recent reading
Jan. 28th, 2026 12:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistleingreyRichard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club (2020): many words proportional to ambiance/plot, such that I began almost to resent how often my finger had to tap the screen. Though I appreciate how the setting lets Osman juxtapose well-observed characters who wouldn't otherwise acknowledge each other---the members of the old-folks community are more interesting than the middle-aged and younger adults---I couldn't have read this story a few years ago. OTOH, I did finish reading it.
Rena Rossner, The Sisters of the Winter Wood (2018): paused since more than a week ago in ch. 19 (22.5%). I ran out of curiosity there. If I want the story to be doing a bit more than it does, that's a me-problem.
Nell Irvin Painter, Old in Art School (2019): paused at 5% to save up Painter's voice, for times when I'm pickier. Painter retired from teaching at Princeton to undertake a BFA and MFA at RISD. My classes are remote, my degree smaller and briefer, and I'm not 67 yet (Painter's age upon pivoting), but it's lovely to find an aware fellow-traveler in her text.
I've reached 68% in Grace Cho's Tastes Like War, up from 20something %.
I've DNFed Sherry Thomas's A Ruse of Shadows at 4%, which may be a record---it's within the reprise of recent events. I ran out of curiosity there.
I've dipped into Carolyn Lei-lanilau's Ono-Ono Girl's Hula (1997), whose short publisher's page erases her and me as potential readers: "If you think you know something about what multiculturalism means in real life, read Carolyn Lei-lanilau and think again." Eh, bite me. The title indicates performance outright, so being irritated by yet another trifle constructed for mainstream readers is a me-problem. Either I'll get over it before the library wants the book back, or I won't.
I'm currently at 10% of Skull Water by Heinz Insu Fenkl (2023), a continuation of Memories of My Ghost Brother.
Still here.
Jan. 28th, 2026 02:50 pmtwistedchickNot looking forward to more from next weekend.
ETA: Both cars have 2.5 feet of ice and snow along the side next to the lane. I couldn't budge it.
If the SU can't either, we may have to phone the incel across the street to dig it out for an exorbitant fee. If we didn't have the possibility of another storm, with wetter snow, this coming weekend I'd let it sit, but I will still have that doctor's appointment next week.
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
What I'm Doing Wednesday
Jan. 28th, 2026 01:45 pmsageyarning
no yarn group Sunday due to the ice storm, such as it was. We didn't get as much freezing rain as forecast, but we got enough to make it unsafe to drive here, where we utterly lack the infrastructure for it. I've been making more hats for the children's shelter. A ridic number of hats. Like, twenty.
healthcrap
after the shingles shot, I didn't feel right until *Sunday*. Thanks for the sympathetic words on my last post. (We'll do it all again for shot #2 in a couple of months.)
#resist
+ https://standwithminnesota.com
+ https://projectreliefme.com (mutual aid in Maine)
+ Jan 30-31: ICE OUT OF EVERYWHERE shutdown and protest
+ Feb 17th: #50501 Protest: Impeach, Convict, Remove, Defund
+ March 28: No Kings Protest #3
+ There's a drive for knitted or crocheted balaclavas for the Minneapolis protesters, so I'm looking into doing that, except I've used nearly all my appropriate worsted weight yarn that's not earmarked for money-making projects. Not sure what to do. Anybody got a yarn stash they don't need? Or I guess I could go to walmart, which, sadly, is cheaper than Michaels. Or I could order an equivalent $ number of balaclavas from amazon and have them sent there. Hmm.
I hope you're all doing well & keeping up your spirit in spite of all the horrors. Much love! <333
What I’m doing Wednesday
Jan. 28th, 2026 02:11 pmwriterlibrarianI’m giving my second class today. We are week 3 and things are going fine, I’m ahead in writing the material needed (2 weeks ahead). I’m enjoying being busy again but not too busy.
Reading
I finished these:
The Apothecary Diaries v.1. It was really good. I read it in French and got v.2 from the library. It’s in my PAL.
Heaven Official’s Blessing v.8. The series is done. I’ve gotten the first volume of the manhua. It is also in my PAL.
