TODAY I READ: Steven Johnson's ENEMY OF ALL MANKIND as pirate summer continues. This one focuses on Henry Avery and the taking of the Gunsway while also making it clear how easy it was to luck into Successful Crime in ye olden days.

¡LA FURIA!

TODAY I (re-)READ: an ARC of @aribaranwrites.bsky.social 's GAME MISCONDUCT, because it's getting re-released in paperback & i jumped at the excuse. truly an all timer.

this has been a fucking WILD ASS game. every time the announcer is like "¡vamos a VAR!" my heart jumps

not the telemundo announcers basically being like "next week we'll be in miami & it'll still be hot as shit but at least there will be BEACH"

TODAY I READ: an ARC of @authornalinisingh.bsky.social 's COLD REDEMPTION, bk 25 (!!) in her Psy-Changeling series, which, aside from demonstrating why long-running series are THE preferred format (let these characters cook!), also (MILD SPOILERS) manages to include organ donation as a love language

there is a specific literary agent who CONSISTENTLY pops up in the acknowledgments of the books i love the most & I just—their talent, man. where do i get their autograph.

the temperature/humidity combo in houston rn is pretty comparable to what it is here—i can't imagine going out & playing ninety minutes without Actually, Factually Dying

TODAY I WATCHED: SUPERGIRL (2026), which was very fun, & contains a much better version of that speech from CINDERELLA (2015) that we were all rightfully mad about

ONCE AGAIN, i have put the clothes in the washing machine & utterly failed to actually START said machine

gonna go back in time & establish a bunch of ask no questions dry docks slash careening sites in and around the caribbean & make a mint

my brain is bees rn, two weeks out of school & all i've got is bzzzzzzzzzzzz

CABO VERDE!!!!

"do you identify with your state?" no, my state is embarrassing, please stop making me admit where i live

this fic has a character take some acetaminophen & start acting like they just snorted benzodiazipine off a mirror in a club bathroom

TODAY I READ: a bunch of SUITS fic. look, i refuse to be held responsible for my actions, or to ever finish more than one season of this show, but sometimes the brain has an itch that must be scratched.

man...they just don't do werewolves like they used to

"i have no horse in this race" i keep telling myself. you know, like a liar.

TODAY I READ: Keith Thomson's BORN TO BE HANGED (it's pirate summer), which tells the story of a bunch of dudes (a crew of them, even) stumbling from Situation to Situation, collecting more treasure than is warranted along the way, only to be Scooby-Doo'd in the end

this book is like "here's some ladies mentioned in the icelandic sagas. we have literally no other information." & then engages in my least favorite thing: optimistic speculation

i swear, if that man does to the usmnt what he did to the knicks—

I AM SO TIRED OF ¡NO VALE!

i think it would be really funny to read something from the pov of a TA whose students are convinced they're in a dark academia & it's like...phoebe no...this is just your gen ed req...stop acting like the final project requires you to sacrifice your group to yog-sothoth

god, are the goals shorter than literally the entire field of international soccer is used to? i don't think i've ever seen this much whiffing over the top

whatever version of the anthem they play in the stadium must be going at, like 1.5X speed

TODAY I READ: an ARC of @tkingfisher.com 's DAGGERBOUND, book 2 in the SWORDHEART series, which, among other things, is a fun example of what happens when the DM is cackling & playing Russian roulette with the monster manual & your answer to "is this friend-shaped?" is eternally "yes"

sister: france is just inherently unlikeable france, ten seconds later: /scores sister: they heard me & had to prove it

TODAY I READ: @jessiemihalik.com 's CAPTURE THE SUN, book 3 of STARLIGHT'S SHADOW, which has got it all: prison break! hostage exchange! thieves falling in love! the true enemy: fascism! a side relationship i'm way too invested in!

it's like the universe hears me say "i hate pks" & was like "we're gonna give 'em so many. day one, even."

TODAY I READ: an ARC of @seananmcguire.bsky.social 's A DIVIDED DUTY, book 20(!!) in the October Daye series, which is all about what we owe to each other and ourselves, and the consequences of not listening when someone reminds you that the books aren't balanced yet (if they ever can be)

TODAY I READ: an ARC of Robert Jackson Bennet's A TRADE OF BLOOD, book 3 of THE SHADOW OF THE LEVIATHAN, which is more interested in the HOW of the central mystery than the WHY, which I feel hurts its effectiveness

TODAY I READ: Colin Woodard's THE REPUBLIC OF PIRATES, which does a very decent overview of the golden age of piracy & reminded me, once again, that James Flint was right & he should say it

all the countries through to the knockouts playing their bench makes it really clear which teams have Real Depth & which are relying on the health, luck, & skill of Five Guys In Particular

TODAY I READ: TL Huchu's SECRETS OF THE FIRST SCHOOL, the fifth & final Ropa Moyo book. I personally found this series increasingly frustrating as it continued, but Ropa has such a distinctive and fun narrative voice that I had to follow her to the end.

the funny lil "oh my god" tone the telemundo announcer gets every time they pan to some celebrity in the LA crowd /chef's kiss/

it would be pure chaos to have LA COPA MUNDIAL: EDICIÓN MULTIVISTA on the screen & the baseball game on the radio...but i thought about it

the in-stadium chimes to announce that someone in the other stadium has scored are so ominous

TODAY I READ: @nghivo.bsky.social 's THE EMPRESS OF SALT AND FORTUNE, which manages to lay out all the backstabbing and machinations of a 50-episode CDrama in such a short, yet compelling number of pages that I was left scrambling when they ran out

me: what is that goddamn noise the jackhammer starting up less than a block away: guess

hearing both teams & their fans absolutely commit to their national anthems—la belleza de los deportes

did...did they just give yellow card to the bosnia & herzegovina guy bc he took his shirt off

me, looking at a dog wearing a pride jersey: how do i get me one of these

there are six copa mundial games today, all of them overlapping with another, so i am Consumed With Indecision

TODAY I READ: Huw Lemmey & Ben Miller's BAD GAYS, which picks out a few horrible figures from history & tries to reconcile their actions with the fact that they were queer

i'm really fucking confident about not looking at the screen for someone whose auditory spanish is so spotty

i've been doing so much laundry. my life is bounded by laundry. the hour long gap between matches has been and is going to be devoted to folding laundry. it's despicable.

suits treating a briefcase full of weed like a kilo of cocaine is my villain origin atory

TODAY I READ: an ARC of @freyamarske.bsky.social 's BODIES OF MAGIC, which boils down all of the stresses of pursuing a medical career post-pandemic into five, jam-packed days & adds a soupçon of magic & good old fashioned YEARNING, just for flavor

SENEGAL!!! love how this guy grabs the ball & runs it to the center line before celebrating

the field at the france/iraq game is SO WET. lil anime splash puddles anytime a player hits the ground too hard.