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Good thing I prepped this post yesterday, because I just spent 2+ hours in the dentist's chair and I am stiff and a bit loopy with painkillers.
What I Just Finished Reading
Circle – Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen
As delightful during the second read as the first. And I love the expanded color palette introduced by the waterfall.
Full Frontal Feminism – Jessica Valenti
This is a good introduction to feminism in the mid-aughts, although Valenti is clearly more passionate about some topics—the chapter on reproductive rights springs instantly to mind—than others. Her blind spots are also on display throughout: her objection to arbitrary beauty standard pressures depends on whether she partakes in them (mascara, high heels) or not (cosmetic surgery). End verdict: this would probably be a mind-blowing book for someone who’s new to feminist issues; for others, it’s still a good, but unsurprising, read.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism – Shoshana Zuboff
This was a challenging and thought-provoking book, and I’m glad I read it. Zuboff occasionally veers a little too far into critical theory, but her insights, beginning with the observation that Internet, smartphone, and IoT users are not the proverbial products, but rather the livestock from which the real product—the user's preferences and experiences—are rendered, is timely and vital. Where I think Zuboff misses the mark is in arguing that surveillance capitalism, algorithms, and consumer "personalization" will destroy empathy and the connections that make us human. This is alarmist and improbable. Rather, the danger lies, I think, in the inevitable day when people with money and influence begin demanding that the AIs that govern our lives give them expanded options not available to the serfs. It happened with education, with air travel, with Internet speeds, with political speech, and it’s going to happen to the Internet of Things too. You heard it hear first.
祈る人 – 深井結己 (Inoru Hito – Fukai Yuki)
To last week’s list of ridiculousness we added, before the book's conclusion: mermaids, separation anxiety, theater club romantic rivals (and more tragic misunderstandings that almost render Our Heroes’ love asunder), and fears of professional inadequacy. They do not write them like this anymore.
What I Am Currently Reading
Boys Will Be Boys – Clementine Ford
This is the feminist book that I desired. I sat down to read the introduction, and when I next came up for air I was 150 pages in. Ford’s first book has already been added to my TBR pile on the strength of this alone.
Outlaws of Sherwood – Robin McKinley
Ooh. OOH. A major development in chapter 19 is highly relevant to my kinks. Better yet, I didn’t see it coming, even though McKinley very carefully laid the hints throughout. Oh, she is a good author, even dating back to her second book.
Outrages – Naomi Wolf
The Rossettis, one of my favorite Victorian families, made their appearance in this week’s reading, and I am pleased. Also, I still don’t get where all the hate is coming from; this book is nowhere near as egregiously bad as some corners of the Internet have made it out to be.
蟲師 4 – 漆原 友紀 (Mushishi vol. 4 – Urushihara Yuki)
I wish I’d read Urushihara’s tales in their original format—as standalone stories in a monthly anthology. Collected in tankoubon format I can’t help but try to read two or three in a sitting, and they’re much better savored individually.
What I'm Reading Next
Since last Wednesday I have acquired Jessica Valenti’s Full Frontal Feminism and Clementine Ford’s Boys Will Be Boys, and have read all of the first and a third of the latter.
これで以上です。
What I Just Finished Reading
Circle – Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen
As delightful during the second read as the first. And I love the expanded color palette introduced by the waterfall.
Full Frontal Feminism – Jessica Valenti
This is a good introduction to feminism in the mid-aughts, although Valenti is clearly more passionate about some topics—the chapter on reproductive rights springs instantly to mind—than others. Her blind spots are also on display throughout: her objection to arbitrary beauty standard pressures depends on whether she partakes in them (mascara, high heels) or not (cosmetic surgery). End verdict: this would probably be a mind-blowing book for someone who’s new to feminist issues; for others, it’s still a good, but unsurprising, read.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism – Shoshana Zuboff
This was a challenging and thought-provoking book, and I’m glad I read it. Zuboff occasionally veers a little too far into critical theory, but her insights, beginning with the observation that Internet, smartphone, and IoT users are not the proverbial products, but rather the livestock from which the real product—the user's preferences and experiences—are rendered, is timely and vital. Where I think Zuboff misses the mark is in arguing that surveillance capitalism, algorithms, and consumer "personalization" will destroy empathy and the connections that make us human. This is alarmist and improbable. Rather, the danger lies, I think, in the inevitable day when people with money and influence begin demanding that the AIs that govern our lives give them expanded options not available to the serfs. It happened with education, with air travel, with Internet speeds, with political speech, and it’s going to happen to the Internet of Things too. You heard it hear first.
祈る人 – 深井結己 (Inoru Hito – Fukai Yuki)
To last week’s list of ridiculousness we added, before the book's conclusion: mermaids, separation anxiety, theater club romantic rivals (and more tragic misunderstandings that almost render Our Heroes’ love asunder), and fears of professional inadequacy. They do not write them like this anymore.
What I Am Currently Reading
Boys Will Be Boys – Clementine Ford
This is the feminist book that I desired. I sat down to read the introduction, and when I next came up for air I was 150 pages in. Ford’s first book has already been added to my TBR pile on the strength of this alone.
Outlaws of Sherwood – Robin McKinley
Ooh. OOH. A major development in chapter 19 is highly relevant to my kinks. Better yet, I didn’t see it coming, even though McKinley very carefully laid the hints throughout. Oh, she is a good author, even dating back to her second book.
Outrages – Naomi Wolf
The Rossettis, one of my favorite Victorian families, made their appearance in this week’s reading, and I am pleased. Also, I still don’t get where all the hate is coming from; this book is nowhere near as egregiously bad as some corners of the Internet have made it out to be.
蟲師 4 – 漆原 友紀 (Mushishi vol. 4 – Urushihara Yuki)
I wish I’d read Urushihara’s tales in their original format—as standalone stories in a monthly anthology. Collected in tankoubon format I can’t help but try to read two or three in a sitting, and they’re much better savored individually.
What I'm Reading Next
Since last Wednesday I have acquired Jessica Valenti’s Full Frontal Feminism and Clementine Ford’s Boys Will Be Boys, and have read all of the first and a third of the latter.
これで以上です。
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