Faux-semblant/Smoke screen. Horst and Enger second book in the Alexander Blix and Emma Ramm series. This is Nordic noir at its best for my taste. Yes there is violence but it’s not graphic violence, the investigation has multiple branches, both characters are strong and not helpless. The rhythm and pace of the story grabs you at the first chapter and lets you go at the last line. It’s a page turner and no sleep night type of read. The French translation is well done. The third book is not available in French yet but is in English. I will wait for the French edition.
La course contre l’amour de Valentina Tran. This is a romantic YA graphic novel just in time for Valentine’s Day. It’s part magical realism, part romance, part coming of age story. It’s well written, beautifully drawn. I spent a really nice evening reading it.
Watching
I finished Love Between Lines and it was so so good, Green flag, HE. Loved it.
I started an old one The Spirealm so far I like it (4/38 episodes). I got the translated novel on my Kindle too. It’s creepy enough but not too creepy. It probably will be an open ended ending. I haven’t been spoiled.
Crafting
Last Friday was our first crafting evening of 2026. I worked on my fox 🦊 crosstitch. This coming Friday is knitting. I’m making progress on the baby blanket I have one month left to finish it. The baby is arriving in March.
OTW Signal, January 2026
Jan. 28th, 2026 07:19 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
otw_news_feedEvery month in OTW Signal, we take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including issues related to legal matters, technology, academia, fannish history and preservation issues of fandom, fan culture, and transformative works.
In the News
As part of Copyright Week 2026, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) highlighted a broken aspect of U.S. copyright law: statutory damages. These are fines imposed on platforms and users for copyright infringement, and because there is little guidance on how to calculate them, they can far exceed the amount of actual financial harm—up to $150,000 per work. For the many internet users whose online presence relies on re-use, this creates steep risk and encourages online censorship.
Massive, unpredictable damages awards for copyright infringement, such as a $222,000 penalty for sharing 24 music tracks online, are the fuel that drives overzealous or downright abusive takedowns of creative material from online platforms. Capricious and error-prone copyright enforcement bots, like YouTube’s Content ID, were created in part to avoid the threat of massive statutory damages against the platform. Those same damages create an ever-present bias in favor of major rightsholders and against innocent users in the platforms’ enforcement decisions. And they stop platforms from addressing the serious problems of careless and downright abusive copyright takedowns. […]
“But wait”, you might say, “don’t legal protections like fair use and the safe harbors of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act protect users and platforms?” They do—but the threat of statutory damages makes that protection brittle. Fair use allows for many important re-uses of copyrighted works without permission. But fair use … can sometimes be difficult to predict when copyright is applied to new uses. Even well-intentioned and well-resourced users avoid experimenting at the boundaries of fair use when the cost of a court disagreeing is so high and unpredictable.
The EFF proposes a fairer system: limit statutory damages to a multiple of harm or eliminate them altogether in cases of good-faith fair use.
The EFF has a long history of tackling problems in U.S. copyright law. In 2008, with support from the OTW, the EFF petitioned the U.S. Copyright Office for an exemption to the DMCA’s anticircumvention provisions in order to allow noncommercial remix artists, such as vidders, to break DVD encryption for the purpose of obtaining short, high quality clips for inclusion in noncommercial remix videos. The EFF and the OTW, along with New Media Rights, continue to file renewal petitions to keep this exemption active.
The OTW received a request from an Advanced Placement high school student who is conducting a study about the effects of fanfiction and fandom on interpersonal development. To take part in this study, fans can answer a survey about the fandoms they are involved in, the fanfiction they read, and their experiences interacting with other fans. For more information, please visit the survey link above.
This study is being conducted as part of the Advanced Placement Capstone Diploma Program and is being supervised by Stephen Westbrook. Questions about this study can be directed to Stephen Westbrook.
AO3 and the OTW are not endorsing this project, but we are signal-boosting this link for informational purposes.
OTW Tips
International Fanworks Day (IFD) is just around the corner on February 15th! This year’s theme is Alternate Universes (AU), and we’d love to hear from you—what are your favorite AUs, your go-to AU categories, or treasured headcanons? Tag your posts with #IFD2026, and we may signal-boost them on our OTW social media accounts!
P.S. Today (January 28th) is the last day to let us know about any events you’ll be running in your community for this IFD! You can submit your events through this form.
