You can keep your space camels, the AT-ST is Star Wars’ coolest land vehicle, and now this Lego Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series AT-ST is $39 off at Amazon, the cheapest this set has ever been.
Like the rest of Lego’s Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series, this Lego Star Wars AT-ST is a seriously detailed model. It has some interactive features, including rotating guns and an opening hatch, but at 14.5 inches tall, this is very much a display model. Want to expand your collection further? We’ve also rounded up the Best Lego Star Wars sets.
Star Wars AT-ST Walker: was $200 now $161 Save $39 on this Lego Star Wars UCS AT-ST set, sure to look absolutely stunning on any shelf or table. Launching just last year, this buildable model has never been cheaper.
NOTE: Make sure you tick the coupon box to get it at this price. View Deal
This Lego Star Wars UCS AT-ST does have some interactive features but it’s not intended for play. (Image credit: Lego)
What’s not to love about Star Wars’AT-ST? First glimpsed in The Empire Strikes Back and heavily featured in Return of the Jedi are typical of the Empire; designed to instil fear, but laughably impractical. I can just imagine the Emperor laughing.. “Yes.. yes…. more like a chicken!” as his engineering team roll their eyes. And now, thanks to Lego, you can own this super-detailed Lego Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series AT-ST.
Made up of 1,513 pieces, it’s for builders aged 18+ or over. It comes with an information plaque and a minifigure of an AT-ST driver. It is designed to be fun to build as well as looking striking as a display piece. It does include an AT-ST pilot minifigure but at 14.5 inches tall, it’s much bigger than minifigure scale, which is why he’ll stay perched next to the plaque.
It’s posable to a degree; you can move the cockpit and peek inside it, but the legs are fixed; this is not a play-friendly set. If you’re buying for children, consider instead this Lego Star Wars Smart Play Attack on Endor set. Yes, the AT-ST is a hilariously impractical vehicle, easily foiled by a gang of teddy bears, but that’s half of its appeal.
Key features: 1,513 pieces, 14.5 × 8.5 × 8.5 in. / 37 × 22 × 22 cm, builders aged 18 or over.
Product launched: August 2025
Price history: Launched last year, this is the cheapest this set has ever been.
Reviews consensus: The reviews from Lego and Amazon purchasers are almost universally positive, with people praising how fun it is to build and how fantastic it looks when finished.
✅ Buy it if: You want to build a stunning, detailed display model of Return of the Jedi’s iconic vehicle.
❌ Don’t buy it if: You want a playset. Despite the minifigure, this is purely a display model.
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“At the height of the surge, Minneapolis resembled a place hit by a hurricane: donated groceries piled in driveways and church parking lots, waiting to be distributed to people afraid to leave their houses; citizens wearing safety vests and whistles standing in groups outside local businesses and schools.” Emily Witt reports on Operation Metro Surge. | The New Yorker
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In the spirit of reunification and the inclusion of teens into the charge of the Library Services to Underserved Children and their Caregivers Committee:
Many years ago, when I was regularly doing outreach to juvenile detention centers as a teen librarian, I arranged a summer schedule with an intake center nearby. The site served teen boys who were waiting for their placements—they might be released to their parents or assigned to a non-secure or secure detention facility. The center was very short-term; the boys were there no more than a week so planning programming meant something that was contained to that hour-long visit but couldn’t be the same week-to-week because there would be some overlap.
That year, the summer reading theme was Get a Clue/You Never Know (I did say this was many years ago!) and as I struggled to come up with an activity for my first visit, I looked at the elementary school booklist my system had prepared. One of the books on the list was Stories to Solve: Folktales from Around the World told by George Shannon (illustrated by Peter Sis). I read through it and picked out some of the riddle stories that I thought the teens might be able to solve and hoped for the best.
It was a small group, five or six teen boys, ages 14 or 15. We met in a semi-outside classroom space at the site. The teens were understandably unimpressed when I arrived and I prepared myself for what was about to be an epic failure.
