Archives

My Year of Rest and Relaxation: Finished reading: My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh 📚 This book is not my usual fare - contemporary literary fiction. But users with whom I share favorites on Pagebound all seem to like it, and I am keenly aware of the dude-centric nature of most of my reading, so I thought it would …

Review - Plainsong: Finished reading: Plainsong by Kent Haruf 📚 I wish I could remember how I came to own this book. A couple weeks ago, I noticed it on a bookshelf here in my office. I don’t recall buying it, borrowing it, or otherwise acquiring it. I definitely didn’t get it while living in this house. It …

Whatcha Readin' For?: Books are Back, Baby! I’ve always been a reader. I honestly cannot think of a time when I wasn’t reading something. My current book tracking app (more on that in a moment) says my reading streak is 9 days. Bitch, my streak is 51 years (by my rules, if you miss a day because you’re …

Currently reading: The English Major by Jim Harrison 📚 My god, but Jim Harrison can WRITE. Every line is quotable.

Watched: Top Gun 🍿 Just testing this feature. But also did see this in the theatre last weekend and it was as fun as I remember.

Chapter 25 - Act 5, Scene 3: Currently reading: Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving 📚 Woke up super early - it’s a million degrees (in Boston, in May, we’re cooked) - brewed some coffee and read. Chapter 25 (Act 5, Scene 3) absolutely wrecked me. I cried from beginning to end, even though everything was foreshadowed …

Well, after yesterday’s post about there being no good book tracking apps, I may stand corrected. I’ve started playing around with Pagebound, and I think they’re really onto something. Easy to use, no AI, and designed for book conversation, not just book reviews/marketing.

Humanizing My Workflow: I ditched most social media (or rather, parasocial media) years ago, after realizing that all it was doing was making me mad. Plus, I am of the firm belief that you’re not supposed to stay in touch with everyone you ever meet in perpetuity. Most people come and go, and that’s natural and …

Finished reading: Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon 📚 I enjoyed this book very much, and if you asked me to write a book report on it, I would fail spectacularly. The prose was gorgeous - I loved every word. It was immersive, evocative, and rhythmic. The protagonist is stoned for most, if not all, of …

Currently reading: Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon 📚 Started this last night when I couldn’t sleep in the wee hours. Already loving it - it’s like Hunter Thompson crossed with James Ellroy…

Three Dirtbags Walk Into a Bar - A Review of OSR Con 2026: Attending the inaugural OSRCon in Chelmsford, MA, sparked joy and inspiration through engaging tabletop RPG experiences, despite initial frustrations with the writing process.

Finished reading: Men Without Women Stories by Haruki Murakami 📚 I love Murakami, and most of these stories were really good, but “Kino” is an all time great. It really struck me and has stayed with me in a significant way. Feels very Japanese in the way a Studio Ghibli film does - …

Finished reading: Kellanved’s Reach (Path to Ascendancy, 3) by Ian C. Esslemont 📚 Found this one to be very satisfying, if a little…shallow? Mostly got a lot of character and plot origin stories, and I’m a sucker for that. Plus I tend to think that a lot of the complexity Malazan …

Watched: Paradise S2E4, A Holy Charge 🍿 Mostly testing this functionality on micro.blog, but I did watch this last night, and it did wreck me.

Finished reading: Blood and Bone by Ian C. Esslemont 📚 I am honestly not sure how I felt about this book at all. Parts of it, I absolutely loved. Some really great characterization, fun banter, cool set pieces. The lore was fascinating, and some passages were genuinely chilling. It was set in a part …

Finished reading: Orb Sceptre Throne by Ian C. Esslemont 📚 I really enjoyed this one. Loved the deeper look at the Seguleh and the Moranth. I found the climax to be a bit of a mess, though, and was disappointed. It was wacky when it shouldn’t have been, and while I love a good …

Finished reading: Stonewielder by Ian C. Esslemont 📚 Really enjoyed this one - but I am going to commit to just reading the next 3 books in the series because it’s too confusing to pause in between. #Malazan is just too dense to do that way, at least for a dimwit like me.

Currently reading: Stonewielder by Ian C. Esslemont 📚 I’m about 75% of the way through and really enjoying this one, but I don’t know what I’d do without the #Malazan wiki. I have a hard time keeping characters straight in ONE book, let alone all of them.

Currently reading: Stonewielder by Ian C. Esslemont 📚

Currently reading: Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams 📚 Finally became available at the library. Easy read.

Finished reading: The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe 📚 On my phone, so a detailed review of this complex, amazing book is impossible, but 10/10. Gene Wolfe does it again #books #sff

Rippin' It: As I type this, I’m watching the progress bar on #k3b tick up. I’m ripping a CD I bought over the weekend at the local used record store. As an aside, I love that there is a local used record store in my town, even though when I go in there, I feel like a child wearing a propeller hat in …

Currently reading: The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe 📚 I already knew this, but my God, is Gene Wolfe a talented writer. This book is breaking my brain.

Finished reading: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson 📚 Man, this book finished strong. Took me from lukewarm to desperate to read the next in the series.

Notebooks and Cursive and Sweaty Dudes: An enthusiastic notebook enthusiast enjoys the meditative experience of writing by hand and embraces cursive to enhance his penmanship.

Who You Gonna Believe?: An amazing thing happened today on Mastodon - somebody updated a post with more information when the story changed. Like, who does that? In the history of the internet, who does that? Strange times, my friends. Strange times. That said, the story that got updated was this: a whistleblower posted on …

www.joanwestenberg.com/the-case-… This is the post that put me over the top and convinced me to start a real blog today.

Afternoon music.

An Introduction: With a desire to reconnect with traditional online experiences, the author reflects on the appeal of blogging and analog media amidst the chaotic landscape of the modern internet.

Finished reading: The Silver Spike by Glen Cook 📚 (I actually finished it about a week ago, but I’m testing out features here…)