We want your suggestions for the next OTW Signal post! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or news story you think we should know about, send us a link. We are looking for content in all languages! Submitting a link doesn’t guarantee that it will be included in an OTW post, and inclusion of a link doesn’t mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.
Stream
Jan. 28th, 2026 09:12 pmcatness(It had originated on the night of a thunderstorm when our building was hit by lightning, and we had a power outage, and I couldn't sleep.)
the year falls down like heavy rain
crashing into the ground
the thunder of memories crushing my brain
drenched and dazed
I stumble around my maze of disquieting voids
avoiding the vortex of voices
incessantly drowning my mind from within
and without
you
another year runs out
another year streams in
What Am I Reading Wednesday - January 28
Jan. 28th, 2026 01:55 pmlebateleurWhat I Finished Reading This Week
Mannaz – Malene Sølvsten
The final volume in the Whisper of Ravens series, after Ansuz and Fehu. These books are by no means Literature, but they are a great deal of fun. Although they are original fiction, they have the vibe of a really excellent fanfic epic, if that makes sense. There are definite strengths and weaknesses to the story itself, but by this point in the trilogy I was just along for the ride and enjoying myself despite whatever happened.( Read more... ) But at the end of the day, this novel—and the entire trilogy—were entertaining reads and ones that I will return to again.
Freya the Deer – Meg Richman
This book is very well written. It will frustrate—if not anger—many readers with its almost complete refusal to pull punches, but will also probably frustrate the remainder of its readers by easing backing from the few punches it does pull at absolutely critical moments.
What it does well:
- There's no moralizing (or even handwringing) to be found about women's sexuality here.
- Richman's nuanced, uncompromising portrayal of Freya's autism. This is not "neurodivergence" i.e., just an informed attribute, or conflation of feeling socially awkward with fundamental mental difference, or something that's "solved" with the right romantic partner or found family. Freya is differently made from most of the people around her.
- That fundamental difference just is: sometimes it helps Freya, sometimes it hurts her; she is not always aware that it's doing one or the other, and even when she knows or suspects, she doesn't necessarily know why.
- Richman's characters—even the secondary and tertiary ones—are generally complex and well-rounded. These are real human beings with opinions, motivations, virtues, and flaws that don't fall into easily defined (or easy to stomach) categories.
- The same goes for novel's approach to the complexity and messiness of human existence. Good and bad can exist in the same person, institution, or event, and by and large Richman avoids railroading the reader into intellectual straitjackets or moralizing about any of it. It doesn't shy away from asking uncomfortable questions and refuses to provide facile answers, even at the risk of upseting or alienating readers who'd rather be comforted with easy, packaged solutions.
- Richman can evoke a three-dimensional scene, interpersonal interaction, emotion, or psychological state with an absolute economy of words.
TL;DR—This book is not perfect, but it does things that many other authors are not talented or courageous enough to attempt, let alone succeed at, and frequently does them very, very well.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Dog Stars – Peter Heller
So far, this is The Road, if that novel were written by a far less precious and pretentious author who—unlike McCarthy—is not a child rapist.
The Stations of the Sun - Ronald Hutton
I read the chapter on Imbolc this week.
The Bone Chests - Cat Jarman
With about 100 pages left to go I can confidently say that this is a well-written book about a subject that does not interest me.
The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish vol. 1 – Xue Shan Fei Hu
Is the premise silly? Yes. Does the author know this? Yes. Is the book great fun for precisely these reasons? Yes. I'm currently a third of the way through and will probably pick this up as my next main-focus read.
What I’m Reading Next
I acquired no new books this week.
これで以上です。
Wednesday Reading Meme
Jan. 28th, 2026 01:57 pmsinealaNothing.
What I'm Reading Now
Comics Wednesday!
( 1776 #3, Iron Man #1, Sorcerer Supreme #2 )
What I'm Reading Next
IDK. Once again, I need fewer migraines.
Weekly media report - for the week ending 2026 01 28
Jan. 28th, 2026 11:01 amgentlyepigramsRed City, by Marie Lu. Billed as "The Godfather meets the Magicians" and that's probably a decent shorthand. The magic system is fantastic and I'm going to steal bits and pieces of it for games I'm in. The story and characters and twisty plot full of people with questionable morals was also very good. I'm in for the next one, though I can't tell if this is two or three for the series.
