#the memory librarian and other stories of dirty computer

[myclutteredbookshelf]

Making my way through Janelle Monáe's short story collection The Memory Librarian 🤖🏳️‍🌈

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[bookclub4m]

Episode 200 - Library Fiction

It’s episode 200, which means it’s (finally) time for us to discuss Library Fiction! We talk about the stereotypes and tropes of library fiction, unacknowledged work of library workers,and more. Plus: we talk way more about our actual jobs than we usually do.

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges 

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence

Ex Libris: Stories of Librarians, Libraries, and Lore by Paula Guran (below are direct links to many of the stories from this collection)

In the House of the Seven Librarians by Ellen Klages

In Libres by Elizabeth Bear

Those Who Watch by Ruthanna Emrys

Paper Cuts Scissors by Holly Black

Summer Reading by Ken Liu

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

With Tales in Their Teeth, From the Mountain They Came by A.C. Wise

The Librarian’s Dilemma by E. Saxey

The Green Book by Amal El-Mohtar

A Woman's Best Friend by Robert Reed

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Xia Jia, translated by Ken Liu

The Sigma Structure Symphony by Gregory Benford

The Fort Moxie Branch by Jack McDevitt

The Last Librarian: Or a Short Account of the End of the World by Edoardo Albert

How Can I Help You by Laura Sims

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor 

Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen

Other Media We Mentioned

The Library of Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

The Empty Crown by Rosemary Edghill 

Meghan meant The Abortion by Richard Brautigan (not Trout Fishing in America)

The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Bookhunter by Jason Shiga

Unshelved by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes

Library Comic by Gene Ambaum and Willow Payne

Welcome to Night Vale

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Episode 134 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Abbott Elementary

Pounded In The Butt By My Handsome Sentient Library Card Who Seems Otherworldly But In Reality Is Just A Natural Part Of The Priceless Resources Our Library System Provides by Chuck Tingle

My Librarian Is A Beautiful Lesbian Ice Cream Cone And She Tastes Amazing by Chuck Tingle

Party Girl

Public Enemy - Fight the Power

Fictional Librarians

50 Fictional Librarians, Ranked

Rupert Giles (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Barbara Gordon (DC Comics)

The Librarian (Discworld)

Lucien (The Sandman)

Evelyn Carnahan (The Mummy)

Marian Paroo (The Music Man)

Librarians (Welcome to Night Vale)

“While their description is never fully given, minor details of their physical characteristics have been described:”

yellow, gnarled teeth

sharp claws and pincers

Wings

Tentacles

thousands of spiny legs

rattles (that make noise when they move)

thoraxes

Links, Articles, and Things

Two-Fisted Library Stories zines

North Boulder Library is ready to open (there’s a slide in image 6!)

15 Librarian & Library Fiction by POC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts

Cora's Kitchen by Kimberly Garrett Brown

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez 

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana

The Plotters by Kim Un-Su

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Bookhunter by Jason Shiga

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group or Discord Server, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, October 1st we’ll be getting ready for spooky season with the Weird West! (That’s Supernatural Horror Westerns)

Then on Tuesday, October 15th it’s time for our “We All Read the Same Book” episode as we discuss A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher.

[mothymusings]

Second Entry

“In the end, a simple happiness is better than a complex disillusion.”

― Janelle Monáe, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

Synopsis

Memory Librarian and Other Stories is an anthology inspired by Monae’s album Dirty Computer. Each story is set in the near future, where a new government called New Dawn controls everything a person does down to their memories. Within each short story is a message of Queer, POC, and Female resistance against the rigid conformity New Dawn tries to impose.

There are five stories within the anthology, every single one could be read independently of the other, however there are references interspersed each novella. The titular story, Memory Librarian, follows Seshet as one of the high ranking officials in New Dawns order. Her job focuses on categorizing as well as monitoring the memories of her city until strange circumstances cause her to question her loyalties and even her own memories.

Nevermind follows the residents of the Pynk Hotel, a resistant group of queer women who have run away from New Dawn, dubbed Dirty Computers. However things are not as harmonious as they assume, as tensions between those who try to restrict what it means to be Pynk threaten to destroy the safe haven forever.

