What Book Changed How You Think About the Internet Or Consumer Technology?

The Glass Cage: Automation and Us by Nicholas Carr. Carr's first book The Shallows (2010) was more specifically about the internet and what it does to our brains, but The Glass Cage digs deeper into the cognitive and existential consequences of automation and what we lose when we cede so much control to machines — even helpful ones like GPS. I wrote a review after it came out in 2014 and have thought a lot about it ever since, especially in our new AI age.

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

It used to be to log it on Goodreads, but I deleted my account last year (which might seem counterintuitive for a librarian and bookish person, but I found I wasn't using it and didn't care to stick around as Amazon lets it slowly die). These days I'm much more likely to text my friend chat about it, then add it to my personal reading/watching logbook.

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

I don't think a book ever has, but I'm always inspired by creative uses for personal websites that I stumble upon. I finally got my Book Notes online after seeing others publish theirs in various formats.

What's A Book You've Recommended The Most, And What Does That Say About You?

I'm a librarian by trade, which puts me in an excellent position to recommend books to those who ask. As nonfiction is my specialty and primary interest, I never pass up the opportunity to recommend books by Steven Johnson, an incredible nonfiction writer who combines excellent storytelling with rigorous dedication to the historical record and a knack for synthesizing disparate narrative threads. Can't really go wrong with any of his books, but The Ghost Map or How We Got to Now are great places to start. What does that say about me? I guess that I love great narrative nonfiction and making history accessible to everyone.

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

Just vibes. A full book review post is rare these days, but often I'll be compelled to share some select quotes. Most of what I read at least gets a mention in my Media of the Moment series just as a way to share what I've been reading/watching lately.

What's Something You Believe About Reading Most Would Disagree With?

Oh man, don't get me started. I've made it my mission in life to dispel the deep-seated notions people have about reading. My main exhortation is to stop reading books you don't like. There's so much guilt around reading based on your schooling and other factors, but if you're a grownup and aren't in school, you should read whatever you want and stop reading whatever you're not into so that you can get to your next favorite book sooner. Life's too short.

If You Could Design a Library That Reflected Your Site's Ethos, What Would It Look Like?

I've been blogging consistently since 2006 because I've always only ever written about what interests me, whenever it interests me. That ethos has prevented burnout and kept me excited to post for so long. So my theoretical library would look just like a regular public library, with books about everything so everyone can find something they enjoy. Plus an insanely huge movie collection.

What's A Genre Or Type Of Book You Used To Dismiss But Now Love?

I wouldn't say dismiss, but my tendency toward nonfiction has meant I don't read as much fiction as I'd like. Every time I do read a good novel I think, Man, I gotta read more fiction.

How Has Having a Personal Website Changed the Way You Read?

Not sure it has, honestly. Even if I didn't have a website I'd still be reading the same kinds of books. The compulsion to share what I'm reading with others is really secondary to my own enjoyment of it. That intrinsic love of reading is something I want to model for my two young sons, and hope goes with them throughout their lives.

What's A Book You Wish More People Would Read, And Why?

Stumbling upon Richard Polt's The Typewriter Revolution at my library over a decade ago was a lightbulb moment that awakened me to the power and possibilities a typewriter can provide, and I've been preaching the good news ever since. Viva La Revolution!

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

Well, first I've gotta pace around my room a bit while I process everything, then I wanna go tell someone about it. Thing is I don't always have somebody to tell about it, which is part of why I started the site. It's also just generally a lot easier for me to communicate over text. I like to yap but I'm kinda bad at talking lol.

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

Absolutely. When I decided I wanted to try longform reviews alongside my liveblog archive, I knew I had to have an aquatic horror section. Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant was the catalyst for my love of the subgenre, and I knew I wanted to explore it more and help other people see how cool it is too.

There are a couple of other places here and there where I've wanted a space to talk about something that didn't fit into one of my pre-established categories and I had to cook something up to make space for them.

