January 6, 2019: Crowdfunding Focus: Mouse Books, Season 2

I love reading, especially when I'm stuck in a line or otherwise have unexpected time to kill. But I don't always have a book with me and I don't like getting into the habit of pulling my phone out as soon as there's a slight delay, because I inevitably end up playing some time-wasting game or (worse) checking my email. Plus, there are times I just want to leave my phone in my pocket.

Mouse Books is a solution. They're producing pocket journal-sized books that you can keep with you to read whenever you like. The editors select each set around a theme and I haven't been dissatisfied with a choice yet. Some of the books include a complete story (or several stories); others are excerpts from a longer work. For example, they chose the section from the Iliad where Priam, the king of Troy, comes to Achilles as a supplicant to ransom his son Hector's body and give it a proper burial. It's one of the most moving passages in the entire epic poem.

They're currently running a Kickstarter to fund their second season of 12 books, three each quarter. The campaign has already funded, and you can pick up their previous releases as well if you want to get a complete collection all at once for a reasonable price.

-- Andrew Hackard