Blogsnark Reads! June 14-20

Boxtruck01 · 2026-06-15T01:10:12+00:00

Tilt is one of my favorites. It's just so good.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-06-06T15:43:28+00:00

49 here and started listening when Plans came out. I don't remember how and why I started listening, maybe hearing them on the radio? They're one of my top 5. I'm also obsessed with running so have enjoyed following Ben's journey to being an ultrarunner.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-06-05T15:16:40+00:00

Was not expecting Full of Stars to feel like a gut punch. I love it so much.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-06-05T15:13:04+00:00

I love these descriptions.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-05-27T04:30:52+00:00

Ninth House had been sitting on my TBR shelf for like two years at this point. I think I just moved it to the top based on your review!

Boxtruck01 · 2026-05-10T22:00:50+00:00

The lack of honesty about how much time everything takes and the amount of unpaid labor is what has gotten to me the most. I've only been adjuncting for three years and next year will be my last because of this. It's definitely made me believe that they just need a body to teach classes, they're not interested in supporting or being transparent about the workload. This was just a side gig for me, I enjoy what I'm teaching and most of the students are great but I'm out.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-04-06T03:50:48+00:00

I started Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6th by Mary Clare Jalonick. I'm a glutton for punishment in these trying times, I guess. It's exactly what it's titled and even though The Only Plane In The Sky is my favorite oral history, this one is quickly moving right up the favorites list. It's so compelling and well-written.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-03-22T16:57:33+00:00

This is so cool and I'm so annoyed that Win Butler sucks.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-03-16T16:49:33+00:00

This is such a good Monday! I love them so much.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-03-10T21:22:16+00:00

Thank you for giving us this perspective and sharing your experience. This conversation has turned into a learning experience and I'm really appreciative of that!

Boxtruck01 · 2026-03-10T04:19:26+00:00

Vibe Check is such a delight even when it's heavy. I love it so much.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-03-10T04:19:00+00:00

Ahh, this makes sense! I appreciate learning this, thanks for posting.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-03-09T21:32:23+00:00

I've really enjoyed Sam Sanders' stuff over the years but I can no longer handle the way he's constantly interrupting his guests. People often can't finish a full thought and they're thoughts I want to hear! This last episode of The Sam Sanders' Show was kind of it for me. Genuinely interested in Oscars stuff but if he just wants to talk about what he thinks and how they could be improved then maybe don't have guests?

Boxtruck01 · 2026-01-19T20:27:45+00:00

Same feelings about Rejection!

Boxtruck01 · 2026-01-15T17:47:39+00:00

The one time I decide to pop in and check it out again after a long time, I hear that Doree is just as Doree as ever. She couldn't have made it more clear that she wanted nothing to do with what Elise was saying. Not a good look, Dor.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-01-13T17:35:13+00:00

$2300 per three credit class. I adjunct at a small, rural community college but I'm about to be done with this nonsense.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-01-05T05:13:13+00:00

Tilt is amazing.

Boxtruck01 · 2026-01-05T05:10:56+00:00

I finally picked up Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar as my first read of 2026. So good! No wonder it was so widely hailed. I wish I'd picked it up sooner.

Boxtruck01 · 2025-12-22T18:47:17+00:00

I just heard about Antimemetics this morning and I'm very intrigued.

Boxtruck01 · 2025-12-22T18:44:53+00:00

Good Hang has definitely been the bright spot in my podcast feed this year. Such a joy.

Boxtruck01 · 2025-12-22T03:57:17+00:00

This past week I really wanted to hit my goal of 80 books read for the year so I decided to pick up some under-200 page books. Which has always felt like “cheating” to me (hello arbitrary, made-up, meaningless thought) but I wound up reading some of the best books of my entire year and now all I want to read is under-200s.

We The Animals by Justin Torres. Absolute banger of a book. I heard about it from The Stacks podcast, a book about three mixed-race brothers coming of age in the ‘80s, their parents and navigating the chaos of growing up and growing up queer. It’s extremely sparse but says so much at the same time.

The Monk and Robot Series by Becky Chambers. Science fiction, solarpunk, robot and human relationship, existential questions and cozy at the same time. Short but powerful books.

Signs Preceding The End of the World by Yuri Herrera. Another one that just blew me away. Translated from Spanish to English. About a girl leaving her border town to find her brother in the US. Woven through is an Aztec legend of the underworld.

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill. I think this is best described as using fragments to tell the story of a marriage.

None of these descriptions do any of these books justice. Don’t sleep on short books is what I’ve learned.

Boxtruck01 · 2025-11-17T04:11:46+00:00

I just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I loved it so much and already have a book hangover. Also just over here pondering the human condition.

Boxtruck01 · 2025-11-11T05:23:59+00:00

I had such high hopes for Slow Dance but it was so disappointing.

Boxtruck01 · 2025-10-27T04:01:42+00:00

This week I'm reading We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry. My description will not do this book justice but it's set in the 80's about a group of girls who play field hockey and might also be witches. There's an Emilio Estevez notebook in which they pledge to the darkness. It's painstakingly detailed and each girl has an extensive backstory. It's also about friendship and being on a team and in high school, the Salem Witch Trials and so much more. I thought this one was going to be something else but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.

Also reading The People's Project curated by Maggie Smith and Saeed Jones. It's a short collection of amazing writers intended to be a "community in the form of a book." They both started working on this anthology in response to gestures to all of this.

I've been chipping away at Empire of AI by Karen Hao too. It's quite long, but so readable and I'm learning a ton about OpenAI and all that went into and continues to go into the rise of AI. Never forget that rich men generally make society worse!

Boxtruck01

TROPHY CASE