What's A Book You've Recommended The Most, And What Does That Say About You?

I think the book I've recommended to people the most is A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. I was planning to run a Monsterhearts 2 game based on the book, which of course required pitching the book itself.

It wasn't required reading for the game, but reading it would help my players understand the vibes I was going for. Not all the players read the book, but those who did seemed to really enjoy it. The game itself went pretty well, too.

I think it's a book where you look at it and you look at me and you're like, oh yeah, that makes complete sense. It's got fun Halloween monsters, it's generally pretty light-hearted (though with a few gorier bits), and features a fun game with interesting mechanics. Really the only thing missing is a scary fish lol.

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

Usually it's just a matter of categorization.

I like to keep things (somewhat) organized, and if I don't already have a spot where it could go I have to think long and hard about whether I want to go through the trouble of establishing the architecture for a whole new category that may end up including only a single book, or if I should just let it go.

How Has Having a Personal Website Changed the Way You Read?

I definitely read a bit more I think, because I'll have these moments where I really wanna go play with my website, but in order to do that I have to have a book to talk about. Plus, there are the two month-long challenges I do for the site, the November Nancython and Murder She May, that take over my reading life a little while.

What Book Changed How You Think About The Internet Or Consumer Technology?

The World Beyond Your Head (Matthew Crawford) was a really pivotal read for me. I had ideas about craft and how we interact with technology — I was a big Bret Victor follower — but this book provided the structure for a real philosophy about technology and being embodied.

Books that are directly about technology or the internet always annoy me. Most of them are too academic or too pop-nonfiction. This one broke from that mold with its own unique writing style and lots of references and stories that are fresh and relevant.

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

I write a quick review and choose the next book on the list!

I'm not really the type to keep reading the same author multiples times in a row, even if I like their writing. Good writing is like a magic trick and I don't want to experience it as intended, naive and open-minded.

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

Nothing in a major way because I don't like reading about the internet or technology, but The Elements of Typographic Style (Robert Bringhurst) inspired some microscopic tweaks, like using tabular numbers for the list of published dates for blog posts.

It also prompted me to use proper ellipses instead of three periods and simplify my punctuation. Bringhurst was writing in 1992 so there's the care of print typography but not much guidance for the web.

Matthew Butterick's Practical Typography is less poetic but more concise and relevant for the modern day.

What's A Book You've Recommended The Most, And What Does That Say About You?

Whenever a friend is just looking for a good book, I'll call out Patricia Lockwood's Priestdaddy. It's poignant and funny, almost universally appealing.

I've also recommended Piketty's Capital and The World Beyond Your Head a lot, but I don't think anyone has read either on my recommendation. Understandable, given that Capital is about 700 pages and not exactly a page-turner.

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

For better or worse, I'm a completist. I finish almost every book that I start, and review every book that I finish. I'll stop liking a book at page 50 and keep reading till the end. Someday I'll change this behavior.

Reviewing every book has gotten a little more complicated as I've known or been connected to more authors. Luckily they write good books, but I don't want to write a two-star review of something a good friend wrote. I've also had two authors contact me, one of them mad about a bad review. So far this hasn't changed how I read and review though.

What's Something You Believe About Reading Most Would Disagree With?

I agree with the common advice that to write well you need to read a lot. But I think the opposite is also true: to absorb, process, and appreciate what you read, you need to write.

It's like how trying to paint a master study completely changes the way you look at a classic painting you've seen many times before. You notice the technique and traces of a human being in the art because you just tried to do the same thing, and your brushstrokes were way different than Rembrandt's.

Writing on a regular basis does the same thing, makes you notice beautiful sentences and storytelling skills. Of course not enough people read, but even fewer people write.

If You Could Design a Library That Reflected Your Site's Ethos, What Would It Look Like?

It would probably look like Head Hi in Brooklyn — some good looking books, quiet music, locally-made craft objects for sale.

All I want is perfect minimalism and sprawling creativity at the same time. A big clean space with tools, projects, books and notebooks everywhere.

