iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 01/10/2026

signed a few tiger books at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, California today - nice shop! #booksky

Bald, sweaty man writes his name in a book

Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 01/10/2026

I picked one up just now at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park CA. Almost didn't given its size - I fly home to MN tomorrow and like to travel light - but similarly swayed by @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social's review

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 01/10/2026

had to go back today and pick up this gorgeous 1966 edition of Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac

Inside of Bell's Book Store in Palo Alto, CA

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 29/09/2026

I could spend hours here in Bell's Book Store in Palo Alto, CA

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 25/09/2026

any Bluesky folks in Beijing? I'm giving a Tigers Between Empires book talk on October 8, moderated by the brilliant Terry Townshend (wildbeijing.org). More info and registration here: rasbj.glueup.cn/event/tigers...

Poster for a talk about tigers! In China!

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 24/09/2026

this album is so good - Neil Young's 1971 show at Massey Hall in Toronto

Front cover of Neil Young's album Massey Hall 1971

Back cover of Neil Young's album Massey Hall 1971

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 22/09/2026

I feel like I am doing things right if the 2026 National Book Award for Nonfiction irks Bret Stephens www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/o...

Bret Stephens writes "Then there’s the longlist for nonfiction. Much of the same in terms of subject matter: There’s a book about “the rise of Islamophobia in America.” Another about “an experiment in queer parenthood.” A third that’s “an argument against white paint.” (Really.) Last year’s nonfiction winner was a screed about the war in Gaza born of a viral anti-Israel social media post written weeks after Oct. 7."

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 22/09/2026

Tomorrow evening! I'm talkin' TIGERS with the Izaak Walton League of America, W. J. Breckenridge Chapter, in Brooklyn Park, MN. Free and open to the public. Tuesday, Sept 22, 7:30pm at 8816 West River Road, Brooklyn Park, MN 55444. More details: www.breckenridgeikes.org/activities

a poster advertising a talk about tigers in Brooklyn Park, MN

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 19/09/2026

I've already posted about @andreapitzer.bsky.social's upcoming SNOWBLIND (@stmartinspress.bsky.social, 2027), but I've just finished & it's so good. Can't wait for the world to read about Brusilov, Albanov, Konrad, Zhdanko, & the others who in 1912 endured what I would not wish on my worst enemies

the cover of an early manuscript of SNOWBLIND: Death on the Polar Ice, by Andrea Pitzer

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 17/09/2026

The #BirdOfTheDay theme is #ODG (any Owl, Duck or Goose) - you better believe I am bringing out the largest owl in the world, the magnificent, salmon-eating Blakiston's fish owl of northeast Asia 🦉

Blakiston's fish owl. Photograph (c) Jonathan Slaght

Balding, bearded man with Blakiston's fish owl. Photograph (c) Sergey Avdeyuk

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 17/09/2026

here's my stack of books that made the 2026 National Book Award longlist! As a juror it's been an amazing day seeing reactions from the authors and their readers - what incredible people and stories

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 16/09/2026

Nonfiction Longlist 2026! Humbled to help select these books by @rozinaali.bsky.social, Colin Asher, Zayd Ayers Dohrn, @elgendy95.bsky.social, Camonghne Felix, Wil Haygood, @novicsara.bsky.social, @reluctantlyjoe.bsky.social, @apdoubleyou.bsky.social, @walterspot.bsky.social link: shorturl.at/2IW6q

The National Book Award for Nonfiction Longlist, 2026

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 15/09/2026

super easy to make sure you're registered to vote, Minnesota

Graphic showing that I am indeed registered to vote

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 15/09/2026

very gracious of Terry Tempest Williams to call my tiger book her "favorite read for the summer" over on Instagram! #booksky

Screenshot from Instagram showing a book about tigers with accompanying text from Terry Tempest Williams

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 14/09/2026

so we are screwed is what you are saying www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/u...

Headline from New York Times reads "Trump says a smart president is all that's needed to rein in A.I."

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 13/09/2026

#BirdOfTheDay theme is #AngryBirds, any bird with an angry face. Here is a female Merlin from my #Minneapolis neighborhood in 2017, about to receive a dead songbird from her mate

female Merlin with tail feathers fanned, about to receive a prey delivery from her mate, Minneapolis, 2017, photo (c) Jonathan Slaght

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 11/09/2026

with duties as juror for the 2026 National Book Award for Nonfiction largely complete (Longlist announced next week!), I'm excited to devour this manuscript of SNOWBLIND by @andreapitzer.bsky.social (2027). Fans of Arctic exploration catastrophe rejoice - the 1912 Brusilov Expedition is a doozy ⛵️❄️💀

The cover of SNOWBLIND by Andrea Pitzer, a true story about really bad things happening to Arctic explorers, coming 2027

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 10/09/2026

preordered Kawai Strong Washburn's new novel from @moonpalacebooks.bsky.social. His "Sharks in the Time of Saviors" received similar awards to my owl book in 2021 (PEN America, MN Book Awards, NYT NotableBook) & was one of @barackobama.bsky.social's fav. books of 2020! Can't wait to read this one 💙📚

Screenshot of Kawai Strong Washburn's new book, The Names of the New World, pre-ordered from Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 10/09/2026

great way to meet the day: a moderate, 90-minute bike ride that passed Bde Mka Ska and the Minneapolis skyline at sunrise

Bde Mka Ska, the largest lake in Minneapolis, and the city skyline at sunrise

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 09/09/2026

one of my dog's favorite pasttimes it seems is to sleep under my desk and fart

A dog sleeping and farting. You can't smell it here but hoo boy

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 09/09/2026

Poster for the Chinese launch of OWLS OF THE EASTERN ICE (Luminaire Books) in Shanghai, China, October 2022