With the very first story, the boys were enthralled. Even though they didn’t solve the riddles, they loved hearing the stories and the solutions. “Miss, miss, do another one!” they kept saying and I ended up reading almost every story in the book.
I returned to the library and a couple of hours later, my phone rang. It was the site director. She said, “I don’t know what you did, but you made some impression!” She went on to say that she had arrived after I left and as soon as they saw her, the boys started peppering her with the stories, trying to stump her. She was shocked and impressed that they’d paid close enough attention that they remembered the stories and solutions and were still excited enough about them to share them with her. It was one of those rare moments as a librarian when I could actually know the impact I’d had.
I share this story a lot because it is (still) one of my career highlights, but more because it goes to show you never know what might work with teens if you give it a try. By any measure, this was a challenging group—a bunch of teen guys I’d never met, waiting to see what their life was going to be like in the most serious of circumstances, forced to listen to some library lady on a warm summer morning. And I showed up with a book of folktales for kids. But it worked.
Today’s blog post was written by Dr. Vikki C. Terrile, Associate Professor at the School of Information Studies at Queens College, CUNY, on behalf of the Library Services to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers Committee.
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If you’ve never read any Discworld books, try one or two. Maybe that’s all I need to say, but…
Sir Terry Pratchett is dead now. His works will live on for a very long time, I suspect. Chief among his works: the 42 (I believe) Discworld books, including–VERY MUCH including–the half-dozen Tiffany Aching adventures.
I’ve read (and own) all 42, twice I believe, and a few of his other works. Later this fall, I’ll start another read–and, given that I only read one Pratchett for every 6-8 library books I read, this is likely to be the last pass. I like the books quite a bit–ever since I first encountered them, decades ago, in the shipboard library on a cruise. I’m pretty sure I began with the first, which I’ll always think of as The Colour of Magic (even though the American publisher later dropped the “u”). I’ve seen discussions of the series that say NOT to start with that book, but I think it’s as good a place as any–and after a few books, you’ll appreciate having the background.
Pratchett is funny, insightful. a great satirist, and…well, a really good writer. Discworld (it’s flat, resting on several very large elephants which in turn stand on an enormous turtle floating through space–and while there a half dozen or so auxiliary coauthored volumes exploring the science of Discworld, I’ve only read one and don’t think they’re at all needed to enjoy the series).
You may not like Discworld or Pratchett’s style. Tastes differ. But if you’ve never tried one, I recommend them.
A few side notes:
The one Pratchett novel I’d suggest skipping is the first (NOT a Discworld book), The Carpet People, written when he was 12 years old and revised later. I believe I read it once. On a second try, I bogged down less than a third of the way through and am not likely to continue.
On the other hand, the standalone novels Nation, Strata, and–especially–Dodger are all IMHO well worth reading.
Other than The Last Hero, I haven’t really read the illustrated and coauthored Discworld novels or the various other ancillary works. I suspect they’re all good,
As for the series The Long…, all coauthored with Stephen Baxter, to my eye they start out strong (The Long Earth) and fade away over time. You might love them.
Nothing more to say. If, a decade or so from now, I’m still around and still able to read and comprehend these, I might make a fourth pass–but that’s a lot of Ifs. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to starting the series again later this Fall.
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From the mysteries of the human brain and the legacies of empire to modern India, the Iranian Revolution, artificial intelligence and imaginative new fiction, the books featured at this year’s Jaipur Literature Festival Seattle (JLF Seattle) invite readers to explore some of the most compelling questions of our time.
JLF Seattle: A global festival of books and ideas is an international chapter of the Jaipur Literature Festival, one of the world’s largest literary festivals. For the third year, it will bring together celebrated writers, thinkers, artists, and readers together for lively conversations about books and the ideas shaping our world. It takes place September 17–20, 2026, with Opening Night at the Central Library on Friday, September 18, featuring a keynote address by Life of Pi author Yann Martel on “Why Stories and Imagination Matter More in Uncertain Times.” Opening night will be followed by a weekend of conversations at Town Hall Seattle.
