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krrksch@kirja.casa

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krrksch's books

Currently Reading (View all 8)

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quoted Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch, #1)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice (Paperback, 2013, Orbit)

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing …

And you don’t like my saying that, but here’s the truth: luxury always comes at someone else’s expense. One of the many advantages of civilization is that one doesn’t generally have to see that, if one doesn’t wish. You’re free to enjoy its benefits without troubling your conscience.

Ancillary Justice by  (Imperial Radch, #1)

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quoted Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch, #2)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Sword (Paperback, 2014, Orbit)

Seeking atonement for past crimes, Breq takes on a mission as captain of a troublesome …

“These people are citizens.” I replied, my voice as calm and even as I could make it, without reaching the dead tonelessness of an ancillary. “When they behave properly, you will say there is no problem. When they complain loudly, you will say they cause their own problems with their impropriety. And when they are driven to extremes, you say you will not reward such actions. What will it take for you to listen?”

Ancillary Sword by  (Imperial Radch, #2)

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Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Velvet Was the Night (Paperback, 2021, Random House Large Print) No rating

Yes!! I'm aware that "It's just like Certain Dark Things, only without vampires" doesn't sound like praise, but it is. I loved Certain Dark Things. I liked Mexican Gothic too, but quit halfway through because I wasn't feeling up to an All Abuse All The Time story. So I was uncertain whether this one would be right for me, and yes it is. It feels very soft to me although there's a lot of violence, and I like the unusual energy of the characters and the way everything is connected in a way that's neither too subtle nor too blunt. And how the plot goes on in a pretty steady way, keeping me interested without the exciting events getting overwhelming.

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quoted How We Win by George Lakey

George Lakey: How We Win (2018, Melville House Publishing) No rating

Most white southerners believed in the 1950s that they lived in a humane racial system; their myth was that they treated black people well. They also believed that black people accepted segregation, except for a few malcontents. It was shocking for them to see nicely dressed black college students reading their textbooks while sitting at a lunch counter waiting for coffee, when they could get takeout coffee at the back door. Doubly shocking to see white men beating them up. Two secrets were exposed at once: black people want freedom, and segregation requires violence. Millions of slogans on picket signs could not do what a simple sit-in could do. Campaigns have power when we get beyond words-when we show rather than tell.

How We Win by 

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reviewed Muistipoliisi by Yoko Ogawa (Keltainen pokkari, #516)

Hat, ribbon, bird, rose. To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer …

Outo, rauhallinen ja kummallisella tavalla ahdistava

Tämä oli erilainen lukuelämys. Pienellä japanilaissaarella muistista pyyhkiytyy pois arkisia asioita, ja sitten eletään kuin niitä ei olisi ollutkaan. Paitsi kaikki eivät unohda, ja heitä sitten jahtaa muistipoliisi.

Kirja oli kivasti kirjoitettu, ja siinä oli mukavan vähän henkilöitä (3), jolloin oli helppo pysyä kärryillä heidän tekemisistään (mulla on toisinaan ongelmia henkilöiden sekoittamisessa). Tunnelma oli koko ajan rauhallinen, vaikkakin toisinaan aika ahdistava. Välillä kuvailtiin ehkä liiankin tarkasti ruoanlaittoa tai sen syömistä, mutta siitäkin jäi kuva, että oudoissakin oloissa ihmiset sopeutuvat tilanteeseen ja alistuvat siihen.

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Casey McQuiston: The Pairing (Hardcover, MacMillan)

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, lovers and …

American view on Europe

Let me first stress how fucking American this is. The entire book plays during a “European Food and Wine Tour”, with the following stops: London, Paris, Bordeaux, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, San Sebastián, Barcelona, Nice, Monaco, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Chianti, Rome, Naples and Palermo. Because, of course, food and wine culture only exists in France, Northern Spain, Italy and .... London.

Oh, no, excuse me, London is not a proper stop on this tour. There's no food and wine served in London. The tour only starts in London, and the first thing they do on the tour is a bus ride to Paris. Wait what? Who the fuck travels to London first, if the real start is Paris? One of the protagonists actually even lives in Paris, but travels to London for the tour start and the bus ride to Paris. Holy hell.

