Happy Tuesday, PBs! It's that time again -- time to share something fun you've learned about the world or yourself from this week's reading.

I've been learning a whole lot by reading Insect Anatomy by Julia Rothman & Michael Hearst, and this morning I came across a really cool fact. The Antarctic midge lives in Antarctica year round! If you read a lot of nature or science books, you've probably come across lots of things that live "on every continent except Antarctica." What other species saw as a challenge, midges must have seen as an opportunity.

Have you come across anything as unexpected as an insect at the south pole?

(Hat tip as always to the wonderful @acidicchaos for starting this tradition)

August always sneaks up on me, but this year I'd like to give it a decent effort! I have a backlog of poetry collections I want to get through, including Richard Siken's most recent book.

For the uninitiated: The Sealey Challenge is a reading challenge where you read one poetry collection every day of the month of August. Chapbooks (aka pamphlets) and poetry zines also count. The poet Nicole Sealey started the challenge in 2016; since 2023, the University of Arizona Poetry Center has made book lists and run giveaways for the challenge. Link to their webpage: https://www.thesealeychallenge.com/start-here

Hi ! I'm looking for an essay on fitness culture, "wellness", and the rise of individualism in our society. Specifically, how behind the self-care discourse ("prioritize yourself," "listen to your body," "eat well," "exercise"), there is a rise in individualism and fatphobia, both serving capitalism. I had "Le Triomphe des égoïsmes" on my TBR, but I think it focuses more on political disengagement and individualism.... I don't know if I'm clear sorry !!

In NZ 🇳🇿, books range from $30-$50 😢 Hardcovers cost even more (worst I’ve seen is $80 for a memoir) When I travelled overseas, I was overwhelmed by how cheap everything was!

It's time to share what books you got in the last week!

• Did you check out a big stack from the library?
• Did you visit a new LFL and find something exciting?
• Did someone give you a book for your birthday?
• Did you go splurge at the bookstore?
• Did you stuff your Kindle?
• Did all your Libby holds come in at once?
• Did you find a book in the dumpster?
• ???

IT ALL COUNTS so tell me...whatcha get??? 👀

It's time to share what books you got in the last week!

• Did you check out a big stack from the library?
• Did you visit a new LFL and find something exciting?
• Did someone give you a book for your birthday?
• Did you go splurge at the bookstore?
• Did you stuff your Kindle?
• Did all your Libby holds come in at once?
• Did you find a book in the dumpster?
• ???

IT ALL COUNTS so tell me...whatcha get??? 👀

I dunno about you all, but when I see someone earn this badge I think about it like they've been selected to adopt their very own lil venus flytrap monster! And then I can't help but think about her like she's a pokemon, and when you've fed and trained her enough she'll evolve into her next form (silver, gold, etc.) BUT THEN I'm like, wait! What's her name??? 😍

So, what are you naming her?? (or what will you name her if you're still working toward the honor of taking one home yourself!)

For my sweet angel baby I'm tempted to be nerdy and name her Diona in honor of the genus name (Dionaea) or maybe honor the legacy and call her Audrey? But that feels too cliche. I'm totally on the fence. What're you picking? 👀

I could feel the dough, a little, inside my head.

I wonder how sentience they are. Do they have existential bread?