iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Been sitting on my shelf for a while. Not enough reading hours in my day but hope to get to ir.

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

There's some good ones on the right hand side!

120

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Yeah, I just rewatched the series because my wife had never seen it and its supposed to have Season 2 soon. Its hard to stay excited for something with such huge gaps.

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Ahh yeah if you've played it before that makes sense.

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I finally finished (at least the main storyline which was abput 20 hours for me) a game for the first time in a very very long time. Tiny Bookshop. I dont think I will go finish all the achievements etc. I vote for Cuphead for you!

120

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Picked up both this and Moon Dust in my Hairnet at some event in Edmonton. Glad to support local publishing!

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I've read 13 of those and have a few others on my shelves to be read. Some of my favourites that are not on there: The Dog Stars, On the Beach, Ballard's disaster books, Death of Grass, Seveneves and When The English Fall. Lots of good ones to read still!

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Not a terribly long playtime. Might only take me a couple months!

100

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

That doesn't sound great. Be well and we will miss your insights here.

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Listened to The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern this week and was a little baffled by it. Wonderful prose but the story was a mess and the characters felt rather unchanging throughout. Not sure if The Night Circus is better but also not sure I want to risk it.

000

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I appreciate the 1 hour episodes that @dodoborne.com does. I get it that I can break up longer episodes into chunks, but I like the psychological feeling of a complete episode being wrapped up in an hour or less.

250

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I just started back down the Dragonlance path after stepping away about 30 years ago. Soooooo many books in the series now. Didn't realize they're STILL putting them out.

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

No! Not Antarctica! Riddley Walker is supposed to be good. I've never read any Geoff Ryman but book club is tackling Air this month.

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Final book (on audiobook) of July is To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer. Very little good to say about this one. To think it won a Hugo over a book like The Lathe of Heaven is wild. I can't imagine circling back to more of his books unless they are a radical departure from this one.

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

From Farmer's 'To Your Scattered Bodies Go': "I wonder where those who are killed in the afterlife go? If we live long enough we might find out." How does that make any sense at all?

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Wrapped up Lois McMaster Bujold's Paladin of Souls last night on audiobook. She is so great. Even though fantasy is not my preference, the characters in the story were different enough from the usual tales that I quite enjoyed it. Even her fantasy characters seem totally real to me. Well done.

120

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Nice! Been considering it as well.Would have to buy both books now though, so want to be sure it will be the right fit.

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Are you the GM for a Daggerheart game?

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

And yet, I still liked it better than most (all?) of the other books I have read by Silverberg, who writes books I don't typically enjoy. Mindless speculative adventure book for young readers. It is what it is.

000

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Time of the Great Freeze by Robert Silverberg. A YA post ice-age book with a bunch of interchangeable dudes who are forced out of their underground New York city and decide to sled across the ocean to London. The plot is as weak as it sounds and the characters are entirely forgettable.

The front cover of Time of the Great Freeze by Robert Silverberg. It features a retrofuturistic looking sled with some supposedly modern men in and around it, with some less modern humans surrounding it.

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

A little mini book haul today to beef up my Post-apocalyptic and disaster collection. A Strugatsky chaser as well.

050

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Never heard of this film and unsure if I am being pranked.

000

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Interested in what this one is like. Curious if it is "apocalypticish" enough for my tastes.

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Wrapped up Speaker for the Dead on audiobook. Kind of an odd narration with a mix of speakers and weird music that cuts in at times. The book itself was enjoyable enough. Perhaps a little blunt in its messaging but I appreciated what was being told.

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Another Lois McMaster Bujold completed. Falling Free is set before the usual books in the Vorkosigan series but is still a fun romp with some crunchy engineering bits for those who like it. Little guys take on the big guys type story. Enjoyed it.

The front cover of Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold. Features a woman in a space suit, smiling, with a futuristic space station looming in the background.

040

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

So many good books out there. Only read 3 of these (Annie Bot, The Everlasting, and The Kraken Wakes)

100

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

A full session! Flails made of humans sound creepy.

120

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Loved Never Let me Go but never watched the movie. Only one of his books I have read.

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Only one I reas was The Plague and it was great.

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

As per my kids' request, finally wrapped up the Harry Potter series. Not bad, not great. Won't be watching the movies. Onto Speaker for the Dead on audiobook next, and Falling Free by Bujold in print.

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Trying out my first Daggerheart one shot on Thursday to get a feel for it. Have you played it?

130

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Super frustrating but I guess standard in the publishing world.

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

The artefacts were like LLMs made flesh and creeped me out. The way we just dip in and out of this eroding world that is being slowly replaced by something different was well done. Worth the read for sure.

000

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Wrapped up M John Harrison's 'The End of Everything'. Very readable, even with its surreal nature. It reminded me a little bit of Delaney's Dhalgren, but a vastly easier and more enjoyable book to read. I do enjoy his writing, even if its not the straightforward type narrative book that I choose.

130

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Is this just a situation where they throw out a couple British SF authors who are recognizable and also happened to write about disasters/apocalypse and hope readers dont bother to think any further about9 it? Or maybe I am missing something.

110

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Book blurbs are weird. On the back of M John Harrison's 'The End of Everything' New Statesman says 'M John Harrison is the closest thing we have to a present-day Wyndham or Ballard.' Ballard maybe but the comparison to Wyndham is bizarre to me.

120

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Fun night of some Blood on the Clocktower. Gotta say, it's enjoyable but makes me feel a little bit old and slow!

000

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Yup, he seems to be ideal for those who like the weird style of books. I read Annihilation by Vandermeer as well and struggled to even finish it. At least I know what I like! There's no doubt that both authors are skilled writers though.

010

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I have read it. I thought it was ok. The only other one of his I have attempted was Perdido Street Station and it was too weird for my heads pace at the time so I put it aside. Will try it again at some point. I think I have determined that 'weird' fiction isn't my preference.

100

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I used to get up every morning early and watch the stages. These days I don't have the time, but I still enjoy watching the wrap up on youtube after each stage. I miss watching the drama of the big mountain stages live though.

100

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Reading M John Harrison's 'The End of Everything' and so far quite enjoying it. However, I have a really important question. Why are there like a dozen blank pages at the back of the book? Is this some new publishing thing I am unaware of?

100

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Sure fire way to get people arguing with each other!

120

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

I'll take a second attempt at this one day.

120

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I managed to wrap up Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer today as well. I gave it as a gift to a graduating family member and wanted to read through a good chunk before doing so since I like to know what I am gifting. Beautiful, intelligent, challenging, wonderful book. Highly recommended.

000

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Book club is tackling The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy this month. As I have read it multiple times, I am listening to the BBC radio show version this go round. First time and love it!

020

Joel Stainer @joelstainer.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Probably the best book I have read this year.

010