february media

[latespring]

A bit belated, since I've been swamped with life; here's what I was up to in February!

Movies

Michelin Stars - Tales From The Kitchen (2017)
Watched this because I have half a silly story I'd like to tell about fine dining and Michelin starred restaurants. It's pretty interesting if you're interested in the subject, but I think it too quickly glossed over the darker parts of the industry. Overall it felt more like an overview than anything else.

Books

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (2020)

• why I read it: This is the sequel to Gideon the Ninth, so I picked it up after that cliffhanger.


• thoughts: I thought this was pretty solid as a book! I like Harrow as a narrator, and I liked the choice to write from second person. I'll usually favor an experimental narrative approach, especially if it's employed with a reason in mind.
  
  Harrow in general is a kind of confusing book, which makes it sometimes frustrating to read. Even when you kind of figure out what the mystery is and what Harrow has done, the book drags while Harrow figures it out as well. It took me a while to finish this book, just because I wished Harrow was less frustrating as a narrator.
  
  Personally I didn't notice most of the memes, but the "none houses with left grief" really didn't work for me. That was not a scene I really appreciated meta humor in, especially because I don't think the joke fit very well. I like Muir's narration style generally, I just think sometimes there's a time and a moment.
  
  I'm planning to pick up Nona at some point, but I need a break from Muir for a couple of books.

Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price (2022)

• why I read it: I think I found this after Dr. Price did an interview with Ally Beardsley and Babett Thomas on their podcast Gender Spiral.


• thoughts: This was very straightforward and well researched! I appreciated how intersectional Dr. Price made the work.

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire (2011)

• why I read it: Found this while reshelving.


• thoughts: This is fine. I wasn't very taken with it, but I think as a collection it probably worked better for other people. Shire's strength in her poetry rests in her ability to craft an elegant line that speaks to a larger hurt. What I wanted from the collection was something of a breath, or a so what. It felt very one note as a collection. Again, it's probably a collection that works better for someone else.

Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey (1976)

• why I read it: I was feeling nostalgic and picked this up.


• thoughts: I can't really say much about this that hasn't been said before. As a little adventure novel it's fun. This was one of the books I read so early I don't really have an objective opinion on it anymore.

Emergent Properties by Aimee Ogden (2023)

• why I read it: Also found this at work.


• thoughts: This is pitched as a comp for All Systems Red, which I can see! Emergent Properties is about Scorn, an AI who decided to be a journalist who's trying to solve a mystery. It's a very short story--I think it could have breathed more as a novel, but as a novella it was very snappy and I had a good time reading it. Scorn as a protagonist charmed me, and I'd love to read more books in the series.

Book hubris progress: 15/100

TV

I started a rewatch of Nirvana in Fire with a friend! I always love that show. NiF 3 sometime this year or the next perhaps??? I keep watching the rumors, but nothing super concrete.

MISC

Listen, it's not a surprise I'm going to rec you an Isabel J. Kim story. Anyway, she published another short story, WHY DON'T WE JUST KILL THE KID IN THE OMELAS HOLE, which is both serious and not very serious at the same time, very on brand.

The story got a fair bit of buzz online (very deserved imo!!) and people like Neil Gaiman, N.K. Jemisin, and Ann Leckie recced it. I feel so weirdly delighted. Like yeah, everyone should be appreciating Kim's work!!!

This also got me on reading other Omelas response stories. If you're not familiar, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin, posing a kind of trolley problem-esque question. (Guy who hasn't studied moral philosophy voice: I'm getting a lot of trolley problem vibes from this. It's me, I'm the guy.)

Anyway, if you'd like to read any of this, I'd read the original if you haven't (there's copies online), read Kim's, and read N.K. Jemisin's The Ones Who Stay and Fight.

Then, iridescentfeline on tumblr has put together like, a whole syllabus about the thing is you're interested here.

In Progress

I've been reading some nonfic, and I'm currently anticipating Hanif Abdurraqib's new book!

Poetry

Counsel to a Bridegroom by Bala Saho

Calculus I, II, III by Brad Walrond

eschatology by Eve L. Ewing

Invisible Work by Kwoya Fagin Maples

Alzheimer’s by Anthony Walton

Nodes of Growth by Cherise Pollard

Saturday Class: Janie Crawford is Grown by Kelly Norman Ellis

Gills by Rain Prud’homme-Cranford

Going to the Picnic by Julius C. Wright

oriño ka-n-an manbo emalé by Alexis Pauline Gumbs

The Black Man’s Bit by Leslie Pinckney Hill

Migraines have their say by Teri Ellen Cross Davis

Incognito Grief: A Blues by Allison Joseph

Walking Beside the Cemetery, Olivia Street, Key West by Jacqueline Allen Trimble

“Thhhat was great” by Hayes Davis

Music

SCROBBLES: 2726

SCROBBLES PER DAY: 94

Artists:

1. Stray Kids - 400
2. ATEEZ - 278
3. MUNA - 85
4. Bad Bunny - 77
5. Vienna Teng - 77
6. Hozier - 73
7. Paramore - 66
8. Ten - 63
9. Beyoncé - 62
10. WOODZ - 61

Albums:

1. THE WORLD EP.FIN : WILL by ATEEZ - 88
2. SKZ2020 by Stray Kids - 81
3. TEN - The 1st Mini Album by Ten - 63
4. Unreal Unearth by Hozier - 61
5. nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana by Bad Bunny - 59
6. MUNA by MUNA - 59
7. IN LIFE by Stray Kids - 56
8. SKZ2021 by Stray Kids - 44
9. Dreaming Through The Noise by Vienna Teng - 39
10. ROCK-STAR by Stray Kids - 36

Songs:

1. Nightwalker by Ten - 34
2. EAT YOUR FRIENDS by Jhariah - 32
3. Don't Forget Me by Maggie Rogers - 28
4. Home by Now by MUNA - 28
5. LOS PITS by Bad Bunny - 26
6. Save me, Kill me by CIX - 23
7. Proof by Paramore - 21
8. BATICANO by Bad Bunny - 18
9. Otro Atardecer by Bad Bunny - 18
10. 16 CARRIAGES by Beyoncé - 18

Comments

[bookishdagger]

I just read the Isabel Kim story and wow! Incredible. I see what you mean about it being serious and unserious at the same time like the phrase “load-bearing suffering child” alone….

Wrt Harrow I totally get being somewhat put off by Harrow as a narrator. I think I didn’t enjoy the book almost at all until a reread because I could appreciate it more as a tragedy when I wasn’t so confused lol.

[littlerhymes]

The Isabel Kim and Jemisin stories were so interesting!

I also cannot wait for Hanif Abdurraqib's new book, I'm so glad he wrote a basketball book!