The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was created in a surge of revolutionary self-determination that …
This is a topic I've been interested in since visiting Zagreb a few years after its war ended, and wondered about how different its 20th century built environment felt from other recently-Communist places I'd visited. I wasn't there very long and one can only read so much into the shapes of buildings, so it's always just been a sort of "hrm, I ought to learn if there's any there there" sort of thing at the back of my mind. So when @loshmi@social.coop posted social.coop/@loshmi/113568017088684018 I figured this book could be a way for me to find out.
«Oh, sí, mis buenas gentes, sí, ya lo creo que sí. Se puede vivir en …
Finally reading the Oct/Nov #SFFBookClub book. A few chapters in and I'm both enjoying it and seeing what seems to have frustrated a few other readers. I'm curious to see how I find the balance of those as I read on.
The word "abyss" is perhaps the only Sumerian loan-word in the English language, and has changed its meaning somewhat during the thousands of years in which it has been current. Originally the Sumerian word abzu meant the waters under the earth.
Referenced by Tressie McMillan Cottom in a recent article; the thesis seems to be that whiteness as an identity is a powerful political force distinct from and in addition to out-group hatred. I'm not sure I understand what it means for a dominant group's identity politics to operate distinct from hatred of the Other, and if this reference had come from an author I respect less I might dismiss the idea, but given the context I want to learn more and try to understand it.
If you'd prefer a story of women getting justice through any means necessary, then A Bit of Murder Between Friends might be what the doctor ordered.
www.whitehartfiction.co.uk/products/between-ebook
«Oh, sí, mis buenas gentes, sí, ya lo creo que sí. Se puede vivir en …
The little boy met with his teachers and studied history, geography, mathematics, music, strategy, politics, dance, falconry, and all the things an emperor has to know so that later on he can do everything that makes him feel that doing it makes him the emperor.
Not only in the story itself, but also the pacing and atmosphere make this a perfect resolution to a series I've been slowly reading for something like 10 years. The circle feels satisfyingly complete, and I probably will start again with A Wizard Of Earthsea sooner or later.
A revolutionary guide to Jewish practice rooted in social justice, feminism, and queer liberation.
This …
Some good food for thought, but also somehow too much lecture and too much "exercise for the reader" at once
3 stars
I love the idea of this book, and I probably will continue referring to it each month, but I also found the execution a bit disappointing. The authors seem inconsistent on whether they're writing a 101 type introduction or an overview for people who just need some prompts and reminders.
The introduction tries to be a comprehensive survey of what we might concisely call modern social justice Judaism, but ends up being very long and kind of repetitive. It might be interesting for someone newer to that scene--might even have been revelatory for me 15 years ago--but it felt like well trodden ground to me.
The month by month description of festivals and rituals feels the most useful to me, though in this section I keep wanting more detail. The poems and illuminations that start each month in this section are also a delight.
There's a second month by month …
I love the idea of this book, and I probably will continue referring to it each month, but I also found the execution a bit disappointing. The authors seem inconsistent on whether they're writing a 101 type introduction or an overview for people who just need some prompts and reminders.
The introduction tries to be a comprehensive survey of what we might concisely call modern social justice Judaism, but ends up being very long and kind of repetitive. It might be interesting for someone newer to that scene--might even have been revelatory for me 15 years ago--but it felt like well trodden ground to me.
The month by month description of festivals and rituals feels the most useful to me, though in this section I keep wanting more detail. The poems and illuminations that start each month in this section are also a delight.
There's a second month by month section which briefly describes the month's Torah portions, which I was looking forward to but found the most frustrating. Time and time again it describes a parsha, mentions or alludes to how the text is problematic and must be wrestled with, but says nothing at all about how people do that wrestling. It feels like the opposite problem from the intro essay, and an echo of a general frustration I have with scriptures: without a framework for how to deal with the extremely problematic parts, I keep bouncing off trying to read it.
I found this book frustrating because it kept being just interesting enough to keep me reading, but never really seemed to develop the potentially more interesting of its ideas, and ultimately felt like a lot of SFF / cyberpunk cliches thrown into a pot and not quite stirred enough to become a whole.
[#SFFBookClub September; I am slowly catching up on reviews]
Thyme Travellers collects fourteen of the Palestinian diaspora’s best voices in speculative fiction. Speculative fiction …
Brutal, beautiful, necessary
5 stars
A very powerful and varied collection, in which not one story misses the mark. They range from direct explorations of the brutality of invasion and occupation, through some elegiac expressions of exile and loss, through to stories that aren't even particularly about current conditions, and work unusually well together for such a diverse set. I'll be looking for more work from the majority of these authors.