Category Archives: Uncategorized

A very chill idea

Posted on February 4, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

“Did you know there are Little Free Library book-sharing boxes on all seven continents?” Little Free Library posted on Facebook, highlighting a very cool LFL that has recently been set up at the South Pole by Dr. Russell Schnell, an … Continue reading →

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“Evil, that is, has every advantage but one – it is inferior in imagination.”

Posted on February 3, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

The poet W.H. Auden wrote in a New York Times review of the final book in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, “Evil, that is, has every advantage but one – it is inferior in imagination. Good can imagine the possibility … Continue reading →

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Snow Joke

Posted on February 2, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Depending on one’s point of view, we have either been cursed or blessed with an abundance of snow this season. Which ever side prevails here in the former U.S. of A., our vocabulary for snow is basic. But the Swedes … Continue reading →

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Vonnegut’s lament

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

​“In case you haven’t noticed,” Kurt Vonnegut wrote, ​“we are now almost as feared and hated all over the world as the Nazis were. With good reason.” He lamented the undemocratic nature of the 2000 presidential election, warmongering politicians and a … Continue reading →

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To be governed

Posted on January 31, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

From “What Is Government?” by Clifford Peter Harper, a visual adaptation of text by Pierre Joseph Proudhon. Published in Anarchy Comics #3, July 1981, Last Gasp Comics  “To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, … Continue reading →

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Cabinet of Curiosities (sort of)

Posted on January 30, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Check out the disappointed tourist: an elegy to lost places, a record of those grand and mundane places lost to time or other occurrences, whose presence we continue to mourn. “It would be better to describe reading not as a … Continue reading →

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Refugee Blues

Posted on January 29, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Refugee Blues Say this city has ten million souls, Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes: Yet there’s no place for us, my dear, yet there’s no place for us.Once we had a country and we thought … Continue reading →

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Because bookshops make everything better, don’t they?

Posted on January 28, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

I promise you that this article —I opened a bookshop. It was the best, worst thing that I’ve ever done—will make your day. What a wholesome short read: Chloe Fox shares the emotional journey of opening Fox & King, an … Continue reading →

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Ex Libris

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

You don’t have to be a bibliophile to enjoy this marvelous animated short film created by Garik Seko. Although he was born in Georgia, he spent most of his working life in Prague. Seko specialized in the animation of physical … Continue reading →

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Bookstore (the play)

Posted on January 25, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

The Bookstore by Michael Walek opened January 10 off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters. Produced by New Jersey Repertory Company, the play is directed by William Carden and stars Quentin Chisholm, Ari Derambakhsh, Arielle Goldman, and Janet Zarish. The play is described as a … Continue reading →

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