Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 16hI’ve read around eight of the novels (DARK STAR and KINGDOM OF SHADOWS more than once) and have always intended to finish it. Kochanski’s book would be the perfect companion. 000
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 16hI’m halfway through my latest library loan, Halik Kochanski’s RESISTANCE, an exhaustive history of armed, political, and social opposition behind Axis lines. Suspect I’ll be purchasing it soon—I feel a years-long project coming on: using it for reference as I read Alan Furst’s NIGHT SOLDIERS series. 100
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Electro Shock Blues is so damn good. Near perfect. 020
Reposted by Ben O'ConnellJesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 03/10/2026"On a page dedicated to its 'products and services,' the company displays a series of photos without links, showing things like steel drums, modular offices, gravel, a Jeep Wrangler, and, for some reason, two close-up photos of trout eggs."motherjones.comA bookseller confronts a mysterious company hunting his rarest booksWas a Kentucky retailer targeted by a destructive AI "predator"? 163
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Loves of a Blonde and The Shop on Main Street are two of my favorites. But I suspect I will never watch the latter again. 110
Reposted by Ben O'ConnellThe Rereading Wolfe Podcast | 重读沃尔夫播客 @rereadingwolfe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026www.humblebundle.com/books/ultima...humblebundle.comHumble Book Bundle: The Ultimate Gene Wolfe Library by Tor BooksGet a massive library of the best of sci-fi and fantasy master Gene Wolfe! Choose what you pay, and support Alzheimer’s Research UK with your purchase! 72913
Reposted by Ben O'ConnellJoel Calahan @joelcalahan.com · 01/10/2026i don’t like to brag, but the inspiration for the look of the aliens in Arrival came from my minivan’s back window 021
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026A black cat just crossed the sidewalk in front of me. The holidays are upon us! 020
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Very curious what you think of WARLOCK. It’s one of my favorite reads in recent years. 130
Reposted by Ben O'ConnellChris Steller @chrissteller.bsky.social · 30/09/2026They’re a 10 but they pronounce “ancien régime” with a t 2245
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I saw this under near-perfect conditions: A friend sent us a pre-release screener. We knew absolutely nothing about it when we hit “Play.” 130
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 27/09/2026This one will be rolling around in my head for a while. 010
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Vicente Luis Mora’s CENTROEUROPA (trans. Rahul Bery) may be the strangest book I’ve read this year. After a Viennese emigre—deceased wife in tow—lays claim to a Prussian farm, local officials continually put off deciding what to do with frozen corpses of soldiers buried throughout the land. 130
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I had assumed EASTBOUND was set in the late 19th or early 20th centuries based on descriptions like: “A Russian military conscript attempts to escape a train with the assistance of a French passenger.” Imagine my surprise when I first came across words like “disco” and “cellphone.” 010
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Maylis de Kerangal’s EASTBOUND (trans. Jessica Moore) is the most claustrophobia-inducing novel I’ve read since Kōbō Abe’s WOMAN IN THE DUNES. 110
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I didn’t realize you were a Crumley fan as well. Glad to be in good company. 130
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Taste is obviously personal, but I would strongly recommend trying JGF. I’d start with Troubles or Siege of Krishnapur. 130
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026And, of course, I missed Butler already being on your list. So, maybe Woolf or Mantel? 010
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026J. G. Farrell, Percival Everett, Octavia Butler, or Italo Calvino? 130
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Made a couple P&P (Politics & Prose for those outside the DMV) stops today. 010
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Sometimes I think I should delete my Bluesky account, because what’s the point of listening to one hand clapping. And then… 031
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I’m being unfair to CGI. This movie is bad for a myriad reasons. 140
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Curious about your thoughts on the book once you’ve finished. I read it a few years ago. 120
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026A book and a beer on the back patio—life is pretty good sometimes. 050
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Some personal news: 25 years (and 7 months) at C-SPAN 11251
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Makes me nostalgic for the days when we could have asked Ted Gioia on twitter. 010
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026I had a professor who was a total jazz head. Totally threw me the first time he said Louis as Lewis. I thought it was an affectation. 110
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Also, no cheesy or AI effects. Bookpilled (old sf, usually), Scott Bradfield (wide array but often genre), and Criminolly (pulp crime and other genre fare) are my other favorites with stripped down presentations. 110
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026I think he’s great. Smart, quirky, funny, and informative. 110
Ben O'Connell @benjaminoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Brittle Innings by Michael Bishop and Playmakers by Michael Kimmel. Former is excellent, so far. Latter is good but a tad repetitive. 011