What's A Genre Or Type Of Book You Used To Dismiss But Now Love?

I ignored classic sci-fi until a few years ago. Ted Chiang was my entry into that genre but now I'm reading a lot of Octavia E. Butler and just finished The Employees by Olga Ravn.

I still don't like the world-building component of sci-fi. I just don't care about alien languages, foods, and fauna. But as a vehicle for exploring social, cultural, or religious concepts, sci-fi is so cool.

I'm always on the hunt for more authors like Chiang who are able to sketch out ideas within a few dozen pages.

How Has Having a Personal Website Changed the Way You Read?

I moved all my book reviews from Goodreads to my own website in 2017, which is now the distant past.

I try not to let the fact of my list being public have any impact on what I read. I do feel a little self-aware when I'm reading a lot of nonfiction and the mix of authors becomes predominantly white and male.

Despite having a big list of books that I've read with dates attached to them, I'm trying not to gamify or quantify it. I don't have goals for how many books I read and I'm not trying to read 'the classics' or anything like that.

Some pressure does creep in when I'm in a rut or I'm reading something big that takes a long time, but I try to ignore that. Some recent books are poetic and I want to read them slowly, like Every Day is For The Thief and Intermezzo. So I'm happy to spend a month on a relatively short book.

What's A Book You Wish More People Would Read, And Why?

It's a tough pick between sharing the beauty of literature or inculcating people with good politics. I'll choose politics.

So probably Piketty's Capital. I wish more people read recent political-economic books that have fully-formed ideas about what's wrong and what could be better. Piketty uses lots of arithmetic, data-crunching, and common sense instead of fancy theory. He makes pretty bold recommendations like a global wealth tax.

I live in America, a country that is not doing very well, and everyone's upset but we don't know what to do. Books like Capital put names and figures to the problems we're experiencing. Plus, his reframing of taxes, salaries, and housing is so cool to experience.

It is 700 pages though. So The Triumph of Injustice by Saez and Zucman is a good alternative at 232 pages, if you don't have the time for all that.

What Book Changed How You Think About the Internet Or Consumer Technology?

Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris. This lengthy book breaks down the history of California and more specifically Silicon Valley. It was an eye opening look at the ideology that permeates a lot of contemporary internet and consumer technology.

It is thoroughly researched and very much earns its length. There is a lot of ground to cover and once I understood the historical context and lineage of companies like Google, Apple etc., a lot of things about the ways they operate started to make sense.

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

To write down a few immediate thoughts about the book. What exactly moved me and why. What I liked, what I didn't. What about the book resonated with me personally.

My notes about books usually have a heading with the title "Pre-Review Thoughts" — this is where I put these thoughts down. They are the early gestation of what eventually become my published reviews and are important to my writing process.

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

I don't think it was a single book that caused this but I changed the way reviews are categorized on my site. WordPress has a taxonomy system involving tags and categories and I made the effort to reorganize my categories so book reviews go in a sub-category under the wider umbrella of "Media → Books". I have reviewed video games, movies, and TV shows in the past and those go in their own little sub-categories as well.

What's A Book You've Recommended The Most, And What Does That Say About You?

The Will to Change by bell hooks. This book fundamentally reoriented my understanding of my own masculinity and gender as a whole. I consider it a must read for everyone.

I think what this says about me is that I appreciate books that can make me think about large concepts (like gender) in ways that I hadn't thought about before.

I love books that open up ways of being for me.

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

My current policy is every book I finish reading gets a written review on my blog. Which means books I do not finish do not get a review and the only place these are usually recorded is on my Storygraph profile and/or in a throwaway social media post.

What's Something You Believe About Reading Most Would Disagree With?

Reading a lot does not necessarily make one a better (or smarter) person.

In some book communities I see a rather distasteful moral and intellectual superiority complex floating about, it is something I noticed as I took an increased interest in the wider bookish communities on the internet. The idea that reading is a superior use of one's time than something perceived as less intellectually nourishing.