Here are some of the authors, books – and big ideas – you will encounter at this year’s festival.
I. Power, Empire, and History
Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins
How does empire continue to shape the present? Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Caroline Elkins examines the violence that sustained British imperial rule across more than two centuries. Drawing on extensive archival research, this sweeping history was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize.
King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution by Scott Anderson
Why do revolutions happen – and why do governments so often fail to recognize the warning signs? Scott Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of Lawrence in Arabia, offers a dramatic account of the fall of the Shah, American miscalculations, and the 1979 revolution that transformed Iran and reshaped the modern Middle East.
Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple
The borders of modern Asia were redrawn dramatically during the middle of the 20th century. In this No. 1 Indian bestseller, historian Sam Dalrymple explores five partitions and the people whose lives were altered by the collapse of empires and the creation of new nations.
II.India and a Changing World
The Groundbreaker: Entrepreneurship, the American Dream, and the Rise of Modern India by Kanwal Rekhi
Kanwal Rekhi’s story connects Silicon Valley entrepreneurship, immigration and the emergence of modern India. His journey offers an intimate view of the possibilities and obstacles facing immigrants, while examining the role of the Indian diaspora in the global technology industry.
A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India’s Development Odyssey by Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian
How has India transformed itself since independence – and what challenges remain? Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian examine the economic, political and social forces that have shaped the development of a nation containing nearly one-sixth of the world’s population.
Swallowing the Sun by Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri
Set against the struggle for Indian independence, Lakshmi Puri’s novel follows a young woman seeking education, freedom and a life beyond the expectations placed upon her. It is a story of personal awakening unfolding during a period of profound national transformation.
III. Science, Medicine and Artificial Intelligence
The Mind Electric: A Neurologist on the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains by Pria Anand
Why does the brain create phantom limbs, altered memories and unexpected perceptions of reality? Neurologist Pria Anand draws on medical history and stories from her own practice to explore the brain’s remarkable mysteries. The book received the 2026 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.
Considerations on the AI Endgameby Soenke Ziesche
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in our lives, who – or what – will remain in control? Soenke Ziesche considers the possibilities and dangers of advanced AI and asks how human beings can shape a future in which intelligence is shared between people and machines.
IV.Fiction, Memory, and Belonging
Son of Nobody by Yann Martel
Yann Martel, the Booker Prize-winning author of “Life of Pi,” reimagines the Trojan War through the experiences of an ordinary soldier and a modern scholar. Moving between the ancient and contemporary worlds, “Son of Nobody” explores war, ambition, family and whose stories become part of history.
Intemperance by Sonora Jha
In this satirical feminist novel, a twice-divorced woman approaching her 55th birthday revives the ancient tradition of the swayamvar to choose a new husband on her own terms. Both playful and provocative, “Intemperance” explores love, caste, aging, desire and the possibilities of a more tender masculinity.
Desire Lines by Kristen Millares Young
In this lyrical memoir-in-essays, Seattle writer Kristen Millares Young explores womanhood, motherhood, family history and the ongoing struggle for women’s freedom. Moving through her Cuban and Spanish heritage, she excavates her matrilineage and the submerged histories of the divine feminine.
A Place for What We Lose: A Daughter’s Return to Tule Lake by Tamiko Nimura
Tamiko Nimura returns to Tule Lake, where her Japanese American father was incarcerated during World War II. Combining memoir, history and a daughter’s search for understanding, the book considers grief, inherited memory and the ways families carry experiences that have never been fully spoken.
V. Memoir and the Supernatural
There’s a Ghost in My Room: Living with the Supernatural by Sanjoy K. Roy
Part memoir, part travelogue of the uncanny, Sanjoy K. Roy’s book recounts his lifelong encounters with spirits and apparitions – from his ancestral home in Calcutta to locations around the world. Written with warmth, humor, and curiosity, it explores memory, belief, and the mysterious boundary between the visible and unseen. The book received the Wise Owl Literary Award and was considered for the Rabindranath Tagore Literature Prize.
