User Profile

Elise

throatmuppet@ramblingreaders.org

Joined 1 year, 6 months ago

She/Her. 20s. Most of my reading is trying to keep up with my book club. On my own I like SF/F, trans lit and sapphic romance, as well as some non-fiction about topics I find fascinating, like dance music, videogames, psychoactive substances, computers and the occult. I also try to read theory, classics and more academic works, though I've struggled with that since I was younger. I track my manga reading seperately. My main fedi is currently @throatmuppet@xyzzy.link.

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Deb Chachra: How Infrastructure Works (2023, Penguin Publishing Group) 5 stars

A new way of seeing the essential systems hidden inside our walls, under our streets, …

If infrastructural systems are a physical manifestation of social cooperation, that also means they're a physical manifestation of the values and norms for the group. So as part of the transition from a service to a utility, this idea of what's "normal" also undergoes a transition.

How Infrastructure Works by 

avatar for throatmuppet Elise boosted
Katrin Tiidenberg, Crystal Abidin, Natalie Ann Hendry: Tumblr (2021, Polity Press, Polity) No rating

Silosociality

No rating

I was not a big tumblr user - tinkered here and there. This book is a great account of tumblr's technical affordances as well as its cultural significance. It's written by insiders, which I think brings a lot to the analysis. I read it for research on federated/decentralized networks, and that meant I was most drawn to their concept of "silosociality."

The authors argue that tumblr has a shared sensibility, oriented toward social justice and creating "safe space." They describe that sensibility in terms of silosociality, which involved the maintenance of boundaries that is not always creating cozy, happy places. There's a toxic side to it. Still, even with that toxicity, silosociality need not always be demonized - it's a different way of thinking about how we gather (online or offline).

"Tumblr users experience tumblr in silos that are defined by people's shared interests, but sustained through inward-facing shared vernacular …

John Wiswell: Someone You Can Build a Nest In (2024, DAW) 5 stars

Discover this creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romance—from the perspective of the monster—by Nebula Award-winning debut …

It should be my favorite book ever- I think it says a lot that it's not

3 stars

I'm about to be pretty harsh here, but before that, I will say- this book makes for great conversation at book club, and Shesheshen's and Homily's real interactions- what few they have - are heartwarming, and there's rare moments where I felt real connections with the people and world.

Often, though, Wiswell resorts to whedonesque quips, and characters are generally flat and uninteresting. There's some very hamfisted jamming in of modern terminology at times, and the uniqueness of Shesh's perspective is left unexplored and unremarked upon. Most damningly, I get no real sense for the intimacy and connection between Shesh and Homily beyond the barest snippets, and there's a character that's often the butt of jokes that I felt like was making fun of readers like me that wanted more of that.

On paper, I couldn't ask for a concept more directed straight at me (cannibalistic fantasy sapphic romance,) but …