BOOKS 2023
32) HOW TO DO NOTHING by Jenny Odelll
Enjoyable book about reclaiming our attention and sense of connection with the world. Looks at ancient philosophy, bird watching, performance art, utopian communities, hiking, and the history of social network sites. Had a TEDtalk vibe, but that seems inevitable these days. I found it a good counter to the despair you find in Mark Fischer. #reading #books
Books 2023
33) WALKING PRACTICE by Dolki Min
A gross Korean novel about an alien hunting humans for love/food in Seoul that’s a metaphor for being an outcast/sexual minority. I liked the raw intensity of it, but had complaints I’d feel like a tourist smugly critiquing someone’s lived experience, however, if I expressed them. No one needs that. It started as a self-published novel the author shared with friends. I have to salute that. #books #reading
#translation
Books 2023
34) THE ABSOLUTE AT LARGE by Karel Capek
New energy source has the side-effect of unleashing God particles into the world. This leads to fanaticism and global war. A satiric SF novel from the 1930s. It's fun little curiosity. #scifi #books #sciencefiction #reading
Books 2023:
36) WHEN PEACE IS LOST by Valerie Valdes
A not Jedi in hiding and a not Stormtrooper on the run team up to stop a kaiju from destroying a planet’s ecosystem. This was Star Wars without being Star Wars. It also became Stephen Universe for a tiny bit too. Fans of Andor and Ahsoka should check it out. #books #reading #starwars #sciencefiction
Books 2023:
37) PRODIGIES by Angelica Gorodisher
This book is all vibes. Each chapter is a little stream of conscience vignette about this boarding house in 19th century Germany or its residents. The vignettes are short, densely packed bits of introspection. To be honest in some cases I couldn’t even tell you what the vignette is about or what happens. It's an intriguing puzzle. #books #reading #smallbeerpress
Books 2023
39) DANCE OF THE TIGER by Bjorn Kursten
A novel of paleofiction. It was more Watership Down than Dune at the end. Kursten's main theory is that early homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbred but their offspring were sterile. It was fun and does some subtle things to evoke what life could have been like in the way people approach art and tool making. #books #reading #sciencefiction
Books 2023
40) REVENGER by Alastair Reynolds
At last someone wrote the Dyson swarm novel I always wanted! This is a scifi Age of Aail novel with space pirates. Very sci-fi, but also very spelljammer. Not the most brain-bending of Reynolds I’ve ever read, but exactly what I wanted to read right now. #books #reading #spelljammer #sciencefiction #scifi
Books 2023
41) HELPMEET by by Naben Ruthnum
What if the strange elder entity devouring your husband recognized your innocence as collateral damage in its summoning and decided to do you a solid before continuing in its pursuit of whatever unfathomable goals it has? This was new weird meets body horror by way of historical fiction. I recommend it. #books #horror #reading
@myxomycetes I’ve only read his western shorts, which are rather good. Maybe I’ll attempt one of his novels.
@colorblindcowboy I have the big collection which is great. I've only read two of his westerns. This and "Valdez is Coming". They're both good, but "Gunsights" was impressive. It had this whole media critique I didn't expect.
@myxomycetes OK, that sounds really interesting.