VI. Beyond the Page
JLF Seattle also celebrates storytelling through cinema. Acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, director of Masoom, Mr. India, Bandit Queen, and Elizabeth, joins the festival to discuss the power of film to bring stories, histories and unforgettable characters to life.
Whether you are drawn to fiction, history, science, politics, memoir, children’s literature or cinema, JLF Seattle offers many ways to discover new ideas and meet the people behind the stories.
Record-high diesel prices are squeezing California’s economy, driving up fuel and operational costs for local farmers, trucking fleets and supply chains.
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The Colorado River is a critical resource in the West. Seven U.S. states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—and Mexico.
Several reservoir and water management decisional documents and agreements that govern the operation of Colorado River facilities and management of the Colorado River are scheduled to expire at the end of 2026. These include the 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead (2007 Interim Guidelines), the 2019 Drought Contingency Plans, as well as international agreements between the United States and Mexico pursuant to the United States-Mexico Treaty on Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande (1944 Water Treaty).
The Post-2026 process was a multi-year NEPA process that set out to develop long-term successor operating guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead to replace expiring agreements. The process was formally initiated in June 2023 with the Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Throughout the process, extensive stakeholder engagement occurred, with a particular focus on developing a range of alternatives over a two‑and‑a‑half‑year period. Six alternatives were developed and evaluated to capture a broad range of operational concepts and potential environmental impacts, though consensus on long‑term operations was not reached. After the publication of the Final EIS on July 31, 2026, the process is concluding with issuance of the Record of Decision on August 21, 2026, which adopts the Preferred Alternative[‘s] “Decision Framework.” Pursuant to the Record of Decision, the first set of guidelines—the 2027–2028 Operating Guidelines—were also issued.
Reclamation held an informational public webinar regarding the Final Environmental Impact Statement, the Record of Decision, and the 2027–2028 Operating Guidelines on Friday, August 21, 2026. The webinar was recorded and is available for playback. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9upizAyvlaw
Record of Decision and 2027–2028 Operating Guidelines Issued The Department of the Interior has issued the Record of Decision for the Decision Framework for Colorado River Guidelines: Coordinated Operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead (2027–2036), along with the Colorado River Guidelines for Coordinated Operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead for Operating Years 2027 and 2028. The Record of Decision and 2027–2028 Operating Guidelines are available on the Decision Documents page.
Final Environmental Impact Statement Reclamation has released the Final EIS for the Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead. A Notice of Availability of the Final EIS was published in the Federal Register on July 31, 2026. The Final EIS is available at this website.
Public Comments on the Draft EIS AvailableOn March 2, 2026, the 45-day public review and comment period for the Draft EIS concluded. Reclamation hosted two public meetings and received 18,127 submissions. There were 785 unique submissions from the public, tribes, states, federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders, over 17,000 form letters, over 5,000 form letters with unique content, and 51 duplicate submissions. Videos of the public meetings and the public comments can be viewed on the Draft EIS Public Review and Comment Process page.
Scoping Summary Report, Purpose and Need, Proposed Federal Action Reclamation published a Federal Register Notice announcing the availability of the Scoping Summary Report for the Post-2026 Process. The Scoping Summary Report provides a summary of the comments received during the public scoping process and describes the Department’s current, preliminary assessment of the proposed federal action, purpose and need, and scope of the environmental analysis to be included in the Draft EIS. Read More →
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Marco Rubio is using dubious powers to create a new class of immigrant political prisoners. Meanwhile, DHS officials are bragging about how they’re brutally shackling and frog-marching Haitians who came here under protected status. On this American holiday weekend, David takes a “nerd moment” to explain that the Founders always intended our Constitutional liberties to apply to noncitizens as well—including even despicable Milo Yiannopoulos. Plus: How Trump keeps getting away with his illegal ballroom construction, what normie Texas Republicans are thinking about Paxton vs. Talarico, the risks of legal shenanigans after the votes are all counted in November, and an update on the Iranian green card-holders who’ve now been detained 150 days. Also, Tim is heartily enjoying the LSU ruling ahead of Saturday’s game against Clemson.
