u/cryborg_96

This has come highly recommended to me! McKenzie Wark is a contemporary to and in the same circles as Chris Kraus and Kathy Acker, so that combined with this memoir's description makes me pretty certain that it fits the genre. It is also published by Semiotext(e).

I love reading memoirs, but the ones I read often focus more on politics and activism (such as Assata, my all time favourite) and I would like to read a wider variety. Do any of you have some weird girl memoir recommendations? Have you read Reverse Cowgirl?

Edited due to grammar and clarity.

The eight of swords is definitely a weird girl mood 🗡️🌱💋

I was a bit uncertain about posting Annihilation, but the all woman-cast and general weirdness makes it at least adjacent to this sub I think.

I am a big lover of forest scents and was surprised by this one. Normally I’m not a fan of rose, but in this it just brings a bit more depth without being overpowering. It is nice to have a forest scent that leans more woody than green.

I see that a lot of people compare this to Hywl by Aesop, and I get that. But to me Hywl reminds me of sitting in a forest sauna right by lake, while this is more like being in the forest itself. It is much less spicy.

I haven’t read the English translation, but this book is amazing! It deals with abuse (cw for csa) and family dynamics. Hjort is a great writer and a lot of her work has been translated. I think a lot of you would enjoy it ❣️

I love all of Dorn's books (to different extents), but the endings often fall short for me. I enjoyed the dyke-campiness and obsession of American Spirits, >!but the 'it was fanfiction all-along'!< felt very abrupt and pulled me out of the experience. I get that it was probably the intention and I appreciate the interconnectedness of her work and the meta-commentary on fandom and narrative, but it just really didn't work for me. Before the ending I enjoyed the occasional reference to Vagablonde.

I read the book very compulsively and was constantly thinking about it when not reading. Since finishing it I have barely given it any thought though, which I find interesting. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but would love to hear other perspectives and experiences.

As a messy queer woman who is always in some sort of complicated relationship dynamic Dorn's books will always hit hard for me no matter what haha.

I love everything about this cover; the colours, the buildings on the cover, and the silhouette surrounded by the planet. This is one of my all-time favourite books!

Really looking forward to Apple and Knife, have any of you read it? I have mostly been reading weird girl lit, sci-fi, and non-fiction lately.

For those of you who have read it (I haven’t been avoid to yet but will soon), which cover fits the story best? Or do they equally capture the atmosphere of it?

It was first published as The Beginning Place in 1981, and then as Threshold in the UK in 1982.

Edit: I fixed an error with the publication dates.

I miss covers like these so much. I got them from a private collector. My favourite is the 1975 edition of the Dispossessed.

Butler was a prolific sci-fi author, her book 'Survivor' is currently being reprinted (part of the Patternist series) despite her wish that it should never be in print again. She described it derogatorily as her "Star Trek Novel"

As I love both Butler and Star Trek I have been trying to take her critique into consideration. As a big Star Trek fan I don't mind critique of it as the discussion of the flaws of the future it tried to imagine is inherently interesting. Apparently she said that it is due to its "simplistic, human-centric view of the universe."

Here is a full quote:

"When I was young, a lot of people wrote about going to another world and finding either little green men or little brown men, and they were always less in some way. They were a little sly, or a little like “the natives” in a very bad, old movie. And I thought, “No way. Apart from all these human beings populating the galaxy, this is really offensive garbage.” People ask me why I don’t like Survivor, my third novel. And it’s because it feels a little bit like that. Some humans go up to another world, and immediately begin mating with the aliens and having children with them. I think of it as my Star Trek novel." (source)

I haven't been able to find the primary source of this, and personally think that her work shares a lot of themes with Star Trek, such as the complicated nature of first contact and deep space exploration.

I will not read this book as she did not want it to be read, but am quite interested in the critique of Star Trek as human-centric. Do any of you have any thoughts on this? The federation and starfleet is of course very human-centric in a way, but does it go beyond that? Are they engaged with an inherently colonial project despite their best intentions?

I do like the cover, the new covers for the Patternist series are nice in general (at least better than the last ones). You can actually tell that is sci-fi. Butler didn't like this book and didn't want it reprinted, so I find the decision to do so strange. I don't think that I will read it... Sorry if posting this here is a bit conflicting. I do like the cover, but felt like I should comment on the situation. You can read more about it here.

I know this is a long shot but if you were one of the eight/ know someone who were, please share what it was like. Sadly I was born almost three decades too late...

Was this event ever recorded anywhere/ were their pictures taken? I have been trying to find what edition of TV Digest this was in, but it is mostly just floating around on Pinterest.

Do you have and/or enjoy any of these? This picture made me realise that I should put up some art in the back, it looks very sparse.

It is so cool. This poster actually inspired me to start my irl sci-fi book club.

Edit: It was found by u/justincrab on this site.

I love explorations of these kind of dynamics. Would really appreciate recommendations for books exploring similar themes.

The Carnivorous Plant is a bit of an outlier as it is less ambiguous and features a very clear abusive relationship, but it is a very important read imo.

Apologies for the low quality picture, it is from my old apartment and was taken years ago. I can’t find some of the books now 😭

I have some mixed feelings about Yesteryear, but overall I enjoyed the experience a lot. Will try to write a review soon.

Just Watch Me is such an underrated weird girl read imo.

maximalism should extend to the garden if possible 🌱

i love her