Tag: books
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Media of the moment
An ongoing series Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. A delightfully lo-fi sci-fi goof centered around Back to the Future? You know I’d be into it. If there were any justice in the world Matt Johnson would get an Oscar nod for his wonderful, wacky performance. The Odyssey. Truly what cinema is for. Zeus’s…
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Myself on Shelf Source
Zachary Kai runs a series on his site called Shelf Source featuring “readers who share books they love on their sites.” He reached out about me completing the questionnaire, and as I am all too eager to talking about books and reading I was happy to obliged. Check it out here to learn which book…
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Media of the moment
An ongoing series This Is A Gardening Show. Heard about this new Zach Galifianakis limited series on Netflix from friends, and it’s a delight. Funny, informative, family- friendly. Great hang. Project Hail Mary. Saw this with some dad friends, which felt appropriate since it’s both very dad-coded but also widely appealing as its box office…
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My sons’ media of the moment
A spinoff of an ongoing series A Real Bug’s Life. This National Geographic miniseries on Disney+ uses macrophotography to capture tiny insects in dramatized settings, supplemented by Awkwafina’s affable narration. Monsters, Inc. Before ever even seeing the movie, the two year old got absolutely transfixed by a figurine of Mike Wazowski (or as he calls…
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Don’t read the book before the movie
I say this as both a librarian who loves books and a cinephile who loves movies: Do not read the book before seeing the movie. I cannot emphasize this enough. Whenever there’s a new movie coming out that’s based on a book, people will think “Oh, I gotta read that so I’m ready for the…
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Media of the moment
An ongoing series Christmas music. ‘Tis the season! Some newer albums I’ve been enjoying: Happy Golden Days by The Arcadian Wild, Sleigher by Ben Folds, and Family Christmas Album Vol. II by The Oh Hellos. Homestar Runner. I didn’t realize this web series was still around, but browsing the website was a blast from my…
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My sons’ media of the moment
A spinoff of an ongoing series A Minecraft Movie. We watched this a few weeks ago as a special treat and the Minecraft-obsessed six year old was completely locked in. (To be clear, he’s never played the actual game but has absorbed a lot about it from books and his friends.) Books. The two year…
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Three layers of focus
In his book Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again, Johann Hari quotes former Google strategist James Williams about what he classifies as three types of focus. 1. Spotlight: This is when you focus on “immediate actions,” like, “I’m going to walk into the kitchen and make a coffee.” You…
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Shift Happens
As a certified typewriter person, of course I’d be interested in Marcin Winchary’s magnificent book Shift Happens: A Book About Keyboards. But I didn’t think I’d actually be able to read it since it was a popular Kickstarter project that went for a cool $150 for the two-volume set before selling out. That is until…
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Media of the moment
An ongoing series The Naked Gun (2025). Cheers to a movie that knows exactly what it is and how to be that for just the right amount of time. Still giggling about random bits from this days later. Weapons. I’m typically a matinee guy but I stayed up past my bedtime to go see this…
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Media of the moment
An ongoing series Black Bag. Felt great to see an honest-to-god movie in the theater with a delightfully twisty plot and inspired casting that made me feel as warm and fuzzy as the film’s lighting. Wouldn’t be surprised to find this on my best-of-2025 list. The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. Turns out there was…
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The Demon of Unrest
I just finished reading Erik Larson’s latest book The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War. It’s about the military and diplomatic machinations surrounding the Fort Sumter crisis, including South Carolina’s role in fomenting secession and Lincoln’s journey to Washington D.C. and the presidency. I…
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The Only Plane in the Sky
I can’t remember where I saw the recommendation, but I decided to try The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett Graff and found it a riveting read. Heavy, of course, but also very illuminating about how quickly and widely the September 11 attacks rippled beyond downtown Manhattan, affecting a…
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In dark times, be a steward
There are two powerful moments in Amazon Prime’s alternate-history “what if Germany and Japan won World War II” show The Man in the High Castle that I think about a lot, especially in relation to current events. The first is in the sixth episode of season one (“Three Monkeys”). Frank, a laborer who also creates…
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Take a look, it’s in the Book Notes
I’ve always enjoyed taking notes on my reading—both fiction and nonfiction—mostly to track factoids and save interesting quotes for reference. For a while those notes lived in a plain text doc, then a Google Doc, then WorkFlowy. After briefly pondering setting up a dedicated subdomain for them and turning each book’s notes into their own…