July 9th, 2025 // Vol. XXXV // The Enigma of the Daily Boofy

Howdy from Houston. I would say “Happy National XXX Day,” but there are only two “holidays” today, and neither are intriguing enough for further comment.

As I alluded to yesterday, I did end up seeing Superman last night, but with one important caveat: It was in 3D. As such, I was kind of distracted the entire time by weird perspectives and a slight headache. I’m planning on seeing it again before giving a proper, thought-out review. For now, I’ll just say it’s definitely worth seeing and those who were potentially apprehensive have nothing to worry about. Now, even without a full movie review, let’s have a day:

New Item Off The Shelf in:

I may not be giving y’all a movie review today, so instead you get a book review. What a tradeoff.

The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker

I stumbled across this in the ship library on the first day of the cruise. I really couldn’t tell you what drew me to it. Maybe I judged it by its cover. Even if I did, it was worth it. I devoured the novel, ripping through it in about a day and a half.

A multilayered mystery centered around a murder after a prominent bank’s Gala Weekend, The Enigma of Room 622 is well-paced as it weaves together complex characters, dropping hints as to potential motivations throughout. Countless turns left me thinking I had it figured out, only to find the plot turned on its head in the next chapter. The main story is joined by the meta plot line of an author learning about the mystery and writing it in real time, blurring the lines between past and present, but not confusingly so.

Dicker inserts plenty of tidbits about the writing process as he goes through the secondary (but perhaps overarching) plot. As a middling writer myself, I found these notes unexpected, as I’d never encountered that level of overt meta-commentary in fiction, but valuable nevertheless.

My most reliable way of rating a book is whether I felt like putting it down. This passed the test with flying colors. At the end of the day, that’s some of the best praise I can give it. It also helps when I get fooled by the twists.

QOTD 35: Do you like Superhero Movies? What’s your favorite?

Vote/ respond on IG

Yesterday’s Results

Question: What do you call these, and what’s the best flavor?

Answers: The most popular name by far was simply “Ice Pop,” with scattered votes for “Otter Pop,” “Freeze Pop,” and just “Popsicle.” As for flavors, people seem to enjoy purple/grape most, which is honestly surprising. Blue and red also got some votes, but thankfully no one said orange.

Personally, I’m most likely to call it a “Flavorice” or I guess just “Popsicle.” When the red is strawberry rather than cherry or fruit punch, that’s my go to, but I’ll never deny blue or pink. Grape is also acceptable. Green and orange, however, I avoid like the plague. One year at the end of the summer, I got to take home all the popsicles left in the work freezer. I’m pretty sure there are still greens and oranges sitting at home at least 5 years later. One hack for next time you have one of these (which I hope is soon—It is summer, after all): Crush it up using blunt force or the edge of a counter before eating. It basically turns into a slushie in the tube and makes the experience far more enjoyable.