Timebox centers around two women who have found out that their closet has time altering powers, and the arguments on how best to use such a valuable resource as time for the benefit of the whole, or the individual.

Save Changes also deals with time, as Sisters Amber and Larry deal with being outcasts due to their mothers status as a reformed resistance leader. Gifted with a stone that their late father claims to rewind time, Larry tries to save her sister and mother from fates worse than death.

Timebox Altar(ed), the final story, is about a young child named Bug, who with their friends find and create art in a clearing with the help of Mx. Tangee, a strange woman who almost seems to have magical powers.

First Impressions

Wow! Memory Librarian blew me away with the descriptive prose and inventive stories of rebellion and love in an oppressive society. I enjoyed each story and the messages they imparted. I think my favorites were Nevermind and Save Changes, especially Save Changes with how well it mixed technology and magic together. I think for me it was definitely a fun read all the way through

The Good, The Bad, and The Fuzzy

The good has to go to the inventive worldbuilding of the setting Memory Librarian is in! Details are kept vague in terms of how New Dawn gained power, how memories are able to be used as a resource as well as what being a Torch entails. But I think that vagueness is in its favor from a narrative standpoint as the characters we meet already know all these things (Save for Bug and their friends), as well as for the reader to keep drawing you back in. It’s a nice blend of sci-fi contemporary without being set in such a heavily futuristic setting, there’s technology everywhere but it doesn’t feel like it’s the main focus or detracts from it.

The bad, I will admit I had trouble reading through some of the prose, especially in the Memory Librarian novella. I had to go back and reread many large paragraphs to try to figure out what exactly was going on. I think other than that I couldn’t really find anything else I had a problem with?

The fuzzy is more to deal with plots being abruptly cliffhangers, however I don’t find it as a fault due to the formatting but I still had moments where I would go “And then what??!!” before turning the page to be met with a new story.

Conclusion

Memory Librarian and Other Stories from Dirty Computer is an amazing anthology that talks about being different in a society that tries its hardest to stamp it out through the lenses of black queer women. Its sci-fi setting is friendly enough to those who aren’t familiar with the genre while also providing an interesting spin on the genre. I think this is a perfect read for those that enjoy evocative short stories within the same world as well as fans of Monae’s music. Listening to Dirty Computer while reading definitely helped immerse me in the world of New Dawn.

Rating

A nice 8.9/10 lamps!

Upcoming…

Next entry in this blog will be Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir!

[antoine-triplett]

Tagged by @robbiedaymonds to post about what you’re reading right now! Thanks bud 💖

…

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuinston - This book is adorable. Some passages are really moving, especially the letters Alex and Henry write to each other. The way it addresses different struggles with mental health pleasantly surprised me. It’s pure fantasy, but in a fun way. Alex’s penchant for hyperbole can be hard to swallow sometimes, but you get used to it the more you get invested in the characters.

Slumber from Image Comics - I picked this up because the comic shop up the road had a poster of the cover of issue #1 in their window for a while and it kept catching my eye. The story itself is somewhat chaotic and maybe trying a bit too hard to be edgy/different while actually recycling a bunch of tropes - angry female main character with a dead daughter/death wish, rugged detective guy who doesn’t play by the rules and is haunted by his dead brother, manic pixie demon guy who can kill anything and speaks only in sarcastic one-liners… nothing we haven’t seen before on every sci-fi show. The art was worth the price of admission though.

Memory Librarian from Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer is one of my all-time favorite albums and this book didn’t disappoint. The collaborative nature of it is wonderful and compliments the message. People should be freaking out over Janelle Monae more honestly, she’s doing some super cool shit as an artist.

Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski - My best friend (who is an extremely avid reader) has been obsessed with this book for years. Finally got around to borrowing it and damn… I was tearing up in the first chapter because I was so excited to keep reading. It’s a thriller (the plot revolves around a murder mystery) so it might not be for everyone, but I get her obsession now, haha.

These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card - Randomly picked this up at the library and got sucked in immediately. The way the story unravels in pieces keeps the tension up even when there’s not much happening in a particular passage; you never know what might be significant later. Full of rich, complicated characters that you get to know little by little.

