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Sally Strange

SallyStrange@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year, 4 months ago

Interests: climate, science, sci-fi, fantasy, LGBTQIA+, history, anarchism, anti-racism, labor politics

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Sally Strange's books

Currently Reading (View all 7)

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Mike Davis: Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World (2001, Verso Books) 5 stars

Masterful combination of social and environmental histories

5 stars

This is a difficult book to get through on account of the overwhelming amount of horrible deaths described in detail during the first third of the book. However, the payoff is worth it. Part one describes the settings and the suffering engendered by famine-driven starvation during the last 2 - 3 decades of the 19th century, in painful detail. It focuses primarily on Brazil, India, and China. It emphasizes the human suffering and the callousness of most of the official responses by British officials, who were in the position to the most (or, more typically, the least) to help those affected. In part two, the author takes us along on a ride through scientific history, explaining how climatologists came to understand, partially anyway, the mechanisms of ENSO (or El Nino/La Nina). Part three combines these and takes us back to the antecedent conditions in Brazil, India, and China, demonstrating how …

Jason Hickel: The Divide (Paperback, 2018, Windmill Books) 5 stars

· The richest eight people control more wealth than the poorest half of the world …

The trouble with popular library books is that they have waiting lists and that means I can't renew them but must put them on hold for months at a time...

Also this is a test, I keep making comments on various books I'm reading but they aren't showing up in my timeline

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reviewed On Vicious Worlds by Bethany Jacobs (The Kindom Trilogy, #2)

Bethany Jacobs: On Vicious Worlds (Orbit) 3 stars

The Jeveni have finally found freedom on the distant planet Capamame, delivered from Kindom oppression …

uncertain enjoyment when all loyalties fray,

3 stars

The fast-paced intrigue and backstabbing continues grippingly. While the first book stood alone well enough, this is missing the arc and focus making its success hang much more on what may be to come.

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Nghi Vo: City in Glass (2024, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 4 stars

A demon. An angel. A city.

The demon Vitrine—immortal, powerful, and capricious—loves the dazzling city …

A story about a city blessed (or cursed) to have a demon and, later, an angel.

4 stars

A fascinating story about a city that is cursed (or blessed) by a demon that loves the city and the people who live in it, in a world where demons, angels (and other beings) can affect the lives of people and animals in subtle, and sometimes, devastating ways.

The demon drops hints and alters the destinies of people, keeping the city a lively place, which she then notes down in her book, which she keeps in her heart. But it comes to an abrupt end when angels appear and devastate the city. In her rage, the demon curses one of the angels.

The demon goes through the remains of her city, remembering the people that once lived there and the places they occupied, and starts to clean up. She occasionally meets the cursed angel, now bound to remain on earth as long as her curse remains in him. She rages …

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Margaret Killjoy: The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion (Tor.com Publishing) 4 stars

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy pits utopian anarchists against rogue demon …

Good fun I might say.

5 stars

After The Dispossessed, it was nice to read another "anarchist fiction", but with some queerness in it this time. Two completely different kind of stories of course, but both enjoyable. While TD focus is on a bigger scale, Killjoy narrates the story of a chosen family. It was fun to see the not-at-all-subtle voice of the publisher, especially when queer-related content ended up being "explained". This world is so boring.

wants to read The Russian Revolution by Walter Rodney

Walter Rodney: The Russian Revolution (2018, Verso) 4 stars

A never-before-published book by the Pan-Africanist and socialist scholar and revolutionary

In his short life, …

I'm reading a different book titled "The Russian Revolution," that one's by Sean McMeekin. There are several. I didn't realize Walter Rodney had written one too, though. Even though he didn't have access to the fully declassified documents that came to light after the collapse of the USSR, I'm sure it would still be fascinating.

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Alexandra Rowland: A Taste of Gold and Iron (Paperback, 2023, Tordotcom) 4 stars

Solid fantasy romance

5 stars

I really liked the first half of this book. The latter part sidelined many of my favorite plot elements in order to focus almost exclusively on the romance, which isn’t my thing; this book may be a better choice for readers more into pure romance. Lovely writing, though, and very sympathetic characters as well.

Alexandra Rowland: A Taste of Gold and Iron (Paperback, 2023, Tordotcom) 4 stars

A fantasy romance between a repressed guard and the panic attack-prone prince who he's sworn to defend. If it weren't for Rowland's excellent character writing, it would be boring. But instead it's fascinating. The fantasy elements are nearly an afterthought - the prince can sense the purity of metals by touching them, which is a useful talent in a world with gold and silver money. More importantly, he's slowly learning to cope with his anxiety and accept help and care from the people who love him. Absolutely charming so far.

Kaliane Bradley: The Ministry of Time (Hardcover, 2024, Simon & Schuster) 4 stars

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and …

I paused reading because I started caring about the characters, and then there was a plot twist that makes me suspect things are going to turn out very poorly for them. I mean that has been heavily foreshadowed since the beginning but still. I don't have room in my life for getting upset about fictional characters right now.