Rat 🛸

I mean what can I say? This is possibly my favourite book, I love Ursula's writing, the rhythm of it, the world-building, the insight into politics, patriotism, duality.

By far the standout is the 1/3 of the book spent with Genly and Estraven journeying together. The relationship and intimacy that builds between them is one of my favourite relationships in any book I've read - the way that Estraven is devoted to his cause and in that way becomes devoted to Genly. The way that Genly describes the journey on the ice as some kind of joy - through the horror of the cold and starvation he feels such purpose and connection. Makes me crazy.

Also really meaningful to me in terms of what patriotism is, and could be. I love the quote about loving one's country so much. It's so reflective of how I feel about the UK; in love with the landscape, with so many of the people, but that love isn't defined by borders and shut out when you cross that line. I hate the government, it's history of empire and the rising number of white supremacists with seats in parliament, but I always wish the best for the people of my country.

Anyway Genly x Estraven 4eva, off to read fanfic now.

I really got a lot out of this. Obviously learnt a lot about disease and healthcare, but consistently as I was listening I was really appreciative of the lengths Green goes to emphasising that economic inequality is the major barrier today for TB treatment worldwide. Made me think a lot about how healthcare and welfare are not separate, and have only artificially been separated in an attempt to organise our funding and priorities. At what point does food become healthcare? If someone is starving, then food is the cure - does that not then mean that food is an essential part of any treatment? Obviously someone having in-house treatment will be provided with food, but what if they need it at home? IDK these are just ramblings but Everything Is Interconnected So Much and this book does a good job of bringing this across.

While I was very taken with Henry and his writing and his story, I initially found myself bumping up against how often he was used by John as an example. It reminded me of the charity impact segments they do between skits on Red Nose Day - documenting a real and important story, but built for easy consumption for a western audience, not bringing across the real depth and detail of a person's life. But as it went on, my perspective changed; Green does a good job of trying to tell us about Henry's whole life, the complexities, his family and his drive. I started thinking 'Well why are you telling us John. This is Henry's story, I want to hear it from him.' But of course that is on me. I didn't pick up a book by Henry Reider. I probably wouldn't have, even if it existed. I chose to read a book by John Green, a well-known author who I trust to entertain as he educates, someone who is familiar to me. Thanks to this book, I have now checked out Henry's YouTube channel, and have enjoyed several of his videos so far (One that stands out to me is him celebrating the historical Dr Alan Hart, a trans man who was one of the first people in the US to receive gender affirming surgery and was very influential to TB healthcare in the States. I know that Sierra Leone has a very low rate of LGBT+ acceptance so I thought it was especially meaningful for Henry to share this with his largely Sierra Leonean audience.)

Anyway, appreciated this book. Funny that I'm now someone who has only read John Green's non-fiction.

okay damn!!! this was really good. Isabel and Eva are such great characters, I absolutely love how messed up and repressed Isabel is. Shoutout to Stina Nielson and Saskia Maarleveld for the audiobook because it was so consistently well-read, they were making such great acting choices.

Never read a book before that is this well-written and deserving of mainstream critical acclaim while also being sexy lol. Very impressed by it. Told my sex therapist I was reading this and she was like yes!!! that book is hot!! which is quite a recommendation lol. Thanks Carlin for the rec <3

Really love the themes of complicity, memory, repression and wilful forgetfulness of great evil. I was absolutely gagged when it came to the diary entries - I'd figured Eva was Jewish but not the full context. I love how she was written with such anger and such tenderness.

Really enjoyed this!! Love the way that it plays with form - the testimonies are obviously iconic for a reason. Parts of the descriptions I loved, especially the way he likens multiple things to apricots. The titular story is very sad, but I found it really evocative.

Didn't like this one as much as the other one I've read in the series unfortunately - I felt like Sylvia didn't get any characterisation and the monsters anatomy was inadequately expanded upon (which is annoying bc the Spider and Gorgon concepts are very fun!).

I had the great privilege of hearing George Takei speak in person at a Star Trek convention a few years ago, and me and my family were so incredibly struck as he talked about his life, the great injustices that he and the rest of the Japanese-American community suffered, and the way that that same rhetoric is resurging in power with ICE today. It's one thing to know the facts and figures, it's another to hear personal testimony.

There's so much in this book I'm impressed with. I really like the way it talks about different choices that people made, respectful of all decisions made by different Japanese-American families to keep safe or strong or true to themselves. Example: I love that this book pays remembrance to the enlisted Japanese-American soldiers who fought the fascist regimes in Italy and German-occupied territories, but gives equal appreciation and respect to the people who chose to refuse to enlist as a protest of America's violation of their human rights.

I also appreciate the theme of participatory democracy. Politics isn't voting once every 4 years, it's turning up, being a part of your community, using any platform you have to educate and advocate.

There's a few odd lines in this book that stick out to me a bit American-exceptionalist but I don't think it bothers me much - they are the opinions of people in the book, not something the book is trying to get you to agree with.

