Reading for sanity, solace, meaning, meandering. Partial to mountains and desert, climate themes, balancing the heavy with the light.
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Newsletter: In a media landscape dominated by algorithmic feeds that aim to manipulate and extract, sometimes the most radical thing you can do is choose to read what you want, when you want, without anyone watching over your shoulder.
Here’s how to use #RSS.
When pioneering marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen is offered the chance to travel to the …
Interesting review from @loppear
The story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world from the #1 …
Harari offers refreshing clarity and insights in all his books, but in this one he really commits to some foundational ideas and arguments in a way he hasn't in previous works. The nature of information and truth are at the heart of the culture tech wars we are embroiled in, and this is the only analysis I've encountered that really grapples with that. I suspect the resulting insights are on the right track, and the lack of easy answers is a recognition of the volatility and complexity of our times.
Good review and quotes from Maria Popova: www.themarginalian.org/2025/07/31/william-henry-hudson-nature/
Great characters romp in strange pockets of early 1930's history. I even became curious about polo, which I began the book with no interest in.
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I didn't realize this (very) short Murderbot story existed until very recently. It's a prequel to All Systems Red and can be read online in WIRED. It reads a bit like a microcosm of the entire series, a journey from apathy to protecting humans to musing about being protected itself, but in 1000 words rather than a handful of novellas and a novel.
It’s not like I haven’t thought about killing the humans since I hacked my governor module. But then I started exploring the company servers and discovered hundreds of hours of downloadable entertainment media, and I figured, what’s the hurry? I can always kill the humans after the next series ends.
I don't want to talk about the tv show too much, but it's hard not to think about what the books are doing differently. It's really interesting to me how much the opening line of this …
I didn't realize this (very) short Murderbot story existed until very recently. It's a prequel to All Systems Red and can be read online in WIRED. It reads a bit like a microcosm of the entire series, a journey from apathy to protecting humans to musing about being protected itself, but in 1000 words rather than a handful of novellas and a novel.
It’s not like I haven’t thought about killing the humans since I hacked my governor module. But then I started exploring the company servers and discovered hundreds of hours of downloadable entertainment media, and I figured, what’s the hurry? I can always kill the humans after the next series ends.
I don't want to talk about the tv show too much, but it's hard not to think about what the books are doing differently. It's really interesting to me how much the opening line of this prequel story but also the opening line of All Systems Red both having Murderbot ostensibly considering killing people. Honestly, this particular feeling lines up more closely with the opening of the first tv episode than I was willing to give it credit for at the time.
A science fiction retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo.
Tempting review from @loppear
Martin Hench is 67 years old, single, and successful in a career stretching back to …
And a crypto plot that holds up, and I learned about secure enclaves. Some RV life, and of course scammers galore. Sign me up for the next one.
The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a …
Some fairly standard scifi suspension of disbelief is required, but the story rewards it. A noticeable lack of diversity in the humans is made up for in other species. The different perspectives are great, conflict is so much more engaging when you understand the different sides.
Nice review from @KelsonReads.
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In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful …
It's certainly not a fun book, but it's extremely engaging, despite the bleakness of the slow-apocalypse setting and story.
What makes this apocalypse so horrifying, and the story so engaging, is how matter-of-fact Lauren is in describing everything in her diary. It's the world she grew up in, so it's normal to her, though she can see clearly even at 14 that it's unsustainable. There's a sharp generational divide between those who remember what things were like before, but all that is just history to her.
Lauren's present is hopeless and brutal, but her diary doesn't linger on the ever-present brutality like a horror novel would. She acknowledges it, of course, but she's focused on how to survive it so she can build something better.
The setting resonates so well today in part because the societal fears of the 1980s that Butler was extrapolating from are the same fears that …
It's certainly not a fun book, but it's extremely engaging, despite the bleakness of the slow-apocalypse setting and story.
What makes this apocalypse so horrifying, and the story so engaging, is how matter-of-fact Lauren is in describing everything in her diary. It's the world she grew up in, so it's normal to her, though she can see clearly even at 14 that it's unsustainable. There's a sharp generational divide between those who remember what things were like before, but all that is just history to her.
Lauren's present is hopeless and brutal, but her diary doesn't linger on the ever-present brutality like a horror novel would. She acknowledges it, of course, but she's focused on how to survive it so she can build something better.
The setting resonates so well today in part because the societal fears of the 1980s that Butler was extrapolating from are the same fears that have been re-stoked to create our modern political moment, and the problems she focused on remain unsolved. (I go into a bit more literary analysis on my website if you're interested in that sort of thing.)
A groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society …
It took me a long time to read this, but I never ceased to find it rewarding, and I expect I'll return to it when in need of healing. I have read some critiques of the science behind trauma theories in particular, but I haven't encountered any other guide to human healing expressed with more compassion or personal insight. The critiques of the toxic aspects of our culture are in line with my observations, as are some of the few steps I've taken myself on the path to wholeness.
Thousands of years in the future, humanity is no longer alone in a universe where …
Great review from @SallyStrange.
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Thousands of years in the future, humanity is no longer alone in a universe where …
I have so many questions. Sound-based thought waves? The galaxy has speed zones? Ultimately though it was such a good story that I don't care much about the answers. I was super impressed by (since he was writing in 1993) and absolutely love Vinge's idea of a galaxy-wide internet that's hundreds of millions of years old and nobody knows who started it. That to me seems extremely plausible, given a universe with multiple sentient space-faring species. This was SO much fun, and anyone who loves science fiction should definitely read it.
Multilevel marketing companies like Amway, Mary Kay, and Herbalife advertise the ultimate business opportunity: the …
From Cory Doctorow's review:
