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Animal Farm Book Review

George Orwell
The most compelling part of Orwell's satire on tyranny is how easily the animals are made to forget what they've learned, deny what they've seen with their own eyes, and follow someone who always has a tidy explanation ready — no matter how ridiculous. This story teaches us to resist distraction and question authority, especially when that authority is co-opting your movement with exactly the type of language you want to hear.

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Communal Luxury: The Political Imaginary of the Paris Commune Book Review

Kristin Ross
In this compact, punchy analysis of the Paris Commune, Ross focuses less on important dates and events than of the reverberating impact this experiment had on subsequent anarchist, communist, socialist, and environmentalist thought. Many of the commune's debates around the value of labour, automation, building urban-rural solidarity, and who counts as a worker are still relevant today. Detailed footnotes make it easy to look up the source material if you want to dig deeper.

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Moonbound Book Review

Robin Sloan
In a future 11,000 years from now, the most impressive technology doesn't come from silicon and software; rather, it comes from evolutionary leaps and a humanity that integrates itself with the natural world in weird and wonderful ways. On a technical level, one of the most impressive aspects of this novel is how Sloan presents two different characters who happen to share the same body — truly inventive. The *Sourdough* easter eggs are fun too.

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Object Lessons: The Art of the Short Story Book Review

The Paris Review
A buffet in the best way, this collection of short stories surprised, challenged and delighted me. I'm coming away from this book with an expanded view of what a story can be, even if all of them weren't quite my cup of tea.

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