2024 marks the 10th year of the Read Harder Challenge put on by the folks over at Book Riot, but this is my first year doing it! I decided there wasn’t enough going on this year, so I’ll read 24 books, and then share my thoughts on them every couple of months! So look forward to that! What is the Read Harder Challenge though? Well, according to the Book Riot website, “the challenge is made up of 24 tasks (an average of two per month) that invite readers to explore formats, genres, and perspectives that might go beyond their reading comfort zones. How you approach Read Harder is up to you: you can read one book per task or count one book for multiple tasks. The point of the challenge isn’t to do the thing one particular way but to push yourself to diversify your TBR.”

This sounds like a lot though, how is anyone meant to find 24 books that meet all these challenges? Luckily your local library is here to help! This is a collection of lists outlining the 2024 challenges along with library books that help meet those challenges! Need support or to check in with others undertaking the same goal? We have monthly check in programs at the library too, just check the events calendar for the next one! For my purposes though, I’ll be reading and discussing four books a month, and my challenges will be all over the place, starting with: Continue reading “Reading Harder in 2024! – Part 1”

There is a phenomenon that is prevalent in a lot of science fiction media: whenever the aliens crash land, visit or invade Earth, they always seem to end up in the United States. From Star Trek’s “First Contact” showing Vulcans landing in Montana to “Independence Day’s” undeniably evocative movie poster of the White House being destroyed by a flying saucer, it seems a disproportionate amount of extra-terrestrial interaction happens Stateside. I’ve seen it called the “White House effect,” “All Aliens Speak English” or just “that’s Hollywood for you.”

The puzzle behind this phenomenon has a simple answer: a majority of the mainstream science fiction that is written, filmed or drawn is done so by American artists for an (ostensibly) American audience. As many of the major producers of film and publishers of books are also American, those are the stories that end up making it big. And, given one of the United States’ biggest exports is our media, it is no surprise that the sci-fi genre is inundated with American cultural touchstones, Stateside scenery, and good ol’ US of A values.

While the oversaturation of American cultural media is a whole conversation for another time, this type of overrepresentation is not limited to just American sci-fi. If you’re a watcher of Doctor Who, you’ll notice the aliens tend to have a preference for landing in London. Jules Verne’s novels, while a bit more international in setting, often feature French scientists, inventors and adventurers as their main cast. Turns out, people will write what (and who) they know!

As with my previous post, I’ve been ever looking to expand my science fiction horizons. This time around, my scope of expansion is an international one. All of the books in this post (and in my most recent booklist) are science fiction originally published in another language. In a similar vein to my previous writing for the blog, here is a short survey of a book I’ve read, a book I’m reading, and an author I’ve yet to read. Continue reading “Ciencia Ficción, Zukunftsfiction & Tieteiskirjallisuus: Science Fiction in Translation”

There are genres of literature, there are genres of music, and today, I will make a case for letting the two play together. What I mean is this: What if we used music genres to describe literature? What might such an experiment reveal about the literature?

Here’s a fun music genre to think about: shoegaze, a dreamy genre from 80s Britain which drew a close following with its hazy, melancholic offerings. “It’s a particularly unusual genre in that its name describes neither a sound nor a connection to music history,” Pitchfork writes. Indeed, “shoegaze” originally described a scene of musicians whose heavy use of effects pedals led them to perform in a still, detached manner, clutching their guitars, eyes fixed to the floor.

The internet has some interesting things to say about shoegaze. Wikipedia notes its “ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume.” One blogger defines the genre by its “dense, shimmering textures of distorted guitars, thundering drums, and dreamy, reverb-heavy vocals,” adding that the performers lacked “the charisma and machismo of big stadium rock acts.” Continue reading “Shoegaze Literature”

Of course, we all know about the birds and the bees! We weren’t born yesterday! The birds and the bees talk of love (and, shhhhh… s.e.x.). But in literary terms, birds and bees tell of so much more.

Humans are funny creatures and we like to assign meanings to so many things. Birds, especially, it seems, get to do a lot of talking symbolically. In general, they are often seen as messengers from the gods or from heaven — especially raptors. Birds also evoke “freedom.” And it seems that each species has its own symbolism. The stork brings babies. Canaries can evoke beauty, song or a warning. As for bees, they have been used to symbolize fertility, industry and community among other things.

I have gathered a few birds and bees books for you to fall in love with. Continue reading “The Birds and the Bees”