The 13th: A Monthly Brain Dump from the Spite Club, with an important question at the end
Let me tell you something about the 13th. I work in construction. I have been inside every floor of more tall buildings than you have had hot dinners. And I need you to know — with the full authority of someone who has stood on it — that the 13th floor exists. It is there. You are on it. We just renamed it the 14th because somewhere along the line humanity collectively decided that lying about math was preferable to confronting our own superstitions. I can count. You can count. The elevator knows. We're just all agreeing not to talk about it.
Which is, honestly, a perfect metaphor for how most of us, at least those of you who found your way here, are doing right now.
Welcome to the first installment of my monthly update, dropping on the 13th of every month, only to my Spite Club besties. I'm going to tell you what I've been reading, how I'm actually doing, and what's coming up — with my whole chest and zero apologies. (Actually with only part of my chest because I'm still unlearning everything I've ever been taught and I make mistakes, so if I do, call me out. I probably deserve it.)
What I Finished This Month
And Side by Side They Wander by Molly Tanzer — I wanted to love this more than I did, and I think that's admittedly probably a me problem. The premise is genuinely brilliant: a ragtag group of misfits on a mission to steal back Earth's greatest art from aliens who won't return it — a direct parallel to the very real and very ongoing battles between colonized cultures and the countries that stole from them. That emotional core should have gutted me. I wanted it to. Instead I got some art history, a deeply strange ending, shallow characters, and the dawning realization that I was apparently supposed to know the full story of Orpheus going in. I did not. If you're an art buff or a mythology girlie, you will probably get significantly more out of this than I did. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm saying it required homework I didn't do. I used to not read novellas because I didn't think they had enough depth. This is the kind of story that made me think that. But hey, 3 stars, would recommend to someone artier than me.
Nobody's Baby by Olivia Waite — Cozy, queer, autistic auntie detective in space solves the case of the impossible baby — the first baby in 300 years on a ship where fertility is supposed to be paused until they get to their new planet. Mystery isn't my genre because it's historically full of old racist grumpy white dudes with a drinking problem who are all somehow Billy Bob Thornton, but if it were all written like this, I would pick up a lot more. I started with book 1 in this series and absolutely plan to continue it as more come out.
Playing for Keeps by Alexandria Bellefleur — A bisexual's dream!!! Think: the two sexy lady agents of TSwift and a bisexual Travis Kelce falling in love, but make it gay. Extra gay. Contemporary isn't my genre, but I am OBSESSED with this one. The kind of obsessed that makes me want to pick up everything else this author has ever written. THere is so much character depth and back story and the spice level is friggin hot. And Hallelujah, Alexandria Bellefleur is an established author with lots more books that I will be picking up.
Amari and the Despicable Wonders and Amari and the Metalwork Menace by B.B. Alston — The inclusive magical world that replaced a certain wizarding world in our household (we don't speak of its author due to her harm to the trans community. If you think your kids can't handle a boycott, I promise you, you're wrong. Kids LOVE raising the middle finger to the establishment. It's basically coded in their DNA. See below notes on 10 to 25, another book I'm currently reading.) My kids and I have loved every minute of this action-packed series, and book four ends on a cliffhanger I will be saying nothing further about except: BB Alston, how DARE you, and also please hurry up with book five. Let Amari be a kid for five minutes. FIVE MINUTES.
Stuffed by Liz Braswell — My family loved this book, which I say through gritted teeth because I bought this book to personally attack...myself. If you have a child who loves stuffed animals, fair warning: this will make your entire household hold on to them a little tighter and a little longer. I once donated some stuffed animals after our house flooded because I was purging (so I didn't have to pack as much, sue me!) and my son never forgave me. This was after an entire YEAR of him not noticing they were gone. So naturally we read this book together so he could remind me of that, repeatedly, while I sat with my guilt like the masochist I apparently am. Trigger warnings for younger kids: some stuffed animals are harmed by monsters. They get sewn back together. My son handled it. Did I handle the guilt? Only my therapist knows (haha that's hilarious I don't have a therapist. In this economy? I have a best friend who deserves a sainthood is what I have.)
Space Battle Lunchtime graphic novels 1-3 by Natalie Riess — Cute, cozy, sapphic, and about a TV cooking competition that the main character gets kidnapped from Earth to star in. For some reason the second one is hard to get your hands on. It's on eBay, you can find it if you try. Leave me a comment if you can't because another of my special interests is finding hard to find books. Anyway these are SO fun and cute and heartwarming. Read these. They are good soup and they will not expose your insides. (I refuse to go one single blog without a Gideon the Ninth reference. REFUSE )
Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland, book 3 in the Broken Blades series — I am a sucker for the "found family group of misfits taking on the fascist regime" trope and this delivered for me in a big way. Multi-POV with short chapters means you will absolutely fly through it, especially if you have as many ARCs as I have waiting for you on Netgalley. (It's a lot. Maybe in another post I'll tell you about allllllllll of the books waiting on me to read them in my Netgalley account.) There are 3 books in the completed series and there were 3 sets of special editions - Broken Binding, Goldsboro, and the first editions of general releases. This image by @cat.book.nook mixes some of them and when I saw it I may or may not have lost the battle to my internalized consumerism and purchased them all. Sigh. All my boycotting and thrifting and I still lose the battle more than I'd like. Cue anti-capitalist guilt, yay!
What I'm Currently Reading
I want to preface this by saying that I have a problem. I admit it. I have an audiobook, a hardcover for my nightstand, a paperback for my kid's baseball practice, fiction for my heart, nonfiction for my brain, a book I'm reading aloud to my dyslexic kid, and an ebook (or two or seven) on my phone for any time I'm waiting somewhere without a physical book. I also requested way too many ARCs on Netgalley and now I have to live with that. This is my life. I have made *choices.*
The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu — in ARC audiobook format, thanks to the lovely folks at Macmillan. A mechanic who fixes the literal nuts and bolts that hold the universe together, major family trauma, and a himbo sidekick who magically cooks things that are described in ways that made me pause the audiobook to think about food. I am enjoying this immensely and I will report back.
Platform Decay by Martha Wells — Murderbot book 8. I will always read this series because I relate to Murderbot on a cellular level and I will not be elaborating further. (Autistic over protective robot in space who just wants to watch his shows and not deal with humans: it me. So apparently I WILL be elaborating.) I'll be honest that I haven't loved Martha Wells' other work as much. The sarcastic Muir-like comedic tone that makes Murderbot special doesn't show up the same way elsewhere in her books. But THIS series? Every time. Without question.
Stuffed Book 2: Into Darkness — yes we are reading the sequel. Apparently one round of emotional self-flagellation was not sufficient. My son has opinions about what we read together and those opinions are "more of this please." I am nothing if not a devoted mother (aka SUCKA) and a glutton for punishment.
10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager — This is not self help. I want to be very clear about that because I have a well documented hostility toward self help books. This is science. Long term scientific studies done by the author found that young people make risky decisions not because they lack the intelligence to understand long term consequences or the wherewithal for self denial of instant gratification, but because their need to be respected as full members of their community (aka like an adult) far outweighs everything else. On a biological level. As a parent of teenagers and a person with the 'tism m'lord who requires receipts before changing her behavior, this book is a NEED, not a want. Highly recommend for any parent, educator, manager, or person who has ever been or dealt with anyone between the ages of 10 and 25 and wondered what the hizell was happening in their brain. (Can I take this moment to ask the publishing world why nonfic covers are so damn boring? This book is absolutely FASCINATING and that cover is the most boring thing I've ever laid eyes on. Do better Simon & Schuster!)
The End of Violence by Dr. Gary Slutkin — yes I giggled at the author name, I am not above it, I am a Slutkin for ending violence as well sir! This is a book by a CDC disease doctor who has found, through long term scientific study, that if you treat violence like a transmittable disease you can address it the same way you'd address tuberculosis: educate the community, treat the afflicted, and identify and support those most at risk before they become vectors. I listened to the audiobook and found it so compelling that I preordered a hard copy to annotate, summarize, and highlight for my dyslexic social worker bestie. Free labour in this economy? That should tell you everything. (Again though, another wildly boring cover. What is up with that???)
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad — same story. Listened to it, purchased a hard copy, currently annotating it with the fervor of someone who needs everyone she knows to read this immediately. Which brings me to something I want to talk to you about. (Now THAT is a cover! Props to the folks over at Knopf because this cover makes the same statement the book makes in far fewer pages.)
Something I Want To Try (And I Want Your Opinion)
I'm planning a series where I review books with full spoilers. Not every book, but the ones that have something so important to say that I want you to have access to it even if you never pick up the book yourself. El Akkad's book is the first one I have in mind. I've annotated the absolute shit out of this book and I want to share my notes.
I used to do a Discord book club called the Genre Sluts. You may have even been a member. It's still there, but I haven't scheduled a book in a while because I found it consumed a large chunk of my life without providing me the close community I needed from a book club. I don't know if it's my personality or just the autism, but I need to see peoples faces to feel the genuine connection I need from community. The Discord chat just wasn't doing it for me.
I have complicated feelings about this new strategy. I want you to go read the whole book. I want you to support these authors. But I also know that some of you will never read certain books no matter how hard I recommend them (nonfiction especially) and I think hearing me talk through the whole thing might actually send some of you to the book anyway. And for the ones who genuinely won't get there, I'd rather you have the ideas than not. We have one short life. I've done the math. We cannot read everything. I genuinely want to know what you think about this in the comments.
Footnote: I've actually done the math. I'm 41 and if I read 100 books a year - though my average tends to be closer to 90 so I'm being optimistic here - until I'm retired at 60, that's approximately 1850 books after subtracting about half a year as I'm counting from my birthday. After I retire I hope to read twice that. And if I live till 81.4 like the average woman in America, that's 4280, plus the original 1850 is 6,130 books left. And at the average rate I add to my TBR - 10 books per month of which I get to only about 3, I'm looking at a deficit of 3,360 books I want to read and won't ever get to. If there is an afterlife, it damn well better have books.
How Am I Actually Doing
Fucking terrible, if I'm honest, but I don't know how anyone who isn't actively choosing delusion can be doing much better right now. The world is burning, democracy is dead, and my TikTok views are in the gutter. And maybe that's because I'm a bad creator — only you, dearest gentle reader, can tell me. Don't tell me, it will hurt my feelings. (Jk, I suppress those so hard if I have them you'll never know anyway.) And every time I hear Aaron Parnas say "breaking news" I have a visceral stress response that makes me want to throw my phone into the sun, which is a problem when TikTok is currently my main way of bringing people here, to what I have lovingly decided to call the Good Place. (And let's be real here - if my unhinged sarcastic badly written excessive parentheses sci-fi Bindery page is a Good Place, what does that say about the state of the world?)
But here's the thing. Sci-fi has always been our proof that we have a future worth imagining. That things can be better. That humans, at our absolute worst, still contain people who dream of something more. So I will keep showing up on the 13th — on the floor that definitely exists, that we all just agreed to lie about — and I will keep reading books and talking about them, because in our darkest hours the most radical thing I know how to do is keep hoping.
See you next month. Probably still terrible. Definitely still reading.
— Zee
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