featuring two weeks' worth of books because I forgot last week, oops
-Just Finished-
tumblr — Natalie Ann Hendry, Crystal Abidin, Katrin Tiidenberg
I am so excited that academic books about tumblr are starting to be published. Even back in ~2011-13 (when I was personally most active) I could tell that it was going to be a rich well for people to study and I'm so glad this is starting to see the light of day. Unlike the other tumblr book I own (a tumblr book: platform and cultures, eds. Allison McCracken, Alexander Cho, Louisa Stein, Indira Neill Hoch), this book is primarily focused on the mechanical structure of tumblr and how this led to relatively-unique social structures and interaction on the platform. The book focuses on four different "sides" of tumblr, using author observation and participant interviews to discuss the workings of fandom, social justice, NSFW, and mental health tumblr. A good book either if you have been part of tumblr, or never were and are wondering "so what's its deal, anyway?"
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the other tumblr book I've read divides its essays into roughly similar topic areas. However, it is much more interested in essays about specific elements of those, with names like "Reblogs, Monsters, and Erotic Amphibians: The Process of Critical Analysis on Tumblr" and "Beyond the Pale Blog: Tumblr Pink and the Aesthetics of White Anxiety". I also highly recommend this book.
What If? and What If? 2 — Randall Munroe
I love science communication! I stand by what I wrote last time.
Around the World in 80 Days — Jules Verne, narrated by Jim Dale
This is a great performance and I highly recommend it if you like your books Audio (or even just as something fun to listen to for a while). I don't think it'll come as a shock to anyone that this book can be mildly to very racist at times, so like, Be Aware if you choose to read it. It's not notably worse than its contemporaries but it does lean pretty heavily on racist stereotypes for "color".
Netflix Recommends: Algorithms, Film Choice, and the History of Taste — Mattias Frey
Perfectly solid book. The overall thesis is that algorithmic recommendations aren't really all that different in kind from video store clerk you-may-also-like recommendations (which I think they make a decent case for). Also, based on their research, while algorithms certainly influence what people choose to watch, 'traditional' forms of recommendation still dominate people's media choices.
Maybe it's just me, but I thought this book was... fine. If this is a topic that interests you, I think it's well worth picking up—I just don't think it gave me that much more insight as someone who isn't especially invested in this area.
Kugel Western — Mira Schlosberg
A short comic about a gay Jewish cowhand in the American West! It's good! I borrowed it from my partner @mismatched months ago and just remembered I had it and read it. Oops.
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy — Becky Chambers
I loved A Psalm for the Wild-Built, which really spoke to something I needed (and continue to need) to hear. While this book didn't hit me quite the same way, I like the developing through-line in this series about learning how to exist in the world.
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex — Angela Chen
Recommended by folks in one of the Discords I'm in. I think this is a good book for ace and allo people both—I was hoping it would help me figure out which of those I am, which I realize is a big ask for a book. (It did not really help, alas.) That said, a good exploration of both what asexuality can feel like and what it can tell us about the functioning of society.
The Arrows Trilogy — Mercedes Lackey
Comfort re-read. While not bad, they are very obviously fantasy from the late 80s with basically all that entails.
Exile's Honor and Take a Thief — Mercedes Lackey
More Valdemar books, more re-reads. I love a good fuzzy blanket.
-Now Reading-
The Bible in English: Its History and Influence — David Daniell
As previously noted, reading this book makes me feel like I have stepped into Part Six of an ongoing argument, the preceding portions of which I have not witnessed at all. While probably 90-95% of the book addresses the facts of each edition (including translator, sources, political pressures thereon [a number of translators-into-English were burned at the stake as heretics, for example], and relation to other translations), the remainder of the text is spent arguing against prior interpretations by other scholars.
I am largely reading this book for its primary content—I want to know both the source of translations and the social and political repercussions of them (focusing primarily on 18th Century and newer translations, but I'm happy to go along for the ride on the earlier stuff, given how foundational it is). I'm pretty satisfied with that! However, the frequent gestures at what I will describe as "offscreen hubbub" make me very curious about the state of scholarship in Early Modern English history.
Gender in Play on the Shakespearean Stage — Michael Shapiro
Paused for the moment since I finally got my hands on a copy of The Bible in English.
Winds of Fate — Mercedes Lackey
The dessert reading.
also if you are a user of the storygraph and want to be buddies on there, I'm at https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/jhoiraartificer
