“Libra” by Don DeLillo — I didn’t love DeLillo’s clipped stream-of-conscious prose in White Noise but it really worked for me in Libra. Every page feels seedy and conspiratorial, with brilliant flashes of insightful convergence before they drift away into the darkness. (18/80)

“Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe — Surprisingly readable for being written in the 1700s. Occasionally thrilling but clearly written before active voice was invented. (17/80)

“The BFG” by Roald Dahl — This was Katie’s childhood copy, which I fished out of a box from the attic when we moved. Obviously delightful. (16/80)

I had the exact same experience at the Nashville show, except it was “Pass the Hatchet.” Bunch of mind readers, that band.

“Generation A” by Douglas Coupland — I don’t think I’m cynical enough anymore to dig Coupland, but I do think he stuck the landing well enough that I might like this more on a re-read. (15/80)

“Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records” by John Cook — Fun little oral history about a specific moment in indie rock history (including a great Lambchop chapter). I couldn’t help but laugh at the “Superchunk retires” chapter when they’ve put out five more records since. (14/80)

“The Trees The Trees” by Heather Christle — A lovely volume of poetry that I bought because @themountaingoats.bsky.social posted about it once and that guy’s got taste. Effective and evocative, down how Christle physically compresses her thoughts against each other. (13/80)

“Congo” by Michael Crichton — Jurassic Park made me such a Crichton kid that I clearly remember reading Timeline at Boy Scout camp, but I somehow never got around to Congo. Congo reads like a David Grann adventure, until it reads like a pulp thriller. Loved it. (12/80)

Big fan of Ilford Delta 3200, but I’m almost always shooting in low light situations so the more reactive film probably isn’t super necessary for most people

Master & Commander (but maybe that’s more like a 𝔇𝔲𝔡𝔢𝔰 ℜ𝔬𝔠𝔨 movie)

“An Introduction to Service Design: Designing the Invisible” by Lara Penin — I’m convinced that business books can be condensed into a single 1200 word blog post and this, while lovingly designed and occasionally insightful, does not beat those charges. (11/80)

“Greatest Plays” by Anton Chekhov — From my “I’ll buy any leather-bound book if it’s cheap enough” phase. Surprisingly relevant plays about bourgeois complacency, artistic jealousy, and suffering for a better future. (10/80)

“Dilla Time” by Dan Charnas — A truly phenomenal biography of J Dilla. Charnas doesn’t just tell Dilla’s life story, he explains music theory in a way that dummies like me can grasp and effectively shows how Dilla changed the very concept of musical time forever. (9/80)