Today’s stack features three reprints of older books—well, some older than others! There’s an old picture book that’s actually new to me, and then two lovely editions of some favorites. _Disclosure: I received review copies of these titles. Affiliate links to Bookshop.org help support my writing and independent booksellers!_ ## _Who Needs Donuts?_ by Mark Alan Stamaty I don’t typically write about picture books these days, but every so often I get sent a book that I just feel like I need to share. _Who Needs Donuts?_ was originally published in 1973, but I actually had never heard of it—in fact, I confess that I wasn’t even familiar with the author/illustrator either—so I’m glad this new reprint came across my desk. It’s a truly bizarre story: Sam’s a little kid who has a good life, but what he _really_ wants is donuts, “not just a few but hundreds and thousands and millions.” So, he hops on his tricycle and goes to the city, and meets a guy with a wagon full of donuts. Honestly, this guy is pretty creepy looking and I don’t think the takeaway is that you should trust smiling men when they tell you they have a warehouse full of donuts, but that’s exactly what happens at first. The story doesn’t end there, though: there’s true love, a daring rescue, and a valuable lesson learned by the end of it. I mean, sort of. The black-and-white illustrations remind me a little of Gahan Wilson, a little of Shel Silverstein, but they’re jam-packed with details. The city scenes in particular are almost overwhelming, and you could spend hours just reading all the tiny signs everywhere, along with the serpentine dialogue bubbles that appear with some of the characters. It’s weird and a little disturbing and oddly compelling, and I don’t know how I never heard of it—so now I’ve told you, so you can go look it up! ## _The Hobbit_ by J.R.R. Tolkien, illustrated by Tove Jansson Okay, presumably I don’t need to explain to you what _The Hobbit_ is since you’re reading a site called GeekDad. Plus, _The Lord of the Rings_ has become a media juggernaut in the past couple decades thanks to the film versions, TV series, and games, so it’s hard to imagine anyone not having at least some passing knowledge of it. What you might not have known is that in 1962 there was a Swedish edition of _The Hobbit_ illustrated by Tove Jansson, the creator of the Moomins. Now, there’s finally an English edition of Bilbo’s adventures featuring her illustrations! While there aren’t any Moomins in the book, it’s a lot of fun to see Jansson’s take on Gandalf, Bilbo, trolls turning to stone, and—of course—Gollum (who is a lot larger than the versions we usually see). The endpapers include Tolkien’s own familiar map, and a color illustration of Smaug the dragon terrorizing the city. The rest of the book includes a lot of small spot drawings and sketches, and the occasional full-page illustration. The book itself is a large hardcover with a library binding and no dustjacket, and is quite lovely. It also has a bookmark ribbon. If you’re looking for a gift for a Tolkien fan in your life, this might be an excellent option. ## _Scythe Collector’s Edition_ by Neal Shusterman This year is the 10th anniversary of the first _Scythe_ book, and with it comes a special collector’s edition of the book. I first wrote about the series in 2020 (yeah, I was a little late to the party) but I was impressed with the world Shusterman created. A superintelligent AI called the Thunderhead had been given the reins to control pretty much everything, and with it came that utopia that tech bros are always promising us now: immortality, world peace, the elimination of poverty, the solution to climate change. But with that new reality comes a new problem: if nobody ever dies of natural causes (and can be rescued from nearly anything else), what do you do about unbounded population growth? That’s where the Scythes come in: people who have been given the authority to determine who should die and when. The Thunderhead decided that decisions about death required a human touch, and the Scythes have nearly absolute power because of it. And, of course, you know what they say about power. The later books in the series have a lot of parallels to America politics circa 2020—and, as we’re all seeing, a lot of that is getting a reprise now. Just as in the real world, the people who work the hardest to attain power are often the very people who shouldn’t have it, and the books explore the consequences. When the books were first published, the world of AI was quite different, and Shusterman explains in the new introduction that his books have actually helped to “steer the course of AI ethics.” If real AI were more like the Thunderhead, I think we’d be in a better position than we currently are, given recent headlines. The collector’s edition is a gorgeous hardcover, a library-bound edition without a dustjacket, and some foil details on the cover. Instead of the person in silhouette, it just has the scythe itself, which looks elegant, but loses that cool optical illusion of the Scythe’s face as part of the handle. Inside there’s a reproduction of a stained glass piece that Shusterman made of the original cover design. There’s also a bookmark ribbon, and a new short story called “The Black Knight’s Tango.” Finally, the book has red sprayed edges, a feature that seems to be quite popular these days: the top and bottom have crossed scythes, and the side says “Thou Shalt Kill,” the first rule of the Scythes. It’s a slick-looking new edition for fans of the series, and I would hope there are plans to reissue the rest of the series in this style as well (because I hate when I have non-matching editions of a series!). Also: if you’re a _Scythe_ fan, keep an eye out for _Rising Thunder_, a prequel to the series, due out in December—I’ll share more about that one later on! * * * ## My Current Stack I’ve returned to my AI-related stack so hopefully within the next month or so I’ll have a column about those. Several of these aren’t _exactly_ AI, but they’re at least AI-adjacent. My current read is _Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep_ by Paul Tremblay; it has a strange premise and I’ll need to think about how to talk about it without spoilers. Another one includes a graphic novel version of _Be More Chill_ by Ned Vizzini, about a high schooler who takes a weird supercomputer pill to see if it can help him attract the girl of his dreams. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon! ### Share this: * Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * Share on X (Opens in new window) X * Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest * Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr * Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn * Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit * More * * Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp * Share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram * Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email * Print (Opens in new window) Print * ### _Related_ ### Jonathan H. Liu Jonathan H. Liu is a stay-at-home dad in Portland, Oregon, who loves to read, is always up for a board game, and has a bit of a Kickstarter habit. I can be reached at jonathan at geekdad dot com.

