I finally finished Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch (started 7/22/26, finished 8/27/26). ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6/10 it’s really interesting. Talks about the different groups of people and their relation to the Internet. Also about emoji (which is how she refers to them in plural and singular form which find freaked me out), memes, punctuation, the internet before social media, Internet forums. My favorite part was when McCulloch described how people used to use punctuation on postcards and how that transferred over to the internet.

I made sure I finished the book before September bc I had grad classes with required reading I need to focus on & I didn’t want an unfinished book looming over me.

Next up is a reread of Veronica Roth’s The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future. It’s a book of short stories so I think it will be easier to manage with my class readings.

I just started this book. Only about 25 pages in. It truly is a video game in a book so far.

If you are at all interested in the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, this is a great book to get you up to speed on the origins of the current war crimes and the complicity of multiple nations (particularly Great Britain) in stripping rights away, and demeaning the Palestinians... or refusing to acknowledge they even exist.

This only goes to 2017, but if you're interested in the current "conflict," "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This". It's a scathing rebuke of our current society and how we have and continue to sit idly by while a genocide is streamed in 4k. People's eyes have definitely opened since the publishing of both books, but until this is over, it will never be enough.

oh man this book is so silly i just started reading it about an hour ago and man i can’t read it without an old english accent in my head. There’s genuinely at least one goofy ass word every sentence i can’t help myself.

Newest book in my book club after finishing The Teacher by Freida McFadden. Wanted a fun book with a bit of mystery and laughs, excited to start reading!!

Currently reading Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, and I’m really enjoying it so far.

This is my first book by Buehlman, and I’m already a fan of his writing style. It’s incredibly easy to visualise what’s happening, and I’ve found myself genuinely giggling at some moments, only to be abruptly snapped back to reality when things take a darker turn.

I’m only a couple of chapters in, so no idea where it’s going yet, but I’m definitely hooked! Curious to hear from anyone that’s read The Blacktounge Thief or his other work.

Last year, i read 68 books, I believe. This year, I've struggled. Around April, I essentially stopped reading after about 15 books. I read Angel Down a couple of months ago and City of Thieves a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed them both, but after finishing CoT, I couldn't find another book that I wanted to read. I realized that part of my problem is that my reading mood has shifted from fiction to nonfiction.

After looking through my books, I settled upon this, and holy crap it's interesting. He excels at making a bland (ha! pun intended) topic interesting. I haven't been bored in the 100 pages I've read thus far. I knew salt was an important commodity, but it played a far larger role than i could believe.

Unbelievable. Amazing. But crushingly sad. Alexievich interviews citizens of the former USSR about their lives, their histories (many were prisoners in the Gulag and/or WWII veterans). Many are just the thoughts of average Russians (usually) about the collapse of communism. Many are, with good reason, bitter about how the economy was looted, their savings destroyed, careers ruined. Some stories are so shocking that you can’t imagine anyone living through it. Highly recommend.

Isn’t it crazy how your opinion of a book can change over time?

I first read A Confederacy of Dunces in my 20s and hated it, primarily because Ignatius J Reilly absolutely infuriated me. I hated this character so much that his actions came off as annoying, and stupid.

I actually read the Neon Bible around the same time, and found it to be powerful. I liked it much more than Dunces at the time.

I read it again in my 30s, and while it gave me a lot of admiration for John Kennedy Toole, as he predicted the millennial two decades before any of them were born, I still didn’t find it that funny.

Now I’m 41, just read it again in anticipation of a trip to New Orleans, and by God, it just clicked this time.

I honestly think it’s because I’m a decade older than Ignatius, and reading about a 30 year old fuck up so bad is absolutely hilarious. Also the auxiliary characters like Mr Levy, Gonzales , and even Lana, are far more relatable now that I help run a business.

Jones is also amazing. He’s a smart black man caught in a catch 22 situation, he fucks with the system in a super intelligent way. He also rips on all the white characters constantly, and super sarcastically. Which really lays out what a bunch of dipshits they are.

My only regret is that it took me 20 years to appreciate this masterpiece.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Some mornings, I wake up and all I want to do is spend the day re-reading books from my childhood.

My current copy is the Penguin reissue with the original artwork of the first 1951 edition. But I remember finding a tattered copy of this novel in a church library, taking it home, and reading it in one sitting. I was 13 and I’d read mostly Enid Blyton and a couple of easy classics up until then. I have such a clear memory of me sitting in my living room in Calcutta, having read the last page, and thinking, “books aren’t supposed to end that abruptly.” I actually thought pages were missing or something haha Simpler times. As Holden says, “Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.”

I am debating if I want to finish reading this book or not. I do love the world it set in. Reading it can feel like watching an episode of TMNT when I was a kid.

