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Cataloging The World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age, by Alex Wright
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The huge mass of published material grows by the day, by the hour, in
> amounts that are disconcerting and sometimes maddening. Like water falling
> from the sky, it can either cause flooding or beneficial irrigation

I loved this book!

Notes while reading:

- "Biblion" as a unit of writing (and knowledge).
- Embodied Cognition


Singlularity Sky, by Charlie Stross
--------------------------------------

Had I really not read this? Maybe and forgot. Such strong optimism for info
maximalism and info-structures. Characters and writing meh; mostly interesting
for the taste of period (cyber)idiology.

Overall, standard 90s singularity/space-opera genre fare.


Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch (2016)
--------------------------------------

Simple book, pretty well executed. Read like a film script, or a TV episode,
but with more twists. I liked the last quarter; much of the early exposition
was very slow and predictable. Good balance of fine details while glossing over
some hard physics which could have been an over-reach.


Oranges, by John McPhee
---------------------------

Ate so many oranges after reading this. Cara Caras are great, but had some
incredibly juicy flavorful oranges with Lucy at the kitchen table that now are
driving me mad that I can't remember the type. Changed my standards a lot: many
navels are great, many other easy-to-peel don't actually have much flavor.

Orangeries! Florida!

I like the small bit of 4th wall that McPhee breaks.


The World of Edena, by Moebius
----------------------------------

Always such a feeling of boundless creative universe with Moebius; could just
go on forever. Feels dated in a sometimes uncomfortable way (lots of naked
ladies), but also fresh and humanist.


The City and The City, by China Meville
-----------------------------------------

For whatever reason I was skeptical going in... too popular? Too heavy-handed a
gimick? But liked it immediately, both the structure and the
characters/exposition. Not super happy with the resolution of the mystery, but
very happy with how the character arcs ended.


Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin (2015-2017)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oof, I binge-read this trilogy (**The Fifth Season**, **The Obelisk Gate**, and
**The Stone Sky** in one week, which wasn't particularly healthy, and wasn't
mindful or thoughtful.

The books were tightly written and well paced. I mostly liked the characters,
but the "world building" and exposition felt like the real show here. The mix
of magical realism and sci-fi worked surprisingly well to me, though I think I
prefered the fuzzy-but-hard science of Anathem (by N. Stephenson) more.
Surprised how fascinated in the "orogenes" power/curse I was.

Overall well written and different. During and after I keep thinking of this as
young-adult or genre entertainment reading; there's more to it than that, but
also less than more traditional adult literature.