Stack Overflow, la plataforma de preguntas y respuestas para desarrolladores de software, ha experimentado una drástica caída en el número de preguntas mensuales, según un análisis realizado por Frank Chu, un usuario de Hacker News. Chu verificó los datos directamente a través de la API de Stack Exchange, obteniendo un total de 969 preguntas en septiembre de 2026, lo que representa menos de 1.000 preguntas mensuales. Este dato confirma una tendencia que se ha venido observando desde 2020, cuando el sitio registraba 141.749 preguntas en octubre de ese año. La caída es significativa: un 99.3% en comparación con octubre de 2020, lo que equivale a que el sitio produce actualmente lo que antes generaba en unas pocas horas. Chu explicó que su método de conteo fue directo, utilizando la API de Stack Exchange sin recurrir a capturas de pantalla ni análisis de gráficos, lo que descarta que la disminución sea un error de visualización. El análisis también muestra que agosto de 2026 registró 1.019 preguntas, lo que indica que la transición a menos de 1.000 preguntas ocurrió recientemente. Aunque el sitio sigue siendo útil como archivo de conocimiento, la disminución en el número de preguntas nuevas sugiere que la plataforma se está volviendo cada vez más histórica, con un flujo de contenido que se ha estancado. Chu señala que esto no demuestra la causa de la caída, pero descarta la idea de que los números sean correctos y que solo la discusión sea negativa. La plataforma, que definió la forma en que los desarrolladores buscan soluciones a problemas técnicos, enfrenta un cambio significativo en su dinámica de uso.

Stack Overflow, la plataforma de preguntas y respuestas para desarrolladores de software, ha experimentado una drástica caída en el número de preguntas mensuales, según un análisis realizado por Frank Chu, un usuario de Hacker News. Chu verificó los datos directamente a través de la API de Stack Exchange, obteniendo un total de 969 preguntas en septiembre de 2026, lo que representa menos de 1.000 preguntas mensuales. Este dato confirma una tendencia que se ha venido observando desde 2020, cuando el sitio registraba 141.749 preguntas en octubre de ese año. La caída es significativa: un 99.3% en comparación con octubre de 2020, lo que equivale a que el sitio produce actualmente lo que antes generaba en unas pocas horas. Chu explicó que su método de conteo fue directo, utilizando la API de Stack Exchange sin recurrir a capturas de pantalla ni análisis de gráficos, lo que descarta que la disminución sea un error de visualización. El análisis también muestra que agosto de 2026 registró 1.019 preguntas, lo que indica que la transición a menos de 1.000 preguntas ocurrió recientemente. Aunque el sitio sigue siendo útil como archivo de conocimiento, la disminución en el número de preguntas nuevas sugiere que la plataforma se está volviendo cada vez más histórica, con un flujo de contenido que se ha estancado. Chu señala que esto no demuestra la causa de la caída, pero descarta la idea de que los números sean correctos y que solo la discusión sea negativa. La plataforma, que definió la forma en que los desarrolladores buscan soluciones a problemas técnicos, enfrenta un cambio significativo en su dinámica de uso.

Stack Overflow, the long-standing programming question-and-answer platform, is experiencing a significant decline in monthly question volume, with data from the Stack Exchange API confirming fewer than 1,000 questions created in September 2026. The author of the post, Frank Chu, verified this by directly querying the API rather than relying on charts or secondary sources. His analysis shows September 2026 had 969 questions, down from 5,263 in October 2025 and 23,162 in October 2024, representing a 95.8% decline over two years. The trend indicates a 99.3% drop from October 2020 levels, when the site processed over 140,000 questions monthly. Chu's methodology involved using the Stack Exchange API's /questions endpoint with specific date ranges, ensuring accurate counts of questions created within each month. The data reveals a consistent downward trajectory, with August 2026 at 1,019 questions and October 2026 (through October 29) already at 977 questions. This decline challenges the notion that Stack Overflow's perceived decline is merely a matter of negative discourse, proving the volume collapse is real. The author notes that while the site's vast archive remains valuable, the shrinking question intake means the platform is becoming more of a historical archive than a dynamic resource for current programming issues. The API data also rules out the possibility that the numbers are inflated by a single chart or misinterpretation, as the author directly accessed the source data. The post includes a technical explanation of the API query method and addresses a Hacker News thread that initially raised the question about declining activity. The author emphasizes that the decline is not just about fewer questions but also about the site's role as a living resource for programming knowledge, now effectively frozen in time for rapidly evolving topics. The data shows a dramatic shift from the site's peak activity, where it once handled thousands of questions in a single day, to a monthly count now in the low hundreds.

Stack Overflow cae a 969 preguntas en septiembre, su mínimo desde 2008. El auge de los asistentes de IA acelera el declive de los foros técnicos.

Die Beteiligung auf Stack Overflow ist rapide gesunken. Schuld ist laut Community aber weniger die KI, sondern vielmehr die strenge Moderation.

Mfs on linkedin think that vibe coding is about copy paste 😭🙏