Brian Thill
@brianthill.bsky.social
Author, WASTE (Bloomsbury) | PhD from UCI | Writer @ The Atlantic, Guardian, Salon &c. | Just finished a novel; now writing a better one
Reposted by Brian Thill
NEW: at long last, it’s #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
What are your favorite books (in any genre) you’ve read in translation, and what is the name of the human being who translated the edition of that book into English?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What are your favorite books (in any genre) you’ve read in translation, and what is the name of the human being who translated the edition of that book into English?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
November 20, 2025 at 5:09 PM
NEW: at long last, it’s #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
What are your favorite books (in any genre) you’ve read in translation, and what is the name of the human being who translated the edition of that book into English?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What are your favorite books (in any genre) you’ve read in translation, and what is the name of the human being who translated the edition of that book into English?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
there should be some kind of program or “school” where people could learn how to read and how to write, and what certain words mean, and to learn how to think critically about language and culture more generally, so that people could reflect on their life choices and their moral values
A senior ICE official just admitted in an evidentiary hearing in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case that someone else drafted his declaration in the case and he didn’t know what certain words meant.
November 20, 2025 at 5:22 PM
there should be some kind of program or “school” where people could learn how to read and how to write, and what certain words mean, and to learn how to think critically about language and culture more generally, so that people could reflect on their life choices and their moral values
Reposted by Brian Thill
Reposted by Brian Thill
Natasha Wimmer’s Roberto Bolaño, specifically 2666.
November 20, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Natasha Wimmer’s Roberto Bolaño, specifically 2666.
NEW: at long last, it’s #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
What are your favorite books (in any genre) you’ve read in translation, and what is the name of the human being who translated the edition of that book into English?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What are your favorite books (in any genre) you’ve read in translation, and what is the name of the human being who translated the edition of that book into English?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
November 20, 2025 at 5:09 PM
NEW: at long last, it’s #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
What are your favorite books (in any genre) you’ve read in translation, and what is the name of the human being who translated the edition of that book into English?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What are your favorite books (in any genre) you’ve read in translation, and what is the name of the human being who translated the edition of that book into English?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
1) Liberation: The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko. The revolutions that take place in the background are truly inspiring
2) Mealtime: hmmm... Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
3) Cartography?! Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James.
4) Snow: The Left Hand of Darkness
2) Mealtime: hmmm... Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
3) Cartography?! Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James.
4) Snow: The Left Hand of Darkness
It's #BQT #BookQuestionTime again! This time we're doing something new to #BQT methodology: word association. Name four of your favorite books (in any genre) brought to mind by these four words:
1) Liberation
2) Mealtime
3) Cartography
4) Snow
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
1) Liberation
2) Mealtime
3) Cartography
4) Snow
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
November 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
1) Liberation: The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko. The revolutions that take place in the background are truly inspiring
2) Mealtime: hmmm... Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
3) Cartography?! Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James.
4) Snow: The Left Hand of Darkness
2) Mealtime: hmmm... Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
3) Cartography?! Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James.
4) Snow: The Left Hand of Darkness
Reposted by Brian Thill
Isaac Fellman's Notes From a Regicide.
Izzy Wasserstein's These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart
Anya Johanna DeNiro's City of a Thousand Feelings & also OKPsyche
Izzy Wasserstein's These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart
Anya Johanna DeNiro's City of a Thousand Feelings & also OKPsyche
November 20, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Isaac Fellman's Notes From a Regicide.
Izzy Wasserstein's These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart
Anya Johanna DeNiro's City of a Thousand Feelings & also OKPsyche
Izzy Wasserstein's These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart
Anya Johanna DeNiro's City of a Thousand Feelings & also OKPsyche
Reposted by Brian Thill
Hill House, not sane...
November 20, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Hill House, not sane...
Reposted by Brian Thill
It's #BQT #BookQuestionTime again (Trans Day of Remembrance edition)
What are your favorite books (in any genre) written by transgender authors?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What are your favorite books (in any genre) written by transgender authors?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
November 21, 2024 at 12:46 AM
It's #BQT #BookQuestionTime again (Trans Day of Remembrance edition)
What are your favorite books (in any genre) written by transgender authors?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What are your favorite books (in any genre) written by transgender authors?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
I will stay on everybody's neck about how obsessed with these books I am
November 20, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I will stay on everybody's neck about how obsessed with these books I am
Reposted by Brian Thill
It’s #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
1) What’s your favorite non-fiction book that engages seriously with collective action in theory and praxis?
2) Which novel engages with collective action in the most artful, insightful, or challenging way?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
1) What’s your favorite non-fiction book that engages seriously with collective action in theory and praxis?
2) Which novel engages with collective action in the most artful, insightful, or challenging way?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
April 28, 2024 at 6:03 PM
It’s #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
1) What’s your favorite non-fiction book that engages seriously with collective action in theory and praxis?