The Conductors, by Nicole Glover. First in a series of post-Civil War (US) fantasy mysteries featuring a married couple who were conductors on the Underground Railroad. She has the magic (and it's an intriguing system) and he's got brawn. They both have brains. The mystery is good and by the end of the book they're nicely set up for more stories. I'll read the next one.
The Last Note of Warning, by Katharine Schellman. Third and next-to-last, apparently, in this queer Harlem nightclub mystery series. Our protagonist runs into another murder that's connected to the lady boss she's into and puts her in need of help from the Commissioner's nephew, the other side of the romantic triangle. I think the romantic arc is coming to a climax so the next one may be a good endpoint, but I'm there for the rest of the ride.
Viviana Valentine Gets Her Man, by Emily J. Edwards. First in a series about a NY private investigator's Girl Friday in the 50s. This time she's solving the mystery of an heiress who apparently has a secret boyfriend. These came with the recommendation of a friend and they're fluffy and cute and I quite enjoyed the first, so I'm in for more.
Unabridged: The Thrill of and Threat to the Modern Dictionary, by Stefan Fatsis. I've had the Kory Stamper book in my to-read for a while so this one was a natural. I quite enjoyed the history and was depressed by the modern prospects for the dictionary. Fatsis did a great job of showing what dictionary work has been like over the decades and how it could improve. It's still going to require money to do it, though, as is the problem with every kind of pure knowledge acquisition.
These Summer Storms, by Sarah MacLean. Halfway between a romance and a family saga, this is the story of the four kids and widow of a billionaire tech overlord who can't stop fucking with people even after he's dead. The main POV character is the daughter who walked away for reasons you find out during the book but other characters get their chance too. The just too good to be true romantic foil is the one whose interior I really wanted to see and didn't The final twist is perfect, though.
Short Stories
The Final Voyage of the Ouranos, by Marie Brennan. I always enjoy Brennan's work (except for her Victorian pastiche, which lost me) and this is no exception. Super creepy raypunk-esque history of a lost/destroyed aether-ship.
Bots All the Way Down, by Effie Seiberg. A perfect little bot bedtime story, with a lovely ending twist.
Slake, by Victor Manibo. A horror story about a high rise and a hurricane which was kind of freaking me out (I grew up in hurricane country and have been flooded in).
27 icons of Wu Lei for celebrity20in20
Jan. 28th, 2026 05:50 pmtinny![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
celebrity20in20 and I picked Wu Lei again. Surprise. I enjoyed making these, I hope you like 'em.Teasers:
( 20+7 icons of Wu Lei )
I love comments, and if you have concrit for me, I'm open for that, too. All my icons are free to take and use, credit is appreciated. The list of makers whose textures and brushes I like to use is here in my resource post.
Treasure, alien life, and ghosts
Jan. 28th, 2026 10:15 ammount_oregano
I know of two supposed sunken treasures of gold in Wisconsin, one in Lake Michigan and one in Lake Mendota, both dating back to the Civil War. I’ve researched the one in Lake Michigan and even have the treasure map which locates the gold near Poverty Island Shoal at the tip of Door Peninsula, but I haven’t decided to go hunt for it. I don’t think these treasures exist.
What interests me is why these stories stay alive. Lies are common as leaves in a forest, so why keep certain ones?
First, there’s a simple wish for sudden wealth, the motive force behind lotteries.
Second, legends often say that treasures, buried or sunken, are guarded by leprechauns, mermaids, or at least a curse — by beings alien and magic to our existence. It’s a wish for a livelier universe. In the same way, some of us hope for life on Mars or Andromeda, which would also be a real treasure.
Third, it’s a wish to preserve and honor the past by keeping stories alive. Ghosts work the same way. I met a woman whose neighbors told her the troubled presence she noticed on the stairway of the house she’d just bought was of a teenager who had committed suicide some 50 years earlier because he was gay. She hung a gay pride poster in the stairway to soothe him, and it seemed to work.
Most importantly, treasure is real. Sometimes — at Troy and in the Caribbean — gold is found, and then our wishes are confirmed. I can see Mars at night, and I might be watching Martians. If there are ghosts, I have visited haunted houses. When I lived in Milwaukee, someone else in that city named Susan Burke (not me) won the Supercash lottery. Riches await, if we keep searching.
