diff --git a/src/components/ReadingMap.astro b/src/components/ReadingMap.astro
index 0346c6d..4ea1710 100644
--- a/src/components/ReadingMap.astro
+++ b/src/components/ReadingMap.astro
@@ -57,12 +57,21 @@ const {
     try {
       const { mount } = await import('../lib/reading-map.js');
       for (const el of containers) {
-        mount(el, {
+        const map = await mount(el, {
           src: el.dataset.src!,
           // Fail closed, like the garden's other widgets: a missing payload or a dead GPU
           // leaves a plain page rather than an empty bordered box.
           onError: (err: unknown) => console.warn('reading map unavailable:', err),
         });
+        if (!map) continue;
+
+        // Ring the node the header's quote came from. The two are independent fetches on
+        // every page view and either can land first, so handle both orders: read the hash if
+        // it is already there, and listen in case it is not. `garden:quote` is dispatched by
+        // the header script in Base.astro.
+        const ring = (hash?: string) => hash && map.markQuoted(hash);
+        ring(window.__gardenQuoteHash);
+        addEventListener('garden:quote', (e) => ring((e as CustomEvent).detail?.text_hash));
       }
     } catch (err) {
       /* chunk failed to load: the figure stays hidden */
diff --git a/src/components/ReadingNow.astro b/src/components/ReadingNow.astro
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58ad106
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/ReadingNow.astro
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+---
+/**
+ * "Currently reading" — the book Wes most recently made progress in.
+ *
+ *     import ReadingNow from '../components/ReadingNow.astro';
+ *     <ReadingNow />
+ *
+ * Data: api.c0smere.net/reading/current, which is kobo_archive on phlegethon by way of
+ * api.reading_current(). Date-only by design — the timestamp would publish when he is awake.
+ *
+ * ⚠️ **It says how long ago on purpose.** Six of the ten books on the currently-reading shelf
+ * have not been opened in months, so this widget will sit on one entry indefinitely the moment
+ * the Kobo goes down for a while. Without the relative date that reads as a broken widget
+ * rather than an honest one; past DORMANT_DAYS it also mutes itself and says "paused".
+ *
+ * No cover image: there is no source for one. `kobo.books.isbn` is a sideloader's UUID for most
+ * of the shelf and `kobo.storygraph_links` carries no cover URL. The remaining route is pulling
+ * it out of the epub at intake time, which is a library-rag change, not a garden one.
+ */
+---
+
+<section class="reading-now" id="reading-now" hidden>
+  <h2 class="reading-now__label">Currently reading</h2>
+  <p class="reading-now__title" id="rn-title"></p>
+  <p class="reading-now__author" id="rn-author"></p>
+  <div class="reading-now__bar" id="rn-bar" role="img" aria-label="" aria-hidden="false">
+    <span class="reading-now__fill" id="rn-fill"></span>
+  </div>
+  <p class="reading-now__meta" id="rn-meta"></p>
+</section>
+
+<script>
+  // Fail closed, like the garden's other widgets: the section ships hidden and only a good
+  // response reveals it, so a 404 (nothing in progress) or a dead API leaves a plain page.
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch('https://api.c0smere.net/reading/current');
+    if (!res.ok) throw new Error(String(res.status));
+    const r = await res.json();
+
+    const DORMANT_DAYS = 45;
+    const days = Number(r.days_since);
+    const ago =
+      days <= 0 ? 'today'
+      : days === 1 ? 'yesterday'
+      : days < 30 ? `${days} days ago`
+      : days < 60 ? 'about a month ago'
+      : `${Math.round(days / 30)} months ago`;
+
+    document.getElementById('rn-title')!.textContent = r.title;
+    document.getElementById('rn-author')!.textContent = r.author ?? '';
+
+    const pct = Math.max(0, Math.min(100, Number(r.percent)));
+    const fill = document.getElementById('rn-fill')!;
+    fill.style.width = `${pct}%`;
+
+    // The bar is decorative; the number lives in text for anyone not seeing it. Pages are
+    // mentioned only when the book has a real count — 203 of 237 books have none, and a
+    // made-up denominator is worse than no denominator.
+    const pages = r.total_pages ? ` · ~${Math.round((pct / 100) * r.total_pages)} of ${r.total_pages} pp` : '';
+    document.getElementById('rn-bar')!.setAttribute('aria-label', `${pct}% read`);
+    document.getElementById('rn-meta')!.textContent = `${pct}%${pages} · read ${ago}`;
+
+    const root = document.getElementById('reading-now')!;
+    if (days >= DORMANT_DAYS) root.dataset.dormant = 'true';
+    root.hidden = false;
+  } catch {
+    /* API down, blocked, or nothing in progress: the slot stays hidden */
+  }
+</script>
+
+<style>
+  .reading-now {
+    margin-top: 2rem;
+    padding-top: 1rem;
+    border-top: 1px solid var(--hair);
+    font-size: 0.82rem;
+    line-height: 1.4;
+  }
+  .reading-now[hidden] { display: none; }
+
+  .reading-now__label {
+    margin: 0 0 0.5rem;
+    font-size: 0.72rem;
+    font-weight: 600;
+    letter-spacing: 0.06em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    color: var(--muted);
+  }
+  .reading-now__title {
+    margin: 0;
+    font-weight: 600;
+    color: var(--fg);
+    /* Titles here run long ("Introduction to Linear Algebra (Ed 5) …") and the rail is 13rem */
+    overflow-wrap: anywhere;
+  }
+  .reading-now__author { margin: 0.1rem 0 0.6rem; color: var(--muted); }
+
+  .reading-now__bar {
+    height: 0.28rem;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    background: var(--hair);
+    overflow: hidden;
+  }
+  .reading-now__fill {
+    display: block;
+    height: 100%;
+    width: 0;
+    border-radius: inherit;
+    background: var(--link-bright, #46c421);
+  }
+  .reading-now__meta { margin: 0.45rem 0 0; color: var(--muted); }
+
+  /* Long-dormant: still shown, visibly at rest. The widget's job is to be honest about when
+     it was last true, not to imply the reading is ongoing. */
+  .reading-now[data-dormant] { opacity: 0.72; }
+  .reading-now[data-dormant] .reading-now__fill { background: var(--muted); }
+</style>
diff --git a/src/env.d.ts b/src/env.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad6b6c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/env.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/// <reference types="astro/client" />
+
+declare global {
+  interface Window {
+    /**
+     * `text_hash` of the reading highlight in the page header, set by Base.astro once
+     * api.c0smere.net/highlights/random answers. The reading map reads it to ring the node
+     * that passage came from.
+     *
+     * A global as well as a `garden:quote` event because the two fetches race: whichever
+     * lands second needs the other's result, and only one of the two mechanisms works in
+     * each order.
+     */
+    __gardenQuoteHash?: string;
+  }
+}
+
+export {};
diff --git a/src/layouts/Base.astro b/src/layouts/Base.astro
index ae6b62b..b24e9b0 100644
--- a/src/layouts/Base.astro
+++ b/src/layouts/Base.astro
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { buildNavTree } from '../lib/nav.mjs';
 import { COMMIT, BUILT_AT } from '../lib/build-info.mjs';
 import NavTree from '../components/NavTree.astro';
 import Toc from '../components/Toc.astro';
+import ReadingNow from '../components/ReadingNow.astro';
 import { loadNotebooks, notebookUrl } from '../lib/notebooks.mjs';
 