Love that this book includes a link to teaching resources/lesson plans based on this. Maybe I can convince one of the teachers I work with to use it.

It's fine, it's good, but it's not really adding a great deal to the Murderbot franchise that we didn't already have. The first 25% of this is essentially a recap. Far and away the standout in this is Miki <3 Great character.

I think I'll have to take a little break from this series as this felt like it was getting a little repetitive. I'm still really excited to see where it's going, and I really want to see Mensah and Murderbot reunite again, but I was like ok ok speed it up.

I think this really would have helped me out when I was early on my journey to understanding my depression and anxiety, granting myself compassion and grace a little more, not setting unreasonable expectations. As it is, I have been diagnosed for over 6 years, and some of this had lost its relevancy to me. I keep on getting caught up on people saying 'it's okay to ask for help' - I've heard it not only from this book but from a whole hoard of medical professionals. I'm fortunate to have a partner who supports me daily and a boss who accomodates my special needs, they do help me have fewer terrible moments. But whenever I've had a really bad time, a mental health crisis, and I've gone to the people who I'm supposed to reach out for (GPs, crisis lines, NHS stress team), they've just asked me why I'm there and if I understand that there's not a magic wand they can wave that will solve everything for me. Honestly doesn't seem like there's any point in asking for help any more. I think I just get disillusioned, thinking about how there seem to be so many things that can bring so many people out of depression, but never me.

One thing that did still work for me was thinking about how things pass. While I was reading this I was feeling very depressed and everything felt dry and meaningless. I know things sometimes do have meaning to me so I could appreciate the words in the book that reminded me that sometimes time just needs to pass for you to feel differently. (TBH I'm still struggling to feel like anything matters, but it's a bit better than it was).

I'm glad I read this though, there's an element of comfort to it, relating it to my past self. I think this book is well executed and will make a really important read to some people - just not quite me.

It is cute to see more from ART/Peri and how humans interact with different kinds of bot.

This did mostly feel like a mid chapter of a murderbot book, but hey why not! It's fun.

This new Nico series has been such a hit with me (yes yes, water is wet). I knew I would really like having that focus on Nico (I mean c'mon hes a gay emo son of Hades), but it was unexpected to me how much I like the combo of Mark Oshiro and Riordan more that just Riordan alone. So far these books have been way less formulaic than previous installments, and have dwelt for longer on more serious emotions. I find Riordan's dad jokes charming in a cringe kind of way, but I think Oshiro tempers that somewhat, which I like.

I really like the themes of redemption, restorative justice, and working through your feelings. Hazel is one of my favs and I loved seeing her here. The characters do do a bit of 'therapy speak' which I have no time for in adult fiction but actually really appreciate in something written for this demographic. Like yeah, kids need to know that big feelings don't have to be your enemy, and that punishment for punishment's sake is bad.

The scene with Hades actually made me tear up.

sooo fun to read. Clark Henley is a joy, the humour (while sometimes very dated) did really get me, and I looove the photographs. Great to read something like this that's prior to the full swing of the AIDS epidemic. Clark Henley your humour and insight will be remembered!!

As someone who wants to be more masc, this is so reminiscent of internal conversations with myself sometimes (don't cross your legs, speak in monotone etc).

This one was so silllayy but I still enjoyed a lot. I had a really vivid dream last night that i was in a strange house like this so I got the Immersive Experience.

I wish there were more pictures/blueprints tbh but I dont know what point it would serve.

omggg this queer thruple need to learn some basic self-preservation these guys were stressing me out!!!

love this continuation, the introduction of ART and world-building. Hope we get more developement of sex-bots and general bot-gender in the future.

Matt Parker is so fun, I love when someone is just obsessed with maths and problem solving.

Some excellent stuff, mixed in with stuff that I already knew and some stuff I don't think necessaily works as well in the written medium. I saw Matt Parker in person at the fringe and I think his enthusiasm and visualisations come across a lot more fun in that way. Kind of would have preferred the audiobook but then I wouldn't be able to see the diagrams?

fave bits of maths from this - imagined 4D aliens, different infinities, knot theory, mobius loops.

Fluctuated between thinking that this was brilliant and that it was extremely shallow. I think I landed towards the latter, but I did find it a really interesting read, and thought it had interesting things to say about acceptable seeing suffering as noble, and praising people rather than actually helping them. I thought a lot about Sarah Z's new videoessay on 'misery memoirs', where she talks about how feeling strong emotions from reading about 'noble' suffering can absolve people from feeling guilt.

I found both Pannonique and Zdena to be interesting characters but I'm not sure what to make of Zdena's arc and her predatory desire for Pannonique.

The book seems concerned with asking questions about what makes a person good and evil, and whether someone can be redeemed. I don't think it tackles this with much insight, and not much insight about concentration camps either. I wish Nothomb could have told this story in a way that just centred media/public response to horrors, because I think that was what was most interesting about this book.

