably are. I tend to publish before I’m “finished,” mainly because waiting for perfection means I may never hit publish at all. I post the book when I start it, not when I finish it, and I add to the posts over time, especially when I reread something or a new thought seems worth writing down.
So, if a post feels like it just… stops? Please let it be okay. It’ll probably grow later. Or not. We’ll see.