Reads

2025

Favorites so far:

Comics

Fiction

Lev Grossman, The Bright Sword. Viking. 2024. The round table after the death of Arthur. I’ve always been a fan of King Arthur stories. Feels like the Once and Future King is required reading for this. but I’ve read that and loved this.

Non-Fiction

Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism. Portfolio. 2019 [6]. Sort of a must read for me. I’m spending waaay too much time one my phone. Some good tips and advice in here. mostly common sense: put the damn phone down for fuckssakes.

Poetry

• Douglas W. Tallamy, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard. Timber Press. 2019 [10]. Decent read reminding us that lawns suck and we really need to plant more native plants in our own yards. also grass sucks….I mean really.
• Henry David Thoreau, Walden. 1854 [9]checked this out of the library and got into it. some great quotes and lots to think about. got turned off when I realized he built his cabin in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s back yard (rent free) – would’ve been a little manlier if he bought his own land for his “simple-living” experiment. That just took some of the magic out if it for me.
• Florent Rupert, Jerome Mulot & Bastion Vives, Olympia. Fantagraphics. 2022 [8]. Gorgeous art (as always with Vives). Heist story with decent characters and fun action. Silliness.
• Hampton Sides, The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook. Doubleday. 2024 [7]. I’ve read one other Sides book and really enjoyed it. This one is really good too. The tale of Captain Cook’s last voyage. Poked one too many tribe I guess. FAFO.
• Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism. Portfolio. 2019 [6]. Sort of a must read for me. Im spending waaay too much time one my phone. some good tips and advice in here. mostly common sense: put the damn phone down for fuckssakes.
• Lev Grossman, The Bright Sword. Viking. 2024. [5] The round table after the death of Arthur. I’ve always been a fan of King Arthur stories. Feels like the Once and Future King is required reading for this. but I’ve read that and loved this.
• Becky Cloonan & Tula Lotay, Somna. DSTLRY, 2024.[4]. Very good entry into the “Witch Persecution”. Lovely lovely drawing. ok story.
• Tara Booth, How to be Alive. Retrofit Comics/Big Planet Comics, 2017.[3]. Short little comic with some wonderful pianted sequential art. mostly one page vibes.
• Alec Robbins, THE COLLECTED CRIMEHOT: VOLUME 1. Silver Sprocket, 2024. [2]. Cool indy comic – mostly silly capers and lots of even sillier sex. Really fun, actually.
• Kawashima Norizaku. Her Frakenstein. Living the Line, 2024. [1]. Odd horror manga. Everyone loses in this.