David French joins Tim Miller for the holiday weekend pod.
Bulwark LIVE: GOOD FIGHT TOUR with Tim, Sarah, Sam and JVL is coming to the Southeast in October. Tickets are on sale NOW. Head to TheBulwark.com/Events for details and to get your tickets.
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Venus is something of a frustration for stargazers. It’s the brightest planet and the easiest to see, while the sight of it close to a crescent moon is one of the most achingly beautiful sights in the sky. Yet it gives almost nothing away.
Mars has its reddish color. Saturn rewards even a small telescope with its spectacular rings. Jupiter has moons, belts and an obvious disk. Venus, meanwhile, spends months blazing away in twilight looking exactly like what people who do not stargaze assume a star should look like — a brilliant white point. What we’re seeing is sunlight reflected by its global cloud cover, which in turn makes it impossible to see in any detail.
But every now and then, it does something revealing by becoming a crescent. That is when Venus, an inner planet relative to Earth, finally makes sense.
Put a small telescope on Venus this week and its appearance is completely different from the dazzling dot seen with the naked eye. This week, its disk will dim from 36% to 32% lit as it shrinks toward a thinner crescent as September progresses. At the same time, its apparent disk is getting larger because Venus is moving closer to Earth.
Those two changes are connected. Venus reached its greatest eastern elongation, about 46 degrees from the sun, on Aug. 15. It’s now swinging around the inside of its smaller, faster orbit of the sun towards inferior conjunction on Oct. 24, when it will pass roughly between Earth and the sun, and be lost in the sun’s glare. Before that, it will reach its peak — greatest brilliancy — in the evening sky on Sept. 18, shining at magnitude -4.8 while just 26% lit. That’s the sweet spot, when its increasing angular size and decreasing crescent combine at their brightest, as seen from Earth (though its modeled visual brightness peaks a few days later, around Sept.22). After that, it becomes an increasingly dim crescent.
Seeing Venus as a crescent makes the geometry beautifully obvious. We are no longer looking across the solar system towards the brightly illuminated side of Venus. We are increasingly looking at the planet from behind, towards its night side, with sunlight catching only one edge.
It is almost the same idea as a crescent moon — except Venus is another world tens of millions of miles away. As it passes roughly between Earth and the sun on Oct. 24, it will be 0.27 AU away — equivalent to 25 million miles (40 million kilometers). At its farthest, Venus can be 162 million miles (261 million kilometers) from Earth.
The phases of Venus were historically important. When Galileo observed Venus through a telescope in the early 17th century, seeing it display a broad range of phases helped demolish the traditional Ptolemaic model in which Venus was supposed to orbit Earth in a way that could not produce the full sequence he observed.
Four centuries later, the same observation remains one of the simplest ways to understand our place in the solar system.
Venus becomes far more interesting when it stops looking its best through the naked eye and instead becomes a “wow” moment in a small telescope. As the “Evening Star” sinks lower into twilight, we’re not just seeing a crescent — we’re seeing a planet orbit the sun.
What’s happening and when to look
A crescent moon and Venus over a lighthouse. (Image credit: Richard Packwood via Getty Images)
Venus remains an evening object throughout September, but it is rapidly becoming more challenging from mid-northern latitudes. Look very low towards the west-southwest shortly after sunset, where it should be obvious because practically nothing else in the twilight comes close to its brilliance.
Do not search for Venus with a telescope or binoculars while the sun is still above the horizon. Wait until sunset and make sure the sun has disappeared before pointing optical equipment anywhere near the western sky.
Venus will move through Virgo during the coming days before a particularly attractive conjunction on Sept. 14, when a 16%-lit waxing crescent moon will pass extremely close to a 29%-lit Venus. Two crescents together.
How and when I’m watching it
Venus is one of those objects I prefer to revisit several times rather than observe once. A single look shows a crescent, but observing every week reveals movement.
