worth reading: november 1-19, 2024

well it's certainly been a month so far 💀 some palate-cleansing links:

books:

“The Most Iconic Speculative Fiction Books of the 21st Century” by Christina Orlando
- some great picks in here. I've read all but nine of the top-32 category and I don't think there's a single miss on that list. (and check out that excellent translated fiction category - Samanta Schweblin and Mariana Enriquez fans rise up!!)
“The Seventy Percent” by Yiyun Li
- love Yiyun Li, don't really love the "my students are the problem" take, but I think it's worth reading regardless.
“Power Button” by Rachel Plotnick
- love the concept and description of this book!

photography:

“Inside Nike, Oregon USA” by Alastair Philip Wiper
- for the architecture/office space/industrial machine enthusiasts. check out of the rest of his portfolio too!
“Spawning in Forests, Figures Pose as Human-Sized Fungi” by Jackie Andres
- exactly as promised by the title.
“Passport Photos” by Max Siedentopf
- please click this one, it's delightful.

design/eye candy:

“Type Revival for Film & TV” by Leah Spencer
- so specific but so cool!
Horse
- kind of a fun internet browser concept, but also scroll down to the bottom of the page :)
The Quilt Index
- the website's a little wonky, but what a wonderful database!

discourse about being Online:

“Why So Few Matt Levines?” by Gwern Branwen
- for the fellow "Money Stuff" enthusiasts
“IYKYK: When Novels Speak a Language Only Part of the Internet Gets” by Greta Rainbow
- conceptually extremely annoying, but throwing this in there as a hate-read. reminds me of one of the most annoying novels I ever read where the author wouldn't stop name-dropping San Francisco businesses and it made me want to throw the book out the window.
“Going Dull” by Katy Schneider
- obsessed with the author's personal journey in this piece but also her fascination with these perfectly normal, perfectly lovely-sounding people. "He started posting pictures of something he’d considered too boring to share elsewhere — the specific-to-Wisconsin “rustic roads” he likes to drive with his wife on the weekends. People responded with mild-mannered enthusiasm — informing him that they too like to drive on quiet roads with their wives on weekends."

videos:

“Then Comes the Body” by Jacob Krupnick
- a really fantastic 15-minute documentary film about an unlikely ballet school, recently eligible for the Oscars!
“Pachelbel’s Train Horns” by Pavel Jirásek via Rion Nakaya
- lol. extremely annoying to listen to but also extremely charming. excellent for annoying someone who's in the same room as you but who can't see your screen.

science/medicine:

"Jonathan Haidt Started a Social-Media War. Did He Win?” by Stephanie M. Lee (unpaywalled)
- the social-media's-effect-on-children discourse train rolls every onward...
“This Fish Has a Leg Up on the Competition” by Sabrina Imbler
- what a weird-looking fish!
“Seem like peanut allergies were once rare and now everyone has them?” by Marty Makary
- who wrote this headline and why is it so bad??? it's an interesting excerpt nonetheless.
The Cephalopod Page by Dr. James B. Wood
- it uses this image as bullet points :)

random fun stuff:

“Crossing the USA by train” by blinry
- the author's enthusiasm and amateurish phone photos are very endearing.
“I Love These Oddly-Specific Cleaning Products” by Chris Person
- Chris Person strikes again!