Title: Taaqtumi. An Anthology of Arctic Horror StoriesAuthor: various authors; Neil Christopher (editor/collector)First published: 2019Dates read: 14.09. – 30.09.2025Category: first-time read, short stories, horror, Indigenous author(s), anthologyRating: 3.5/5The book in five words or less: unique stories but mixed quality My thoughts: Taaqtumi, an Iuktitut word which translates to ‘in the dark’, is an anthology of nine horror short stories by Canadian Indigenous authors.

Another very late wrapup post for another very strange quarter. I started it with high hopes: I would continue my reading streak from March, I would participate in the Orilium readathon in April again, and I would finish all the books I’d put on my (not even overly ambitious) spring TBR. Reader, I did none of those things. What really happened is that I went through a fallow period in my reading for much of April and May and read very slowly and erratically for almost two months.

Every year, I partcipate in Cathy’s 20 Books of Summer reading challenge, and every year I’m very late with my intentions post. Looking back at last year’s entry, I’m getting the distinct impression that this is a pattern, and one that concerns more than just the signup for this reading challenge. It seems that the spring months, and April and May in particular, are a time where I generally struggle with my reading and writing, and this year, this fallow period was noticeable enough that…

This is a blog post about writing. Or rather, it is a blog post about not writing, and about not reading, too. A touch ironic considering that this is primarily a blog where I write about reading, and also a touch ironic that it is writing about not writing, of all things, that is helping me now to get out of this blogging slump I have been in for goodness knows how long.

How is the first quarter of 2025 already over? Well, I would blame it on my terrible sense of time, but that feels a bit dishonest. I know I have been neglecting this blog a bit; more than I hoped I would at the beginning of the year, anyway. At least this time it is for – what I believe is – a good reason: I actually made some good progress on my academic writing projects (more later) and my health management, and have finally been keeping on top of some of my adultung tasks and projects.