2) Which novel engages with collective action in the most artful, insightful, or challenging way?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
1) What’s your favorite non-fiction book that engages seriously with collective action in theory and praxis?
2) Which novel engages with collective action in the most artful, insightful, or challenging way?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
It’s #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
What’s the best novel you’ve read in which a house, dwelling, or building is itself something closer to a “character” or dominant force in the book, rather than being chiefly a “setting” in the conventional sense?
As always, feel free to include cover images!
What’s the best novel you’ve read in which a house, dwelling, or building is itself something closer to a “character” or dominant force in the book, rather than being chiefly a “setting” in the conventional sense?
As always, feel free to include cover images!
March 19, 2024 at 6:57 PM
It’s #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
What’s the best novel you’ve read in which a house, dwelling, or building is itself something closer to a “character” or dominant force in the book, rather than being chiefly a “setting” in the conventional sense?
As always, feel free to include cover images!
What’s the best novel you’ve read in which a house, dwelling, or building is itself something closer to a “character” or dominant force in the book, rather than being chiefly a “setting” in the conventional sense?
As always, feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
It’s Book Question Time ( #BQT) again:
What’s the best “collective biography” you’ve ever read? (By that I mean something like Saidiya Hartman’s WAYWARD LIVES, BEAUTIFUL EXPERIMENTS, to take one excellent example.)
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What’s the best “collective biography” you’ve ever read? (By that I mean something like Saidiya Hartman’s WAYWARD LIVES, BEAUTIFUL EXPERIMENTS, to take one excellent example.)
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
May 16, 2024 at 7:01 PM
It’s Book Question Time ( #BQT) again:
What’s the best “collective biography” you’ve ever read? (By that I mean something like Saidiya Hartman’s WAYWARD LIVES, BEAUTIFUL EXPERIMENTS, to take one excellent example.)
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What’s the best “collective biography” you’ve ever read? (By that I mean something like Saidiya Hartman’s WAYWARD LIVES, BEAUTIFUL EXPERIMENTS, to take one excellent example.)
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
It's #BQT #BookQuestionTime again (another four-poster):
What four favorite works of fiction come to mind based on each of the following keywords?
1) Forest
2) Prairie/pampas/grasslands
3) Cave (natural or otherwise)
4) Port, harbor, or quay
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What four favorite works of fiction come to mind based on each of the following keywords?
1) Forest
2) Prairie/pampas/grasslands
3) Cave (natural or otherwise)
4) Port, harbor, or quay
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
September 3, 2024 at 9:07 PM
It's #BQT #BookQuestionTime again (another four-poster):
What four favorite works of fiction come to mind based on each of the following keywords?
1) Forest
2) Prairie/pampas/grasslands
3) Cave (natural or otherwise)
4) Port, harbor, or quay
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What four favorite works of fiction come to mind based on each of the following keywords?
1) Forest
2) Prairie/pampas/grasslands
3) Cave (natural or otherwise)
4) Port, harbor, or quay
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
It’s #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
What’s your favorite book (in any genre) that prominently features a sideshow, carnival, parade, circus, mummery, or other form of related pageantry and flimflam?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What’s your favorite book (in any genre) that prominently features a sideshow, carnival, parade, circus, mummery, or other form of related pageantry and flimflam?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
April 3, 2024 at 9:32 PM
It’s #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
What’s your favorite book (in any genre) that prominently features a sideshow, carnival, parade, circus, mummery, or other form of related pageantry and flimflam?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What’s your favorite book (in any genre) that prominently features a sideshow, carnival, parade, circus, mummery, or other form of related pageantry and flimflam?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
Book question time (over there I would've just called this #BQT):
What's your favorite book of history that covers an extremely odd or esoteric subject?
What's your favorite book of history that covers an extremely odd or esoteric subject?
December 7, 2023 at 11:45 PM
Book question time (over there I would've just called this #BQT):
What's your favorite book of history that covers an extremely odd or esoteric subject?
What's your favorite book of history that covers an extremely odd or esoteric subject?
Reposted by Brian Thill
It's #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
When you were roughly 9-12 years old, which book in each of the following genres spoke most powerfully to you, or was most formative at that stage of your reading life?
a) fantasy
b) SF
c) all other genres
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
When you were roughly 9-12 years old, which book in each of the following genres spoke most powerfully to you, or was most formative at that stage of your reading life?
a) fantasy
b) SF
c) all other genres
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
April 12, 2024 at 7:04 PM
It's #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
When you were roughly 9-12 years old, which book in each of the following genres spoke most powerfully to you, or was most formative at that stage of your reading life?
a) fantasy
b) SF
c) all other genres
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
When you were roughly 9-12 years old, which book in each of the following genres spoke most powerfully to you, or was most formative at that stage of your reading life?