Haven by Emma Donoghue - Big fan of this author and this book was different from her other ones but I loved it. It’s about three Irish monks in the year 600. Lots of themes and descriptions involving nature and old fashioned survival techniques, both of which interest me a bunch. It’s kind of a character study of these three people with only one thing in common which was interesting. They all have an intense faith in God, but it shapes their lives and thoughts so differently. Got it from the library but ended up buying my own copy!

…

Tagging some folks if you want to share: @thelettersfromnoone @mollywog @unreal-unearthing @thegunlady @loungemermaid and anyone else that wants to post what you’ve been reading lately! Tell meeeee!

[onewordshy]

I finally finished reading The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories Of Dirty Computer (which was good, if a bit confused in the world building at times. "Timebox" was definitely my favorite story.) and it had this article at the end that I thought was interesting. Particularly this quote here:

ONE WAY TO think about Afrofuturism is what it is not: a presentation of the past as clean and whole, with previous tragedies living at a neat and soothing distance from the present. In other words, the inverse of Afrofuturist thinking is nostalgia.

And nostalgia is precisely what drives much of contemporary cultural production today. Fashion from the early aughts is making a comeback; TV series from the ’90s and 2000s are getting modern reboots. The algorithms that determine what we watch, what we listen to, what news we read, and what we buy recycle the habits of our consumption history and reiterate the same familiar content in an endless loop. There is something remarkably white about this type of engagement with the past: Things are bad now, so let’s remember the “before times” fondly—as if the racism, homophobia, and xenophobia in the narratives of today haven’t been there all along.

In comparison, Afrofuturism’s promise to liberate us from the cycles of past time feels startlingly new, even risky. It requires a trust fall.

It made me think of something I've always felt about neo-soul, which is how the genre sort of plays with time. There's a contradiction inherent in the term "neo-soul" because "neo" is futuristic but "soul" feels very old school, so the sound enforces a sort of timelessness where the past and the future meet and produce something new.

The song that really made me notice this was this Jill Scott song because the way she sings it, it's like her childhood on the block and her past life in Africa are one and the same. And she's free to flow through them. I thought that was really nice.

[kunthug]

If we carefully regard the works of art that we consider seminal in the history of the world—works of painting, literature, dance, sculpture; all the beautiful things wrought by human hands and imagination—it is clear that what unites them is time. Time purchased with hoarded and illegitimate wealth, time wrung from the muscles of black bodies, time wrenched through a vicious alchemy from the violent arms of colonialism. Friends, we exist in a perpetual state of time debt, wherein only those who have benefited from this thieving achieve the privilege of what we do blithely call genius. Comrades, what would it mean if what was once stolen could now be repaid?

— Timebox, Janelle Monáe & Eve L. Ewing, in The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer.

[thundergrace]

New Memory Librarian format just dropped!

[sistahscifi]

Titles in the Sistah Scifi Book Vending Machine for April located in the Oaklandia Cafe X Bakery at 555 12th Street Suite 101, Oakland, CA 94607.

@oaklandiacafexbakery is open M - F 7a - 5p PDT

Coloring the African Diaspora: Afrofuturism Edition @leahcastleberry @coloringtheafricandiaspora

Stella's Stellar Hair @yeseniadraws @macmillanusa

To Boldly Go @angeladalton_author @bylaurensemmer @harpercollins

Mae Among the Stars @rodaworld @stasiaburrington @harpercollins

Sister Mine @nalohop @grandcentralpub Speculation @Nisi_Shawl @leeandlow

Escaping Exodus & Escaping Exodus: Symbiosis @nickydrayden @harpervoyagerus

Girl on Fire @aliciakeys #AndrewWeiner @b_willy_will

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer @janellemonae @harpervoyagerus

Patternmaster - A Pattternist Novel @octaviaebutler @grandcentralpub

Clay's Ark - A Patternist Novel @octaviaebutler @grandcentralpub

Naomi: Season One @brianmbendis @davidf.walker @pryce14 @dcofficial

Nubia: The Awakening @omarepps @clarenceahaynes @delacortepress

What titles are you looking to see in the Sistah Scifi Book Vending Machine next month?

