Hello! It’s been ages since I’ve posted. Almost all of my online activity for the past three months (basically since Inauguration Day here) has been on Facebook, with the daily news and the incredible political situation consuming my thoughts. The collapse of democracy here – like the height of the COVID pandemic – has made it hard to focus on a book, and made posting about books and reading feel like fiddling while Rome burns.
Checking Facebook on my phone constantly at first helped me keep up hope and stay up to date with what outrage(s) to call my Congressional representatives about. Over the weeks and months, though, it became more of an addiction. I couldn’t stop scrolling – reading through hundreds of comments on new memes; liking memes I’d seen multiple times and reading the comments on those; fact-checking posts and comments from both sides of the divide; finding out where and when local protests were happening; sharing and posting about the latest executive order or unconstitutional action, myself. Knowing all the while that the Meta algorithms were sucking me in, and using up my time to little purpose.
Today, however, I started a one-week Meta boycott, and here I am!
I’ll keep up with current events on Substack and maybe Bluesky, and see if I can go back on Facebook less obsessively after kicking the habit for a week. Still using FiveCalls app on my lunch hours to call my Congressional representatives at least twice a week on various issues, including libraries.
If you live in the US, and want to advocate for libraries on the federal level, here’s how:
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/show-up-for-our-libraries
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments and/or share your blog link! (If you can’t see where to comment, try clicking/tapping on the title of this post to open it in full.)
Currently Reading
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
A book about a book set in postwar Spain, this lyrical novel is steeped in magic, mystery, and a deep love of literature.
Continue reading “It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? 5-5-25”