Categories
Review

“Under a Gilded Moon”

Joy Jordan-Lake

Downton Abbey, but make it Appalachia.1

I’m of mixed opinions about this book. It was very well-written; the prose was a delight to read through. But it has that ‘literary’ feel to it; there’s no real closure at the end, a token bit here or there but not nearly enough to leave me feeling like the story has actually been wrapped up. I suppose that’s what I get for reading historical fiction; when the person you want to get their comeuppance is an actual historical figure, you can’t deliver on that desire without breaking the timeline. Alas.

As I said, it’s a pretty book to read; I don’t regret the time I spent with it. I just wish it was a more just world; back to my other genres I go.

  1. I haven’t actually watched any Downton Abbey; I just know that it’s got that above stairs/below stairs split going on. ↩
Categories
Review

“Make Something Wonderful”

The Steve Jobs Archive

I’m really not sure why I bothered being surprised that this book is beautifully-typeset. The story about Steve taking the calligraphy class at Reed shows up a handful of times, it’s very clear that typography was important to him, so of course the definitive book about his life would put a great deal of care into that aspect.

Beyond the typography, though, it’s clear that a great deal of care went into everything, from the selection of photos to the editorial aspect of which quotes to use and in what order. There’s even a one more thing after the index, which is the sort of touch that made me think, this book really knows who’s going to be reading it. The audience of this book is the exact sort of people who are excited about One More Thing, who have fond memories of One More Thing, who dream about One More Thing.

When you’ve lived your life in as much of a spotlight as Steve Jobs did, it’s easy to be quotable. There’s a lot of material available, particularly when the person doing the picking is your official archivist with access to things like your email archive. But I remain impressed with how well-spoken Jobs was, and how poignant some of the quotes were. Hindsight is 20/20, and sure can make someone look prophetic about their own life.

How many of you have seen the birth of another human? It is a miracle. And how many of you have witnessed the death of a human? It is a mystery beyond our comprehension. No human alive knows what happens to “us” upon or after our death. Some believe this, others that, but no one really knows at all. Again, most people of your age have not thought about these events very much, and it’s as if we shelter you from them, afraid that the thought of mortality will somehow wound you. For me it’s the opposite: to know my arc will fall makes me want to blaze while I am in the sky. Not for others, but for myself, for the trail I know I am leaving.

Steve Jobs, speaking at the Palo Alto High School graduation in 1996

I like to think that I’m not all-in on the Cult of Jobs, but there’s no denying that the guy was interesting. The book is free to read online, in a very well-made ebook form, so go check it out.

Categories
Playlist

Playlist of the Month: September 2024

My dad died this month.

When I joined choir, when I got a music scholarship and started the music major, we all joked that nobody knew where the signing talent came from. Wasn’t on mom’s side, wasn’t on dad’s. It’s still a mystery.

It wasn’t until now that I realized, there’s no question of where I got my love of music. Growing up, my dad always had music going. A big hi-fi system in his living room, a rack of CDs beside it; binders upon binders of CDs in the backseat of his car, and my sister and I often had the opportunity to play DJ. He gave me my first MP3 player, and later my first iPod. When ripping CDs was all the rage, he gave me a hard drive with hundreds of gigabytes of music on it — he and his friends had, apparently, been ripping every CD they could get their hands on for months, and that was the fruit of their labors. I got to experience the infinite selection of streaming music a decade before anyone else did.

He wasn’t a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination, but he was my dad, and he loved me.

So here’s to you, dad. I love you, and wherever you are, I hope you’ve got a good sound system.

Hallelujah Anyway – Luke Sital-Singh on Hallelujah Anyway – Single

Call Your Mom – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

Machine Learning – J. Maya on Machine Learning – Single

Beneath Oak Trees – Dylan Gossett on No Better Time – EP

Can I Ask – Yoste on A Place To Exist

Under The Surface – Sultan + Shepard & Nathan Nicholson on Endless, Dawn

Boys Of Faith (feat. Bon Iver) – Zach Bryan on Boys Of Faith – EP

Kalahari Down – Orville Peck on Bronco1

Let Me Drown – Orville Peck on Bronco

Daytona Sand – Orville Peck on Bronco

Want You (living room floor version) – Yoste on Want You (living room floor version) – Single

One More Light – LINKIN PARK on One More Light

Carson – Harry Strange on Carson – Single

Bones Shake – Hazlett on Bones Shake – Single

Believe Again – Luke Sital-Singh on Believe Again – Single

The Age of Believing – Aron Wright on The Age of Believing – Single

I Don’t Want To Lie (living room floor version) – Yoste on I Don’t Want To Lie (living room floor version) – Single