Along those lines, I don't think reading is always an intellectually nourishing activity, sometimes I (and other people) read for fun and titillation and that's perfectly fine.

I think some people conflate reading a lot with reading critically which involves reading deeply and with a thoughtful and critical lens. Those two are not the same thing.

I do find myself wishing that people read more critically but at the end of the day everybody reads differently and for different reasons and I find passing moral judgement on people you don't know about that to be a very snobbish thing to do.

Some of these thoughts are expanded upon in a book I read last year — How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo. I recommend that book if this sort of meta-discussion about reading is something that interests you.

If You Could Design a Library That Reflected Your Site's Ethos, What Would It Look Like?

There would be a lot of special edition hardcovers.

Lately I've taken to collecting special edition hardcovers of books I love, things with special illustrations, endpapers, and sprayed edges. Books as physical objects are very fascinating to me so I would love to show off cool book cover designs in my library.

My library would also have a wide variety of books, both non-fiction and fiction across the variety of genres I enjoy. There would be plenty of spare notebooks, blank paper and writing utensils lying about for the purposes of taking notes if one finds themselves wanting to do that. There would be small closed off rooms for book club like discussions because sometimes one wants to loudly discuss a book with another person and that doesn't jive well with a quiet reading space.

Last but not least, there would be a place to make your favourite hot drinks be it coffee and/or tea.

What's A Genre Or Type Of Book You Used To Dismiss But Now Love?

Literary fiction. For a long time I had this idea that these were books that had some implied pretentiousness to them, some level of high brow art that so-called genre fiction (fantasy, sci-fi etc.) didn't possess. So I avoided reading in that genre until fairly recently.

I found that the genre term "literary fiction" is so vague as to be useless as a genre descriptor. Books categorized under this label vary wildly in style and subject matter.

In an effort to widen my reading horizons I made an effort to read more in this genre and two books — The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong and Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar — ended up on my books of the year list for 2025.

It just so happens that both books were literary fiction books written by poets so perhaps I have a thing for such books written by poets. I am not quite sure, I don't think I have a well defined taste for what kind of literary fiction I enjoy quite yet.

How Has Having a Personal Website Changed the Way You Read?

It definitely has made me read more and read more critically. Once I had the policy of reviewing every book I read for my blog I wanted to make sure I read critically enough to be able to write about these books on a deeper level than just "I liked/disliked it".

This means that I keep fairly detailed notes on the books I read as I read them.

The level of detail in these notes varies from book to book but generally speaking I keep note of characters and other small detail for fiction books, quotes from both fiction & non-fiction books and anything else that catches my interest.

My reading and writing feed into each other in a positive feedback loop.

The more I read, the more opportunity I have to write. The more I write, the better I get at analyzing and thinking about books, the better I get at writing.

I enjoy both reading and writing and I am very glad to have found a way to give both of these hobbies the time and attention they deserve.

Reading has long been a part of who I am as a person, I was reading from a very young age but for a long time it felt very much a solitary activity.

Having a personal website where I can express my thoughts and feelings about a book brings me a sense of connection with the wider world and makes reading feel like more of a communal activity and I appreciate that.

What's A Book You Wish More People Would Read, And Why?

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi.

Not only is this book relevant to the times we find ourselves in, I also think that the historical context provided in this book about the Palestinian struggle is one that people around the world can learn from. The shadow of settler colonialism affects many of us in ways both small and big and I think reading this book is a good way to start to understand the realities of why a lot of the world is the way it is.

What Book Changed How You Think About the Internet Or Consumer Technology?

The Master Switch by Tim Wu, which I read back in 2020. It still stays with me. Wu talks about the rise of AT&T and the FCC and how the airwaves and phone networks slowly became more and more restricted and subject to government regulations and private takeover. He then predicts that the same will probably happen to the internet, which I believe we've been seeing with the introduction of age-restricting laws around the world. I still hope against hope that he's wrong, but only time will tell. It has cemented my determination to oppose similar legislation and work to make access simpler and easier for everyone.

