The Word Tree, by Teolinda Gersão I have a certain affinity for Mozambique, having spent several months living in neighboring Zimbabwe 30 years ago now. While there, I travel...

Yesterday I finished The Word Tree by Teolinda Gersão, the next book for my Women in Translation book club. It made me really curious about Mozambique www.hada.ly/2026/04/the-...

The Disappearing Act, by Maria Stepanova I'm late in writing this post. I finished  The Disappearing Act  a week ago, on a miserable Sunday morning when I was both getting sick and ...

Last weekend I finished The Disappearing Act by Maria Stepanova. I loved it www.hada.ly/2026/04/the-...

Lithium, by Malén Denis Lithium  was the latest installment in the New Directions book subscription my dad got me for Christmas. It arrived a couple days before I w...

I've been busy, okay? Anyway, today I finished Lithium by Malén Denis www.hada.ly/2026/03/lith...

The Spectator Bird, by Wallace Stegner It was  The Illogic of Kassel  that led me to read  The Spectator Bird , but not because it was actually referenced in that book. Toward the...

I finished The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner today www.hada.ly/2026/02/the-...

The Illogic of Kassel, by Enrique Vila-Matas I thought 2026 was off to a great start when I finished my first book of the year within the first 3 days.  The Illogic of Kassel  arrived a...

I started the year strong, but it took me a month to finish my second book of the year: The Illogic of Kassel by Enrique Vila-Matas www.hada.ly/2026/02/the-...

If people laid off from The Post are wondering about maybe starting a Substack, last summer I wrote about why I wasn’t. www.pbump.net/o/the-power-...

Everything they learned in Minnesota they’re applying in Maine from day one. They started off doing fast-moving snatch and grabs on the street, recording and using facial id on observers, and threatening observers directly. They’ll do it all where you live too.

oh hey! Discord is asking how we feel about AI. Here's the survey!

Archipelago, by Natalie Bakopoulos I was a little bit at a loss when the new year rolled around and I had to decide what to read first. Las year, I finished the only remaining...

New year, new book thread! I finished my first book of 2026 yesterday: Archipelago by Natalie Bakopoulos www.hada.ly/2026/01/arch...

2025 in Books Last year was my worst reading year since 2012. I finished 19 books in 2025, the first of which was a holdover that I started at the end of ...

A couple days late, but I've written up my 2025 year in books. It was not a great in terms of the number of books I read, but there were some great ones in there www.hada.ly/2026/01/2025...

When you're grumpy because three annoying ghosts kept you up all night.

On the Calculation of Volume II & III, by Solvej Balle After reading  On the Calculation of Volume I  for my book club, I immediately went out and got II and III so I could jump right back in. Bo...

Merry Christmas! I finished On the Calculation of Volume II & III in the last couple weeks. I feel at a loss about what to do with myself until IV comes out in April www.hada.ly/2025/12/on-c...

Catching up on Fall Reading Though it's true that I haven't been reading much these past several months, I have read some books. I'm neglecting this site more than I'm ...

I've been a bad reader and a worse poster, but I have caught myself up. I've read a few books in the last 2 months, most recently On the Calculation of Volume 1, which I loved www.hada.ly/2025/12/catc...

March Violets, by Philip Kerr I was on some kind of a kick when I picked up Berlin Noir , though I don't remember now what it was. Had I decided I wanted to read more det...

This morning I finished Philip Kerr's March Violets and decided I probably won't be reading the rest of Berlin Noir www.hada.ly/2025/09/marc...

Death at the Sign of the Rook, by Kate Atkinson I didn't know Kate Atkinson had a new Jackson Brodie book out until I came across this copy at Housing Works. I bought it on the spot, of co...

I'm on a tear! I read Kate Atkinson's Death at the Sign of the Rook in 3 days just after finishing Transit www.hada.ly/2025/08/deat...

Transit, by Anna Seghers As I mentioned in my last post, I picked up  Transit  to read ahead of a trip I made to Provence in July. I spent a good while scanning my b...