How Far Will We Take It? – Orville Peck & Noah Cyrus on Stampede

Stay High – One Room on Lagoona

Stay Out of Trouble – OPLURE on Stay Out of Trouble – Single

I AM BLACK – BERWYN on I AM BLACK – Single

Little Bit of Magic – Thorin Loeks on Little Bit of Magic – Single

Little Homies – Vince Staples on Dark Times

Midnight Ride – Orville Peck, Kylie Minogue & Diplo on Midnight Ride – Single

Louder – Kygo, Julia Michaels & Chance Peña on Louder – Single

Far As I Can Go – Ian Harrison on Far As I Can Go – Single

Can’t Just Be Me – Vincent Mason on Can’t Just Be Me – EP

Macbeth – Max McNown on Macbeth – Single

Coming Home – ORACLE & Holochrome on Coming Home – EP

Mother – Allman Brown on Second Son, Pt. 2 – EP

Neptune – Beauvois on Dimensions – EP

Kaya – Yoste on Kaya – Single

Asymmetry – Axel Flóvent on Away From This Dream

Zzz – EDEN on Zzz – Single

Better Without You – Dixon Dallas on Happy Anniversary

Pink Pony Club – Chappell Roan on Pink Pony Club – Single

I Love You Always Forever – Donna Lewis on Now In a Minute2

JOYRIDE – Kesha on JOYRIDE – Single

places to be – Fred again.., Anderson .Paak & CHIKA on places to be – Single

Rhinestone Cowboy – Orville Peck, TJ Osborne, Waylon Payne & Fancy Hagood on Stampede3

Ever You’re Gone – Orville Peck & Teddy Swims on Stampede

My Kink Is Karma – Chappell Roan on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

Love Me Back – Max McNown on Love Me Back – Single

Swallows – Bailey & Lonely in the Rain on Swallows – Single

Tamly Maak – Amr Diab on Tamally Maak

Good God, Hot Damn – Hayden Blount on Good God, Hot Damn – Single

Until The End – Yoste on Until The End – Single

Circles – Sines of Summer on Circles – Single

Time Well Wasted – The Fray on The Fray Is Back – EP4

ten – Fred again.., Jozzy & Jim Legxacy on ten days

All-American Boy – Steve Grand on All American Boy

Sleeping All Alone – Dixon Dallas on Happy Anniversary

Faded Evergreen – Ed Prosek, Portair & Driftwood Choir on Faded Evergreen – Single

Noor Al Ain – Amr Diab on Noor Al Ain

5ever – EDEN on 5ever – Single

Sad Girls (feat. Rema) – Clean Bandit & French The Kid on Sad Girls (feat. Rema) – Single

Majuy – Hayden Calnin on All Kinds of Light

American Nights – Zach Bryan on The Great American Bar Scene

28 – Zach Bryan on The Great American Bar Scene

Will You? – The Irrepressibles on Be Wild – Single

Bass Boat – Zach Bryan on The Great American Bar Scene5

Moon River – Aquilo on A Quiet Invitation To A Hard Conversation

Where Are We Now? – Orville Peck & Mickey Guyton on Stampede

Want You To Want It – Aquilo on A Quiet Invitation To A Hard Conversation

Don’t Look Down – The Fray on The Fray Is Back – EP

Edge of Saturday Night – The Blessed Madonna & Kylie Minogue on Godspeed

i think you can save me – Dimside on i think you can save me – Single

Dance (‘Til You Love Someone Else) – Sam Smith on Love Goes

Back At Your Door – Orville Peck & Debbii Dawson on Stampede

Heavy – Peach PRC on Heavy – Single

High Tide – Hayden Blount on Good God, Hot Damn – Single

Glowing – Matias Roden on The Plea EP

California Dreamin’ – Diana Krall on Wallflower (Deluxe Edition)

My Mind (Now) – Paris Paloma on My Mind (Now) – Single

Nobody’s Soldier – Hozier on Unaired – EP

I Forgot What’s Love – Petit Biscuit & Cub Sport on Discipline

Chasing Cars – Sleeping At Last on Covers, Vol. 26

OUTLAW – Cameron Hawthorn on OUTLAW – Single

Version of Me – Harry Strange on Version of Me – Single

Devil on My Shoulder – Dylan Marlowe on Mid-Twenties Crisis

Northern Thunder – Zach Bryan on The Great American Bar Scene7

The Way Back – Zach Bryan on The Great American Bar Scene

July – Hozier on Unaired – EP

This Feeling – Axel Flóvent on Away From This Dream

I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen) – Post Malone on I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen) – Single

