Civilian Reader
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civilianreader.com
Civilian Reader
@civilianreader.com
1K followers 940 following 2.4K posts
Reader of books (biblio-Sisyphus), listener of music, watcher of movies, drinker of coffee & wine. (Same handle on Insta.) I also like basketball. Basically just ricocheting my way through life.

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civilianreader.com
Most popular posts on CR at the moment...
Screen-grab from CR, showing the "top posts": Two Nick Kyme reviews, Promethean Sun and Vulkan Lives; interview with James Islington; review of David Baldacci's Nash Falls; guest post by Adrian Tchaikovsky about "Writing Guns of the Dawn"
January 2, 2026 at 9:35 PM
civilianreader.com
First novel of the year will be ASHES OF THE IMPERIUM by Chris Wraight…

www.blacklibrary.com/the-horus-he...
Cover for ASHES OF THE IMPERIUM by Chris Wraight — Dorn and Guillman growling at each other. Probably disagreeing about procedure, administration, etc. Fully armoured, which is probably not conducive to the work, if I’m honest.
January 1, 2026 at 6:33 PM
civilianreader.com
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it before watching the recent Netflix adaptation — Death By Lightning — but it turned out that I just wanted to read it now, so that’s what I’m doing.
Graphic for Netflix’s DEATH BY LIGHTNING — a stylized mix of American flag, title and actor details, and some of the red bars from the flag morphing into lightning that strike Garfield (played by Michael Shannon).
November 27, 2025 at 1:26 PM
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Oh, speaking of Automatic Noodle — our ramen box this evening:
Photo of the side of a ramen box, with a robot saying “I ❤️ ramen” and “J’adore le ramen”
November 20, 2025 at 2:54 AM
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President’s KING OF TERRORS EP is surprisingly good insomnia listening.
Cover for President’s KING OF TERROR EP — solid pink/skin colour field, with a white double-barred cross in the middle. No text.
November 15, 2025 at 6:24 AM
civilianreader.com
Next audiobook is Cameron Crowe’s THE UNCOOL — been looking forward to this ever since it was announced. Huge fan of his work.

Published in North America by @blackstonepub.bsky.social (audio) and @avidreaderpress.bsky.social (print, eBook); in the UK by Fourth Estate.
Audiobook cover for Cameron Crowe’s THE UNCOOL: A MEMOIR — red background, cover and author information, a single photo at the centre, of the author as a young man, sticking out his tongue.
October 31, 2025 at 2:26 PM
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Season 2 of #Starting5 available on @netflix.com now! Will be starting it later today. Follows Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, Tyrese Halliburton, Jaylen Brown, and James Harden over the course of the last #NBA season.
Graphic for Netflix’s second season of STARTING 5 — central image is a collage of the five players followed in the docuseries (counter clockwise, from top left): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Halliburton, and James Harden. Each wearing their team uniform on the court.
October 24, 2025 at 1:58 PM
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After this, there’s only one more that I want to re-read (for now): THE NIGHT CREW, about some night videographers in LA. (Made me think of the movie Nightcrawler, when I saw the latest cover and synopsis.)
North American cover for John Sandford’s THE NIGHT CREW — mostly black, with an out-of-focus view of downtown LA seen through a chain link fence. Author’s name and book title take up most of the top half of the cover.
October 19, 2025 at 2:24 AM
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Started re-reading John Sandford’s DEAD WATCH a few days ago. First read it when it was published in the UK (maybe a few months or so after US pub?). Not sure I was in the mood for a politics thriller, and it’s not his best, but finally started to get into it again.
North American paperback cover for John Sandford’s DEAD WATCH — a man silhouetted in front of a window overlooking the Washington Monument. Title and author name are large, taking up much of the top half.
October 19, 2025 at 2:24 AM
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Well, that’s one to bring up with the therapist…
Screen shot from an iPhone — text “Family is Full” prominent in the middle.
October 15, 2025 at 5:46 PM
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No more “beardos” in the U.S. military, now…
Ulysses S. Grant. With beard.
October 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
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I think this was my edition… 👇 (Turns out, the one in my mind before I started searching was actually the Martin the Warrior cover.)

Loved this series. Well, looking at a list of the books, it seems I loved the first 6 books (of 22), but I don’t remember any of the others… Huh.
Very old cover of Martin Jacques Redwall — two stoats (weasels?) look out towards a walled town. They are holding weapons, and clearly plotting something terrible and up to no good.
October 6, 2025 at 2:44 PM
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Two recent EPs that I’ve been listening to — both excellent. Apparently minimalist cover design is a thing. Don’t hate it.

• Wind Walkers, I DON’T BELONG HERE
• President, KING OF TERRORS
Cover for Wind Walkers’ I DON’T BELONG HERE WP — white background (over-saturated clouds), plus band’s interlocking “W” logo. Cover for President’s KING OF TERRORS EP — pink/skin-colour background with a simple, white cross glyph at the centre (two cross-bars).
October 3, 2025 at 7:55 PM
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One of my most-anticipated music releases dropped today: Wind Walkers’ I DON’T BELONG HERE EP!