Yay! I love when murder mysteries are fun! It's funny because a lot of the reasons this could be considered 'bad writing' are why I liked it so much. The mystery is maybe over-explained but in a fun way where it means you have a chance at solving it. The point of view and narrative twists and linkages between stories are very well done.

it is funny that the last pictures' explanations barely make any sense lol but I still dig

Love so much of this, has really deepened my way of thinking about nature, reciprocity, and the value of plants innately as organisms. There's a playfulness to how Wall Kimmerer talks (I love WallMarsh), and more than that a sincerity. At some points I had to stop myself from finding it cloying and remind myself that sometimes earnestness and true belief can come across as corny.

Highlights include: rewilding and cleaning the pond, Sky Woman story, the study of sweetgrass, working with the students on the cattails, learning the Potowotomi language through post-its. Also love that she is consistently political, talking about colonialisation, the war in Iraq, the attempted genocide of indigenous peoples and suppression of language, the unhealthy "infinite growth" of capitalism and the climate change it has caused, the conflict of the American identity reconciling that it is a country founded by colonising immigrants that remains deeply phobic of modern immigrants.

Using her ex-partner's attempted suicide in a car as an example of discomfort with artificial surroundings is crazyyy work. It's well written but I'm not sure that's ethical.

Parts of the book were overly long or repetitive but I did really enjoy and I'll be thinking of this for a long time.

Fun!!! My first time reading something like this and I did really enjoy lol. Some of it is genuinely very hot and some if it is just very funny. Currently watching A Discovery of Witches and I kept thinking about the worldbuilding comparison.

They keep saying they shouldn't be fired but besties are literally not doing a single bit of work lol. And they deserve hell for installing a sparkling water dispenser. Unless this is set in Germany in which case I respect it as part of their culture 🙏

I've never had so much fun reading something that I so disagree with! SCUM flips so wildly from genuine insight, to rebellion, to fascism, to bioessentialism, to just the most ridiculous lack of scientific understanding I've read since the Cass report. It's a wild ride.

Love how groovin this is, and how she consistently says women should be arrogant.

Funny that I read this not knowing that Solanas shot Andy Warhol. Like ohhhh the section about hating Great Artists is Personallll.

love, just extremely well executed. Murderbot needs access to tumblr soo bad. One of the most fun POVs I've ever read, and a really well-actualised use of tech-communication for the plot and humour. Such a fun little bite of Scifi, will be reading the sequels.

didnt really live up to expectations, as most of the essays either talked about scifi in the broadest and most obvious terms ("imagination is what makes us human" girl how do you know that a bee doesnt dream?), or in minutiae that aren't even that interesting if you know the very specific subject. There were a few things that stood out to me, some of the essays were more enjoyable, but overall felt like the editors should have sought essays on topics that have an essay-length-amount to say about them (eg. an essay on eco-fables, an essay on time travel writing, an essay on digital companionship). Did provide ok food for thought tho.

I dig how weird this was. I've never read a book before that has such a full-sensory set of descriptions, the smells and the textures described were so evocative to me. Literary scifi is just A+.

*Spoilers* I wish we found out a little more of what happened - I appreciate the vagueness in some ways, but I could have done with knowing about 10% more.

wild wild wild. a group of the most messed up characters I've ever read in my life and I love to see it. reading the last part of Ahegao on the train was such a bad idea lol. Possibly the best writing I've ever read on the topic of internet culture or performative social-justice culture.

We hateeee how harsh the world is to narrow-shouldered men 😓😓😓

My favourites are probably Main Character and the Feminist.

*spoilers*

Low-key not a fan that they all have very similar endings (I know it's intentional at least) but I still think this was such a great collection I'm not gonna drop a rating for it. I hope that Kant is eventually ok lol.

edit: Maybe this is a rare opinion but I don't actually think Kant's fantasy is that bad. I did find it a really cringe request, but only because it seemed like way to much to be asking of a service worker for $8000. That's a wholeass movie he is asking for.

really enjoyed. something about Lucy's writing means that once I get about 1/3 of the way through the book, I'm sat and reading the whole rest of it in one sitting.

Love the descriptions of Edinburgh, and how it weaves in class, and the constant thoughtless humiliation of cross-class friendships. The book does feel like a not-so-subtle roast of people like Robbie Burns who became famous household names by taking so much of their material from working class shared musical tradition.

I'm lucky enough to know Lucy, so I got to go to the book launch for this, which was honestly such a cool experience at St.Cecelia's hall. I also used to live in a building adjoined to St Cecelia's! so it felt very cool to read about a story set so close to my own life.

Really solid basis for approaching structured, teacher-led learning and balancing that with more "fun" or interesting maths. Love that he uses so many sources, although as someone with a background in physics, educational research does seem so vague and so poorly evidenced to me. I was initially a big bugged out by his writing style but I think fundamentally education books are either boring or cringe and I'd much prefer cringe. Love that he includes example maths problems because I'm a nerd and loved solving them.

I really appreciate the cog-sci of it all, definitely seems relevant to my context in special education, where some learners I work with have a lower threshold for overtaxing their working memory.

Some of this honestly feels like Too Much to fit into every lesson, but there's good stuff to magpie off this.