5AM – Amber Run on 5AM (Deluxe) WEB

Calamity Song – The Decemberists on The King Is Dead

Sabrina (I Am A Party) – Fred again.. on Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020)

Instant Crush (feat. Julian Casablancas) – Daft Punk on Random Access Memories

Lazy (12: 00 Version) – Elliot Moss & RUBIO on Lazy (12: 00 Version) – Single

Eat The Acid – Kesha on Gag Order

Hurt – Johnny Cash on American IV: The Man Comes Around

Little Talks – Of Monsters and Men on My Head Is An Animal

Sumarið sem aldrei kom – Jónsi on Shiver8

O Superman (For Massenet) – Laurie Anderson on Talk Normal: The Laurie Anderson Anthology (Remastered)

Your Hand In Mine – Explosions in the Sky on Friday Night Lights [Original Movie Soundtrack]9

  1. Went to this concert with my sister. This was the one we both cried through—Peck introduced it as the feeling of homesickness, and not being able to go back. Yeah. Yeah. ↩
  2. music blasting with the top off the jeep over in central Oregon ↩
  3. I’m putting together a playlist for the celebration of life, and both this and the original version are on there. I think he would’ve liked this cover. ↩
  4. I considered putting How to Save a Life on this playlist but couldn’t do it. Time Well Wasted doesn’t have the same poignancy; “and I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life” still hurts too much.
    That whole album is… the feeling of walking down the hall into his office in the house he lived in when I was in elementary school. ↩
  5. I don’t actually know if dad listened to this album at all. I hope he did. It was on my list of things to tell him about next time I talked to him; it seemed like it’d be right up his alley. ↩
  6. This song was already gonna make me sad, so what the hell, why not have the Sleeping At Last version, his covers always turn of the depression quotient. ↩
  7. This was the first country song I could start listening to again. It’s the feeling of fond remembrance, not just sad. ↩
  8. This is just some good “put your headphones in, crank up the volume, and cry” music. ↩
  9. I had tickets to see Explosions in the Sky when they were in Portland, and went to the concert fully expecting to cry when they played Your Hand in Mine. Turns out they did an extended version! More crying than planned.
    I love this band, and very clearly remember dad playing this at night sometimes. I was insomniac as hell as a kid, and this was one of the things that could help me get to sleep. ↩
Categories
Review

“The Unbalancing”

R. B. Lemberger

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one. It’s definitely an interesting world—I’m particularly a fan of anything where the Ancient Magic/Technology gets explained in terms of the current stuff. And the setting is remarkably idyllic… at first.

That’s where my uncertainty comes in; Lemberger created a really beautiful world, one that’s, whilst not perfectly utopian, a heck of a lot closer than ours is. And this story is, fundamentally, about the end of that civilization. Entropy comes for us all, I suppose.

That said, for the setting and magic system alone, I’d recommend reading this one. It’s fairly short, and approachable in that; the names threw me a bit at the beginning, but the naming as a whole makes more sense as the story goes on. Give it a read.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“This Way Out”

Tufayel Ahmed

This is a contender for “most stressful book I’ve ever read.” Science fiction and fantasy are easier; when the stakes are ‘the fate of the entire world,’ it’s easy to remember that these aren’t my problems they’re dealing with. This, though, is much more approachable in scale… which means it feels like the sort of thing I’d actually have to figure out.

Boy, am I glad that I’m already on the “going to therapy” train, reading through someone else’s breaking point that gets them to start was rough. Don’t want to be back there, thanks very much.

All that said, I did really enjoy the book. It’s not quite the Hero’s Journey, more of an immediate plummet and then a slow climb back up, but there’s a palpable sense of progress throughout. You can feel the protagonist’s work they’re putting in, and seeing it actually pay off feels very rewarding. Stick with it through the painful beginning, and I hope you’ll enjoy it too.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Through a Darkening Glass”

R.S. Maxwell

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to. Honestly, most of the way through I was looking at the protagonist like “you’re kinda the worst.” She is, though — bursts into this town and starts nosing around in everyone’s business, digging up the past, and it’s not even a “let’s help people figure this out!” kind of thing, she’s just over here like “I’m an English major and I’m gonna write a book about this!” That said, by the end of the book I was just accepting that that’s what she was like, and she learned some discretion at least, and meanwhile I was having so much fun with everything else going on that I didn’t much mind it anymore.

