The Collected Angers   
by Mike Monteiro (2025)

read: 19 October 2026
rating: [+]

A collection of Monteiro essays that from a couple of different places, mostly advice to designers especially younger, new-career ones. If you know the sort of writing he does, this is the short form version of it. There’s some overlap because he’s talking to different audiences (you’ll read a couple of anecdotes twice) but it’s strong, forceful and says things that need to be said about how to do the business part of design, from talking to clients to getting paid.

The Last Detective   
by Peter Lovesey (2003)

read: 19 October 2026
rating: [+]

This was recommended to me as a good detective series if I was looking for one. I liked the detective character--Peter Diamond, an old-school technology eschewing guy--but found the plot of this story a little basic at the beginning and convoluted at the end. It’s from the nineties, so we don’t have cell phones or really personal computers, just a lot of “working the problem.” A good book for nighttime when it’s helpful if stories are a bit dull.

Major Taylor   
by Frederick Noland (2026)

read: 11 October 2026
rating: [+]

Taylor was the fastest bicycle racer in the early days of cycling. He was also Black and dealing with the post-Civil War era in the US with its rabid racists, some of them cyclists. Taylor was a Christian and opted often for a “turn the other cheek” approach, but not always. This book is about his early life and racing career, from his first to his last race, including a lot of international travel. It tells a great story about a fascinating man who should be better known.

Villain   
by Natalie Zina Walschots (2026)

read: 7 October 2026
rating: [+]

Book 73: Villain. Picking up where Hench left off, sort of a “What kind of person becomes a villain, and what motivates them to do evil things?” novel where the protagonist is the hench person to a villain named Leviathan who is partially insectoid. Things get complicated when he defeats his rival (in the last book) and loses a sense of purpose. Then they get somewhat involved and there’s a whole bolted-on segment about their sex life. Then they fight the good guys. Not as good as the original (too much relationship-angst for my tastes and some weird nonconsensual stuff which isn’t sex stuff but still feels difficult) but otherwise still pretty clever and fun.

Wild Things: The Material Culture of Everyday Life   
by Judy Attfield (2020)

read: 5 October 2026
rating: [+]

I got this book as a set of books from a publisher who I had done some work for. This was a big swing for me, the sort of book I would have devoured in college but not lately. It’s a reprint of Attfield’s book originally from 2000 with a bit of new material at the beginning and the end. She really looks into the theory of items after they’ve been purchased and as they get used (wild things), not just the design-y aspect of them. In fact it’s a lot more about everyday items than “high style” ones. A dense read but a good one.

Ransom   
by Daniel Silva (2026)

read: 5 October 2026
rating: [+]

This is a problematic series of books that I nonetheless continue to read because I like the characters and the author, very wisely, has moved on from it mainly being about the Israeli secret services. In fact, Israel isn’t mentioned at all to the best of my recollection except for some brief memories. This episode was about a billionaire whose wife is kidnapped (or is she?) and about some Russian oligarchs who may or may not be behind it all. A fairly pat book (I was expecting nothing more) and slightly better than usual though I could have done with some more art restoration themes.

Landing in Place   
by Sherine Handy (2026)

read: 27 September 2026
rating: [+]

A graphic novel about a young woman in a Muslim family which immigrated to the US from Egypt. The dad is a pilot, the mom is a somewhat scold-y parent who is pressuring Anisa to go to medical school which Anisa does not want. She takes a trip to Egypt to stay with family and gets to know more of her roots and decide what she actually wants for herself--to wear the hijab and to do illustrations/cartoons as a job. Some Egyptian politics in there as well.

Joseph Smith and the Mormons   
by Noah Van Sciver (2022)

read: 23 September 2026
rating: [+]

A graphic novel about the early days of Mormonism. This book does a good job separating fact from “Things Joseph Smith said that can’t be verified” and I appreciate it. It’s a warts-and-all look at what Joseph Smith’s deal was, and why he was charismatic and believable while at the same time being problematic along a number of axes. It ends with his death, so nothing after that is in the book. Done by an ex-Mormon, good bibliography at the end.

Eon my Pet Tardigrade   
by Cybele Young (2026)

read: 17 September 2026
rating: [+]

This was an adorable book about a girl who finds a tardigrade in some water she is examining and decides to keep it with her as a plaything. The somewhat cute and anthropomorphized tardigrade is given little environments to live in as we the reader learn more about what a tardigrade is. The book is lovely with a combination of illustrations and papercraft artwork with a lot to look at on every page. Creative and informative.

False Value   
by Ben Aaronovitch (2020)

read: 15 September 2026
rating: [+]

This was the next book in the Rivers of London series. Our protagonist detective is trying to support his heavily-pregnant wife while also going undercover at a tech company to try to figure out why there’s some weird magic going on there and exactly who is in on it. And there’s an untouchable billionaire at the center, of course. One of the better books in this series, a lot going on and some plausible tech stuff along with the usual magicking.

Lies Sleeping   
by Ben Aaronovitch (2018)

read: 2 September 2026
rating: [+]

This was a bit of an infill since I started reading this a few days ago and said “Wait I’ve read this fantastical mystery set in a bell foundry before.” No idea why I failed to write it down at the time. Read it in the last year or so. It’s the next installment in the Rivers of London series and we’ve seen the protagonist cop become a detective and try to sort out the maniacal supernatural dude who has it in for him. Did not read it all the way through a second time.

Alter Ego   
by Alex Segura (2024)

read: 23 August 2026
rating: [+]

A sequel to a book (Secret Identity) which needed no sequel but it was great anyhow. This is a book about comics industry intrigue and a character who was created in the 70s by a relatively unknown woman who then disappeared. A new comics illustrator steps up as part of a modern strange new scheme to relaunch the character but it turns out it’s a dangerous path/situation. Mostly a narrative but there are some comics panels for illustrative purposes and they are all great.

Tenements, Towers and Trash   
by Julia Wertz (2017)

read: 23 August 2026
rating: [+]

Another great one by Julia Wertz which I had to read a little quickly because it was an ILL I had to return. It goes back and forth between slice-of-life stuff of her in NYC but also a lot of “then and now” images of particular streets in NYC as well as deep dives into things like “Things invented in New York” and the histories of some famous/infamous NY women. Some things she claimed were “lost to history” I was not so sure about, but loved this all the same.

Rules for Aging and Larceny   
by Julia London (2026)

read: 23 August 2026
rating: [+]

I’m always surprised when I read a book by someone who had written a ton of best sellers who I haven’t heard of. This author is primary a romance novelist which may explain both her output and why I hadn’t heard of her. This book--about a woman confronting her own mortality deciding to pull off one last heist with her partners in crime from her (much) younger years who she’s long lost touch with--was good but not great. The older characters felt more like tropes than people and I just kept wishing the author had chops like Richard Osman.

Impossible People   
by Julia Wertz (2023)

read: 20 August 2026
rating: [+]

Another great graphic novel by Wertz though in this case it was about her recovery story (as she says, pretty average) alongside some of the other things going on in her life at the same time, a few relationships, moving house, meeting up with friends (in a section that felt a bit name-droppy but I don’t think was meant that way). Since the other book I read came after this one, I sort of knew where it was going. Really enjoy this author’s style and storytelling.