The reviews below led me to check out this book. It was definitely interesting, and the plot twist made me want to research the ingredients in my hair care products 
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I’m enjoying An Atlas of Extinct Countries by Gideon Defoe.
Countries die. Sometimes it’s murder, sometimes it’s by accident, and sometimes it’s because they were so ludicrous they didnt deserve to exist in the first place. Occasionally they explode violently. A few slip away almost unnoticed. Often the cause of death is either ‘got too greedy’ or ‘Napoleon turned up’. Now and then they just hold a referendum and vote themselves out of existence.
This is an atlas of 48 nations that fell off the map. The polite way of writing an obituary is: dwell on the good bits, gloss over the embarrassing stuff. This book refuses to do so, because these dead nations are so full of schemers, racists, and con men that it’s impossible to skip the embarrassing stuff.
Because of this - and because treating nation-states with too much reverence is the entire problem with pretty much everything - these accounts are not concerned with adding to the earnest flag saluting in the world, however nice some of the flags might be.
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Reading John Scalzi’s latest, it’s been a fun romp so far.
One interesting thing I noticed about the novel is how it treats gender. For example one of the supporting characters is apparently nonbinary but the narrator never explicitly mentions that, merely suggesting so using they/them pronouns. But what’s really unique is that while we get lots of background on the first-person narrator (“Jamie”) we never actually learn that character’s gender or sexual orientation simply because those things never come up in the story.
The only novels I can think of that did something similar is Ann Leckie’s Ancillary series, but in that case it was explicitly stated that the first-person narrator heralded from a society that did not distinguish people by gender whereas Scalzi’s story just treats it as a thing that needn’t be treated as an important plot point in our own society. Times are a-changin!
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That book was fun and restful. I found the afterword, by Scalzi, as to how it was written interesting. Pretty much- the world sucked and writing an emotionally fraught story, as he was contracted for, was negatively impacting his mental health. With the support of his agent and publisher, he stopped. Once he stopped forcing himself to work on that book, out pops this one.
I never noticed Jamie’s gender wasn’t made explicit. But I also listened to the audio version narrated by Wil Wheaton. So between that and societal programming* the character definitely read as masculine to me.
*I, like many people I think, tend to assume a character is a man unless explicitly told otherwise. I realized this because to my kid, everyone is a girl unless explicitly told otherwise (and sometimes not even then. Pikachu is a girl for her. Everyone on the TV show is just wrong). I’ve been working on trying to default to they/them instead.
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Finally getting around to reading The Grapes of Wrath, and there sure are a lot of elements that are still relevant and topical today. Especially regarding living wages.
One thing I noticed was the great detail that Steinbeck puts into his description of the various issues that come with driving an old jalopy cross-country, and the vigilant mentality that the driver has to constantly maintain to prevent a small problem from becoming a catastrophic one. Really got the feeling that the author has a lot of experience driving clunkers.
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Loving the Becky Chambers series. Just finished the series and sad to see it end but interested to see where she goes next.
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I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned this author before in this thread. I did link her to another thread regards crows.
If you get a chance to read any Diane Setterfield book, take it. She’s written three over the course of about fifteen years, but when you read them, you’ll understand why.
I have honestly never read anything more perfect than this:
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I can see how experiencing the book that way would tip the scales toward “male protagonist” but this is what Scalzi wrote about it:
But you know, right? I don’t! Also, I think it’s fine for people to decide for themselves what gender if any Jaime is; what they decide brings an interesting and personal spin to the book, and I like that. It’s also fun for people to interrogate their own defaults and what they mean for them as a reader and human. As a caveat, I’ll note that since the audiobook is read by Wil Wheaton, people encountering the book in audio may assume Jaime is the same gender as Wil; I would only remind them that Wil also narrated my Interdependency series of audiobooks, where two of the three main characters were women (as was the primary antagonist). Audible pairs Wil with me because, from a sales point of view, people seem to like the match; it’s not a hand tip to the character’s gender.
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Maybe so! I remember enjoying Travels with Charley, a memoir about driving around the country with his dog.
And yes, Grapes really holds up for me too.