The overall feeling of this book is… a Gordian knot. It actually did a great job of tripping me up; I thought I’d figured out how everything was going to be tied together into one big bow at the end, and I was hilariously wrong. I think that’s about all I can say without it being too much of a spoiler.

Suffice it to say, I enjoyed the heck out of this book. It struck a truly wonderful balance between some Gothic spookiness, a romance arc, some mystery, a surprising amount of comedy, and a reasonably-accurate historical feel. Absolutely worth a read; check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Cosmic Cats and Fantastic Furballs”

Mary A. Turzillo

In general, I enjoy anthologies; it’s a whole bunch of little things, so generally, even if one of them is bad, the next one won’t be. That said, on the occasions where I consistently don’t like them, they’re an edge case in the way I think about books. In general, my rule is that I have to get something like 10-20% of the way through a book before I can determine that I just don’t like it and won’t be finishing it. With an anthology, I instead feel like I have to give each story a shot… and then the stories themselves are, almost always, too short to be worth skipping once I’m partially through.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that I didn’t really enjoy this one. There’s just something about the way that Turzillo thinks, or writes, that didn’t click with me. Oh well, it wasn’t terribly long; on to the next book.

Categories
Playlist

Playlist of the Month: August 2024

Lotta country in this one, I think that may just be what August sounds like to me.

Hallelujah Anyway – Luke Sital-Singh on Hallelujah Anyway – Single

Call Your Mom – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

Machine Learning – J. Maya on Machine Learning – Single

Beneath Oak Trees – Dylan Gossett on No Better Time – EP

Can I Ask – Yoste on A Place To Exist

Under The Surface – Sultan + Shepard & Nathan Nicholson on Endless, Dawn

Boys Of Faith (feat. Bon Iver) – Zach Bryan on Boys Of Faith – EP

Kalahari Down – Orville Peck on Bronco

Let Me Drown – Orville Peck on Bronco

Daytona Sand – Orville Peck on Bronco

Want You (living room floor version) – Yoste on Want You (living room floor version) – Single

Midnight Magic – Charles Fauna on L I M B O

One More Light – LINKIN PARK on One More Light

Carson – Harry Strange on Carson – Single

The Hurtin’ Kind – Orville Peck & Midland on Stampede

Down Bad – Taylor Swift on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY

Bones Shake – Hazlett on Bones Shake – Single

Believe Again – Luke Sital-Singh on Believe Again – Single

The Age of Believing – Aron Wright on The Age of Believing – Single

Miénteme – Orville Peck & Bu Cuaron on Stampede

I Don’t Want To Lie (living room floor version) – Yoste on I Don’t Want To Lie (living room floor version) – Single

How Far Will We Take It? – Orville Peck & Noah Cyrus on Stampede

Stay High – One Room on Lagoona

Stay Out of Trouble – OPLURE on Stay Out of Trouble – Single

I AM BLACK – BERWYN on I AM BLACK – Single

Little Bit of Magic – Thorin Loeks on Little Bit of Magic – Single

Shadow II – Charles Fauna on L I M B O

Little Homies – Vince Staples on Dark Times

Midnight Ride – Orville Peck, Kylie Minogue & Diplo on Midnight Ride – Single

Black&Blue – Vince Staples on Dark Times

Louder – Kygo, Julia Michaels & Chance Peña on Louder – Single

Far As I Can Go – Ian Harrison on Far As I Can Go – Single

Can’t Just Be Me – Vincent Mason on Can’t Just Be Me – EP

In Your Eyes – Sung on In Your Eyes – Single

feelslikeimfallinginlove – Coldplay on Moon Music

Macbeth – Max McNown on Macbeth – Single

Starforce – Saffari on Starforce – Single

Coming Home – ORACLE & Holochrome on Coming Home – EP

Mother – Allman Brown on Second Son, Pt. 2 – EP

Neptune – Beauvois on Dimensions – EP

Kaya – Yoste on Kaya – Single

Asymmetry – Axel Flóvent on Away From This Dream

Zzz – EDEN on Zzz – Single

I’m Your Man – Charles Fauna on L I M B O

Better Without You – Dixon Dallas on Happy Anniversary

Shallow Water – Elderbrook on Shallow Water – Single

Spin My Head – Massane & LeyeT on Visage 7 (Spin My Head) – Single

One Day – HAEVN on One Day – Single

Pink Pony Club – Chappell Roan on Pink Pony Club – Single

I Love You Always Forever – Donna Lewis on Now In a Minute

RA TA TA – Mahmood on RA TA TA – Single

As Above, So Below – Hayden Calnin on As Above, So Below – Single

JOYRIDE – Kesha on JOYRIDE – Single

places to be – Fred again.., Anderson .Paak & CHIKA on places to be – Single

Rhinestone Cowboy – Orville Peck, TJ Osborne, Waylon Payne & Fancy Hagood on Stampede1