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

Usually I want to write about it, though I don't often share my thoughts on my website immediately. For several years (since 2018) I've kept a series of Open Office documents that journal my reading for each year, and I'll jot down my overall thoughts on a book or story I've finished soon after I'm done with it. These eventually make it to my website as part of my reading logs, but sometimes I'll edit them down, remove or add details, and sometimes add my Kindle notes if applicable.

It's proven to be really, really helpful, because not only do I retain more info when taking notes, but also I'll frequently reference these journals to see what I thought about a book, when I read it, and what else was going on in my life when I did. They're way more useful to me than the reading logs I've kept in Goodreads, for instance, especially because I feel more free to express myself and opinions in private (especially when my thoughts about a book are less than charitable).

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

Most definitely, but there are no specific examples I can point to. I'd say everything I read influences my site in some small way, because it is the culmination of everything I produce and think about in my spare time.

What's A Book You've Recommended The Most, And What Does That Say About You?

So this led to an interesting observation: I don't often recommend books to people. This is probably because most of the stuff I read doesn't overlap with my friends' and family's interests. And I'm not really sure why I don't recommend books on my site more, but that's probably because I just focus on my own thoughts and reviews, and let others decide for themselves.

That said, here are a few that I've found myself mentioning to others that I think people would enjoy:

• The Hyperion Cantos, by Dave Simmons — There have been more eyes on this recently because of the author's passing. Later in life he was known for being rather obstinate and conservative, but Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion were mind-blowing to me, and I will be re-reading them again in the future. It is a sci-fi adaptation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which five pilgrims heading to the eponymous planet Hyperion find themselves traveling together on the same space ship. They each share the journeys that brought them there, and each is moving in its own way. The world building is immense and vivid, and I found myself genuinely sad when it was threatened. If you enjoyed Dune, I believe you will like this one also.
• Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel — Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic fiction novel that features a group of people whose lives have intertwined both before and after "The Event," which in this story happens to be a devastating plague that kills off most of the world's population. Above all, it is a story about people supporting each other, navigating their lives, and continuing to survive despite the hardships they are put through. Despite dealing with some serious subject matter, such as religious extremism and the fall of civilization, I found it to be uplifting and hopeful. At many points it simply deals with the mundanities of ordinary life, which continue as ever, even in the face of worldwide upheaval.

As for what this says about me as a person? I'm not sure. I think that I like sharing stories.

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

I will sometimes redact books I've read when they deal with very personal things that I'm going through, or possibly if they are about local places that I think might identify me. Other than that, I'm pretty free about sharing my thoughts about what I've read.

What's Something You Believe About Reading Most Would Disagree With?

I like reading books that are slightly boring, tedious, plodding, and detailed, especially about history. I don't entirely know why, but I find it really comforting, and sometimes it even helps me sleep at night. As much as I love fiction, often when I think of turning to it after a long day, I feel preemptively exhausted, mostly because I don't want to feel more strong emotions after an entire day of feeling things. So instead I always like to have a good nonfiction book going that dispassionately explains some subject that I find at least slightly interesting.

Right now, for instance, I just started Woody Guthrie: A Life by Joe Klein, and I get excited about it every time bedtime rolls around. Bring me these boring details! It's like a balm on my aching heart. Another one I turn to often is Women in the Middle Ages, Vol 1 by Katharina M. Wilson, which isn't so much of a nonfiction book, because it's literally an encyclopedia. I read through it like a normal book, though, starting at A and going through each entry. I think I'm about a third of the way through it at this point, and I've learned a whole lot about various topics. I won't retain all of it, naturally, but little pieces of it come back to me here and there and help form a more complete picture of the era that I didn't have before, and in the meantime it reminds me that we, as a species, have lived through much worse times than we are experiencing now.

