#rif / Identifying as someone who categorically rejects books suggests a much larger deficiency of character.

When reading a book becomes an issue, that’s when I really start worrying about the future.

#rif / Beowulf, a new translation.

Mandy Brown writes,

“Bro!” begins Headley’s delightful new translation of Beowulf, and from there unravels a tale of heroism and machismo and masculinity that honors the origins of the epic poem while also carrying it forward. There’s an unexpected irreverance and comedy here that elevates the usually gloomy tale into a story as brash and boisterous as the brags told by its eponymous protagonist. “He was our man, but every man dies. / Here he is now! Here our best boy lies! / He rode hard! He stayed thirsty! He was the man! / He was the man.” Indeed.

Definitely on the book list now. Especially with that cover by Keith Hayes—Gorgeous!

#rif / Eight space opera books to read while waiting for the next season of The Mandalorian.

A solid list from Polygon. Don’t miss the Star Wars books (and others like Dune and the Foundation) mentioned in the opening paragraph.

#rif / The next best American author dies before his first book is published.

Enough dying already, @#$%! Unfortunately I had not heard of Anthony Veasna So until coming across this weird biography/obituary piece in the Times. Intrigued by what I read, I headed over to literary magazine N+1 and started reading So’s short story, Superking Son Scores Again—The Magic Johnson of badminton. I’m not all the way through, but already I’m hooked on his storytelling, and I’m pissed that such a great talent is gone. I’ve pre-ordered Anthony’s book, Afterparties: Stories, and I can already tell I’ll want more when I’m done.

#rif / Bookshop allows you to shop independent book stores online.

It’s great to see book stores getting a competitive tool. I’ve heard from friends they love the service, so I’ll have to try this myself. I wish there was a way to do this with ebooks that had a competitive reader to Amazon’s Paperwhite reader.