It's been a while since anyone's posted here. Unfortunately, I don't have much good news. I'm not ready to come back to making regular recommendations, but that's not so much because of depression at the state of the world as it is that I have nothing to recommend. In the time since I made the post that I was stopping the recommendations, I haven't read anything - at all. I've started a couple titles, but I've found other things to occupy my time to the point that I've become bogged down and my entire library has gone unread. I don't know how I'm going to be able to catch up. I really do enjoy reading - when I do it, I'm amazed how much I enjoy it - but I prioritize other things, such as my laptop, which I'm on basically all day. When I'm "forcibly" separated from my laptop in another area outside of my house (like in a waiting room or another person's house) and I've taken a book with me, I find it easier to read; at home, it's easier to give my focus elsewhere. So I have that conundrum to work with.

Some time earlier this year, I found a video that pretty much sums up my situation, and I thought I would share it here, as it might be worth discussing, if anyone's willing to. I've seen a few videos by this guy since, and I really enjoy him.


However, I do have an update on the recommendations in general. Since I had nothing new to present, I decided to look over everything I've done in the past, and I found a few changes that needed to be made.

First off, it's a general fact of life that books and movies go through reprints/reissues/repackages, so some of the links led to out-of-date or discontinued products; over the past couple days, I've gone back and refreshed them, where possible, to send you to the right editions available, so all books/DVDs/Blu-Rays/Prime Video links should be up to date. Some links had to be removed entirely because a particular book/movie was no longer available in a specific format; others could be added in because I had missed that they were in yet another format. Keep in mind that Amazon is a fickle system, so they'll often list something in a way that makes it seem it's out of print but checking other shopping sites show it to be in stock, so you'll have to use discretion if any links come up empty (check Barnes & Noble, for instance, for a cross-reference).

Secondly, for the movies, I added the 4K option wherever I could. It isn't that big of a deal to me, but I know some movie lovers make higher resolution a deal-breaker, and in some cases, the regular Blu-Ray was issued with the 4K disc, so I streamlined the links where I could.

Finally, I added one more link to the book selections: Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/). This is a site I've seen advertised on Facebook, and I actually have an account there myself, having gotten a couple items there. Whether for political reasons or simple convenience or something else unspecified, some of you may not feel comfortable buying from a huge corporation like Amazon, and Bookshop is an alternative. From what I can tell, the site supports local independent bookstores, with the proceeds going to either a pool of general redistribution or a specific store of the customer's choice. They still carry titles from all of the big publishers that use Amazon, with some exceptions. Actually, the more I think about it, I actually like the way that they deliver books compared to Amazon - the couple titles I ordered came safe and tightly boxed as compared to a bubble wrap bag that the product can still be damaged in. I would highly recommend it. When I get to book buying again, I'm going to try to order more from them.

So everything is as up to date as it can be, as least as far as I know. If I've missed anything, let me know. When I get several books behind me, I might have a few recommendations for you, but until then, I just have to make the time for it.

Hey Coir,

I didn't watch all ca. 20 minutes of the video, but I agree that it is good to read books you have before moving on to buying more.

As for bookshop.org, I see they are selling my books, but it appears they are probably sourcing them from Amazon, which is a bit of an irony.