If You Could Design a Library That Reflected Your Site's Ethos, What Would It Look Like?

Honestly it would probably look a lot like the Anarchist Library or Appropedia. I don't know how successful or obvious I've been, but my goal with this site has always been to inspire others to create things that give them joy and to find other ways of existing in dysfunctional systems. I try to teach visitors techniques for creating things that they want or need, I archive information that I don't want to see disappear from the corporate web (or other places), and I share programming projects and games for free. If anyone has suggestions for how I could achieve this further, I welcome them!

What's A Genre Or Type Of Book You Used To Dismiss But Now Love?

I used to have a chip on my shoulder about Romance, but as I grew older I realized that was just a form of internalized misogyny. Since then I've acquired a taste for Urban Fantasy novels, though I am picky about the ones I enjoy because the genre itself also has a lot of internalized misogyny. Not that I'm "above" that now, mind you, just that it does sometimes trigger some unpleasant feelings in me that I'm not always ready to deal with, and I don't always find those situations an enjoyable escape. Anyways, sexy novels about vampires and werewolves are now my preferred "beach reads" for when I want something easy and fun, so I'm glad I gave up my prejudices.

How Has Having a Personal Website Changed the Way You Read?

I've actually tried very hard to not let it influence the way I read. There is a tendency, as with any online venture, to turn my hobbies into "content" and pick them based on what would work for my website. This is something I very consciously do not want to do. I never want my online self to become a "hustle" or something I do for "engagement." Very rarely, I'll think, "hey I've got to share this with the world," but it's usually because I think it would be helpful in some way, not because I think it fits my site or would bring me more eyeballs and traffic.

What Book Changed How You Think About the Internet Or Consumer Technology?

The Internet Con: How To Seize The Means Of Computation.

It almost seems like a cop-out to cite Doctorow here, considering he is one of the most influential thinkers and writers on the topic of Internet and computer technologies.

That said, he holds that spot for good reason. Perhaps as someone whose career thus far has been dedicated to communication technologies, I am a bit biased.

However, I am a big believer in Doctorow's argument that while digital freedom is not the most important topic of the 21st century, it is instrumental to whatever topic you think is the most, (whether that is climate, economic, or social rights). This is because whatever social movement you are trying to organise, it will be much easier with freedom to communicate and collaborate without the intervention of the oligarchs.

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

Non-fiction books which I think may be particularly useful I take extensive notes of.

For example, Negotiation: The Game Has Changed and Ros Atkins' The Art Of Explanation — I took extensive notes on both, essentially turning each into a syllabus which I can review later.

If it moves me on an emotional level, I will often let it sit in my mind for a few months and maybe write an essay about it, which I eventually did for The Happiness of Dogs and Blindsight.

Regardless of whether or not the book moved me, my first instinct on finishing it is to write a short review to put on my website at caffeineandlasers.com/Library.html.

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

Arguably, every book I read changes my website, since I update my reading list on each book. To give a more substantial answer, once again Doctorow influenced me to put an RSS feed on my website.

What's A Book You've Recommended The Most, And What Does That Say About You?

"The Village Teacher" by Cixin Liu is a graphic novel I would like everyone to read. He uses a Sci-Fi framing to radically recontextualise the role of teachers in human civilisational development. One of my best friends is a teacher and that book made me somehow respect him even more. (And I already had a whole lot of respect.)

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

I typically don't post about books I don't finish. And I don't finish books I don't like. As a result my reading list has a pretty strong positivity bias.

What's Something You Believe About Reading Most Would Disagree With?

For my red-hot take: Reading isn't necessarily "Good for your mind" if you are not reading broadly, AND reading non-fiction. I know that your primary school teacher said all reading is good reading, but this is one of those lies we tell to children in my opinion.

That said, I don't think there is anything wrong with just reading what you love. I love fantasy and sci-fi genre fiction, but I do not necessarily think that it is "Good for my mind" much more than watching Netflix is.

