Shelf Source: Frugal Gamer

What Book Changed How You Think About the Internet Or Consumer Technology?

The Master Switch by Tim Wu, which I read back in 2020. It still stays with me. Wu talks about the rise of AT&T and the FCC and how the airwaves and phone networks slowly became more and more restricted and subject to government regulations and private takeover. He then predicts that the same will probably happen to the internet, which I believe we've been seeing with the introduction of age-restricting laws around the world. I still hope against hope that he's wrong, but only time will tell. It has cemented my determination to oppose similar legislation and work to make access simpler and easier for everyone.

When You Finish a Book That Moves You, What's Your First Instinct?

Usually I want to write about it, though I don't often share my thoughts on my website immediately. For several years (since 2018) I've kept a series of Open Office documents that journal my reading for each year, and I'll jot down my overall thoughts on a book or story I've finished soon after I'm done with it. These eventually make it to my website as part of my reading logs, but sometimes I'll edit them down, remove or add details, and sometimes add my Kindle notes if applicable.

It's proven to be really, really helpful, because not only do I retain more info when taking notes, but also I'll frequently reference these journals to see what I thought about a book, when I read it, and what else was going on in my life when I did. They're way more useful to me than the reading logs I've kept in Goodreads, for instance, especially because I feel more free to express myself and opinions in private (especially when my thoughts about a book are less than charitable).

Has A Book Ever Inspired You To Build Or Change Something On Your Site?

Most definitely, but there are no specific examples I can point to. I'd say everything I read influences my site in some small way, because it is the culmination of everything I produce and think about in my spare time.

What's A Book You've Recommended The Most, And What Does That Say About You?

So this led to an interesting observation: I don't often recommend books to people. This is probably because most of the stuff I read doesn't overlap with my friends' and family's interests. And I'm not really sure why I don't recommend books on my site more, but that's probably because I just focus on my own thoughts and reviews, and let others decide for themselves.

That said, here are a few that I've found myself mentioning to others that I think people would enjoy:

• The Hyperion Cantos, by Dave Simmons — There have been more eyes on this recently because of the author's passing. Later in life he was known for being rather obstinate and conservative, but Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion were mind-blowing to me, and I will be re-reading them again in the future. It is a sci-fi adaptation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which five pilgrims heading to the eponymous planet Hyperion find themselves traveling together on the same space ship. They each share the journeys that brought them there, and each is moving in its own way. The world building is immense and vivid, and I found myself genuinely sad when it was threatened. If you enjoyed Dune, I believe you will like this one also.
• Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel — Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic fiction novel that features a group of people whose lives have intertwined both before and after "The Event," which in this story happens to be a devastating plague that kills off most of the world's population. Above all, it is a story about people supporting each other, navigating their lives, and continuing to survive despite the hardships they are put through. Despite dealing with some serious subject matter, such as religious extremism and the fall of civilization, I found it to be uplifting and hopeful. At many points it simply deals with the mundanities of ordinary life, which continue as ever, even in the face of worldwide upheaval.

As for what this says about me as a person? I'm not sure. I think that I like sharing stories.

How Do You Decide Which Books Deserve a Place on Your Site Versus Staying Private?

I will sometimes redact books I've read when they deal with very personal things that I'm going through, or possibly if they are about local places that I think might identify me. Other than that, I'm pretty free about sharing my thoughts about what I've read.

What's Something You Believe About Reading Most Would Disagree With?

I like reading books that are slightly boring, tedious, plodding, and detailed, especially about history. I don't entirely know why, but I find it really comforting, and sometimes it even helps me sleep at night. As much as I love fiction, often when I think of turning to it after a long day, I feel preemptively exhausted, mostly because I don't want to feel more strong emotions after an entire day of feeling things. So instead I always like to have a good nonfiction book going that dispassionately explains some subject that I find at least slightly interesting.

Right now, for instance, I just started Woody Guthrie: A Life by Joe Klein, and I get excited about it every time bedtime rolls around. Bring me these boring details! It's like a balm on my aching heart. Another one I turn to often is Women in the Middle Ages, Vol 1 by Katharina M. Wilson, which isn't so much of a nonfiction book, because it's literally an encyclopedia. I read through it like a normal book, though, starting at A and going through each entry. I think I'm about a third of the way through it at this point, and I've learned a whole lot about various topics. I won't retain all of it, naturally, but little pieces of it come back to me here and there and help form a more complete picture of the era that I didn't have before, and in the meantime it reminds me that we, as a species, have lived through much worse times than we are experiencing now.

If You Could Design a Library That Reflected Your Site's Ethos, What Would It Look Like?

Honestly it would probably look a lot like the Anarchist Library or Appropedia. I don't know how successful or obvious I've been, but my goal with this site has always been to inspire others to create things that give them joy and to find other ways of existing in dysfunctional systems. I try to teach visitors techniques for creating things that they want or need, I archive information that I don't want to see disappear from the corporate web (or other places), and I share programming projects and games for free. If anyone has suggestions for how I could achieve this further, I welcome them!

What's A Genre Or Type Of Book You Used To Dismiss But Now Love?

I used to have a chip on my shoulder about Romance, but as I grew older I realized that was just a form of internalized misogyny. Since then I've acquired a taste for Urban Fantasy novels, though I am picky about the ones I enjoy because the genre itself also has a lot of internalized misogyny. Not that I'm "above" that now, mind you, just that it does sometimes trigger some unpleasant feelings in me that I'm not always ready to deal with, and I don't always find those situations an enjoyable escape. Anyways, sexy novels about vampires and werewolves are now my preferred "beach reads" for when I want something easy and fun, so I'm glad I gave up my prejudices.

How Has Having a Personal Website Changed the Way You Read?

I've actually tried very hard to not let it influence the way I read. There is a tendency, as with any online venture, to turn my hobbies into "content" and pick them based on what would work for my website. This is something I very consciously do not want to do. I never want my online self to become a "hustle" or something I do for "engagement." Very rarely, I'll think, "hey I've got to share this with the world," but it's usually because I think it would be helpful in some way, not because I think it fits my site or would bring me more eyeballs and traffic.