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What did I just watch? I enjoyed it, but it was utter nonsense. There are a few specific problems I kinda want to dig into, but what's the point? It's a very well made, watchable pile of nonsense. Visually, it's fantastic. I could 100% see watching this movie for visual inspo. ( No spoilers )
Mar. 8th, 2025
Book stores and book clubs and booking
Mar. 8th, 2025 04:14 pm* Last night I went to the soft-reopening of Always Here, the queer bookstore. It's got a new location. It doesn't seem bigger to me, but I'll be able to judge more once it's actually finished setting up. The public grand opening is next weekend and I'll probably stop by that as well.
I am one of the bookstore's members, so I get stickers, a discount and social 'mingle' events like last night. I really, really wish they had a system that wasn't reliant on using wallet names. I can't opt out of having my wallet name on their website and that seems odd in general, and doubly for a queer org? Being able to have a psued there instead would be super useful to me. For example, I could use my writing psued so if people google it me backing a queer indie bookstore would pop up. Also, I kept having to give my wallet name last night and that's just not optimal. The membership stuff is through a third party company rather than just managing it directly so they can't change anything.
* I went to my first book club meeting for Parallel Worlds. It was at Kennedy School, which is great because I am a long-time Kennedy School apologist.
Pretty great group, but a bit of an odd start to that book club. It was the bookclub's birthday with a custom cake and bookmarks with the club's history on it and other cool stuff. The problem was that the book for that month was a Delany book and his support of NAMBLA came to the group's attention half-way through the month. So, instead of talking about the book the discussion was Talk about the impacts of authors' actions and art (not with the intent of advocating separating art from the artist, but with the intent to hold space for hard conversations with this community) And, that went surprisingly well.
Fortunately, I read the book for PW's Horror Bookclub first, the reason why I joined the discord in the first place. So, I was able to just drop a book from my 'must reads'
* For next month the poll winner is The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. So, that's a book I'll need to acquire sans Amazon. PW will be selling copies and I'll likely go there.
I am one of the bookstore's members, so I get stickers, a discount and social 'mingle' events like last night. I really, really wish they had a system that wasn't reliant on using wallet names. I can't opt out of having my wallet name on their website and that seems odd in general, and doubly for a queer org? Being able to have a psued there instead would be super useful to me. For example, I could use my writing psued so if people google it me backing a queer indie bookstore would pop up. Also, I kept having to give my wallet name last night and that's just not optimal. The membership stuff is through a third party company rather than just managing it directly so they can't change anything.
* I went to my first book club meeting for Parallel Worlds. It was at Kennedy School, which is great because I am a long-time Kennedy School apologist.
Pretty great group, but a bit of an odd start to that book club. It was the bookclub's birthday with a custom cake and bookmarks with the club's history on it and other cool stuff. The problem was that the book for that month was a Delany book and his support of NAMBLA came to the group's attention half-way through the month. So, instead of talking about the book the discussion was Talk about the impacts of authors' actions and art (not with the intent of advocating separating art from the artist, but with the intent to hold space for hard conversations with this community) And, that went surprisingly well.
Fortunately, I read the book for PW's Horror Bookclub first, the reason why I joined the discord in the first place. So, I was able to just drop a book from my 'must reads'
* For next month the poll winner is The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. So, that's a book I'll need to acquire sans Amazon. PW will be selling copies and I'll likely go there.
* I am DNFing Less by Andrew Sean Greer. It's for the Two Rivers book club, but reading it is actively annoying me. It's possible that if I kept toughing it out that the ending would make it all come together for me, theoretically. But I went and looked up something about the ending and nah, I think I am good.
I will probably go to the book club meeting anyway. A number of people didn't make it through Time War, so it's fine to still go. I really do want to finish book club books, so I did try to hang in.
* Heartsong was my favorite TJ Klune book to date. The books in this series are surprisingly tight without feeling tight. Things that feel like just filling out the world come back around.
Amnesia as terrible, horrifying, a deep loss of self. Love to see it! Oh, this was satisfying to read considering my issues with how lightly it's often treated. There were parts in which the memory loss was funny, but it wasn't being played primarily for comedy. Also, the parts I found funny others might not have? It was specific forgotten things that as a reader you either remember from a previous book and see it as funny, or maybe not.
Again, the book is relying on the reader to remember more and pay more attention to detail that most readers do. Though, since I didn't realizing that [character] was [character], I do wonder if there are details/jokes in the series I didn't pick up on.
As much as I am enjoying this series, SUPER ready for it to wrap up. If there was a fifth book so we'd be dealing with a Certain Specific Thing happening in Yet Another Way, then I'd be feeling very differently about all this. It is very time to call it.
There seems to be some side stories in the series and I want to see about nabbing them before I read the last book. Lovesong, which is book 2.5, was included at the end of book 3. Book 4 might include 3.5 and 3.6, but the numbering system I am seeing makes me want to read them first.
* Right now, I am reading Gideon the 9th. I am going to get through it this time. PW is doing a spin off book club just for that series. There is also a spin off book club for something else that's related to it? Seems like a lot of people in that space are very into Gideon the 9th, Murderbot and Severance. So, excited to be reading it as part of a book club thing so I'll have discussion space for it. That club isn't starting until next month so I've got time, but I need to put other stuff aside until I finish this.
I will probably go to the book club meeting anyway. A number of people didn't make it through Time War, so it's fine to still go. I really do want to finish book club books, so I did try to hang in.
* Heartsong was my favorite TJ Klune book to date. The books in this series are surprisingly tight without feeling tight. Things that feel like just filling out the world come back around.
Spoilers, mostly vague
Amnesia as terrible, horrifying, a deep loss of self. Love to see it! Oh, this was satisfying to read considering my issues with how lightly it's often treated. There were parts in which the memory loss was funny, but it wasn't being played primarily for comedy. Also, the parts I found funny others might not have? It was specific forgotten things that as a reader you either remember from a previous book and see it as funny, or maybe not.
Again, the book is relying on the reader to remember more and pay more attention to detail that most readers do. Though, since I didn't realizing that [character] was [character], I do wonder if there are details/jokes in the series I didn't pick up on.
As much as I am enjoying this series, SUPER ready for it to wrap up. If there was a fifth book so we'd be dealing with a Certain Specific Thing happening in Yet Another Way, then I'd be feeling very differently about all this. It is very time to call it.
There seems to be some side stories in the series and I want to see about nabbing them before I read the last book. Lovesong, which is book 2.5, was included at the end of book 3. Book 4 might include 3.5 and 3.6, but the numbering system I am seeing makes me want to read them first.
* Right now, I am reading Gideon the 9th. I am going to get through it this time. PW is doing a spin off book club just for that series. There is also a spin off book club for something else that's related to it? Seems like a lot of people in that space are very into Gideon the 9th, Murderbot and Severance. So, excited to be reading it as part of a book club thing so I'll have discussion space for it. That club isn't starting until next month so I've got time, but I need to put other stuff aside until I finish this.