With books by @mpbrown.bsky.social @abbymullen.bsky.social @dannagal.bsky.social @jkosseff.bsky.social and many others not on this app. Also TWO books about cats.

Congratulations!!

I’m sorry for leaving!! 😩😩 I’m very glad I at least found some of it.

It is one row per book, which is a little risky because I’ve never tracked my reading before so I had absolutely no idea how big it was going to end up. (Way bigger than expected, it turns out.) But I feel like this year I can calibrate better.

Pretty much just confirmed that I read a lot of fiction. 😄 This year I’m going to use stitch types to delineate audiobooks, books I read with someone else, etc., to get an even more interesting picture than just color for fiction/nonfiction.

That’s what I thought might happen to me too, but clearly not. 😂

Yeah, the temperature blankets are cool but I thought this might actually help me (a) keep track of what I read, and (b) get a handle on what kinds of stuff I read. This year there’s going to be even more differentiation between types of books, I think.

Crochet!

That never even occurred to me but now I’m going to pretend that I totally did that on purpose. :)

A blanket made up of rows of white and gray, almost as big as a rug.

I’ve always followed along with @quinnanya.me et al’s #DHmakes but never did it until now. Here’s my slightly wonky data visualization of all the books I read in 2025. White tweed is fiction; gray is non-fiction; December is along the side because the blanket was just getting too long.

Hey that’s my book on the far left!

Heartsick for my friends at Brown.

Beat army. (We did.)

Did you know that the North American Society for Oceanic History has book awards for maritime & naval history & archaeology? If your book on a topic in those categories has a 2025 original copyright, you’re probably eligible for consideration for this year. Give me a shout if you want to know more!

Come to a military or naval history conference. That’s where they’re at.

Naval Academy on Lockdown for ‘Active Threat’ - USNI News This post will be updated with additional information as available. U.S. Naval Academy and Naval Support Activity Annapolis are on lockdown following reports of a threat against the installation, a Na...

news.usni.org/2025/09/11/n...

Can I be on that show??

I’m so happy about this! And I’m sorry I wasn’t able to contribute as much as I would have liked (but I still talk about newspapers and vitality as often as I can!).

I was just using my Omohundro tote bag the other day and thinking about how fun it was to talk Tropy down there with you. :)

Co-sign!

I expect it’s topmasthead.

I’m not saying the First Barbary War is relevant right now but I’m not NOT saying that, so maybe you should buy my book right now with this excellent sale just to be sure.

I missed the official sign off for Brett Bobley, but it would not be illegitimate to say that his work at the NEH got me to the job I’m in today. His faith in a young grad student launched me down a path toward being a real naval historian who does digital stuff. #ThanksBrett

*sigh* It's too soon, but on the day of his retirement from public service, I think that it's important to recognize the contributions of Brett Bobley to the work of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the field. #ThanksBrett for your leadership, your good cheer & your home-baked goods.

Now seems like a pretty unfortunate time to be living in a district whose seat is vacant.

I’m so so sorry, Kevin. LuLu has been such a bright spot to so many here and elsewhere and she will be sorely missed.

#OTD in 1942, Doris Miller was presented with the Navy Cross by ADM Chester Nimitz for his heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Miller was later killed during the Battle of Makin in 1943. The fourth Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier will be named in his honor.

Sign me up for this fan club!

Superintendent ≠ faculty.

If you’ve ever sat on an NEH review panel (as many of us have), you know how difficult it is to win a grant. It’s an incredibly exacting process, with way too many excellent projects competing for funding. Awardees are scrutinized from every direction, with more rigor than DOGE can even imagine.