Reading Wednesday

[sabotabby]

Just finished: The Threads That Bind Us by Robin Wolfe. Turns out I'd mostly finished this last week with the exception of one story and a very detailed explanation of the embroidery process. Anyway. Holy shit. You need this book in your life. Yes you. Also you.

Simple Sabotage Field Manual by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services. This is a nice little handbook from 1944 about what to do if you are just a regular guy and your country gets taken over by a fascist government. Nowadays I think the recommendation is "vote Democrat harder" but back then they knew that fascism was bad and so the advice was more "fuck their shit up so it's harder for them to do a fascism." Obviously a lot of the specific advice isn't really relevant now because the technology has massively changed, but the principle is worthwhile: wherever you can introduce friction, do so, and every small action helps. If I hadn't read The Threads That Bind Us, this would be the most heartwarming read of the past week.

One other thing I found interesting was the section on meetings. The recommended strategies for sabotaging meetings look a lot like our union meetings, and well. You gotta wonder. Anyway, it's free and it's a quick read.

The High Desert by James Spooner. I had this on my iPad for apparently quite a while so I must have bought it at some point but I don't remember when. It's a graphic novel memoir by the guy who did the Afro Punk documentary about growing up Black, punk, and in a crappy little town. Both the writing and the art are top notch and it's a joy watching him go from angry kid to activist.

Currently reading: A Drop Of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett. Finally getting around to the sequel to The Tainted Cup. Din and Ana travel to a remote canton that is currently not part of their empire, but will be soon, to investigate the death of a treasury officer who disappeared from his room and was later found mostly eaten by hungry turtles. (It turns out that the turtles are usually very hungry, but this time they were only slightly hungry, otherwise he would have been fully eaten.) This is really fun so far. 

Comments

[neeuqdrazil]

I absolutely adored both The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption, and I can't wait to read more of Ana and Din.

[sabotabby]

They're just so much fun. The mysteries are genuinely good, and I adore both of the characters, especially Ana.

[dissectionist]

That last story came my way in a multi-hour Zoom call and whew, that was an experience. Also immediately afterward there was a dude who was in the call with us, and he said that he wasn’t sure he should even be there because he’s cishet. But he definitely didn’t have cishet energy, and we started gently picking at him. About twenty minutes later he ended up being the second person to come out in those Zooms. He may well be het, but cis he wasn’t.

I was wrecked for like two days straight after that call. Holding space for a story like Phoenix’s and then gently helping someone overcome their internalized bigotry to accept something new about themselves took everything I had.

[sabotabby]

Ooof. I wept.

[dissectionist]

I did too. Held it together during the Zoom but afterward I was w r e c k e d.

*

[minoanmiss]

Thank you for reminding me to keep reading the Field Manual. On voting: I don't think most people who recommend voting recommend it being the only thing one does. Not that I've taken a survey. But in "if voting changed anything they'd make it illegal" news TPTB are currently trying to put through the SAVE Act, to require documentary proof of citizenship to vote that would disproportionately disenfranchise trans people, lower income people, and married women. Fun times fun times.

Re: *

[sabotabby]

Oh, for sure. I mainly object to only voting as a strategy. Like casting your ballot and then allowing the politicians to run unchecked for four years if it's someone you can tolerate.