The 2025 Book Review Extravaganza First, a confession: I finished the blurbs for my favorite 2025 reads for this post weeks ago.  And then…. I didn’t know what I wanted to say in this space. The introduction to this book revie…

My 2025 Book Review Extravaganza: thoughtsbybob.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/t...

My Best Reads of 2025: Fiction Edition A selection of favorite novels

Next, Rachel Kolb's excellent review, kindly split into two, one each for fiction and nonfiction. She makes excellent recommendations; a few picks from her 2024 reviews wound up among my favorite reads of this year.

rachelrkolb.substack.com/p/my-best-re...

rachelrkolb.substack.com/p/my-best-re...

The Best “Mostly” Non-Fiction of 2024–25 Here is why you should read Troubled, Trust, The Boys of Riverside, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, and Articulate.

First up: 5tern.com/2026/01/05/t... I read and agree wholeheartedly with all the books noted here, except Troubled (which I need to read!). Also honored to receive a personal call-out...

'Tis the season... for year-end book reviews! I'll post some of my favorite posts in this thread:

Whew, I felt this in my bones!

Your USA would be so lucky to get Minnesota'd

At age four, Luke is attacked by a raccoon with a missing fang. Little Chance jumps in to save him.

Tragedy, prejudice, retribution, and one epic prank later, the two Deaf boys' indelible bond faces a crucible. This time, it’s Luke’s turn to save his friend.

THE THREE-FANGED RACCOON. YA. #DVPit

Lukewarm take: miracle whip dressing mayonnaise >>> regular mayo. Regular mayo is basically jellied fat, zero flavor.

What movie do you consider perfect?

Articulate A deaf writer’s exploration of language, communication, and what it means to be articulate—and her journey to reclaim her voice Rachel Kolb was born profoun...

Book birthday alert: @rachelrkolb.bsky.social 's memoir "Articulate: A Deaf Memoir of Voice" is out today. Grab your copy now!

www.harpercollins.com/products/art...

Text of poem "chatgpt fucks my wife" by Abigail Sims

I love this so much

I FEEL IT IN MY BONES 😆

Things to do, places to go, people to see

"I'm tired of defending this ni**a. I defended him on his criminal sh*t, the Gayle King situation, and I took heat for defending him online when he performed for Trump, but this crosses the line. Sooner or later you just realize someone has issues. There ain't no Hollywood agenda to turn kids gay. That's the dumbest sh*t l've ever heard. Disney characters lie, steal, cheat, kill, poison, and everything and don't nobody say it's an agenda to turn their kids into a piece of sh*t. I watched Snow White when I was a kid and I ain't gave a b*tch a poison apple yet. But as soon as a gay character pop up, its an agenda. The agenda is to make your kids empathetic, not gay. White people acted the same way when black people started being seen on tv." -Marlon Wayans Source: Facebook forward (?)

Alt Text:

I’m watching part one of “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” on Hulu and a community organizer pointed out that the evacuation order ahead of the storm came “at the worst time in America to be poor: the end of the month. If you don’t have any money, how can you leave?”

Amen!

This goes triple for #deafkids. Professionals and educators need to empower parents to read to their kids however they can: ASL, spoken English, whatever. The benefits go WAY beyond vocabulary and literacy.

ladies and gentlemen, the weekend.

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

rich people after moving to Austin:

The best Da Lat Mario Kart compilation

[/fin]

The Chips Fall as Rivals Fry the Mayor The jokes and jabs are flying as Eric Adams’ closest aides was slapped with new criminal charges the day after another of his longtime allies offered a reporter cash inside a potato chip bag.

Bob Clark, VP of marketing for Herr Foods, Inc., said the company was surprised to see it was mentioned in the press.

“While we can’t speak to the details of the story,” he said, “we can confirm that our Sour Cream & Onion flavor is money.”

www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/21/w...

Grandiloquent Word of the Day logo - Sepia-toned graphic with a baroque Victorian typeface and an illustration of an artist with a palette and several paint brushed, sitting in front of a canvas mounted upon an easel. There is a portrait on the canvas.

Cognoscente [kog-nuh-SHEN-tee]
(n.)
- A person who has expert knowledge in a subject, such as an artist.

Used in a sentence:
“As the six-year-old carefully explained gradient technique to her stuffed bunny, Aunt Lisa realized what a Crayola cognoscente Lucy was.”

I just did a talk with Sandia Starforgers and @maryrobinettekowal.com and @marieparks.bsky.social and an audience member asked a great question about AI. It started as a question about how much an author should/can/has to disclose about the AI they use.

It is hard as hell. Keep the faith. Give yourself grace when you need it. You've got the good stuff; don't let the industry tell you any different.

William the Conqueror’s corpse exploded at his funeral. The body didn’t fit in the tomb as it had swelled up, they shoved it in, and it burst. The smell was so bad they had to cut the funeral short.

I love Terry Gross she is a top ten person

Superbad was released 18 years ago on this day 💥