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The Bell in the Fog

Read The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen

San Francisco, 1952. Detective Evander “Andy” Mills has started a new life for himself as a private detective—but his business hasn’t exactly taken off. It turns out that word spreads fast when you have a bad reputation, and no one in the queer community trusts him enough to ask an ex-cop for help.

When James, an old flame from the war who had mysteriously disappeared, arrives in his offices above the Ruby, Andy wants to kick him out. But the job seems to be a simple case of blackmail, and Andy’s debts are piling up. He agrees to investigate, despite everything it stirs up.

The case will take him back to the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, and then out into the gay bars of the city, where the past rises up to meet him, like the swell of the ocean under a warship. Missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos that could destroy lives are a whirlpool around him, and Andy better make sense of it all before someone pulls him under for good.

I recently found out about The Bell in the Fog, the second tome to the Lavender House series (of which I enjoyed book 1). Set a few months after the first tome, it has (slightly) fewer police beatings of gay men and (much) more gruesome deaths. It’s pretty good, in other words. This one isn’t…

The Unfortunates

Read The Unfortunates by J.K. Chukwu

Dear Reader,
It has come to my attention that smoking kills, along with police, loner white boys, and looks. While embroiled in the process of trying to live, I have written this honors thesis [1]. It [2] is dedicated to the first years who haven’t yet died from alcohol poisoning, exhaustion, or overdosing. This work has been a labor of love and of hate. In it, you will find juxtaposition, verisimilitude, French, Freud, and anything else I’ve wasted 60K a year to learn.
I would like to thank my advisors: Mr. White Supremacy, Mr. Capitalism, Ms. Racism, and, of course, my Life Partner [3] for all the guidance they have provided during this process.
Set in the mind of a young Black woman who is losing it, The Unfortunates is a darkly funny debut about the realities of elitist institutions from an exceptional new writer.
[1] Ma lettre d’adieu.
[2] When writing an honors thesis, you can get away with vague antecedents.
[3] My depression

One of these books that make you call back your therapist and say « hiii I’m sorry I’ve been ghosting you for the past 6 months ». I struggled to get into this book because the writing style is far from classic, but once I had gotten into the rhythm, I could not let go…

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

Read Nevada by Imogen Binnie ( )

Maria Griffiths is almost thirty and works at a used bookstore in New York City while trying to stay true to her punk values. She’s in love with her bike but not with her girlfriend, Steph. She takes random pills and drinks more than is good for her, but doesn’t inject anything except, when she remembers, estrogen, because she’s trans. Everything is mostly fine until Maria and Steph break up, sending Maria into a tailspin, and then onto a cross-country trek in the car she steals from Steph. She ends up in the backwater town of Star City, Nevada, where she meets James, who is probably but not certainly trans, and who reminds Maria of her younger self. As Maria finds herself in the awkward position of trans role model, she realizes that she could become James’s savior–or his downfall.

I understand why Nevada is a classic, alright? I really do. It’s messy and unapologetic and the story is good and it explains things without feeling like a lecture and yes, it captures lots of trans experiences. Or, well, transfeminine experiences? I felt like many pieces of the description could apply to me, but Imogen…

Age of the City

Read Age of the City: Why Our Future Will be Won Or Lost Together ( )

In this book, Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin show why making our societies fairer, more cohesive and sustainable must start with our cities. Globalization and technological change have concentrated wealth into a small number of booming metropolises, leaving many smaller cities and towns behind and feeding populist resentment. Yet even within seemingly thriving cities like London or San Francisco, the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen and our retreat into online worlds tears away at our social fabric. Meanwhile, pandemics and climate change pose existential threats to our increasingly urban world.

Felt rushed and superficial in some parts, some others were better. A frustrating read because many very interesting things are said but stay on the superficial level; a good read nonetheless, not too US-centric. Mes notes de lecture en français sont ici.

Liked Designing Mastodon’s reply safety features by Sam Gold (lickability.com)

Lickability has been Mastodon’s design partner since 2021, when we helped design their first-party iOS app (and more recently, their Android app). In 1.0 for each of those apps, there have been the expected safety features — mute, block, and report. But those are very direct and technical tools. Don’t get us wrong, those features are critical to having some level of safety on any online platform. But their reach is limited to what you see, which, by definition, puts the onus on the person who needs it. If someone is bothering you, you’re required to block or mute them.