David Arthurson

3. Hannah Nicole Maehrer - Apprentice to the Villain

Accidentally started with the 2nd book in the series, and while it was cute and funny at times, I'm probably not going to go back and read the 1st, or continue with the series.

2. Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore

One of those books that I'm glad I read but probably never will again. Some interesting lines and thoughts on humanity, consciousness, and life, but I felt like it was missing something to make it really land.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms turning into a real Surfboard Dracula... Hopefully it starts to pick up soon.

The McDonagh brothers are what the Coen brothers think they are

I was just looking up how to care for a plant and realised that "root rot" is perfect Australian slang for an STD.

Examples include:

"He was on a roll but then got root rot"

"She really liked him but he gave her root rot"

In Overtime, if the receiver muffs a punt and the kicking team recovers, is that considered a change of posession so the kicking team wins with a score? Or will the receiving team get another chance on offence?

I know it's probably hard in the moment, but if you're a DB on 4th Down you gotta be thinking incompletion instead of interception, unless there's a super clear return. Happens a bit where the team is worse off because of the pick rather than just the TO on Downs. #nfl

Ahhh that makes sense, I assumed it was something like that. Still makes me laugh every time I see it on screen.

The helmet #5 for the Texans is wearing is so funny. He looks like Toad. #nfl

New book thread for 2026.

1. Frieda McFadden - The Locked Door

Fun thriller with a decent twist, but nothing really stands out about it to make it super special. Didn't grab me as much as others either, I didn't feel the absolute need to keep reading like a lot of other similar books.

37. Sarah J Maas - A Court of Wings and Ruin

Finally the main character is cool!!!! I enjoyed this the most out of the 3, you see the full scope of the world, new powers and leaders, and a character who is taking control of her life instead of reacting to everyone else.

A screenshot of "Strong Enough" by Cher being played on Spotify

Completely misinterpreting these lyrics and using it as gym motivation

English batters survive the opening over challenge (Impossible) #theashes

A screenshot of the song "Santa Tell Me" by Ariana Grande on Spotify

A screenshot of the best Christmas playlist on Spotify you'll ever see. None of the boring oldies, just modern pop and country bangers.

You're allowed to listen to Christmas bangers at the gym. Noone can stop you.

A photo of Chris Pine looking hot

A photo of Glenn from Superstore with a similar haircut to Chris Pine from the first photo, but not hot

The photo I show the hairdresser vs what I come out looking like

A photo of the book The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai

36. Hisashi Kashiwai - The Kamogawa Food Detectives

If this was the first book of this style I'd read I would have loved it, but felt too similar to others like Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Really made me want to go to Kyoto and just eat everything available though.

A picture of the book "The Gone World" by Tom Sweterlitsch

35. Tom Sweterlitsch - The Gone World

Like pretty much every time travel story it got a bit too out of control with the loops at the end, but a fun ride and some interesting concepts and consequences of travelling forward to find out what happens in the future.

34. Sarah J Maas - A Court of Mist and Fury

World still really cool, main character still really annoying. Although she does get better as this one goes on. Prythian is quickly climbing the list of fantasy worlds I'd most like to visit.

33. Kaliane Bradley - The Ministry of Time

I love movies that switch tone and genre halfway through, Parasite, Barbarian, Sinners... And this felt like that. A love story into a spy thriller with time travel and diving into what makes us who we are. I really loved it.

32. J.P. Pomare - Call Me Evie

The ending to this made me so mad, and made me really hate this whole book. If you're going to write a story like this, don't make that the ending. It's not even about the actual story or how it was written, it's just a shit and gross "twist".

31. Tomi Adeyami - Children of Anguish and Anarchy

A great conclusion to an awesome trilogy. Expanded the world and deepened the characters, and added a terrifying new villain. I really loved every moment of this whole series.

30. Gillian Rubinstein - Skymaze

It's crazy how much you miss as a child reading books like this. The maze as a metaphor for for dealing with the complexities of growing up are not even really subtle, but it felt completely different to when I read this in high school.

28. Keshe Chow - The Girl with No Reflection

I need to stop going into books with an idea of what they should be. This was a good story in a really interesting world, but I wanted it to be a horror, not a fantasy romance, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have.

I thought it was great. Really fun, and sounded a lot better than I thought he would.

28. Mizuki Tsujimura - Lonely Castle in the Mirror

I thought this was going to be a classic "kid gets sucked into an alternate world" story, and while that was the premise, the main focus was how kids deal with bullying, anxiety and trauma. Sad and frustrating at times, but a hopeful message.

27. Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi - The Centre

The plot was interesting, but was really more of a vehicle to discuss the impact of culture, family, gender, and human connection on how people think and feel and view the world. Which was even more interesting and well done than the main story.

26. Laura Shepherd-Robinson - The Square of Sevens

One of my favourite endings ever to a book. I didn't expect this to be a 4 volume tome of a story but I loved it, so cleverly structured and does just enough to make you feel it could be real. Highly recommend if you want an 18th century drama.

25. Catriona Ward - Looking Glass Sound

Sometimes I feel genuinely haunted by this book. The atmosphere is so intense and heavy it's easy for the feelings to cross over into real life. Which is pretty much the whole premise of the book.

24. Alex Michaelides - The Silent Patient

More of a "why did she do it" rather than a "who dunnit", but still a really cool mystery with a tense undertone and an amazing twist at the end. Both Nolan brothers would love it.

The thing is 50 million other white rappers did emerge and it really did feel empty without Eminem