 interface Props {
@@ -198,13 +199,13 @@ const pageUrl = new URL(Astro.url.pathname, Astro.site);
           </ul>
         </div>
       </aside>
-      {
-        showToc && (
-          <aside class="toc-col">
-            <Toc headings={headings} />
-          </aside>
-        )
-      }
+      {/* The rail exists whenever EITHER thing wants it. It used to be rendered only when
+          there was a table of contents, which would have left the reading widget with no home
+          on any page of fewer than two headings — including the homepage. */}
+      <aside class="toc-col">
+        {showToc && <Toc headings={headings} />}
+        <ReadingNow />
+      </aside>
     </div>
 
     <script>
@@ -221,6 +222,13 @@ const pageUrl = new URL(Astro.url.pathname, Astro.site);
           ? `— ${q.author}, ${q.book}`
           : `— ${q.book}`;
         document.getElementById('hq')!.hidden = false;
+
+        // Hand the passage's identity to anything that can locate it — on the homepage the
+        // reading map rings the node it came from. Published both ways because the map's
+        // payload fetch races this one: the global covers "map mounted second", the event
+        // covers "map mounted first". text_hash, never the text, so the lookup is exact.
+        window.__gardenQuoteHash = q.text_hash;
+        dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('garden:quote', { detail: q }));
       } catch {
         /* API down or blocked: slot stays hidden */
       }
@@ -588,6 +596,12 @@ const pageUrl = new URL(Astro.url.pathname, Astro.site);
           grid-template-columns: 17rem minmax(0, 1fr);
           max-width: 96rem;
         }
+        /* ...and the rail must be hidden, not merely unstyled. It is now always rendered (it
+           carries the reading widget as well as the TOC), so in a two-column grid a third
+           child would wrap onto a second row and land under the sidebar. */
+        .layout-wide .toc-col {
+          display: none;
+        }
         .toc-col {
           display: block;
           position: sticky;
diff --git a/src/lib/reading-map.js b/src/lib/reading-map.js
index fbee526..fbe59cd 100644
--- a/src/lib/reading-map.js
+++ b/src/lib/reading-map.js
@@ -198,6 +198,50 @@ export function build(container, data) {
   head.renderOrder = 4;
   world.add(head);
 
