Sophia (she/they) was born and raised in rural North Carolina and moved to Seattle a couple years ago. She loves the mild weather in Seattle and are outside as much as possible. In a given moment, they’re probably cooking, running, reading, or sitting outside regardless of the weather. She reads an even split of fiction (mostly 1900-contemporary novels and some short stories, some sci-fi and myth) and nonfiction (mostly feminist and queer studies, sociology, urban design and planning, and philosophy). They studied English, philosophy, and creative writing in college.
A bizarre, enthralling novella that brings a middle-age marital dispute to the absurd. Helen and Edgar quietly coexist without much care or liking for one another. When Helen's presence on previously solitary days of the week arouses an intolerable temper in Edgar, related to an attic she is forbidden to enter, Helen embarks on a zany adventure of revenge with intriguing sci-fi elements.
This book is everything you could want in media studies and investigative journalism: it is erudite yet approachable, subjectively expansive but argumentatively compact. Not only does Zavala persuasively argue that the spectre of the 'narco' is a thought-terminating canard used to cover the Mexican state's attempt at re-federalizing political power, but he also shows how media depicting narcos often reify and engender the archetype they are meant to report. Zavala offers his own examination of works that properly place the phenomenon of the narco within material politics.
Insightful and incisive. These essays work to understand what it means to be trans and Appalachian, with awareness that these categories are social products, not intrinsic. Grover's work brims with a self-critical perspective that deconstructs nostalgia and memory while appreciating the comfort they engender.
This book blew me away. As someone not particularly partial to traditional vampire tropes, I was stunned by Kohda's unflinching depiction and upending of them. An ornate and close-to-consciousness writing style made this book impossible not to lap up and savor.
This beautiful collection invigorates and recontextualizes familiar futurist tropes with a powerful Metis voice. The stories range from historical fabulism to speculative fiction, and each story is followed by a note of context to help non-Metis better understand the author's choices. A taut, elegant, lingering work.
Gilio-Whitaker is concise and direct about the ongoing Indigenous resistance to environmental genocide, which she compellingly argues is not a new tactic of settler colonists. Essential reading for our time and geography.
This deeply unsettling collection of statements from the human and humanoid crew of a space-faring Six Thousand Ship in the 22nd is as successful at establishing stakes through minimalist writing as it is at problematizing production-focused workplace culture. The similarity Ravn implies between the states of mind and being of the humanoids and the alienated human crew bears particular mention as evidence of the skill and heart with which this book was written.
This deeply unsettling collection of statements from the human and humanoid crew of a space-faring Six Thousand Ship in the 22nd is as successful at establishing stakes through minimalist writing as it is at problematizing production-focused workplace culture. The similarity Ravn implies between the states of mind and being of the humanoids and the alienated human crew bears particular mention as evidence of the skill and heart with which this book was written.
Holmes' book is an accessible approach to exploring how designs are shaped by designers. With concise summaries of the important points in each chapter, this book makes it easy to apply the principles of inclusive/universal design to design processes.
This collection of first-person narratives by disabled people contain the soul and lived-ness of the disabled experience, aspects which are shockingly lacking in much of our discourse. It will change how you see our world.
This book, the third in Morrison's Beloved trilogy, defies explanation. Candidly, it asks a lot of the reader. But stick with it and you will be rewarded with a riveting, exquisite meditatiion on race, gender, power, oppression, and community.
Non-linear and magical-realistic.
In his groundbreaking analysis of Western depictions of the East, Said combines historical analysis, literary criticism, and a deep dive into the history of philology to demonstrate how the "Orient" is not only an invention of the West, but also works in the service of establishing and maintaining imperialism, primarily of the British, French, and later American varieties.
Lee offers an ambitious and compelling dystopia that seems like a plausible future for our own world--a society battered by climate change, social and economic stratification, and worker alienation--and still manages to provide a narrative of love and searching that will linger with you.
Williamson traces the history of accessibility in American architecture and general design, from WWI prosthetics on to the present day. This book shows the evolution of attitudes regarding accessible design, and especially how these changed when disabled people centered themselves in conversations of disability and access.
Everything you want in a summer read--witty, sapphic, imaginative, referential. And it’s a Hugo Award winner! Hands-down some of the best fiction I’ve ever read.
This novel follows Shevek, a physicist from the anarchist-Utopian settlement of the moon Anarres, in past and present. Beautifully written, sometimes it felt like I was reading a Socratic dialogue or Berkeley’s Three Dialogues. But, while heavy and emotional, it is never dense. Read this book!
A must-read for anyone interested in colonial history and liberation. The Algerian War may have ended 58 years ago, but the lessons the FLN learned and about which Fanon wrote are as relevant as ever.