a) fantasy
b) SF
c) all other genres
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
It’s #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
What’s the best novel you’ve ever read that takes place over an extremely long period of time or history?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What’s the best novel you’ve ever read that takes place over an extremely long period of time or history?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
May 21, 2024 at 4:49 PM
It’s #BQT (Book Question Time) again:
What’s the best novel you’ve ever read that takes place over an extremely long period of time or history?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What’s the best novel you’ve ever read that takes place over an extremely long period of time or history?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
It's #BQT #BookQuestionTime again! This time we're doing something new to #BQT methodology: word association. Name four of your favorite books (in any genre) brought to mind by these four words:
1) Liberation
2) Mealtime
3) Cartography
4) Snow
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
1) Liberation
2) Mealtime
3) Cartography
4) Snow
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
June 25, 2024 at 7:57 PM
It's #BQT #BookQuestionTime again! This time we're doing something new to #BQT methodology: word association. Name four of your favorite books (in any genre) brought to mind by these four words:
1) Liberation
2) Mealtime
3) Cartography
4) Snow
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
1) Liberation
2) Mealtime
3) Cartography
4) Snow
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
It's #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
1) What's a favorite book (any period or genre) that serves as an antidote to political/cultural cynicism, nihilism, or despair?
2) What's one that dwells in or embraces that cynicism, nihilism, or despair?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
1) What's a favorite book (any period or genre) that serves as an antidote to political/cultural cynicism, nihilism, or despair?
2) What's one that dwells in or embraces that cynicism, nihilism, or despair?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
November 9, 2024 at 5:05 PM
It's #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
1) What's a favorite book (any period or genre) that serves as an antidote to political/cultural cynicism, nihilism, or despair?
2) What's one that dwells in or embraces that cynicism, nihilism, or despair?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
1) What's a favorite book (any period or genre) that serves as an antidote to political/cultural cynicism, nihilism, or despair?
2) What's one that dwells in or embraces that cynicism, nihilism, or despair?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
It’s #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
When you hear each of the follow adjectives, which favorite books of yours (in any genre) spring to mind?
1) ferocious
2) quiet
3) decadent
4) incomparable
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
When you hear each of the follow adjectives, which favorite books of yours (in any genre) spring to mind?
1) ferocious
2) quiet
3) decadent
4) incomparable
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
July 17, 2025 at 3:53 PM
It’s #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
When you hear each of the follow adjectives, which favorite books of yours (in any genre) spring to mind?
1) ferocious
2) quiet
3) decadent
4) incomparable
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
When you hear each of the follow adjectives, which favorite books of yours (in any genre) spring to mind?
1) ferocious
2) quiet
3) decadent
4) incomparable
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
It’s #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
What’s the saddest or most unremittingly bleak book you’ve ever read in any genre (“complimentary,” as today’s posters like to say parenthetically)?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What’s the saddest or most unremittingly bleak book you’ve ever read in any genre (“complimentary,” as today’s posters like to say parenthetically)?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
January 6, 2025 at 9:22 PM
It’s #BQT #BookQuestionTime again:
What’s the saddest or most unremittingly bleak book you’ve ever read in any genre (“complimentary,” as today’s posters like to say parenthetically)?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
What’s the saddest or most unremittingly bleak book you’ve ever read in any genre (“complimentary,” as today’s posters like to say parenthetically)?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
Hi, everyone. It's Book Question Time (#BQT) again:
What's the best novel you've ever read that was essentially plotless, or where its "plot" was fundamentally subordinated to other novelistic interests or concerns?
As always with #BQT, please feel free to include book cover images!
What's the best novel you've ever read that was essentially plotless, or where its "plot" was fundamentally subordinated to other novelistic interests or concerns?
As always with #BQT, please feel free to include book cover images!
January 17, 2024 at 9:33 PM
Hi, everyone. It's Book Question Time (#BQT) again:
What's the best novel you've ever read that was essentially plotless, or where its "plot" was fundamentally subordinated to other novelistic interests or concerns?
As always with #BQT, please feel free to include book cover images!
What's the best novel you've ever read that was essentially plotless, or where its "plot" was fundamentally subordinated to other novelistic interests or concerns?
As always with #BQT, please feel free to include book cover images!
Reposted by Brian Thill
I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for more #BQT (Book Question Time). This one is another two-parter:
1) What's the funniest novel you've ever read?
2) What's the saddest novel you've ever read?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
1) What's the funniest novel you've ever read?
2) What's the saddest novel you've ever read?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
March 2, 2024 at 2:03 AM
I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for more #BQT (Book Question Time). This one is another two-parter:
1) What's the funniest novel you've ever read?
2) What's the saddest novel you've ever read?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!
1) What's the funniest novel you've ever read?
2) What's the saddest novel you've ever read?
As always, please feel free to include cover images!