Ever You’re Gone – Orville Peck & Teddy Swims on Stampede

Leaving Home – Ian Harrison on Ways To Get On Out – EP

My Kink Is Karma – Chappell Roan on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess2

Love Me Back – Max McNown on Love Me Back – Single

High (Slowed + Reverb) – ORYL on High – Single

Stockholm (Hidden Tapes Remix) – Penny & Sparrow on Horse Color Two

Swallows – Bailey & Lonely in the Rain on Swallows – Single

Tamly Maak – Amr Diab on Tamally Maak

Unfair Love (feat. Shaun Holton) – Max Cruise on Unfair Love (feat. Shaun Holton) – Single

Composure – Charles Fauna on L I M B O

Good God, Hot Damn – Hayden Blount on Good God, Hot Damn – Single3

Feel It All – Chance Peña on Feel It All – Single

Leave With My Love – ayokay on Leave With My Love – Single

Until The End – Yoste on Until The End – Single

ESE VATO – DOMELIPA & Ozuna on ESE VATO – Single

Circles – Sines of Summer on Circles – Single

Time Well Wasted – The Fray on The Fray Is Back – EP4

ten – Fred again.., Jozzy & Jim Legxacy on ten days

All-American Boy – Steve Grand on All American Boy

Sleeping All Alone – Dixon Dallas on Happy Anniversary

Dior – Kirky on Dior – Single

why did you invite me to your wedding – Kevin Atwater on why did you invite me to your wedding – Single

Faded Evergreen – Ed Prosek, Portair & Driftwood Choir on Faded Evergreen – Single

Close Your Eyes – Matias Roden on Close Your Eyes – Single

Places – Elderbrook & Shimza on Another Touch

Noor Al Ain – Amr Diab on Noor Al Ain5

Dusk – ford. on (The) Evening

Hurt – Sleeping At Last on Hurt – Single

Banadek Taala – Amr Diab on Banadek Taala

5ever – EDEN on 5ever – Single

Sad Girls (feat. Rema) – Clean Bandit & French The Kid on Sad Girls (feat. Rema) – Single

Hesitate – Golden Vessel & Emerson Leif on Hesitate – Single

Paper Money (feat. Elliott Skinner) – Clothing on From Memory

Majuy – Hayden Calnin on All Kinds of Light

American Nights – Zach Bryan on The Great American Bar Scene

Babe, I’m All Yours – Garrett Kato on Babe, I’m All Yours – Single

28 – Zach Bryan on The Great American Bar Scene6

Addicted – Does it matter & Francis Skyes on Second Hand Love

Ketamine (feat. Tobe Nwigwe) – Penny & Sparrow on Ketamine (feat. Tobe Nwigwe) – Single

Will You? – The Irrepressibles on Be Wild – Single

When the Sun Goes Down – Axel Flóvent on Away From This Dream

Bass Boat – Zach Bryan on The Great American Bar Scene

Moon River – Aquilo on A Quiet Invitation To A Hard Conversation

Where Are We Now? – Orville Peck & Mickey Guyton on Stampede

Want You To Want It – Aquilo on A Quiet Invitation To A Hard Conversation

Is What It Is – Chance Peña on Is What It Is – Single

Garden – Charles Fauna on L I M B O

I Love You’s – Hailee Steinfeld on I Love You’s – Single

Magnétique – LukHash on Magnétique – Single

WE PRAY – Coldplay, Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna & TINI on Moon Music