Poster for the Chinese-edition launch of OWLS OF THE EASTERN ICE in Shanghai, October 2022, depicting an owl with a fish

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 08/09/2026

a comic book from before I was born combines my adult professional interests (cats & owls) into one graphic

Cover of "Beware! The Claws of The Cat," Issue #2 from January 1973. Depicts grown adults in amazing outfits grimacing and jumping

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 06/09/2026

watching Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" and Martin Short just showed up...think things are about to get weirder

Martin Short exits an elevator in the film Inherent Vice

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 03/09/2026

2 (of 6 total!) reviews of Polish editions of my books note weird footnotes by translator: "digressions in the footnotes, such as those regarding reincarnation" & "footnotes reflecting his penchant for spiritual musings, esoterica & conspiracy theories, alongside smug remarks about book’s content" 🫥

Screenshot of two books - one about owls and the other about tigers. In Polish!

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 02/09/2026

thrilled to see OWLS OF THE EASTERN ICE face out at Magers & Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis last night - I signed a few of these & also several copies of TIGERS BETWEEN EMPIRES if anyone feels a need for books about weird animals and strange people

a book about owls on a bookshelf, one that Catherine seemed to like

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 02/09/2026

sadly no @benjaminpercy.bsky.social at Magers & Quinn last night, but some great insights from @chuckwendig.bsky.social on writing & how to channel obsession & anxiety into something productive

A bearded man says things to people who look at him in silence

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 01/09/2026

local basketball club has long acknowledged the love that Minnesota wolves have for blueberries (h/t @slkollmann.bsky.social)

A cartoon wolf reaching for a giant blueberry shaped like a basketball for some reason

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 29/08/2026

after @mapquest.com took a strong & vocal position on the petulant renaming bodies of water nonsense (eg Google calls it Gulf of America), I downloaded & will use their app. You can even be an 8-bit wizard or unicorn

Mapquest screenshot, depicting my location as a giant rainbow unicorn

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 28/08/2026

nice eclipse out there if anyone in Minneapolis is still up

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 27/08/2026

hey is anyone going to this? I anticipate a great discussion between @chuckwendig.bsky.social and @benjaminpercy.bsky.social at Magers & Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis, Tuesday Sept 1, 7pm. Free! 💙📚 www.magersandquinn.com/event/Chuck-...

poster for a book event with Chuck Wendig and Benjamin Percy at Magers & Quin Booksellers on Tuesday, Sept 1, 2026

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 26/08/2026

revisiting my least favorite headline about my tiger book - from November 2025 in The Observer. Otherwise the interview was great! observer.co.uk/culture/book...

photo of a bald, bearded man with a headline that quotes Jonathan C Slaght saying "I don't like bears. They're vindictive"

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 26/08/2026

tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the Annunciation Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis. My kid's Scout meetings used to be in the chapel of a Presbyterian church but now they meet in the basement because some Scouts go to Annunciation & cannot enter a chapel without reliving the trauma

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 25/08/2026

was poking around under the floorboards of my home for reasons I don't need to get into & found a March 2, 1933 newspaper used as insulation when the house was built (1934), including this Tarzan comic strip by Edgar Rice Burroughs/illustrated by Hal Foster, a series which ran 1931-1937

A scrap of newspaper from 1933, depicting a Tarzan comic strip

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 24/08/2026

coming up this Sunday in Wayzata, MN: I'll be joining The Thinking Spot's bookclub at 4pm to discuss Tigers Between Empires!

the cover of a book called Tigers Between Empires

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 23/08/2026

closing out the night with this severely-underrated gem

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 22/08/2026

My family took me on a pizza train for my birthday. Pizza. Train.

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 22/08/2026

my brother & his wife returned home late from a trip & went to bed. He woke to her screaming & pointing her phone light: "there's a little girl in our room!" They both sat there screaming like never before then he threw a pillow. Turns out house sitter put the doll there to surprise them. It worked.

a life-sized doll of a child, hiding in the corner of a dark room

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 21/08/2026

I've never paid much attention to my birthdays but today it's fifty and this feels different; weighty somehow. Fifty seems serious.

fifty electric candles arranged to form the numbers five and zero

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 18/08/2026

all else aside this is an objectively weird photo

A woman clutches the paunch of a MAGA tech salesman as though feeding off its lifeforce

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 15/08/2026

my ten-year-old is reading this book & her primary takeaway thus far is "Russian history is messed up"

The book "the history of the world in fifty dogs"

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 13/08/2026

was thinking of this salmon I found in a tree in 2007. In autumn, rivers in Primorye, Russia are choked with spawning pink salmon; the eagles gorge. Even months later, in winter, the air reeked of fish from the 1000s of carcasses in the water. This one was likely dropped by squabbling eagles.

In autumn, rivers in Primorye, Russia are choked with spawning pink salmon; the eagles gorge. Even months later, in winter, the air reeked of fish from the 1000s of carcasses in the water. This image shows a salmon carcass in a tree - likely dropped by squabbling eagles. Photograph (c) Jonathan C Slaght

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 12/08/2026

musician Charlie Parr's 2011 "Eastmont Syrup" lp, a collab with the Black Twig Pickers, came with three recipes for things to cook (eg stew) on the engine manifold of your car while driving. "A nice melt-sandwich can be had in 30 miles depending on the weather" www.mikeyskitchen.com/2012/08/15/a...

recipes for cooking things on your car engine

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 11/08/2026

wish Atreyu would have thought of this & spared me significant childhood trauma

This lady did what Atreyu should have done and saved her horse's life

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 03/08/2026

it is International Owl Awareness Day! May you now be aware of the weird and wonderful Blakiston's fish owl! 🦉

a strange owl called the Blakiston's fish owl. Photo (c) Jonathan C Slaght

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