The experience I'm about to share is not "grr kids these days" nor "I'm tougher than these chumps" but rather "I'm genuinely sad kids are missing out on deep reading" Where I went to college (the first three yrs), we had slightly shorter fall/spring terms and a one month January term (aka J term)--
Recently, I tweeted about how in 90s/00s it was common to be assigned a book to read in 1 or 2 weeks. Many younger people replied they'd NEVER been assigned that much reading even while getting graduate degrees. Others said they hadn't been assigned entire books AT ALL in h.s....only excerpts.
To read a book in college, it helps to have read a book in high school.
Books I enjoyed from September, including vibrant anticolonial fantasy, lyrical meditations on writing, a postmodern blend of history and myth, and a provocative dissection of cultural trends privileging flow and immersion. ๐๐
Reminds me of something Toni Morrison once said: "All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was."
opened up to where i left off on this le guin book & immediately had to highlight this entire passage bc this is still an issue in so many books
Brilliant essay from @jolwalton.bsky.socialsfrareview.org/2024/01/26/m...
โฎ SFRA Review, vol. 54 no. 1 Features download Machine Learning in Contemporary Science Fiction Jo Lindsay Walton โTo suggest that we democratize AI to reduce asymmetries of power is a little like arg...
Penzeys is great! FYI I'm seeing some recommendations for the Spice House since they're from the same family, but they are NOT the same. The Spice House is conservative & does not have a good relationship with Penzeys. www.newyorker.com/culture/anna...
One of the horniest novels about grief I have ever read. This beautifully queer book came at a time in my life when I really needed it and genuinely rekindled my love for reading ๐๐
My favorites from August! I loved all of these, although it's been a while since a book has stressed me out as much as Navola did (complimentary) ๐๐
Nicked by M.T. Anderson is at once a queer romance, a bumbling heist story, and a meditation on power & divinity. Set in the medieval Mediterranean, it's the story of a monk (a "holy fool") and a disreputable yet rakish relic hunter and their attempt to "liberate" the bones of St. Nicholas. (1/2) ๐๐
@edyong209.bsky.social is a phenomenal science writer and his newsletter is always a treat. Here he does a close reading of one of his opening paragraphs. It's an illuminating analysis that exposes the craft behind good writing, the intentionality that goes into every sentence. ๐๐