Don’t Look Down – The Fray on The Fray Is Back – EP

Into Dust – Mazzy Star on So Tonight That I Might See

Edge of Saturday Night – The Blessed Madonna & Kylie Minogue on Godspeed

Razones – Ozuna, Anuel AA, DJ Luian & Mambo Kingz on Razones – Single

i think you can save me – Dimside on i think you can save me – Single7

Capilano – OCULA on Lost Horizon – EP

Enhorabuena – Manuel Turizo on Enhorabuena – Single

Charlie Brown – Rolipso on Charlie Brown – Single8

Dance (‘Til You Love Someone Else) – Sam Smith on Love Goes

Doja – Central Cee on Doja – Single

  1. Oh, this hits ↩
  2. The songwriting on this is just perfect, truly. ↩
  3. Very fun to sing along to. ↩
  4. Honestly, this EP is perfectly titled. ↩
  5. Been doing a bit of music recommendation swapping with some coworkers, so far I’m delighted by how well it’s working at getting me to listen to new stuff. ↩
  6. Really been enjoying this album by Zach Bryan! ↩
  7. Very Fred again.. feel to it, on the more ‘chill’ end of that spectrum. ↩
  8. return of the yodelstep ↩
Categories
Review

“Shards of Honor”

Lois McMaster Bujold

Somehow I had mixed this up in my head with the Honor Harrington books. Which isn’t much of a mystery; it’s space combat sci-fi, it’s got “Honor” in the name, easy enough to conflate.

That said, “Shards of Honor” was a good read; it’s got some Star Trek vibes in the beginning, but getting into the actual Space Combat Sci-Fi parts, it has a whole bunch of different vibes to it. The latter story arc got surprisingly comedic; I think it’s just the protagonist having a solid sense of humor as she faces adversity.

All in all, I enjoyed the read! Give it a go.1

  1. This is an Amazon affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I prefer Bookshop affiliate links to Amazon when possible, but in this case, the book wasn’t available there, so it’ll have to do. ↩
Categories
Review

“The Silences of Ararat”

L. Timmel Duchamp

This was an interesting little story; I see now why the collection it’s part of is titled “conversation pieces.” I quite enjoyed the process of piecing together the setting; vaguely in the future, definitely post-United States, with just a touch of magic. It reminds me of a book I didn’t finish, actually – The Fever King had a similar “the USA collapsed, here’s what it is now” kind of vibe going on, although that one was a lot more fantasy-forward.

An interesting read; I’d say it’s worth checking out.1

  1. This is an Amazon affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I prefer Bookshop affiliate links to Amazon when possible, but in this case, the book wasn’t available there, so it’ll have to do. ↩
Categories
Review

“That Wild Country”

Mark Kenyon

I went in with the wrong expectations here—I was expecting a purely-history book, and so the opening chapters being entirely autobiographical about this guy’s experience of going on hikes felt very weird. Over the course of the book, though, I adjusted to it being a split of history and autobiography, and I think Kenyon did as well, striking a better balance by the end.

It was nice that the book had, in essence, a thesis throughout: our public lands are the thing that truly makes America great, and we should be defending them against the predations of… industry and development, basically. And, as a bonus, this is something that we can build a bipartisan coalition around: “Cabela’s and REI” both agree that these public lands should be preserved for public use, if for slightly different reasons. But that’s the beauty of a multiple-use land arrangement; all the outdoorsy folks can do their thing.

Overall, I found this book quite enjoyable, and heartily recommend it. Check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Queer Weird West Tales”

ed. Julie Bozza

“Queer science fiction anthology” might be my favorite genre, at this point. Save a couple creepy ones, the stories are almost all hopeful, and the last one in the collection was an excellent anchor to end on, a nice little redemption story. Definitely a bit predictable in what the twist was going to be, but it’s a 40-page short story, there isn’t that much room for surprise.

The ‘wild west’ framing is also a fun one, particularly in the handful of cases where the authors decided to twist what that actually meant. Really it’s more of a “frontier” collection than anything else, it’s just that “western” is the genre we think of for that concept.

Overall, quite enjoyable; give it a read.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Debunked”

Dito Abbott

Something like 100 pages in to this book I looked over at my sister and said “I can’t tell if I like this book or not, but hopefully I’ll figure it out by the end.” Here I am at the end of the book, and I’ve concluded that I did like it, although I don’t know if I liked it enough to go looking for the sequel.1

There’s parts of the writing that remind me of Terry Pratchett’s works for younger readers; the footnoting style is very reminiscent of that, really, but you can feel the different age group as the target demographic. I think the part I struggled with the most was the plot; the book feels less like A Story and more like a collection of setpieces strung together. A ramshackle lighthouse under siege during a storm! An airship full of strange creatures! A flying city next to a desert hurricane! A fortress library, suspended above the caldera of an active volcano! And, honestly, any one of these makes for a fun setting for some scenes, and a good little vignette, but piecing them all together into a coherent whole is… challenging.

