Reading, Writing, and Me

Palaver by Bryan Washington Washington has created a real niche for himself in his growing body of work. His novels typically center, at their core, gay, male protagonists who have some kind of connection to Houston. Lately, to Japan as well. With Palaver , there's a much more central focus on familial relationships and patterns than in previous novels. While there are plenty of subplots for both "the mother" and "the son," as they are exclusively referred to in the novel, the central concept of the book is their relationship. Interestingly, though, this unfolds mostly in subtext, in the ways they move around each other. When the mother comes to Tokyo to stay with the sun, the first time they've seen each other in years, it isn't a joyous reunion. It's awkward, and they're constantly stepping on each other's toes. While they have some direct conversations, they speak to one another sparingly. Instead, the son continues to live his life and th...

This is the latest I've ever compiled my final bookish stats of the year. The old me would think that this practice would be totally irrelevant by now. I'd missed the window for end of the year content, so this post would be lost to time. But I'm trying to have a new outlook this year. I took some time genuinely off for the first time in ages. I didn't put pressure on myself to read or blog or write (most of the time), and I care about that more than the timeliness of this particular post. Really, more than anything, it's a personal record for me to look back on and remember my reading in 2025, so what does it matter? That's the kind of energy I want to bring into 2026. Leaving room to value rest, resetting, and imperfectly getting it done. Also, I've got a lot going on at the moment! So I hope you'll give me the grace I'm trying to extend to myself as well.  How many books did you read in 2025? Maybe part of the lateness is that I'm trying to de...

Oh goals and resolutions season... I wrote out my personal ones back in December, but in the lazy days of winter break (I've had a full six weeks off from my master's program), I've fallen behind on my end/beginning of the year blogging tasks. And I found when I sat down to write my bookish goals for 2026, they pretty much boiled down to 'have fewer goals', which isn't the strongest start for a post of this theme. But I think it is aligned with the shifts happening in my life and where my head is at as a reader and a blogger and an adult. More than anything, in 2026, I want to think about how to make blogging exciting to me again. It's thriving, stats-wise, more than ever, and I want to find a personal spark for creating new and interesting content that lives up to that. How I'm going to do it, I have no clue. I guess, to start, by setting goals very differently than I ever have.  2025 Goals Check-In Goal 1:  Read 75 books.  " Really, it's 100 b...