Will West and I weren’t close. It would probably be more correct to call us “acquaintances” than “friends”. But the man had presence, and adult friendships are weird in the online/social media age. He was an oversized part of my life just through being in it at all. I miss him a lot.

In February of 2025 Will gave himself a reading challenge on his blog, West Week Ever. He updated it weekly, trying to reach his modest goals by the end of the year.

Will’s last update was on December 26th. He was a little short, but confident he could manage it. I don’t know if he did. Will got behind on his blog and was presumably saving that info for when he had time to make another post.

It all feels so unfinished, and here’s what I’m going to do about it. This year is almost a third over, but those original reading goals look pretty doable to me. On May 1st, 2026 I’m going to start West Read Ever. I’ll keep a weekly counter and talk about the things I enjoyed reading most, just like Will did.

I want to be completely clear about this. It isn’t for a cause. I may not make the goals. There’s no “Do it for Will” pretense. That’s all fine. It’s for me, it’s just how I’m going to say goodbye.

I invite you to follow along. You’re welcome to join me if you like. You can keep me updated on Bluesky using the hashtag #westreadever, or use the comment form. -Luke