Kimberly Hirsh

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 09:15:27 -0400

📚 If you want to read more and with more focused attention, maybe try one of these programs: reading training using progressive overload designed by librarian Hana Lee Goldin or couch to 5k for reading with author Naomi Alderman.

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:02:31 -0400

Finished reading: Batgirl: Year One (2023 Edition) by Chuck Dixon 📚

I’m doing a deep dive on one of pop culture’s favorite librarians. Did you know that, like me, Batgirl has a PhD in information & library science?

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:19:06 -0400

The most recent MCU movie I’ve seen is Black Panther. Every time I think about trying a new one, I remember that it feels like I have to understand the other 30+ for the new one to make sense. I wonder if I could just treat them like comics and only pay attention to Spider-Man and X-Men. 🍿

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:25:56 -0400

🔖📚 Read Navigating the Brain Poisoning of Book Censorship by Kelly Jensen.

A great piece about how even fighting censorship can prime you to start looking for content in books that isn’t there.

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 06:51:36 -0400

I’ve been feeling very down about (gestures) all this lately. Dr. Shaily Patel’s encouragement to dream and imagine better worlds is a powerful antidote. Thanks, Dr. Patel!

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:32:15 -0400

Finished reading: The Shining by Stephen King 📚

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:27:12 -0400

🔖 Read Have We Turned Personality Into Diagnosis? (New York Times).

how much more do I need to parse effluvia of my own personhood?

Right?

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:45:41 -0400

Saw someone comment they’d heard Emily Wilson’s Odyssey translation is feminist and before they try it they’d like to start with a more faithful translation. I wonder how much readers understand about the creative choices translators have to make and challenges to being “faithful.” 📚

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 04:09:48 -0400

Finished reading: His Risk to Take by Tessa Bailey 📚

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 14:06:32 -0400

Finished reading: Firestarter by Stephen King 📚

I know a lot of Stephen King books are considered scary, but so many of them, including this one, make me sad. Compulsively readable as King always is.

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:30:33 -0400

📚🗯️ Just read Detective Comics #359, the debut of Batgirl aka Dr. Barbara Gordon. I love it and I love her.

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 22:03:53 -0400

Did a bit of back-to-school shopping on ThredUp. Back on my romantigoth bull.

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 09:12:36 -0400

🔖 Read Hope, Not Optimism by Cory Doctorow.

Hope is the necessary, but insufficient, precondition for survival.

This left me feeling the best about the possibilities for this world that I’ve felt in a long time.

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 04:19:52 -0400

I just finished Book 1 of Emily Wilson’s translation of the Iliad and she’s done incredible work. The language is so accessible. This is the most readable translation of classical literature that I’ve ever read. Highly recommend already. 📚

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 18:04:06 -0400

August is the month of the sealey challenge, an annual challenge to read a book of poetry every day in August. You can modify the challenge to suit your life. The goal is just to read more poetry. I’m going to try to read Emily Wilson’s translation of The Iliad. 📚

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 03:05:26 -0400

Read How Bots Took Over Our Lives by T. M. Brown (The New Yorker).

Perhaps that’s what the A.I. apocalypse is really shaping up to be—not the elimination of humanity by an omniscient machine mind but an internet overrun by unthinking, error-prone automatons that make the web unusable and destroy it from the inside. After the bots take over, we can all get back to the real world.

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 21:28:58 -0400

Finished reading: Too Fast to Fall by Victoria Dahl 📚

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 07:50:26 -0400

US friends, here are more opportunities to stand up for libraries! Support the Books Save Lives Act by signing a petition and e-mailing your representatives. 📚

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 22:32:23 -0400

Finished reading: Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond 📚

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 22:35:37 -0400

Finished reading: Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down by Gina McIntyre 📚

This book is a triumph of the design of a physical object. It’s so cool. The making-of details are fascinating but the design elevates it.

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 21:46:52 -0400

Finished reading: Perfect by Judith McNaught 📚

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 09:20:28 -0400

Finished reading: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan 📚

Finished up this series with the kiddo. On to the next!

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:24:00 -0400

Finished reading: Mythos by Stephen Fry 📚🎧

It’s just delightful to hear Stephen Fry read this aloud.

📚 For my birthday, stop the Federal Government gaining control of your local school libraries.

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 08:02:05 -0400

Hi there! It’s been a few days since my birthday, but if you want to give me a belated present and you’re in the US, you could contact your legislators and ask them to oppose H.R. 7661.

This bill ties federal funding to excluding material from schools that “includes sexually oriented material.” It provides no exceptions for education outside of standard science classes, meaning classes about human growth and development would not be able to include this material. Further, it defines “sexually oriented material” to include any material that addresses “gender dysphoria or transgenderism,” which will broadly limit both some young people’s ability to see themselves reflected in materials and others’ ability to learn about experiences different from their own.

This bill, if passed, will likely lead to self-censorship, with librarians and educators complying in advance on works that may not even fall under this definition.

The organization EveryLibrary has made it incredibly easy to contact your legislators. You can use their tools to:

Thank you for taking the time to contact your legislators about this. Standing up for my public school colleagues and the students they serve is the best gift you could give me.

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 17:41:47 -0400

Thanks for the kind birthday wishes, everybody!