How Has Having a Personal Website Changed the Way You Read?

In a lot of ways, it inspires me to engage more deeply with what I am reading, since I am always looking for an excuse to write essays about interesting things. In addition, my commitment to write a two or three sentence review about everything I read makes me stop and think "how do I feel about this?" more often than it did before I started logging my reading.

What's A Book You Wish More People Would Read, And Why?

Cory Doctorow's "The Internet Con" — jokes about me citing him all the time aside, he both describes the problem and puts forward a sane and achievable policy platform that democratic leaders could easily achieve with public support.

If I am being a bit more realistic, and picking a fiction book: I really think that more stories like Brandon Sanderson's "The Sunlight Man" ought to be told and shared. I think the world needs more stories about ambitious heroes, who are not only strong, but are also curious and compassionate in addition to their conviction to take bold action. The world has enough gritty movies about morally grey anti-heroes. I think a lot of people have forgotten that you can write an interesting hero's tale without resorting to Marvel movie humour or Alan Moore-esque cynicism.

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

To talk about it with my friends, actually! I get excited over whatever I read and infodump to them the moment we get on a call together. They're my prisoners now sorry <3

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

I've thought about adding a "book review" type tag to my blog to discuss/review books and other pieces I've read, but I've never been sure about what I would write exactly. Currently books are sometimes listed in the "read" section of my monthly summaries alongside a very short description, but I would like to start saying more... If I ever find the words...

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

If they're worth talking about, basically.

Usually ones I enjoy and recommend are the ones I share. I can imagine myself sharing "so bad its good" kind of books in the future though.

What's Something You Believe About Reading Most Would Disagree With?

"Most" is subjective here I think, so I'm going with "most (of the people from the groups I'm from)". In which case: you should read books that make you uncomfortable.

Not necessarily ones that are outright hostile or triggering, but absolutely ones that push your boundaries and introduce you to new ideas.

Too many people are willing to stay in their comfort zone in fear of being uncomfortable, conflating discomfort with more extreme emotions.

If you don't know where to start, get on AO3 and find a tag/category you generally don't like but you think you can handle. I'm dead serious.

What's A Genre Or Type Of Book You Used To Dismiss But Now Love?

"Dismiss" is not the right word, but I used to be a purely fiction reader.

I never could get into long, nonfiction books dedicated to one topic both due to lack of interest and due to a misconception that books were static and the information would quickly become outdated (the speed at which books become dated really depends on topic, and even dated books have their own uses). I think the first nonfiction I was able to sit down and read was Caste by Isabel Wilkerson.

It didn't do anything special prose wise, it just was a topic I wanted to know more about and happened to be a brand new book that was gifted to me.

What Book Changed How You Think About the Internet Or Consumer Technology?

Most of the reading I do about the philosophy of the internet, or consumer technology, is online. I have not read a book on this subject in recent memory.

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

To write about it.

In a moment like that, I usually take out a physical notebook, like the little neon-green Moleskine I keep on my desk, and jot down some thoughts so I can work them out later in a longer form.

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

Not directly, but many of the books I read end up influencing either the content on my site or how I go about adding to it.

For example, I tend to write more analytical content when I'm reading through a history text, and more reflective content when I'm reading through a philosophical or spiritual book.

What's A Book You've Recommended The Most, And What Does That Say About You?

American Nations by Colin Woodard. It describes the eleven major cultures that make up the United States, and provides a glimpse of what North America could look like if the USA broke apart.

That I recommend it so frequently suggests that either my outlook on the USA's longevity is bleak, or that I want people to dream of a better world. Maybe both.

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

I don't think there's been a single book I've read that I avoided listing on my website's "books I've read" list. I haven't read anything particularly controversial, though.

If You Could Design a Library That Reflected Your Site's Ethos, What Would It Look Like?

It would be one of those buildings that just grows organically over time.

If we're being fantastical here, I think it would look like an enormous tree house growing slowly up and around an even more enormous tree.