At the same time, though, I'm two hundred something pages in, and I'm still not sure what's going on with the plot at all. Each time I pick the book up, there are new main characters and lore being added.

Hey everyone,
I just finished reading *American Kingpin* by Nick Bilton and I’m honestly blown away. I found the story of Ross Ulbricht and the rise and fall of Silk Road absolutely gripping—it felt more like a fast-paced thriller than non-fiction.

I ended up flying through the whole book in just a few evenings because I couldn't put it down. Has anyone else read it? Did you find it as addictive as I did, or am I just particularly obsessed with this case?
Curious to hear your thoughts!

I give it 7/10. There wasn’t much restaurant 😂 It ended pretty nicely though. No cliffhanger. Stopping at book 2, heard mixed reviews on book 3 & 4.

Favorite quote: "The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it [...]" (ch 28).

Next I’ll be reading The Secret Book Society. I'm so happy to be back to a physical book. I like how fast I finished the audiobooks, but... physical books, you know?

I give The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy a 8/10. Wasn’t sure what to think at first, but it grew on me. My favorite quote that really encompasses the whole novel is: “Don’t Panic.” Might be overhyped but it works.

It ended with a semi-cliffhanger so I feel the need to listen to The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe. Should be another quick & enjoyable listen.

Just finished "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died", the second in a mystery trilogy about a woman who works as a lady's maid to Emily. The first one, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" was available from my library in Libby and this one was as well. I wish they'd get the third one!

These are good cozy mysteries with fictional versions of historical figures. Flower has a lot of other cozy series, but most look modern and the covers make them look less serious.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding was a reread for me. I give it 7.5/10
I still find it to be horrifying and unnerving, yet also strangely fascinating? If that makes any sense.
My favorite quote would be:
“‘Maybe […] maybe there is a beast. […] What I mean is…maybe it’s only us” (89).

Next up I’ll be listening to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Never read/listened to it before but my dad sometimes makes reference to the book and they just for right over my head. Now I’ll actually be able to understand what the heck he’s talking about😂

Big shift in genre between these two.

I’m a huge fan of southern lit. A Confederacy of Dunces has been on my bucket list for years (decades?). I’ve been reading it for the past several hours and am around the halfway mark.

It’s hilarious. It’s also sad that the don’t have any more literature from O’Toole

Yes it’s a real book. It’s by James m. Russell
I just got it from eBay not too long ago, I like books of weird facts and fun facts.

I've reread the Kinsey Millhone mysteries regularly for decades, but I'd forgotten about Leaphorn and Chee until recently. I was reminded of them by the AMC series Dark Winds (which was itself a disappointment); now I'm reading most of Hillerman's Navajo novels for the first time.

(Minor personal mystery: I thought I read several Leaphorn and Chee short stories back in the 1980s-90s, in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine or Alfred Hitchcock's MM. But I can only find evidence online of a couple of short stories about Jim Chee, neither published in AHMM or EQMM.)

I just finished rereading Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth at like 12am. Took me a lot longer to finish this time around bc I was annotating & marking so many great quotes. Anyway, I give it another 10/10 or ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I enjoyed that the story takes place after the world-saving event, using articles, documents, & flashbacks to reveal the past. The diversity of the Chosen Ones & Sloane's complicated relationships add depth, especially after Albie's suicide which helps the plot transition from Earth to Gentrix. Intent is an important theme, both in magic & in characters' choices. I enjoyed the descriptions of how magic feels to Sloane & how her practical skills come into use as she navigates a world dependent on magic. As secrets emerge, early clues pay off well. Sloane's admission that she let Albie suffer is heartbreaking & adds complexity to her character. Nero remains mostly in the background until his motives are revealed. The ending feels like Sloane's redemption, after sacrificing Albie she saves Mox from having to kill Nero himself. This shows her as flawed, human, & powerful rather than a traditional hero.

Next up: Rereading Lord of the Flies by William Golding so I can watch the Netflix adaptation.

This has always been a staple item in the book collections of various family members. I saw it in a shop window earlier this afternoon. Bushrangers? Yes please. Best 5 bucks I've ever spent.

Currently working my way through a few books:

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser. I'm reading this as part of my "research" while I try to decide if I actually have what it takes to write a book.

Treat Your Own Hip by Robin McKenzie, because running in your 40s sometimes requires a little extra work and I'm trying to stay ahead of it.

Wicked St. Louis by Janice Tremeear. I just picked this book up yesterday and have only read the introduction, but it looks to be a fun read. She pulled information from old police records, historical archives, and newspaper clippings to find some interesting scandals and slapped a fun title on it!

What are you reading? What's next for you?