+  // --- two standing markers ----------------------------------------------------------------
+  // Rings, not brighter dots. The animated `head` above is already a bright point, and at the
+  // end of every draw cycle it comes to rest on exactly the newest node — under
+  // prefers-reduced-motion it parks there permanently. A second filled dot at the same
+  // coordinate reads as a rendering fault, so these are drawn as outlines instead: same
+  // position, unmistakably a different kind of thing.
+  function ring(colorKey, radius) {
+    const geo = new THREE.RingGeometry(radius, radius * 1.34, 32);
+    const mesh = new THREE.Mesh(geo, new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({
+      color: new THREE.Color(cssVar(container, colorKey, colors.signal)),
+      transparent: true,
+      opacity: 0.95,
+      side: THREE.DoubleSide,
+      depthTest: false,
+      depthWrite: false,
+      fog: false,
+    }));
+    mesh.visible = false;
+    mesh.renderOrder = 5;
+    world.add(mesh);
+    return mesh;
+  }
+
+  const newestRing = ring('--map-newest', 0.045);
+  const quotedRing = ring('--map-quoted', 0.062);
+
+  const placeRing = (mesh, node) => {
+    if (node == null) { mesh.visible = false; return; }
+    mesh.position.set(xyz[node * 3], xyz[node * 3 + 1], xyz[node * 3 + 2]);
+    mesh.visible = true;
+  };
+
+  // The newest highlight is the LAST trace entry, never the max of `t`: the payload says
+  // trace_order is chronological and pre-sorted, `t` is date-only, and many highlights share a
+  // day — sorting on it would quietly pick a different passage from the same date.
+  const newestNode = data.trace.length ? data.trace[data.trace.length - 1].node : null;
+  placeRing(newestRing, newestNode);
+
+  // Set by the page once the header's random quote has loaded; the two fetches are independent
+  // and either can win. `h` is the highlight's text_hash, which the API returns alongside the
+  // quote — an exact key, not a text match.
+  const nodeOfHash = new Map(data.trace.map((t) => [t.h, t.node]));
+  const billboard = new THREE.Quaternion();
+
   // --- overlays ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   const dateEl = document.createElement('div');
   dateEl.className = 'reading-map__date';
@@ -327,6 +371,15 @@ export function build(container, data) {
       shownIndex = drawn - 1;
       dateEl.textContent = fmtDate(data.trace[shownIndex].t);
     }
+
+    // Billboard the markers. They are flat ring geometry parented to `world`, so without this
+    // they turn edge-on — invisible — twice per revolution. Cancelling the world's rotation
+    // leaves them facing the camera, which never moves.
+    if (newestRing.visible || quotedRing.visible) {
+      billboard.copy(world.quaternion).invert();
+      newestRing.quaternion.copy(billboard);
+      quotedRing.quaternion.copy(billboard);
+    }
     renderer.render(scene, camera);
   }
 
@@ -344,10 +397,27 @@ export function build(container, data) {
       io.disconnect(); ro.disconnect();
       renderer.dispose();
       nebulaGeo.dispose(); signalGeo.dispose(); traceGeo.dispose(); headGeo.dispose();
+      newestRing.geometry.dispose(); newestRing.material.dispose();
+      quotedRing.geometry.dispose(); quotedRing.material.dispose();
       sprite.dispose();
       container.querySelector('canvas')?.remove();
       dateEl.remove(); tipEl.remove();
     },
+
+    /**
+     * Ring the node a quoted passage came from. `textHash` is the `text_hash` that
+     * api.c0smere.net/highlights/random returns beside the quote.
+     *
+     * Returns false when that passage has no node — about 1 highlight in 15, because its
+     * source book has never been indexed into library-rag and so was never placed. That is a
+     * normal outcome, not an error: the caller does nothing and the map simply shows no ring.
+     * The set shrinks as those sources get indexed.
+     */
+    markQuoted(textHash) {
+      const node = nodeOfHash.get(textHash);
+      placeRing(quotedRing, node ?? null);
+      return node != null;
+    },
     stats: { nodes: nodeCount, highlights: total, chunks: signalNodes.length },
   };
 }
diff --git a/src/styles/reading-map.css b/src/styles/reading-map.css
index e067d99..4f5ae14 100644
--- a/src/styles/reading-map.css
+++ b/src/styles/reading-map.css
@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@
   --map-signal: #e8eef6;
   --map-trace: var(--link-bright, #46c421);
 
+  /* --- the two standing markers ------------------------------------------------------------
+     Drawn as rings, so colour is not what tells them from the point cloud — outline-versus-dot
+     already does, the same form-carries-the-distinction argument the schemes below rest on.
+     These hues only have to separate the two markers from EACH OTHER, and amber↔fuchsia holds
+     up under protanopia (ΔE 18.7) where amber↔green would not.
+     --map-newest: the most recent highlight. --map-quoted: the passage in the page header. */
+  --map-newest: #f59e0b;
+  --map-quoted: #e879f9;
+
   --map-ink: var(--fg, #ffffff);
   --map-ink-soft: var(--muted, hsla(0, 0%, 100%, 0.64));
   --map-surface: rgba(16, 19, 27, 0.92);
@@ -60,6 +69,10 @@
 .reading-map--ember {
   --map-signal: #f59e0b;
   --map-trace: var(--link-bright, #46c421);
+  /* The default newest-marker amber IS this scheme's signal colour, which would make the ring
+     look like a highlight that had merely grown a hole. Sky blue is the furthest thing from
+     both marks here. */
+  --map-newest: #38bdf8;
 }
 
 /* --- scheme: frost --------------------------------------------------------------------------