What's A Genre Or Type Of Book You Used To Dismiss But Now Love?

Probably military science fiction.

Until I encountered David Weber's Honorverse (starting with On Basilisk Station), I always thought military sci-fi was just hoo-rah chauvinism with space lasers. Another author who's done fascinating writing in this arena is John Scalzi, with Old Man's War.

How Has Having a Personal Website Changed the Way You Read?

That's an interesting question. I've had a personal website since the mid-90s, so it's been a part of my life since I was a teenager. In 2019 I started listing the books I've read on my site. It's possible that since then I've subconsciously chosen books that won't make me look bad if I posted their titles on my site. I doubt it, though.

What's A Book You Wish More People Would Read, And Why?

Right now, I would say From the Ruins of Empire by Pankaj Mishra.

It describes how the West thoroughly wrecked the societies of the East over the last couple hundred years and how the East developed as a result.

In particular, it changed how I think of the USA, and gave me a much more nuanced understanding of countries like Iran and China.

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

Almost always to reread it. Or at the very least go back to the parts that resonated with me. Other times I just want bask in the feelings it caused in me.

There have been times where I didn't want to start reading anything new because I would lose that feeling of enlightenment some books put into me.

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

Does it count if it's a book I wrote? Either way, yes! Books and reading are an integral part of my life, so of course, they are an integral part of my site as well.

My site is a story, is a place for stories both mine and not, and takes inspiration from stories I've read. Trying to pinpoint any one inspiration would be impossible, if I'm honest...

What's A Book You've Recommended The Most, And What Does That Say About You?

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card. I literally didn't even have to think about it.

As for what that says about me... I'm not sure? My best guess is that it says I want people to understand me because I always say it's my favorite because it was the first time I felt seen and represented by a protagonist. It was the story that made me realize being singular was okay. I like giving that kind of reassurance to other people as well.

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

Oh, easy. It has to have taught me something unique or made me feel things I haven't felt before.

This might sound like a high bar, and it is, but it's much easier to accomplish than it sounds. I like books and stories that you experience rather than consume. If you go by that standard, lots of books offer a unique experience even if they're not the most original idea in the world.

What's Something You Believe About Reading Most Would Disagree With?

Reading can be bad for you. This can manifest in a lot of ways, but as a writer as well as a reader, I'm very aware of how ideas can be absorbed from books.

I don't mean this in a "the booktok girls are going to date toxic men" kind of way, but more so on a larger, less personal scale.

The best and most obvious example I can show of this is that most readers will assume a character is white until stated otherwise. Sometimes even despite being stated otherwise. This happened because of a chronic lack of representation and it reinforces whiteness as the main character.

I don't think people take these kind of insidious habits seriously though.

If You Could Design a Library That Reflected Your Site's Ethos, What Would It Look Like?

Well, it would be a loud library. Not loud loud, but the same undercurrent of noise you might find in a cafe.

It would have mostly open floor space with tables and chairs near the walls where the shelves are and couches, armchairs, and assorted cushions near the center. I design it this way because I want, first and foremost, a library that encourages dialogue and communication.

It gets quieter towards the shelves for concentration, but in the middle where people are most likely to meet, it's meant for comfort during long discussions or book clubs or brainstorming sessions.

I imagine things like whiteboards or chalkboards would be available for that exact reason as well.

What's A Book You Wish More People Would Read, And Why?

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card as well as its sequel Shadow of the Hegemon. And also Red Rising by Pierce Brown.

Really, it's impossible to choose just one book and you knew that when you asked this question.

But luckily, all three of these have the same or similar reasons for being picked by me. They were big inspirations for my own writing. They are about living in unfair and unjust circumstances. They are about living anyway. They are about being different and scorned. They are about using your differences to your advantage and using scorn to fuel your progression. They are about trying to understand senseless things. In some ways, they are about all things being senseless.

If you can't tell, I love these books. And frankly, that alone is enough for me to wish more people would read them.