Hi Everyone,
Did someone say playlist?
I can’t say that this is a coherent playlist; rather, it’s a stream of what I’ve been listening to the past couple months. I think that none of the transitions are jarring, at least, but I’ve been told that I don’t have a good sense for that, so listen at your own risk I guess. I mean, I wouldn’t recommend anything that I didn’t think was good.
I got through the first book of the Penric’s Progress anthology. It’s a little simple, but good. Definitely would advise that you read the other books in the universe first, both for world building and because they’re more robust.
Library haul!
In order that’s:
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, which I read in a high school science fiction elective. We read some great books, but the teacher was also a basic Brooklyn misogynist and I hate him. Also in that class I predicted the rise of Nazis and AI on Twitter and he said it was innapropriate of me to do so. I’d say “Take that, Mr. [redacted],” but I straight up do not remember his name so it sadly isn’t possible. The Obama era was a wild time.
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. I’ve talked about Martine before when I wrote about Homestuck fanfiction authors transitioning into publishing independent works. I started this book last fall, but someone had a hold on it and I wasn’t able to finish it before it had to be returned. It didn’t grab me as strongly as Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, which I was also reading at the time, but I’m excited to give it another shot. I was a little bored by Muir’s second book in the series and had the same thing happen to me again with the book becoming due, but I think I’ve been struggling lately with my attention span. A Memory Called Empire reminds me very much of Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie in terms of genre.
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Ok so, I watched two episodes of Fran Lebowitz’s Netflix special and she reminded me so strongly of myself, which was not entirely positive because she’s a grump and a complainer. Fuck, do I love complaining. Also she’s a New Yorker to an annoying extent, but that I do acknowledge as a bit of pretension on my part. I called my friend the other day, who’s a fun, sophisticated, down-to-earth, partying, hardworking mess and said, “Oh, you know, you’d love this new show on Netflix,” and she said to me, “I’ve already seen the first two episodes,” and I said, “So, uh, does Fran remind you of me?” and she said, “Oh, completely,” to which I replied, “Well, you can be the Scorcese to my Lebowitz (given that she’s Italian and I’m Jewish and she consistently laughs at my jokes and also at me).”
Anyway, Lebowitz mentions The Age of Innocence in an episode and so I thought what the hell. Maybe I’ll let you know what I think of it.
Finally, we have Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. It’s weird that I haven’t read this before given what a classic it is. I like to say I’ve read a lot of classic scifi but actually saying that I’ve read a lot of Ursula K. Le Guin and almost all of Asimov’s Foundation series and the Foundation series alone because that was what was in my middle school library may be closer to the truth. I checked out Asimov’s Nightfall as an ebook from the NYPL because that was the only format in which it was available. I had seen it referenced in a TikTok (lmao) and was like oh wow and then I come to find it’s one of his more famous works. Well anyway, I don’t do well with digital books which is bizarre considering the 100k+ word fanfics I regularly consume but something about genre being adapted to the format. I’m unsure if I’ll finish it which is disappointing, since when I’ve been able to make myself read it is gripping.
There is a significant chunk of science fiction and fantasy novels from the last century missing or only available on reserve in the New York Public Library system. I don’t intellectually blame them because I know budget cuts hit hard, but it can be frustrating to go into a branch and see a shelf of like a dozen copies of each novel in a children’s book series (not going to name names here), and then classic sci fi by award-winning authors is missing. I just think that if you’ve won a Hugo or are in the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, which is the second largest library in the United States behind only the Library of Congress, should carry your full bibliography in its lending collection in perpetuity, no matter how trashy one may think genre fiction is.
The NYPL came about as an amalgamation of free and paid reference and lending libraries founded by robber barons who were all independetly and incompetently trying to do philanthropy instead of dealing fairly with labor unions. Carnegie agreed to donate $5.2 million to build branches across the city, by which I mean Manhattan because the boroughs were not incorporated yet and Brooklyn and Queens maintain separate systems to this day. I haven’t checked if they have a hard copy of Nightfall. I’m sure many of you grew up with Carnegie libraries, which have a particular architectural style.
I hate the man, but he was smart in how he established his grants for these libraries, requiring that the recipient city supply the land, pay for staff, provide free service to all, and promise to at least partially use public funds for the continuing operation, not just private philanthropy. Can you imagine, relying on the whims of the rich for public services? I’m also curious if he provided libraries to segregationist states and how that worked. I learned in writing this that the NYPL is actually an independent organization, publically and privately financed. Ugh I fucking hate that.
My local branch library has been closed since the pandemic started, so I have to walk a mile and a half to the next closest branch to pick up my holds. I really wish it would come back since they punished me enough by closing it for renovation for two years when I was 10. Yes, it is a Carnegie library.
Send me pictures of your local libraries, but don’t dox yourself! Or like, trust me, I don’t care about where you live or wish you harm.
//gabriella
(I almost forgot that February is so short, but here I am, early on the 25th).
/missive/24/library_haul
Carnegie buildings are iconic... I remember walking onto Penn State's campus and saying "well that there's a Carnegie building" -- of course it hasn't been the library since the 1930s because we need a much bigger building. I'll send you a pic on mastodon! Also this reminded me I want to read the Age of Innocence. I've read a lot of things, but, weirdly, haven't read that. I'll be interested in your reaction to Stranger in a Strange Land if you finish it!