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It is interesting. I have no issues with Wil Wheaton narrating a woman. He did a bang up job with Kiva Lagos in the Interdepenency series. I have more work to do on my gender assumptions
Speaking of the awesome fucking Kiva:
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Read Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck next. 
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A popular 14th century poem: Bābe goÞ backeth
O’ mīn Gog becky, hauen aÞ hē̆r butÞ
intransiciọ̄n intransiciọ̄n perexcellentlī big, shæ lookſ lǒve
singillātim ophe thosæ rap guys’ girlfriendſ
but, yæ know, hǒu understandſ thosæ rap guys?
hẹ̄ onlī talk bihofþe her, cause
shæ lookſ lǒve ain total prostitute, okay?
Ich unlā̆rǧe, hē̆r butt, intransiciọ̄n jusÞ perexcellentlī biȜ
uh, Ich can’Þ believæ intransiciọ̄n jusÞ perexcellentlī round, intransiciọ̄n lǒve ouÞ illeoqs
Ich unlā̆rǧe, uh, gross, hauen
she’ſ jusÞ perexcellentlī, black
Ich lǒve biȜ buttſ a’d Ich cannoÞ liæ
thee othē̆r brotherſ can’Þ denī
sin whan ain girl walkſ in with ain ittī bittī waisÞ
a’d ain rounede thende in thy facæ
thee geÞ sprung, wanÞ bihofþe puī̆ple up tough
‘causæ thee noticede sin butÞ waſ stuffede
deep in th’ jeanſ she’ſ wearende
Ich’m hookede a’d Ich can’Þ stop starende
o’ bābe, Ich wannæ geÞ wit’chæ
a’d takæ thy picturæ
mīn homeboyſ triede bihofþe warn ich
buÞ sin butÞ thee goÞ makeſ (me, ich perexcellentlī horny)
ooh, rump-o’-smooth-skin
thee saī thee wanÞ bihofþe geÞ in mīn benz?
well, usæ ich, usæ ich
‘causæ thee ain’Þ sin averagæ groupiæ
Ich’væ seen hē̆r dancin’
bihofþe heī̆ple with romancin’
she’ſ sweat, weÞ
goÞ intransiciọ̄n goin’ lǒve ain turbī ‘vettæ
Ich’m tirede ophe magazineſ
sayin’ flaÞ buttſ art th’ thende
takæ th’ averagæ black man a’d acsinge hem sin
shæ gottæ pack much backeth
perexcellentlī, fellaſ (yeah) fellaſ (yeah)
hath thy girlfrienede goÞ th’ butt? (heī̆ple yeah)
teī̆ple ‘em bihofþe shakæ intransiciọ̄n (shakæ intransiciọ̄n ) shakæ intransiciọ̄n (shakæ intransiciọ̄n )
shakæ sin healthī butÞ
bābe goÞ backeth (l.Ain. facæ with th’ oaklanede booty)
bābe goÞ backeth (l.Ain. facæ with th’ oaklanede booty)
(l.Ain. facæ with th’ oaklanede booty)
Ich lǒve ‘em round, a’d biȜ
a’d whan Ich’m throwin’ ain giȜ
Ich jusÞ can’Þ assisten novinward , Ich’m actin’ lǒve ain animal
now h’re’ſ mīn scandal
Ich wannæ geÞ yæ homæ
a’d ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh
Ich ain’Þ talkin’ bouÞ playboī
‘causæ silic1 partſ art madæ for toyſ
Ich wanÞ ‘em real thick a’d juicī
perexcellentlī finede sin juicī dǒuble-fōld
mix-a-lot’ſ in troublæ
beggin’ for ain piecæ ophe sin bubblæ
perexcellentlī Ich’m lookin’ aÞ rokkete videoſ
knock-kneede bimboſ walkin’ lǒve hoeſ
thee can havæ them bimboſ
Ich’ī̆ple keep mīn women lǒve flī jī
ain worede bihofþe th’ thick soul sistas, Ich wanÞ bihofþe geÞ with yæ
Ich won’Þ cusſ oth-the hiÞ yæ
buÞ Ich gottæ bæ straighÞ whan Ich saī Ich wannæ (uh)
‘til th’ break ophe dawn
bābe goÞ intransiciọ̄n goin’ don
ain loÞ ophe simpſ won’Þ lǒve hider sonet
‘causæ them punkſ lǒve bihofþe hiÞ intransiciọ̄n a’d quiÞ intransiciọ̄n
a’d Ich’ede rathē̆r staī a’d pleiinglī
‘causæ Ich’m long, a’d Ich’m stronȜ
a’d Ich’m down bihofþe geÞ th’ frictfōre-dēde don
