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Vineland, a zone of blessed anarchy in northern California, is the last refuge of hippiedom, …
I was really into the setup and worldbuilding and then it kinda became a slog about halfway through. Still happy I read it though.
In the linked stories of Reservoir Bitches, thirteen Mexican women prod the bitch that is …
Read the whole book on half a plane ride. It was really easy to get into and the payoff of the connections between the stories happens pretty fast. Its like, so so violent but I think if you read the summary you know what youre getting into. This is maybe the 3 or 4th book I've read that Julia Sanches has translated and I've really liked all of them.
In the distant future, humans are on the verge of extinction and have settled in …
This was kinda vague and difficult to follow until basically the last 50 pages where some stuff coalesced and I ended up reeeeally liking it. FFO vibey Japanese fiction and impressionistic ruminations on the future of humanity (or lack thereof)
Thelonius "Monk" Ellison is an erudite, accomplished but seldom-read author who insists on writing obscure literary papers rather than the …
Eliot’s epic of 19th century provincial social life, set in a fictitious Midlands town in …
Its about halfway through March and I am not halfway through Middlemarch :/ I got rage distracted by the Spotify book for a few days. Back on Middlemarch though. I march on. #middlemarchMarch
An unsparing investigation into Spotify’s origins and influence on music, weaving unprecedented reporting with incisive …
The stuff about musician nonpayment/payola is interesting and well-documented here (including efforts to unionize/resist/subvert it by musicians). Getting paid for music isn't something i personally care about, but the book does a good job and tying it to broader problems that exist right now wrt labour and the gig work economy, which is very relevant to the types of work I do (and as a participant in all this). HOWEVER, as a punk the real brain-breaker was solidifying my understanding of the tech end of how big data analysis and playlist curation shape broad understandings of genre and shape how people make (and consume) music. The example explored in the book was hyperpop but I can see exactly how hardcore and punk slot in. All the evils of the regular ol music industry plus unhinged levels of digital surveillance and squeezing every possible drop of money and attention out of …
The stuff about musician nonpayment/payola is interesting and well-documented here (including efforts to unionize/resist/subvert it by musicians). Getting paid for music isn't something i personally care about, but the book does a good job and tying it to broader problems that exist right now wrt labour and the gig work economy, which is very relevant to the types of work I do (and as a participant in all this). HOWEVER, as a punk the real brain-breaker was solidifying my understanding of the tech end of how big data analysis and playlist curation shape broad understandings of genre and shape how people make (and consume) music. The example explored in the book was hyperpop but I can see exactly how hardcore and punk slot in. All the evils of the regular ol music industry plus unhinged levels of digital surveillance and squeezing every possible drop of money and attention out of both consumers and artists (who, spoiler alert, are also considered as consumers). Evil genocide-mongering billionaires. Everything is bad about Spotify. I knew it was bad bad but actually learning how the sausage gets made is truly horrifying. I am so upset. Preemptive apologies to everyone I will punish about this topic in the near future. I hope people who use the platform (in both senses) will read this.
An unsparing investigation into Spotify’s origins and influence on music, weaving unprecedented reporting with incisive …
I liked the podcast interview I heard with the author. I kind of knew it was gonna be the kind of book where you could mostly listen to an interview and get all the highlights. This book is moderately interesting and very very depressing. techwontsave.us/episode/262_how_spotify_remade_the_music_industry_w_liz_pelly
Eliot’s epic of 19th century provincial social life, set in a fictitious Midlands town in …
#Middlemarch March is off to a strong start. Yesterday I read the first few chapters on my kobo, realized the file I had was kind of busted (no paragraph breaks) so I got another one. And then I decided that I actually wanted to read it on paper so I popped out to Encore and easily found a used copy for $8. The copy I got is not the nicest edition but it'll do. The first 13 pages have kind of absurd amounts of underlining and notes and then nothing... did the previous owner give up? It took me a few pages to get used to the antiquated writing style but honestly its really engrossing so far.
Eliot’s epic of 19th century provincial social life, set in a fictitious Midlands town in …
Middlemarch March LFG
How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand …
Really enjoyed the first few chapters devoted to debunking stuff like alien abductions and ESP, promoting an approach to the world that is both filled with curiosity and wonder but also critical. I was paralyzingly afraid of a lot of this stuff as a kid and still get creeped out when I'm alone or in a bad mental state, so it was a nice comfort read in that regard. The latter chapters were kind of over the place and a bit self-indulgent, from responses to his work on this topic to [mostly valid] whining about not enough science funding, the state of education, and how democracy is definitely gonna collapse if we don't do something ASAP about the widespread culture of superstition and gullibility (RIP)
A cornerstone of world literature and a monument to the power of storytelling, the Arabian …
Didn't finish this cover to cover, but read the main bulk of stories (there are many many notes, sources, alt versions of texts etc). I might try to track down a hard copy of this, if not to have at least to look at because its chock full of illustrations and they're incredible. I read a lot of new fiction and I decided I wanted to challenge that habit a bit this year, so for my first big book I went reeeeeal old. Excellent, if too effective bedtime reading (the whole book is literally bedtime stories) means I usually fell asleep after a few pages and it took me over a month to finish. This is the first collection of 1001 nights stories translated by a woman (british-syrian translator Yasmine Seale), and her input in the selections highlighted stories with strong and prominent women characters, as well as pushing back …
Didn't finish this cover to cover, but read the main bulk of stories (there are many many notes, sources, alt versions of texts etc). I might try to track down a hard copy of this, if not to have at least to look at because its chock full of illustrations and they're incredible. I read a lot of new fiction and I decided I wanted to challenge that habit a bit this year, so for my first big book I went reeeeeal old. Excellent, if too effective bedtime reading (the whole book is literally bedtime stories) means I usually fell asleep after a few pages and it took me over a month to finish. This is the first collection of 1001 nights stories translated by a woman (british-syrian translator Yasmine Seale), and her input in the selections highlighted stories with strong and prominent women characters, as well as pushing back against the orientalist vibe of previous editions. All that said, the stories are also genuinely delightful and fun and wacky, wrapped up into a compelling meta-narrative. All in all really happy I read this.
"the following chapters were started in mexico city and finished in new york city in …
Beautiful and thoughtful zine about colonialism and the american project, wrapping together struggles of the past and present with a sprinkle of David Wojnarowicz, duh I loved it
interviews au format long sur les pratiques de la scène punk do it yourself des …
I'm normally really unmotivated to read in French (and I'm sure I missed a lot of nuance cause I kinda suck at it) but this was pretty up my alley and I chomped it up. If you love being punished by gen x dudes about the hardcore punk scene in the 90s and why corporate social media is problématique, this book is for you!! But actually, cool initiative and beautiful book, its cool to learn about how people are wrestling with and talking about the same things that my friends and I are (how punks relate to politics, capitalism, technological alienation, etc) in different places and contexts in the last few years.
Heralded as the most important Brazilian novel of the century so far, this bestseller's unique …
This was incredibly good. I was totally transported into a time and place that I know very little about, and feel changed by the experience, which is pretty much the crux of why I like reading.
Learning more about the author, his perspective on writing the book and how it intervenes in contemporary Brazilian politics has also been cool (one of many interesting interviews/articles: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2023-09/reading-to-coexist-a-conversation-with-itamar-vieira-junior-ana-laura-malmaceda/)
Heralded as the most important Brazilian novel of the century so far, this bestseller's unique …