I’ll mostly use my small spotting scope in the front yard to look at Venus as a crescent this month, but if I’m short on time, I’ll use some 10×50 binoculars, which can also reveal the phase. The trick is not to expect surface detail — just a clean geometric shape.
Atmospheric turbulence near the horizon can make Venus wobble and shimmer, but its phase usually cuts through.
Stargazer’s corner: Sept. 4–10, 2026
Saturn continues to brighten in the east after dark. (Image credit: SCIEPRO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
With the moon now past last quarter, the early evening sky is finally free from bright moonlight. It’s an excellent opportunity to revisit the Milky Way, along with star clusters, nebulas and other deep-sky objects before autumn gradually takes over and its bright center slumps into the horizon. Before dawn, the waning crescent moon moves through Taurus, passing close to Mars on Sept. 6 in Gemini, while brilliant Venus continues to dominate the western twilight after sunset. The dazzling planet remains the unmistakable evening beacon, shining low above the west shortly after sunset. Saturn, meanwhile, continues to brighten in the east during the late evening, making this an increasingly good time to point binoculars or, better still, a small telescope toward the ringed planet.
Constellation of the week: Pisces
Pisces, “The Fishes,” is now visible in the south after dark. (Image credit: E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani))
Pisces is easy to overlook. Its faint stars form two celestial fish joined by a long cord, creating a broad V-shape beneath the easy-to-find Great Square of Pegasus in the eastern evening sky after dark this month.
This week is a great time to find it because Neptune soon reaches opposition within Pisces, making the distant planet brighter than at any other time this year. Although Neptune needs binoculars or a telescope to spot it, learning the constellation
Pisces has been associated with mythology and water for thousands of years, but finding its subtle pattern also signals that the autumn constellations are beginning to take over the night sky.
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The imminent arrival of fall means I’ve been pulling out all my jackets in eager anticipation—I’m not a fan of summer, especially when it’s been nearly tropical in NYC these past few months.
Arguably the best part of pulling out jackets for the season are the Pocket Surprises, items that you stuffed in a pocket and forgot about. So far I’ve re-found:
– One receipt that I wrote “paranoia” on, eerie
– Two ticket stubs, one from a movie I didn’t enjoy seeing, and one from a movie I had a wonderful time seeing
– One $1 bill, printed in 2021 and folded up very small for some reason
– One cool rock with a dark stripe through it that I picked up at some point, a Pocket Surprise classic
In any event, I hope you have a great long weekend full of interesting rediscoveries. Here is some news from this week that you may have missed, in Venn form. See you back here on Tuesday.
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Summer beach reads don’t always have to be light. Sometimes, a horror novel can be just as fun. Horror novels have the power to pull you in and make your heart race; they can make you laugh, grimace, see the world in a new way, or all of the above. If you’re still working on your Book Bingo Horror category or if you’re looking for a great next book, here are some titles to check out:
After witnessing her best friends get murdered seventeen years ago, Sadie has been hearing talking dead animals and a voice in her head—symptoms her therapist insists are signs of PTSD. But when her boyfriend agrees to join a couple’s trip at a cabin in the woods, things take a turn.
In this cozy horror novel set in the small town of Lake Argen, Cassidy, the town baker, starts to have feelings for a very cute private investigator who is looking into a recent visitor’s disappearance. But something hungry lives under Lake Argen, putting them all at risk.
Through fiction and poetry, this anthology reimagines monsters, old and new, through a queer lens, subverting expectations and celebrating the relationship between horror and queerness.
Four American Indian men from the Blackfeet Nation have grown up together as friends, but they are haunted by what they did during an elk hunt ten years ago–and there’s an entity that wants its revenge.
When an unnamed trans woman retreats to an all-trans girl commune in the woods of rural Indiana called Herculine, she finds community and acceptance. But soon, something starts to feel off–and she starts to suspect that Herculine may not be the safe haven she was hoping for.
For more ideas for books to meet your Summer Book Bingo challenge, follow our Shelf Talk BookBingoNW2026 seriesor check the hashtag #BookBingoNW2026 on social media. Book Bingo is presented in partnership with Seattle Arts & Lectures and the King County Library System.
