Powerful reminder of the underlying action required to address disasters like the L.A. 2025 fires.
The chronicle of a fire foretold | Rebecca Solnit
no personal preparation can compensate for the lack of the collective preparation that is meaningful international climate action. The current fires are reminders of the costs of forgetting
Excellent review of “The Whale Tattoo”, which I recently read. Agree with everything in this write-up.
The Whale Tattoo by Jon Ransom review – a powerful new voice of gay working-class life
The Whale Tattoo is a book about trauma, but it’s also about healing, trust and a young man working his way through the gloom like a boat in sea mist. This eloquent, heartfelt debut pulls the reader right beside him, and announces Ransom as a writer of real talent
I was this many days old when I realised that this was the origin of the saying “a day without Lesbians is like a day without sunshine”.
Anita Bryant, singer and anti-gay rights crusader, dies aged 84
“Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
Finished reading: Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb 📚
One of the best, most complex fantasy stories I’ve read. The characters are complex, varied, and flawed, with mixed and changing motives. The magic elements are subtle and limited; but central to the story. The writing is simple but skilful. And the theme of otherness, outsiders, and strangeness are enduring.
Finished reading: The Whale Tattoo by Jon Ransom 📚
It took me a while to get into the book and the story but eventually it just flowed over and into me and by the end I could feel and smell the characters and the story. Loved the ending. A challenging but rewarding read with a gay working class protagonist. Visceral as hell.
Saw Nosferatu at the movies today. Very effective and stylish remake of the 1922 movie. Then read the “Children of the Night” chapter of the Queer as Folklore. Great to compare and contrast!
Finished reading: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse 📚
Post-apocalyptic science-fiction in an indigenous North American world. Fascinating contrast to my recent read, “Cahokia Jazz”. There is a sequel (“Storm of Locusts”), that I’ll almost certainly follow up with at some point.
First brunch at Floriditas for 2025.
Finished reading: Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford 📚
An excellent alternative historical novel. All the wonder of a history where indigenous Americans more successfully resisted conquest and destruction, and remain a vital political and social force. A detective story, a personal redemption and loss story, a re-discovery of lost roots, and the discovery of personal emancipation.
This quote captured much of the feel and writing of the story for me:
“Someday, when the night of wonders was far away in memory, he would probably long to be able to go back to it. But he couldn’t miss it now, when he was carrying the happiness of it in his whole body. When it ran through, it filled him, vein by vein, nerve by nerve, muscle by muscle, from the soles of his feet to the graze on his scalp. Now, what he felt was free. She had freed him by giving him this gift. It could not be repeated, but it could not be relinquished either. He was one self, in one skin, but he could do anything, it felt like, go anywhere. From this morning forward many possible lives branched out, and all of them his own.”
Thanks to @jeremycherfas (https://www.jeremycherfas.net/) for the recommendation!
Finished reading: The Last Dynasty by Toby Wilkinson 📚
And: The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome by Guy de la Bedoyere 📚
Two excellent and recent histories of Ptolemaic Egypt. Great to be able to read two scholarly treatments of the same topic in tandem. Fascinating and somewhat overlooked period of Egyptian history.
Finished reading: How Economics Explains the World by Andrew Leigh 📚
Excellent short overview of economics and economic history, with good balanced coverage.
Finished reading: Deep Black by Miles Cameron 📚
Excellent merchant navy space opera.
Finished reading: Civilisations by Laurent Binet 📚
Quick re-read of this excellent “what-if” historical fiction. What if the Vikings had a larger impact on the New World - sharing both iron-working and diseases, so that the Americas are better prepared for Columbus, with iron weapons, horses, and disease resistance? What if the defeated brother of the Inca Emperor sailed to Lisbon on Columbus’ repaired ships, arriving just after the Lisbon earthquake? What if the Inca adventurers used the divisions of Reformation Europe to their advantage, and conquered the continent?
Highly entertaining, very well written and full of historical allusions. Highly recommended.
Finished reading: The Inheritance by Matthew Lopez 📚
Absolutely breathtaking. Heartbreaking and inspiring. Full of loss, redemption and hope. Essential reading or viewing for those seeking to understand the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic on generations of gay men right up to the present.
Finished reading: The 7th Function of Language by Laurent Binet 📚
Intellectual mystery by the master of intellectual “what-if” history.