X marks the spot.
Three Sentence Ficathon
Jan. 28th, 2026 07:54 amsnickficthreesentenceficathon!1. MCU, Valkyrie
https://threesentenceficathon.dreamwidth.org/6398.html?thread=14482686#cmt14482686
any, any, “Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to.”
( Valkyrie )
2. Oasis RPF, Liam/Noel
https://threesentenceficathon.dreamwidth.org/6398.html?thread=12601086#cmt12601086
Any, any, soft underbelly
( Gallaghercest )
3. The Long Walk - Stephen King, Stebbins
https://threesentenceficathon.dreamwidth.org/6398.html?thread=14502654#cmt14502654
The Long Walk (book), Stebbins, ghosts
( The Long Walk )
Wednesday Reading Meme
Jan. 28th, 2026 10:05 amosprey_archerKate Seredy’s The Open Gate. Driving toward their destination for summer vacation, a New York City family pauses at a farm auction. No one is bidding on the farmland itself, so Granny cunningly suggests to Dad, “Why don’t you bid? Just to get things started?”
“DON’T YOU DO IT, BOY!” I shouted, but as so often happens, the characters ignored my wise advice.
Of course Dad wins the farm. Of course, the family has to stay the night, and having stayed one night, they have to keep on staying. And then Granny goes to another farm auction, promising piously not to open her mouth to bid–
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH TO BID AT AN AUCTION!” I shouted at Dad, who once again foolishly failed to listen to me. He accepted Granny’s promise, and Granny promptly rules-lawyered the farm into two cows (both pregnant) and two horses (also both pregnant) by bidding with a twitch of the hand.
I am all for people going back to the land if they want to, but I prefer stories about it to feature people who actually want to, rather than people who get bamboozled into it by Granny.
Multiple people have recommended Uketsu’s Strange Houses (translated by Jim Rion), and it did NOT disappoint. The book is a mystery based around floor plans, and I am happy to report that there are indeed MANY floor plans (I love a floor plan), which makes the book an even zippier read than you might guess from its size.
Now, do I think the mystery is “plausible” or “makes psychological sense”? Well, no, not really, and if it took longer to read that might have bothered me. But the floor plans and the pacing make the book fly by, and I enjoyed it for what it was, which is an amusingly bizarre puzzle box mystery with, let me repeat, enough floor plans to satisfy even my floor-plan-mad self.
What I’m Reading Now
After years of procrastination, I’ve begun Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. Happy to report that this ALSO features a floorplan in the endpapers. All the rooms are lettered, but curiously the key only includes some of the letters, so we are left guessing just which room Q might be.
What I Plan to Read Next
Obviously I need to read Uketsu’s Strange Pictures, too.
My precious Callie is sitting on my lap, purring up a storm
Feb. 1st, 2026 05:54 amconuly( Read more... )
Someone Hertz, volume 1 by Ei Yamano (Translated by David Evely)
Jan. 28th, 2026 08:56 amjames_davis_nicoll
What dark motive leads a successful teen comedian who has vowed never to date anyone less funny than her to help an unfunny but otherwise personable young man work on his comedic skills?
Someone Hertz, volume 1 by Ei Yamano (Translated by David Evely)
Reading Wednesday
Jan. 28th, 2026 08:34 amasakiyumeIt's about two generations of Dominican women, whose life stories we get in bits and pieces around the occasion of a living wake that one of them is throwing for herself. The characters, their lives, the language--it's all so vivid. I marked this, one woman (older generation) talking about her older sister:
The person I've hugged most in the world, beside my own offspring, has been Flor. It was she who carried me on her hip. As a child, hers was the first body I remember vining around, the way climbing plants claim homes.
Also, the women all have gifts. One has dreams that foretell when someone will die. Another can tell if someone is lying. Another can salsa like nobody's business. And one has an alpha vagina ;-)
( cut for frank talk about down-there )
I've been surprised and delighted by how much I'm enjoying this character's thoughts and experiences with her gift. The book is overall super sensual and VERY sex positive.
I'm also still reading and enjoying Breath, Warmth, and Dream, by Zig Zag Claybourne, but I had to put it aside to read this one. But this one is nearly done, and Breath, Warmth, and Dream is very easy to fall back into.