Sarah picked a book I probably would have passed over, and I am glad she did. Kelly Rimmer’s intimate story of family, sacrifice, and buried truths made me care about its characters even when I saw the central revelation coming. 8/10. Continue reading The Things We Cannot Say By Kelly Rimmer
Annie Thorisdottir’s memoir brought me back to my early CrossFit days while offering a deeper look at the person behind the championships. Narrated by Annie herself, Iceland Annie pairs memorable competition stories with hard-earned lessons about ambition, identity, and why winning is not the only measure of progress. Nine stars—and enough inspiration to have me considering another competition of my own. Continue reading Iceland Annie: The Evolution Of A CrossFit Games Legend (Book Review)
James Clear’s conversation on The Diary of a CEO was one of those rare podcast episodes that had me constantly stopping to take notes. The biggest ideas were simple but useful: establish the habit before trying to optimize it, build systems that can actually carry you toward your goals, put up fewer zeros, and remember that consistency matters more than intensity. The episode also dug into identity, environment, compounding, and the idea that growth does not require self-criticism. If you liked Atomic Habits, this is a great follow-up. If you have not read the book, the conversation still stands perfectly well on its own. Continue reading Podcast Nook: James Clear on The Diary of a CEO; Habits, Systems and Consistency
A Parade of Horribles narrows the dungeon mechanics while widening the themes. Between Stoic reflections on the danger of living in “what ifs,” Carl’s increasingly volatile anger, Sluggalo philosophy, karaoke violence and the usual end-of-book chaos, DCC continues to turn absurdity into something strangely profound. Eight books in, the series feels less like humans versus aliens and more like a story about oppressed people learning how to recognize, resist and eventually break the systems built to control them. Continue reading A Parade of Horribles, by Matt Dinniman (Book Review)
This Inevitable Ruin may be my favorite Dungeon Crawler Carl book yet. By this point, the series has evolved far beyond humans versus aliens into something bigger: the oppressed versus the oppressors, former crawlers passing down resistance, Carl becoming a reluctant leader, and DCC somehow making screaming goats, galactic politics, emotional trauma and dick jokes all feel like parts of the same story. Continue reading This Inevitable Ruin, by Matt Dinniman (Book Review)
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride might be the clearest example yet of what makes Dungeon Crawler Carl work so well: absurd comedy, increasingly complicated dungeon mechanics, real emotional weight and a growing rebellion against the system itself. Six books in, Carl is no longer just surviving the dungeon. He is starting to happen to it. Continue reading The Eye of the Bedlam Bride Review
I went into *The Almanack of Naval Ravikant* expecting a business or self-help book and came away thinking about wealth, time, habits, happiness, meditation, legacy and what makes a life well lived. This is philosophy wearing a Silicon Valley nametag, and one I suspect only fully works when the reader is ready to meet it halfway. 10 of 10 stars. Continue reading The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
Erwin Smith’s final charge in Attack on Titan echoes the tragedy of Hector in The Iliad: two doomed commanders who understand that death is coming, but still choose duty, purpose and memory over retreat. Continue reading Erwin Smith, Hector And The Terrible Honor Of Purpose
Dungeon Crawler Carl has been one of those books that feels impossible to avoid if you spend any time around book people online. If you read much at all, or post about anything even remotely nerd-adjacent, this title has probably been clogging your Instagram and TikTok feeds for months. Along with Red Rising, which is still sitting on my ever-growing to-be-read pile, it feels like one of the two most relentlessly recommended books of the last few years. For the most part, Dungeon Crawler Carl absolutely lives up to the hype. At its core, it is LitRPG done in a … Continue reading Review: Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman
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The goal is 26 books in 2026. Starting Strength, by Mark Rippetoe (9 stars) Deadpool: Paws, by Stefan Petrucha (5 stars) The Getaway, by Jim Thompson (8 stars) The One Minute Manager, by Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard (8 stars) … Continue reading Reading Log 2026
