Adam is 29% done with The Anxious Generation

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 15:43:16 -0700

Adam Spunberg is 29% done with The Anxious Generation.

Adam commented on Adam's review of Sunrise on the Reaping

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 16:06:32 -0700

New comment on Adam's review of Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
by Suzanne Collins

Thanks Flo. I hope we can all see the movie together!!

Adam wants to read 'Jade City'

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 12:09:19 -0700

Adam wants to read Jade City by Fonda Lee

Adam wants to read 'Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection'

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 19:30:16 -0700

Adam wants to read Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green

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Tue, 03 Jun 2025 04:40:57 -0700

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Brendon Desrochers is on page 242 of 581 of Invisible Man

Adam added 'Sunrise on the Reaping'

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 17:50:07 -0700

Adam gave 5 stars to Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5) by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games series has played a transcendent role in my life, with several prime years dedicated to hosting the Fireside Chat podcast and being embraced by a virtual community of people who became such dear friends and creative collaborators. But as the years have passed, I’ve felt myself struggling to connect with that fever pitch feeling of 2011-2015.

I think, because the books and that beautiful block of time meant so much to me, it’s been instinctive to force myself not to look back, because the nostalgia and acceptance of how the world - and myself - have changed since then is a constant reminder of the years gone by, and the inescapable ticking of Father Time.

To think that I have a 6-year-old daughter now, who could almost have listened to the Fireside Chat today if she was a few years older. And yet, she wouldn’t because Blogtalk radio suddenly shut down, social media has transformed into a rapid and uncontrollable typhoon of real-time information and overload, and our attention spans are so infinitesimal that even when something does win the cultural zeitgeist like The Hunger Games, it seems barely to last.

Amid this whirlwind of cumbersome thoughts, I watched my close friends from that era plunge into Sunrise on the Reaping while I struggled to find that intimate connection to swallow all these emotions again. So, I avoided the spoilers and ashamedly stayed out of those conversations, giving myself time to resuscitate my old love for the series and hopefully find that longing pulse again.

Eventually, I just couldn’t wait anymore, and I made myself start, even as I felt sad that I wasn’t the same person I used to be. And I don’t know if I could say I rediscovered all of the old joys and feelings from those former days. But there were moments that rubbed my skin raw, and that ending �� was just a shock to the nervous system that pulled me back into the wormhole of my 20s and early 30s, when we could fill 90+ minutes over a teaser trailer or exceed our planned Monday night allotment over a secondary character’s casting announcement.

It’s also hard to see Haymitch in the same light ever again. I always viewed him as a misunderstood, innocence-stolen person whose drinking and acerbic personality were just fronts for his emotional distress. But how could we have known how much worse it really was? I never fathomed he had such a deep love, or such a friendly and kindly disposition to others. In the same vein, my gravitation towards seeing Snow as a nuanced and complicated maybe-not-total-villain evaporates in this book, where there’s just no defending the cruelty of his actions or corruption of his soul. This book sets a lot of the overall story into better-defined grooves, and it does so brilliantly and heart-wrenchingly.

And so, I take some deep breaths as I return back to that old bubble, and reminisce with some pain but also appreciation. So grateful for what my life has become, but also remembering so fondly those Fireside Chat days with Savanna and crew. I really missed you all, and I’m glad I found my way back - at least within these pages. 🫶

Adam Spunberg liked a review

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 17:49:26 -0700

Adam Spunberg liked Clo's review of Malibu Rising:

Adam is 13% done with The Anxious Generation

Thu, 29 May 2025 16:22:40 -0700

Adam Spunberg is 13% done with The Anxious Generation.

Adam started reading 'The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness'

Thu, 29 May 2025 16:22:31 -0700

Adam started reading The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

Adam added '100 Things We've Lost to the Internet'

Wed, 21 May 2025 11:57:34 -0700

Adam gave 4 stars to 100 Things We've Lost to the Internet (Audible Audio) by Pamela Paul

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