Of course, there are Europeans on the tour (from …

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Alia Dannenberg: Suurmestari (Paperback, Finnish language, Kirjokansi)

Kvääridekkari aikuiseen makuun

Kirjailija Alia Dannenberg on talousalan yrittäjä, huipputason shakinpelaaja, mukana kuntapolitiikassa vasemmistoliiton edustajana ja julkisesti transsukupuolinen. Dekkarisarjan päähenkilö Tiina Kivisaari on laskentatoimen asiantuntija, joka päätyy Supon agenttina tutkimaan pikkukaupungin kuntatalouden epäselvyyksiä eli selvittämään talousrikoksia — ja agentti kivisaari on myös huipputason shakinpelaaja ja transsukupuolinen, muttei julkisesti. Ei tarvitse hirveästi älynnystyröitään hieroa päätelläkseen, mistä kirjailija on inspiraationsa ammentanut.

Ja on sanottava, että lähtökohdiltaan ja sisällöltään kyseessä on merkittävä kirja. Kovin usein suomalaisessa kirjallisuudessa eivät aikuiset, perheelliset transnaiset ole itse päässeet kertomaan aikuisten, perheellisten transnaisten tarinoita. Kirjassa myös ruoditaan suomalaista korruptiota, veronkiertoa ja sormien läpi katsottavaa talousrikollisuutta eli ns. maan tapaa sen verran suorasukaisesti ja yksityiskohtaisesti, että lukijana ihan raivostuu siitä, miten täällä yhteisiä varoja hoidetaan. Lisäksi kirjan toisena sankarina on vanhemmanpuoleinen muslimikaapua käyttävä maahanmuuttajanainen, mikä sekin on suomalaisessa kirjallisuudessa hävettävän harvinaista.

Kaunokirjallisena teoksena Suurmestari on kuitenkin hiukan keskeneräinen. Kirjailija selvästi tykkää kertoa juonen kannalta vähemmän tärkeistä itsensä kaltaisen päähenkilön yksityiselämän seikoista sekä …

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Neil Postman: Amusing ourselves to death (2006, Penguin Books) No rating

Terrified of television

No rating

I'm primed to be skeptical of any claim which sounds like the core one in this book: that there's something pernicious about The New Communication Tool, and that it will erode our society and culture.

But. Postman published Amusing Ourselves to Death in 1985, and has been specifically correct about several… let us say… arcs? of transformation in culture & communication; in the way we value wisdom, knowledge, information, and data; and in our approach to disagreement, debate, and argument; among others. Postman clearly isn't exactly right in the particulars — the cultural role of television has changed substantially, and even newer new media has further adapted down this path. He didn't specifically anticipate Twitter or Facebook or TikTok, but his heart is in the right place by extrapolation from television.

Still. Is society worse, or just different? Are the ways societ has improved supported by new media, …

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Philip Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Paperback, 2017, Del Rey)

It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill. Somewhere among the …

A little mixed on this one.

First off, I have never seen Blade Runner, so that movie had no impact on my feelings for this book.

I was sucked into this book from the very start. Animals are basically extinct and farmers are usually having to resort to buying robotic versions of the animals to be able to still produce goods. People are using computers to program them to feel specific ways (you can even make yourself feel depressed for whatever reason). The world building was really well done and for the first half of the book I was very into it all.

Then it just kind of lost me. It starts to show its age when it comes to discussing or referencing any of the female characters. We are told all about their breasts and there's even the old school jolly of having sex with a robot.

I know that issues like this are inherent …

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Sarah Thankam Mathews: All This Could Be Different (EBook, 2022, Viking) No rating

From a brilliant new voice comes an electrifying novel of a young immigrant building a …

Æ vet ikke helt ka æ hadde forventa da æ lånte den her, og æ huske heller ikke helt koffor æ endte opp med å låne den i utgangspunktet (æ tror noen som har en smak æ stole på sa at dem likte den), men æ e glad æ leste den.

Det e historien om S, som bor i USA, med foreldre som ikke gjør det, som skal være den amerikanske drømmen, men kanskje ikke helt får det til, som e ung og usikker og altfor tøff for sitt eget beste.

Historien i sæ sjøl e ikke så nyskapanes, men det e måten den e fortalt på som treff så uventa godt. Den e i fire deler, med ujevt antall kapitler i delan, og varieranes lengde. Det e fortalt i fortid, med hint av en forteller som vet kordan det kommer til å gå, men ikke på en slitsom måte. …

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Sarah Thankam Mathews: All This Could Be Different (EBook, 2022, Viking) No rating

From a brilliant new voice comes an electrifying novel of a young immigrant building a …

I like very soft women. Like I like the idea of every part of a woman being like a breast. Just a walking collection of breasts conjoined. Just like, soft. Squeezable. Also have a thing for big eyes, wide mouths. And brains, of course.

All This Could Be Different by