Hot on the heels of my last book, I finally got around to finishing Anna Seghers' Transit, which I started way back at the end of June. It shouldn't have taken me 2 months to read. I loved it! www.hada.ly/2025/08/tran...

Awww! Sorry in advance but I'm a much worse reader than I used to be

Donate to Nuno Needs Your Help for Recovery, organized by Ivy Nelson Dear Friends, My friend Maura Johnston's beloved cat Nuno was recently diagnosed with… Ivy Nelson needs your support for Nuno Needs Your Help for Recovery

my incredible friend ivy set this up to help nuno. i have reached the max reimbursement from my pet insurance and we still have radiation to go. if you can help i will be so very grateful. if not. just your thoughts are appreciated. thanks. www.gofundme.com/f/nuno-needs...

Heart Lamp, by Banu Mushtaq After finishing  A Gentleman in Moscow  – ages ago now, it seems – I searched my bookshelves for something to read that might put me in the ...

For my Women in Translation book club I read the recent International Booker Prize winner, Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq www.hada.ly/2025/08/hear...

Just like you should not be on Twitter, you should not be on Substack. There are viable alternatives that aren’t The Nazi Bar.

Take a Ride on the Interborough Express, New York City’s Future Train Line The Interborough Express, a new rail line that would link Brooklyn and Queens, could change the face of the city.

I live next to this light rail line in-the-planning and am thrilled to see the project get the serious attention that it deserves. It will improve the lives of entire neighborhoods of New Yorkers.

A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles What a beautiful book this was. I really didn't know what I was getting into. I first heard of Amor Towles when his subsequent book,  The Li...

I finished Amor Towles' A Gentleman in Moscow yesterday. I had no idea what to expect, but it was great www.hada.ly/2025/06/a-ge...

Dance with Snakes, by Horacio Castellanos Moya, and Apocalypse, by Lizzie Wade I had four other books in progress when I finished Amulet (and when I started it for that matter), but I felt like I wanted to stick with...

I finished two books in the last week-ish. Dance with Snakes by Horacio Castellanos Moya and Apocalypse by Lizzie Wade (now updated with the sfw book cover as the preview image) www.hada.ly/2025/05/danc...

Amulet, by Roberto Bolaño The Savage Detectives was the first book I read by Roberto Bolaño. That was more than 15 years ago. I loved it, but I remember it only vagu...

I read Roberto Bolaño's Amulet over the last few days. It felt a little like a sneak preview for The Savage Detectives www.hada.ly/2025/05/amul...

By the Ionian Sea, by George Gissing (Again) By the first time I read By the Ionian Sea , I had already read two other books by George Gissing: The Odd Women , which kicked off a year (...

I've just finished a reread of By the Ionian sea by George Gissing. I have such an affection for Gissing, and now I want to go back to Calabria www.hada.ly/2025/05/by-i...

SAME

A door with a sign that reads Department Motor Vehicles and another sign that reads Marilyn Farrell County Clerk

I'm at the DMV. I'm at the County Clerk's Office. I'm at the combination DMV and County Clerk's Office

Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain I started  Testament of Youth  back in January, just after I finished  Voyage Along the Horizon . I tore through nearly 200 pages of in a fe...

Over the weekend I finished Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth, which I started way back in January. It's a remarkable book www.hada.ly/2025/04/test...

The Night Guest, by Hildur Knútsdóttir I have three other books that I've been moving through slowly these last two months, but I set them all aside to read the next book for my b...

Remember when I used to finish books? (Maybe not - I barely do.) Well I finished one today. www.hada.ly/2025/04/the-...

Hey New Yorkers, today is actually a #NoNYMaskBan day of action. PLEASE PLEASE call your STATE reps -- senate and assembly -- and tell them to push back on this idiocy.

Here's info & scripts: www.jewsformaskrights.com/resources/ma...

Here's where to look up your reps: www.usa.gov/elected-offi...