perexcellentlī, ladī̆se (yeah) ladī̆se (yeah)
if thee wannæ roī̆ple in mīn mercedeſ (yeah)
then turn around, stick intransiciọ̄n ouÞ
even whitæ boyſ goÞ bihofþe shouÞ
bābe goÞ backeth
bābe goÞ backeth
yeah, bābe, whan intransiciọ̄n c’meſ bihofþe femaleſ
cosmī ain’Þ goÞ nothin’ bihofþe dī with mīn selectfōre-dēde
thirty-6, 20-4, thirty-6
hæ ha, onlī if she’ſ 5’3
perexcellentlī thy girlfrienede rollſ ain honda, playin’ workouÞ tapeſ bī fondæ
buÞ fondæ ain’Þ goÞ ain motor in th’ backeth ophe hē̆r hondæ
mīn anacondæ don’Þ wanÞ n1
unlesſ thee’væ goÞ buns, hun
thee can dī sidæ bendſ oth-the sit-upſ
buÞ pleasæ don’Þ losæ sin butÞ
somæ brotherſ wanÞ bihofþe pleiinglī sin harede rolæ
a’d teī̆ple thee sin th’ butÞ ain’Þ golede
perexcellentlī hẹ̄ tosſ intransiciọ̄n a’d leavæ intransiciọ̄n
a’d Ich puī̆ple up quick bihofþe retrievæ intransiciọ̄n
perexcellentlī cosmī sayſ thee’ræ faÞ
weī̆ple Ich ain’Þ down with sin
‘causæ thy waisÞ intransiciọ̄n smaī̆ple a’d thy curveſ art kickin’
a’d Ich’m thinkin’ bouÞ stickin’
bihofþe th’ beanpolæ dameſ in th’ magazineſ
thee ain’Þ intransiciọ̄n , misſ thende
gātī̆f ich ain sista, Ich can’Þ resisÞ hē̆r
rede beanſ a’d ricæ didn’Þ misſ hē̆r
somæ knuckleheaede triede bihofþe disſ
'causæ hes girlſ art don mīn lisÞ
hæ haede gamæ buÞ hæ chosæ bihofþe hiÞ 'em
a’d Ich puī̆ple up quick bihofþe geÞ wiÞ ‘em
perexcellentlī ladies, if th’ butÞ intransiciọ̄n rounede
a’d thee wanÞ ain trī̆ple x throwdown
dial 1-900-mixaloÞ
a’d kick them nastī thoughtſ
bābe goÞ backeth
bābe goÞ backeth
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This makes a lot of sense when you realize that one of Chaucer’s principal patrons was a 14th Century nobleman named Sir Mikks of Lott.
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Just finished reading George Dawson’s book, “Life is so good”, and can recommend it thoroughly.
(This is the book banned from the school that is named after the author!)
The book takes us, for the most part, through George’s early life and, trust me, he’s seen a whole bunch, riding the rails across America as far south as Mexico and then later travelling to Canada to “see some snow”.
It mostly focusses on his early life up until the time he met his first wife, and the latter quarter of the book concentrates on his time as a centenarian who has gone back to school and inspired a whole bunch of other people.
The last is a touch sweet, but I can still recommend the book. I found it hard to put down between chapters.
ETA: Reposted this from follow-up as i couldn’t find this thread for some reason, and also because I don’t want the book thread to close from lack of use.
Also ETA: Didn’t spell school right, FFS!
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I’m most of the way through it. The book distills a very respectable body of research into a hard-hitting overview of what’s life-threateningly wrong with our food system.
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He’s certainly been around long enough to discuss aging.
Maybe I’ll look at it.
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Good article, and definitely makes me want to read the book:
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