akawil

A slow week.

Books
Extremity, by Nicholas Binge. The blurb says Dickian, but I'd say this novella is more Nolanesque. Three-POV police story about cops trying to solve the murder of a billionaire who died twice the same night, and it gets crazier from there. A hoot.
The Heart-Shaped Tin: Love, Loss, and Kitchen Objects, by Bee Wilson. A memoir-ish look at how attached people get to pots, pans, and other cooking tools. It made me think a lot about the objects I'm emotionally attached to.

Books
Trouble the Saints, by Alaya Dawn Johnson. A mob assassin deals with her destiny and her ghosts in a manifest way. It would be an urban fantasy if it weren't about racism in the 1930s and 40s; it's not quite horror except in the way that all stories about that time with protagonists of color necessarily are. I really enjoyed or at least appreciated the way the destiny worked itself out.
One Extra Corpse, by Barbara Hambly. Second in her Hollywood murder mysteries. I really liked the final twist in this one but the leadup, with Communists and socialists in the film industry, and the side plot of the queer actor trying to get the protagonist to be his beard, were pretty good too.
Organizing from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life, by Julie Morgenstern. This is the second edition, which is still super good as an overall read for organization purposes, but is sadly dated with its tech advice (see: Palm Pilots and Blackberries). I think she needs to have advice on how to manage EOLing your computer systems every five years.
Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century, by W. David Marx. I've had this discussion, though never laid out in this kind of detail or with any kind of thoroughness, many times with my friends and peers. It explains why so much of current-day content is so unengaging and also explains a lot about the awfulness of American politics. They're tied together. The dude's a snob but he's not wrong.
Sargassa, by Sophie Burnham. Alternate history Roman thriller with a twist in which the Imperial historian, her family, and more try to figure out who killed her father and predecessor and what the Macguffin he was protecting was. Nice twisty plot and the big one is foreshadowed but I didn't expect things to go there, exactly. I'm definitely in for the next one.

Short Stories
"'Brokeheart' GPT" or "A Superintelligent Being Reads Pat Rosal", by Micaiah Johnson. This is another one of those where explaining the twist would kill the fun of reading this story. It's worth reading.

Music
Eric Lu, Schubert: Impromptus, Opp. 90 & 142. Another one of those composers whose work I am still learning enough about to have opinions. Played with great zest.
Jenny on Holiday, Quicksand Heart. Female fronted pop. I'm going to need to listen to it a couple more times to decide whether I just like it or really like it.
Augustin Bousfield, Anymoor. Another synthpop album I listened to after hearing the single on Youtube. Not enough to be an absolute favorite but again, definitely liked it.