I read constantly. If I go 24 hours without sitting in my recliner with a paperback, my Kindle, or at least a magazine – real or tablet edition – I become cranky. It’s better to just leave me be and let me read, honestly.
From time to time, I like to share some of the things I’ve been reading lately… Here goes.
Freshly Remember’d: Kirk Drift is a long read, and a hell of a long read for the internet. The TLDR summary: everything you know about Captain James T. Kirk is probably bullshit, even if you’ve seen every TOS episode. This essay is fantastic. Erin Horáková knows her Trek, and her love for the source material is clear in this lengthy argument concerning collective memory and gender politics. It is absolutely worth the read. And, for me, it struck a wonderful note right from the start. Horáková’s opening anecdote rang some bells for me, as I have most definitely been to a party with That Guy. (My own That Guy tale involves an award winning author, a college girl, and a bar tab.)
God in the Machine: my strange journey into transhumanism is much shorter. And, honestly, the central premise fails to shock with any originality or true insight. Perhaps, however, that only serves to bolster Meghan O’Gieblyn’s argument. At any rate, it’s worth a read-through if you’re curious about transhumanism and the Singularity.
Google is doomed. Read the latest news from the Future! here in This is How Google Will Collapse, in which Daniel Colin James sends us dispatches from the post-Google future.
And just in case anyone wondered how I do my reading, here’s a quick précis:
Fiction I either read on my Kindle (a slate-gray 5th gen model, which I refuse to upgrade until either the Voyage goes down in price or they bring back physical page turn buttons for other models) or in paperback. I frequent McKay Used Books in Knoxville, which was one of the Four Things I Missed About Tennessee while I didn’t live here.
Internet essays and articles I typically find via laptop or phone browsing. They are saved for later consumption using Pocket, and read either on my phone or on my Kindle Fire tablet.
John A. Underwood 