never always started reading Master and commander by Patrick O'Brian
Audiobook. Filling worktime with something silly that maybe will help connect with a family member
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i mainly read non-fiction of a "trying to understand/overthrow capitalism" type, usually histories. in terms of fiction, my heart is primarily with sf (octavia butler and kim stanley robinson being my tops, i'd say).
perpetually frustrated i don't read more.
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never always finished reading A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Highly unusual After the Holocaust novel. In the far future, 20th century texts are preserved …
Audiobook. Fun, but a real "I wonder what this book I about?" book for me.
never always started reading City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky (The Tyrant Philosophers, #1)
City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky (The Tyrant Philosophers, #1)
Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of …
never always wants to read Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Júnior
Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Júnior
Heralded as the most important Brazilian novel of the century so far, this bestseller's unique blend of magic and social …
never always started reading Network Effect by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
Network Effect by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
Murderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel.
You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had …
never always started reading A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Highly unusual After the Holocaust novel. In the far future, 20th century texts are preserved …
Audiobook
never always finished reading GameTek by Geoffrey Engelstein
never always finished reading Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #4)
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #4)
Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be …
never always rated Games: Agency As Art: 4 stars
Games: Agency As Art by C. Thi Nguyen (Thinking Art)
Games are a unique art form. Games work in the medium of agency. Game designers tell us who to be …
never always finished reading Games: Agency As Art by C. Thi Nguyen (Thinking Art)
Games are a unique art form. Games work in the medium of agency. Game designers …
Super interesting book that was maybe a bit too philosophically nirty gritty for me read. The author is a good speaker and has talked aboit it on a number of podcasts, maybe i didnt need more depth than that. But very good.
The gist is: Games are a form of art whose medium is agency, like poetry's is language, and dance's is movement. Nguyen breaks down different theories of play and bears down on one of his own creation, which identifies a type of play that is common but uncovered by other theories: aesthetic striving play. Devoting oneself to the goal of a game ("winning") purely for the aesthetic appreciation of striving within a particularly structured form of agency. We do not care about winning per se, still less about having more cubes on our side of the table than the opponent, but if we get what we are seeking …
Super interesting book that was maybe a bit too philosophically nirty gritty for me read. The author is a good speaker and has talked aboit it on a number of podcasts, maybe i didnt need more depth than that. But very good.
The gist is: Games are a form of art whose medium is agency, like poetry's is language, and dance's is movement. Nguyen breaks down different theories of play and bears down on one of his own creation, which identifies a type of play that is common but uncovered by other theories: aesthetic striving play. Devoting oneself to the goal of a game ("winning") purely for the aesthetic appreciation of striving within a particularly structured form of agency. We do not care about winning per se, still less about having more cubes on our side of the table than the opponent, but if we get what we are seeking by temporarily taking that goal on, focussing on it as if we care deeply about it, and then immediately discard it afterwards.
He also talks about the dangers of harms of "gamification" where we use these simplified value structures as shortcuts to our supposed real deep value systems. Fitbit steps for health. GPAs for knowledge. Likes for social engagement. Etc.
never always wants to read Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street by Karen Ho
never always wants to read Privilege of Play by Aaron Trammell
Somebody referred to this book on a podcast, saying it shows the emergence of geek/hobby culture from model train clubs at elite schools. Colour me intrigued.
never always wants to read Palestine Wail by Yahia Lababidi
never always wants to read Close to Home by Magee, Michael
never always finished reading Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)
Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more …