As summer comes to a close, we at Lit Hub are celebrating milestones and jumping into the deep end. What’s making us happy? Climbing mountains. We’re looking autumn square in the face and saying: bring it on.
Molly Odintz, for instance, is moving in with her other half. The happy couple is making designs on a fire pit. And last week, Drew Broussard cracked an especially tricky part of his novel-in-progress, to much rejoicing. A section that’s been bedeviling our podcasts editor for “no joke, over two years.” You might say growth is in the air.
Also riding that back-to-school high is staffer James Folta, who fell for a new bookstore this week on a wedding jaunt to Hudson. A Tiny Literature Shop is exactly what it sounds like. “The gimmick is everything is a little book,” says James. (Italics mine.)
This shop specializes in mini-lit—essays, novellas, etc. (“And almost every selection had a note,” James adds, “so browsing felt like getting a curated look at a cool friend’s bookshelf.”) The new shop offers bespoke gifts, for the Virgos in the house. A tiny book box and a tiny tote are almost too cute to handle.
Editor Jonny Diamond was also inspired by a new bookstore. He and the family recently made the acquaintance of Better Days Bookshop in Cairo, NY. At this Mecca, one can load up on new titles and sip, respectively, “a beer, an NA beer, a coke, and an apple juice” on the back porch. I’m told this was another delightful way to kick off fall.
I, Brittany Allen, have also had paper on the brain as we slide into Virgo season. This week, I was thrilled to discover this cool zine library in Texas, apparently the largest of its kind.
The Sherwood Forest Zine Library occupies an Austin living room, and includes dozens and dozens of print missives on everything from capitalism to magick. Check out their virtual library if you’re in the mood for some analog inspiration.
Speaking of old media, Oliver Scialdone has been collecting OVAs (Original Video Animations) on VHS as part of a lengthy archiving project. (Spreadsheets are involved.) Our community editor recently picked up a few volumes of Record of Lodoss War, a Japanese fantasy franchise that’s plotted like an RPG.
“The visual style of 90s fantasy anime scratches this really specific aesthetic itch, and VHS is 100% the most correct format to watch it in,” says Oliver. “Most of the companies that distributed these movies and series in the US are defunct, and it’s such an interesting era in the history of the medium, so it feels kind of special to find copies in the wild.” The biggest joy is apparently in the hunt.
One more for the road, from me, Brittany again. Because there’s no re-generation without kissing off the old, I’ve also been closing summer with some nostalgia. For sweet, sweet indie sleaze.
It all started last week when I asked a friend for a binge-able book recommendation. I got back Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts, a novel that chronicles a music-fueled situationship from its Y2K beginnings through the mid-aughts.
Laced with fan energy and a discography that will be resonant to anyone who was duped by LCD Soundsystem’s “last” concert, this one’s an heir apparent to High Fidelity, a book it name-checks. And friend was right! The novel’s extremely fun to read, especially with playlist accompaniment. Brickley perfectly recreates the feeling of falling in love—with that first good music, and that first dubious musician.
My rabbit hole ended, happily, in this serendipitous Hell Gate profile of the Williamsburg tailor who kept Interpol in fine threads. The past isn’t even past, people. That’s the moral. Autumn reminds us—it’s always out with the old, then in again.
Wishing you a weekend of fresh pages, warm hearths, and analog rejoicing.
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In 2019, Christopher Stewart started paying students in D.C. to work in a school library and learn about the field.
The concept is similar to a paid internship, with students helping with research and shelving books. The goal is to increase students’ awareness of library science and spark their interest in the field.
Stewart has brought the program with him to various schools. Now in his first year as senior school librarian at Garnet-Patterson S.T.A.Y. High School, Stewart has opened applications for hiring two library brand ambassadors. He’s already received information from six applicants.
The mission, he said, is to “make sure that students have an opportunity to explore the field, particularly Black and Brown students, because we make up so little as far as the grand total of librarians, especially school librarians.”
