Two white friends tail me home if it's outside the hours when people are out and about. I'm damn near third generation Minnesotan. It's not just "you're a citizen you'll be fine." I'm a black woman alone. Who knows what they will do.

Now accepting entries: the Next Generation Short Story Awards. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/eye... #booksky

The absolute BEST movie they showed us in elementary school. Anybody else remember those "happy pancakes"?

During the X outage, here are three other places on the internet where you can ask white nationalists to help you generate nude pictures of children and dead bodies.

Thinking about all the European service members who are suddenly being sent to the Arctic Circle in January because an orange buffoon who wants to be a dictator is threatening to start a war by attacking other members of a peacekeeping alliance he's supposed to be a part of.

Even the cold, dark months can feel warm and bright. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/w... @groveatlantic.bsky.social @annelcassidy.bsky.social @valmcdermid.bsky.social #booksky

#Poetry: Doesn’t it teach us how to mourn so that we’ll value having lived? @stevenleyva.bsky.social asks in his stirring review of Rara Avis by @blasfalconer.bsky.social in @wirobooks.bsky.social

I completely missed the news about the fatal shark attack in St. Croix last week. This article is very well done and puts it into perspective for people (like me) who were traumatized by "Jaws" and assume every inch of the ocean is infested with great whites.

Can't resist tilting at some windmills. Thanks, @wirobooks

On Poetry: January 2026. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/on-... @carcanet.bsky.social #booksky

Holy hell, what an obituary

This bit of old-fashioned thievery feels almost like a palate-cleanser right now.

This is incredible: 81% of working class and 83% of young voters have seen video of Renee Good's killing, per new data I've obtained. Majority of working class disapproves of ICE enforcement. ICE brutality is breaking through big time. Some thoughts on this here: newrepublic.com/article/2052...

Biden's Bookmobiles: Why a presidential-library-on-wheels would be perfect for all of us. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/bid... @ellenpcampbell.bsky.social #booksky

Are we hurtling toward an inevitable cliff? www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/g... @aaknopf.bsky.social @lukekemp.bsky.social @linda-nemec.bsky.social #booksky

Walz: "What's happening in MN defies belief. News reports simply don't do justice to the level of chaos & disruption & trauma the federal govt is raining down... This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. Instead, it's a campaign of organized brutality against the people of MN"

A few striking images that capture much of what has happened to US publishing in the last 30 years.

Podcast: Todd Goddard. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/aut... @blackstonepub.bsky.social @biographersintl.bsky.social #booksky

A pre-Civil War sporting event comes vividly to life. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/d... @illinoispress.bsky.social #booksky

Join @emmasarappo.bsky.social & @eastcitybooks.bsky.social at the @dcpubliclibrary.bsky.social tonight at 7 for a convo with @emilyraustin.bsky.social (IS THIS A CRY FOR HELP?, @atriabooks.bsky.social). It's our Spotlight Event! www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/emi... #booksky

🚨Yeah, not too proud to admit taking great pleasure in seeing that at least one of these ice goons knew what time it was. Looks like this is a grown man who was fully prepared and capable of wiping the ice with all these fools. It’s a hell of a lot easier to beat the shit out of women. PAB’s.

An Interview with Lacey N. Dunham. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/an-... @atriabooks.bsky.social @bookbent.bsky.social #booksky

But in a sense it's actually worse than a war crime, because there is no war. It's just a crime. It's a crime—murder—whether or not the aircraft can be identified as part of a military force.

A searing portrait of post-Weimar Germany’s utter squalor. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/b... @macmillanusa.bsky.social #booksky

The great Mike Luckovich

"Burstein employs the key events of Jefferson’s life to probe the inner man to a degree no other biographer has attempted, and he succeeds brilliantly." Another glowing review for Andrew Burstein's BEING THOMAS JEFFERSON in @wirobooks.bsky.social! See the full piece here ⤵️

BREAKING: Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife has made a “transformational” donation to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group. This large gift comes just months after the Trump administration shut down counseling services for queer youth. My latest for @wired.com:

"As a writer I was interested in this: How do you live under an authoritarian state? What compromises do you make? How are you willing to live your life? Because I had to make those compromises myself when I lived in Russia." www.vogue.com/article/svet...

Big new titles perfect for the littles. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/chi... @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social @picnicheist.bsky.social #booksky

This worthy volume adds to our understanding of the enigmatic Founder. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/b... @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social #booksky

Author Christine Kuehn will be talking about FAMILY OF SPIES at @politicsprose.bsky.social on Tues, Jan. 13. Details: politics-prose.com/christine-ku...

We're so grateful for the Washington Independent Review of Books's review of our latest title, If the Owl Calls by Sharon White! 👏 Read it at the link below!

It's worth your time to call Hilton to cancel your account with them. 1-800-446-6677. Here's why: They asked me if it was because of the ICE thing. I said it was. Then they suggested I wait a couple days to see if they were going to change course. The pressure is getting to them. Let's keep it up.

The SPEAKER implies. The LISTENER infers. The DUDE abides.

I'm loving this excellent book -- especially all the shout-outs to Toledo (Mancy's! Tony Packo's! Ottawa Hills!). #booksky

ICYMI: Why did trailblazer Marty Goddard get no credit for her own invention? www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/t... @vintagebooks.bsky.social @caratallo.bsky.social @pagankennedy.bsky.social #booksky

Short notice and blustery weather? No problem. Hundreds showed up today in Frederick, MD. #ICEOut #ICEMustGo

“The alarm was warranted. Everyone on the scene had witnessed the crossing of a crucial line in Donald Trump’s mass-deportation project: ICE had just killed an American citizen on American soil” {gift link} www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

BREAKING: Staggering scenes as brave Iranians stand up to their illegitimate government in Tehran... um, hang on, I'm being told this is actually Minneapolis. Forget I said anything...

A peek at what's on tap this week. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/a-l... #booksky

WASHINGTON POST: "The National Portrait Gallery removed a swath of text that mentioned President Donald Trump’s two impeachments and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as it swapped out a prominent photo of him this week." www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

A great thread (with great nuance).

Morty, Remington, Montgomery, and Humphrey approve of their new condo. #caturday

Hundreds of ICE protests this weekend. Find one near you via this link 👇

A woman recording an ICE agent tells him "Shame on you." The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?" "Learned what?" she asks Then he knocks her phone out of her hand