#SistahScifi #Oakland #oaklandca #bookvendingmachine #oaklandiacafe #sistahscifibookvendingmachine #sistahscifibookvending #blackowned #oaklandiacafexbakery #oaklandiabakery #octaviabutler #afrofuturist #maeamongthestars #sistermine #nalohopkinson #stellasstellarhair #girlonfire #toboldlygo #claysark #patternmaster #patternistnovel #patternist #escapingexodus #naomi #blackpantherworldwakanda #nickydrayden #janellemonae #thememorylibrarian

[indoormammal]

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

Check out this book on Goodreads: The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58677491-the-memory-librarian

[myclutteredbookshelf]

Book Review: The Memory Librarian

Author: Janelle Monáe, Yohanca Delgado, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Sheree Thomas, Danny Lore, and Eve Ewing

Published: 2022

⭐⭐⭐.5 (3.5/5)

American singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe released her third studio album Dirty Computer in 2018, accompanied by a short film of the same name. The film follows a trio of lovers—Jane (Monáe), Zen (Tessa Thompson), and Ché (Jayson Aaron)—living in a future where the government deems anyone that isn't white, monogamous, or heterosexual as "dirty computers." These individuals are constantly at risk of being abducted by law enforcement and taken to the House of New Dawn to have their memories deleted. In The Memory Librarian, Monáe collaborates with a team of established authors—Yohanca Delgado, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Sheree Thomas, Danny Lore, and Eve Ewing—to further explore the world of Dirty Computer outside the context of the film. Now, as a fan of Monáe's music, I must admit that I was both excited and apprehensive about reading this collection. Monáe has already proved herself to be a skilled lyricist and storyteller with her first two albums, which detail the exploits of android fugitive Cindi Mayweather. However, there is a huge difference between writing songs and writing prose, and while I don't want to imply that collaborative writing projects are inferior to solo ones, I couldn't help but worry that this was a sign that Monáe was out of her depth.

Read the full review on My Cluttered Bookshelf.

[percolatorchai]

The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

[bashirs]

tagged by @kumied

Fave color: blue. so many good shades of blue

Currently reading: the memory librarian and other stories of dirty computer

Last song: life itself by glass animals

Last movie: everything everywhere all at once

Last series: star trek (the original series)

Currently craving: goldfish crackers

Working on: studying for chemistry

Tea or coffee: coffee but i like both!

tagging @cyberwoman @mawhrin-skel @owenharpersbitchmalewife @naturalkillercyborg

[legitimate-salvage]

Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction. It’s a sci-fi anthology “showcasing the breadth of fantasy and science fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora” I cannot recommend this book enough everything in it is an absolute banger

The Memory Librarian: and other stories of Dirty Computer. Based on Janelle Monáe’s album, Doet Computer it’s a sci-fi anthology of stories from that world. It’s really fucking good I’m a big fan of musicians doing world building with their music and she really takes it to the next level with this book. You don’t necessarily need to know the story of Dirty Computer to read this but I would highly recommend.

The Machine Mandate series by Benjanun Sriduangkaew. I have never seen mastery of language like this and the world she’s built out is fucking incredible. All 10 (? I think. There’s 6 main books and a couple prequel) are so beautiful and I think all novellas.

I will absolutely second anything by Samuel R Delaney. I’m particularly partial to Empire Star, Driftglass and Babel-17. He’s my favourite author of all time and everything I’ve read by him is so good. The kind where you finish the story and you have to sit there for 3-5 business days to really absorb it.

PLEASE for the love of the universe read anti-colonial science fiction and fantasy written from marginalized perspectives. Y’all (you know who you are) are killing me. To see people praise books about empire written exclusively by white women and then turn around and say you don’t know who Octavia Butler is or that you haven’t read any NK Jemisin or that Babel was too heavy-handed just kills me! I’m not saying you HAVE to enjoy specific books but there is such an obvious pattern here

Some of y’all love marginalized stories but you don’t give a fuck about marginalized creators and characters, and it shows. Like damn

[bookclub4m]

15 Librarian & Library Fiction by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts

Cora’s Kitchen by Kimberly Garrett Brown

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez 

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana

The Plotters by Kim Un-Su

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Bookhunter by Jason Shiga