That said, if you just want to settle in for a quick read with some solid comedy, this was a pretty good book. Go in with the right expectations, and have fun!2

  1. The book is very clear throughout that it is Book One of the series, it really wants you to know that it’s part of a series and there’s more books to read. ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Playlist

Playlist of the Month: July 2024

Posting a bit late today—I’ve just got back from Vancouver, BC, and didn’t bring my laptop with me while I was up there. Whoops.

Hallelujah Anyway – Luke Sital-Singh on Hallelujah Anyway – Single

Call Your Mom – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

Machine Learning – J. Maya on Machine Learning – Single

Beneath Oak Trees – Dylan Gossett on No Better Time – EP

Can I Ask – Yoste on A Place To Exist

Under The Surface – Sultan + Shepard & Nathan Nicholson on Endless, Dawn

Boys Of Faith (feat. Bon Iver) – Zach Bryan on Boys Of Faith – EP

Don’t Take the Money – Harry Strange & Mahogany on Don’t Take the Money – Single

Kalahari Down – Orville Peck on Bronco

Let Me Drown – Orville Peck on Bronco

Daytona Sand – Orville Peck on Bronco

CASTLE OF GLASS – LINKIN PARK on LIVING THINGS

Be Together – Enrique Iglesias on FINAL (Vol.2)

The Archer – Taylor Swift on Lover

Want You (living room floor version) – Yoste on Want You (living room floor version) – Single

DAUGHTER – Beyoncé on COWBOY CARTER

Midnight Magic – Charles Fauna on L I M B O

One More Light – LINKIN PARK on One More Light

Carson – Harry Strange on Carson – Single

Take Me Back – Allman Brown on Take Me Back – Single

Lake Tota – Hayden Calnin on Lake Tota – Single

Pig feet (feat. Childish Major) – ScHoolboy Q on BLUE LIPS

The Hurtin’ Kind – Orville Peck & Midland on Stampede: Vol. 1

Down Bad – Taylor Swift on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY

Bones Shake – Hazlett on Bones Shake – Single

I Wanna Die in La (feat. girlhouse) – Jon Bryant on I Wanna Die in La (feat. girlhouse) – Single

iwaly – Shallou on iwaly – Single

Believe Again – Luke Sital-Singh on Believe Again – Single

The Age of Believing – Aron Wright on The Age of Believing – Single

Data – Aweezy on Data – Single

The River – Petey on The River – Single

Not Like Us – Kendrick Lamar on Not Like Us – Single

Miénteme – Orville Peck & Bu Cuaron on Stampede: Vol. 1

Conquer The Heart – Orville Peck & Nathaniel Rateliff on Stampede: Vol. 1

I Don’t Want To Lie (living room floor version) – Yoste on I Don’t Want To Lie (living room floor version) – Single

