Interests: climate, science, sci-fi, fantasy, LGBTQIA+, history, anarchism, anti-racism, labor politics
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Sally Strange
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A swoon-worthy debut queer Victorian romance in which two debutantes distract themselves from having to …
Really enjoyed this fun, sapphic romp through Victorian England. Characters are engaging, plot is pleasantly twisty, historical call-outs are satisfying.
Looking for your one shot to rise to the "top of the pots" in the …
A few chapters in and I am really enjoying this. I think it compares favorably to "Space Opera" by Cat Valente which I never finished.
Science fiction and East Asian myth combine in this dazzling retelling of the rise of …
The thing I loved most about this book is the main character. She is ruthless. Her goal at the beginning of the book is to get revenge on the boy who murdered her older sister, and she does that--WITHIN the first few chapters. Then she goes on to unapologetically kill and torture several many more of her enemies. Maybe it's just me living in an age of rising facism, but I feel like we could use more heroines who aren't perfectly good but who Get Shit Done.
The giant morphing mega-bots are plenty of fun, and the setting and the reveals about its history are interesting and well done. But the real strength here is the author's attention to human relationships.
Really looking forward to reading the sequel, "Heavenly Tyrant", when it becomes available.
Sally Strange
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It's probably a bit morbid that I listened to this in audiobook format while trying to deal with my third COVID infection, but music is too overstimulating to listen to at the moment and I needed something to calm my nerves.
It's always a pleasure to listen to John Green speak and this book was no exception. That being said, if you follow his social media very closely and watch all of his videos, you probably have already heard basically all of the information presented in this book. So in that sense, if you're looking for something new, you probably won't find it here.
Nonetheless, I had a really good time listening to this audiobook and I would definitely recommend it to anybody who wants to learn more about tuberculosis and how it shapes our world.
Sally Strange
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We live in an age of impotence. Stuck between global war and global finance, between …
If you aren't used to academic writing of this style (some informal philosophy that defines highly specific terms, then deploys them to build ever more complex thought-structures throughout the book), then you'll find this book a real challenge to understand.
I'm so-so at understanding this style of writing, so I had to sometimes sit with a paragraph for 30 or more minutes before it could really sink in. Often I would just have to put the book down and try again the next day. Even then, trying my best, I know there is a lot that I didn't get.
But when you do get it, it's magical--it's like that moment in a video game where you understand a mechanic and are able to use it without thinking.
The actual arguments put forward have that quality of all great ideas in writing: As you're reading them, they feel like something you've …
If you aren't used to academic writing of this style (some informal philosophy that defines highly specific terms, then deploys them to build ever more complex thought-structures throughout the book), then you'll find this book a real challenge to understand.
I'm so-so at understanding this style of writing, so I had to sometimes sit with a paragraph for 30 or more minutes before it could really sink in. Often I would just have to put the book down and try again the next day. Even then, trying my best, I know there is a lot that I didn't get.
But when you do get it, it's magical--it's like that moment in a video game where you understand a mechanic and are able to use it without thinking.
The actual arguments put forward have that quality of all great ideas in writing: As you're reading them, they feel like something you've known all along and are just now putting into words. But in reality I know that, my thinking and writing on the topic of our stolen futures will be much clearer and sharper now.
PS. This book could do with some whiteboard visualisations. The subject matter is so cerebral, it's hard to keep it all in your head without some visual metaphors or shorthands. Maybe I'll try my hand at some.
Science fiction and East Asian myth combine in this dazzling retelling of the rise of …
A real page-turner with giant transforming robots and a truly badass protagonist.
A sweeping new history reveals how the Cherokees became a nation as they navigated a …
This is on a deep discount at Libro.fm.
Might just get it.
@jaelyn "Bone Horn" has lots of gay sex in it huh? Who woulda thunk
Sally Strange
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Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas are the most famous married couple of Modernism, icons …
A private investigator and former academic gets an unusual mystery from an anonymous client: Find the secret horn of Alice B. Toklas, hidden from the world under her thick fringe and low brimmed hats.
Needing the money to support her kid and still looking for direction amidst the grief left by the death of her partner, she scours archives and interviews contacts from Paris to San Francisco hoping for a lead.
This book is perfect if you've ever been tempted to spice up your English Lit dissertation with high stakes tension, noir-esque monologues on the nature of grief and copious amounts of gay sex*. Indeed it seems every supporting character with a name is rapidly identified as queer and fucked (yet in a very unsatisfying, grief ridden private detective way); and I am here for that energy.
It strikes a wonderful balance of sincerity and absurdity that kept me laughing …
A private investigator and former academic gets an unusual mystery from an anonymous client: Find the secret horn of Alice B. Toklas, hidden from the world under her thick fringe and low brimmed hats.
Needing the money to support her kid and still looking for direction amidst the grief left by the death of her partner, she scours archives and interviews contacts from Paris to San Francisco hoping for a lead.
This book is perfect if you've ever been tempted to spice up your English Lit dissertation with high stakes tension, noir-esque monologues on the nature of grief and copious amounts of gay sex*. Indeed it seems every supporting character with a name is rapidly identified as queer and fucked (yet in a very unsatisfying, grief ridden private detective way); and I am here for that energy.
It strikes a wonderful balance of sincerity and absurdity that kept me laughing yet deeply invested. It's also a great way to pick up some queer and literary history!
*=Disclaimer: I don't care how subby you are, if your ACAB doesn't include fit lesbian policewomen who want to dominate you, it's not ACAB. Get some standards, girl.
Sally Strange
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She was born Marguerite, but her brother Bailey nicknamed her Maya ("mine"). As little children …
A book so good it was banned at West Point! While books banned by the Trump government deserve to be read for that reason in general this autobiography of Maya Angelou's childhood and youth especially deserves it. You get an insightful and very thorough look into life in the rural South, the pervasive racism, the importance of church life and how people use it in their own ways and an adventure story of running away. I feel like every American should read/listen to it but it's also very impressive for everyone else. If you like audiobooks try to get this one which is read by Maya Angelou herself which adds another layer to the story being told.
Do I really WANT to read this? Eh. Do I want to acquire some of the knowledge inside it? Yes. I think.
Sally Strange
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An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens her new home …
Really really good. I am holding back a bit from full on binge reading it
@sifuCJC Oooh now that the series has been concluded, I think I'll go back to it. I never quite finished the first book. I liked it, I just got distracted.
Sally Strange
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Binti has returned to her home planet, believing that the violence of the Meduse has …
I enjoyed watching Binti grow. And her trials were gripping since I became attached to her.
Science fiction and East Asian myth combine in this dazzling retelling of the rise of …
I'm already almost halfway through because it has been rather exciting. I am enjoying Wu Zetien's ruthless, no fucks given attitude. Given that it's YA, it's better than I was expecting. The colors and descriptions are very rich.