Great band. Love their music.
Cover for Wind Walkers’ I DON’T BELONG HERE EP — over-saturated background photo of clouds, with the band’s interlocking W logo.
October 3, 2025 at 7:43 PM
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Started ALIEN: EARTH. Three episodes in, and rather enjoying it.
Graphic for Alien: Earth — a facehugger latched onto the world. (Ew.)
September 28, 2025 at 5:20 PM
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We’ve been watching season 3 of CSI and it’s weird how much it rains in Las Vegas this season…

Also, a number of future Oscar winners just being bit-part characters. (Viola Davis, Mahershala Ali, to name but two.)
Graphic for CSI Season 3 — the core gang are all here, in one of the labs: Gil Grissom, Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes, Jim Brass, Sarah Sidle, and Warrick Brown.
September 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
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Replacement @otterbox.bsky.social just fell apart. Exact same issue as the case it replaced. Disappointing quality. Switching to a different brand, just need to figure out which is best.
Photo of an Otterbox iPhone case — the rubber edge has separated from the hard plastic backing.
September 20, 2025 at 5:31 PM
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Continuing our #JurassicPark watch, with JURASSIC PARK III. Not entirely sure if I’ve ever seen this one before…
Poster for Jurassic Park III. The logo for the series, but with the new predator (Spinosaurus), the “III” as claw marks, plus a flying dinosaur’s silhouette (Pteranodon?) over the whole thing.
September 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
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Three Hollywood memoirs I’m looking forward to reading:

• Cameron Crowe’s THE UNCOOL (Oct.24, @avidreaderpress.bsky.social)
• Michael J. Fox’s FUTURE BOY (Oct.14, @flatironbooks.bsky.social)
• Charlie Sheen’s THE BOOK OF SHEEN (out now, Gallery)
Cover for Cameron Crowe’s THE UNCOOL — red background, title and author information, and what looks like a passport photo of (I assume) the author pulling a silly face. Cover for Michael J. Fox’s FUTURE BOY — an image of the Delorean from Back to the Future breaking the time barrier. Flames trail behind its wheels. Badass. Cover for Charlie Sheen’s THE BOOK OF SHEEN — a photo of the actor, sitting on a box (maybe), a leather jacket over his shoulder.
September 13, 2025 at 10:52 PM
civilianreader.com
Also started THE HAVES AND HAVE-YACHTS last night. Enjoying it so far.

Long time fan of @eosnos.bsky.social’s work, always recommend.
Cover for Evan Osnos’s THE HAVES AND HAVE-YACHTS — a superyacht stretched to run three times around the cover.
September 13, 2025 at 2:34 PM
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Listening to Stephen Fry’s MYTHOS — very much enjoying it.
North American cover for Stephen Fry’s MYTHOS — mostly turquoise, with some stylized mythological figures in the centre. Plus title and author details. UK/Aus/NZ cover for Stephen Fry’s MYTHOS — light blue and yellow/gold patterning with Hermes’s winged sandals in the centre.
September 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM
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Started reading THE AGE OF CALAMITIES by Senaa Ahmad, last night. Only one story in, but very much enjoying it — quirky in the right way, very well-written, and engaging.

Due out in January 2026, via @henryholtbooks.bsky.social:

us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

[DRC received via Edelweiss.]
Cover for Senaa Ahmad’s THE AGE OF CALAMITIES — turquoise background, title and author information. At the centre is an image of St. George slaying a dragon, but in a pink hue.
September 11, 2025 at 1:43 PM
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Shirley Jackson’s famous letter (below) really is perfect for the internet age.

If they don’t like it… just don’t read/watch/pay attention to it. But so many people seem to not realize this is an option.
Photo of a letter from Shirley Jackson to Mrs. White: “If you don’t like my peaches, don’t shake my tree.”
September 11, 2025 at 1:30 PM
civilianreader.com
Rewatching JURASSIC PARK (1993) for the first time in years. My partner’s never seen any of them, and she wanted to finally try them.

I completely forgot Samuel L. Jackson was in this. Also, this may be the first peak Jeff Goldblum performance.
Jurassic Park movie poster. Big logo — T-Rex skeleton silhouette over the title text, black background, and illegible credit text.
August 30, 2025 at 12:23 AM
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Currently reading THE SIEGE OF TSINGTAO by Jonathan Fenby — one of the excellent Penguin #ChinaSpecials.
Cover for Jonathan Fenby’s THE SIEGE OF TSINGTAO - “The only battle of the First World War to be fought in East Asia: how it came about and why its aftermath is still relevant today.”
August 21, 2025 at 8:45 PM