THICKRICK – Dominic Fike on 14 minutes

CHIHIRO – Billie Eilish on HIT ME HARD AND SOFT

Control – Emmit Fenn on The Last Dance – Single

How Far Will We Take It? – Orville Peck & Noah Cyrus on Stampede: Vol. 1

Stay High – One Room on Lagoona

Stay Out of Trouble – OPLURE on Stay Out of Trouble – Single

I AM BLACK – BERWYN on I AM BLACK – Single

Little Bit of Magic – Thorin Loeks on Little Bit of Magic – Single

Shadow II – Charles Fauna on L I M B O

Keep Moving – Aquilo on Painkiller – Single

Shadow I – Charles Fauna on L I M B O

Little Homies – Vince Staples on Dark Times

Midnight Ride – Orville Peck, Kylie Minogue & Diplo on Midnight Ride – Single

Heavy (feat. Kiiara) – Linkin Park on One More Light

Black&Blue – Vince Staples on Dark Times

Louder – Kygo, Julia Michaels & Chance Peña on Louder – Single

euphoria – Kendrick Lamar on euphoria – Single

Far As I Can Go – Ian Harrison on Far As I Can Go – Single

Can’t Just Be Me – Vincent Mason on Can’t Just Be Me – EP

In Your Eyes – Sung on In Your Eyes – Single

feelslikeimfallinginlove – Coldplay on Moon Music

Cologne – Emmit Fenn on Cologne – Single

Bad Advice – The Chainsmokers & ELIO on No Hard Feelings – EP

Dark – Does it matter & Francis Skyes on Dark – Single

Hurt People (feat. Madison Love) – Two Feet on A 20 Something F**k

DLR Freestyle – Zino Vinci on TFL Blues – EP

Wash It Away – Axel Flóvent on Away From This Dream

Magic Johnson – Aweezy on #Weezyforpresident – EP

Action Film (feat. Barletino) – Daara on Restricted Area

Touch the Surface – JOEL on Touch the Surface – Single

Macbeth – Max McNown on Macbeth – Single

Starforce – Saffari on Starforce – Single

Coming Home – ORACLE & Holochrome on Coming Home – EP

Jupiter – Beauvois on Dimensions – EP

Mother – Allman Brown on Second Son, Pt. 2 – EP

Neptune – Beauvois on Dimensions – EP

Kaya – Yoste on Kaya – Single1

Oblivion (Live at Hangar 30) – SYML on LIVE AT HANGAR 30

A.C. – Two Feet on A.C. – Single

Gather Together – EMBRZ on Gather Together

THE GREATEST – Billie Eilish on HIT ME HARD AND SOFT

Asymmetry – Axel Flóvent on Away From This Dream

Where We’d Be (feat. Tailor) – OCULA on Where We’d Be (feat. Tailor)

Zero – Octavian on Zero – Single2

Renegades – X Ambassadors on VHS

Zzz – EDEN on Zzz – Single

What Was I Made For? (From The Motion Picture “Barbie”) – Billie Eilish on What Was I Made For? (From The Motion Picture “Barbie”) – Single

Carousel – cln on Carousel – Single

I’m Your Man – Charles Fauna on L I M B O

Better Without You – Dixon Dallas on Happy Anniversary

Lose Your Love – Does it matter & Francis Skyes on Lose Your Love – Single

Apple – Charli xcx on BRAT

Shallow Water – Elderbrook on Shallow Water – Single

Spin My Head – Massane & LeyeT on Visage 7 (Spin My Head) – Single

One Day – HAEVN on One Day – Single

sex – EDEN on i think you think too much of me

Pink Pony Club – Chappell Roan on Pink Pony Club – Single3

I Love You Always Forever – Donna Lewis on Now In a Minute

RA TA TA – Mahmood on RA TA TA – Single

As Above, So Below – Hayden Calnin on As Above, So Below – Single

JOYRIDE – Kesha on JOYRIDE – Single4

places to be – Fred again.., Anderson .Paak & CHIKA on places to be – Single

Wake Up – Hilary Duff on Most Wanted

Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield on The Best of Rick Springfield

  1. Has Yoste released anything that didn’t immediately go into my playlist? I should check, I suppose I do have all the data for that… ↩
  2. This song inspired a feature request for the Music app: “use ML to detect sirens in tracks, and auto-skip those tracks when I’m in the Driving focus.” ↩
  3. Happy Pride, everyone! This song is: a bop. ↩
  4. “Are you a man? ‘Cause I’m a bitch.” is a hell of an opening line, and it just goes from there. Truly excellent. ↩
Categories
Review

“A Thousand Recipes for Revenge”

Beth Cato

Once again, a really interesting magic system—this time, focused entirely on food, although with a fun theological twist to how it works. In short, anyone can be a cook, but to make truly good food, you have to be a Chef: someone in possession of a tongue blessed by the five gods. Add to that the existence of magical ingredients, and the requirement that they only work when used by a Chef and blessed by the gods, and you’ve got a recipe for a very different course of history than we had.

And, wonder of wonder, this is an author that actually followed that. Some of the different cultures of continental Europe are vaguely recognizable, but which countries actually exist and what they’re called, entirely different. Which is very fitting, honestly; given how much of our history has been driven by arguing about capital-g God, if we had very clear miracles happening all the time, a whole lot of things would’ve gone very differently. There’s no need for converting people when the extremely-active deities are out there doing it themselves.

Wrapped up in that setting, there’s a very interesting story: a former military Chef, now in hiding for leaving military service.1 And, separately, a foreign princess, freshly arrived in this vaguely-France-inspired country to be married to their crown prince, sealing an alliance of their kingdoms. Where it gets fun is finding all the places their stories intersect; early on, it’s just a brief flash of “based on timing, I think that coach the Chef saw go by was taking the princess to the ball!” But as the story goes, you can find more and more moments like that.

Towards the end, the plot gets absolutely wild. Somewhere between an M. Night Shyamalan twist and a well-done Marvel story, in how it feels, but that’s all the spoilers you’ll get from me. Go read the book!2

  1. And, for reference on what time period we’re vaguely in, several of the chapter-start quotes pull from regulations and other materials that very clearly state that a Chef is the property of the Crown. ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