Reading is for Fags (So I Do It a Lot)
I have a lot of reccommended reads scattered about this website, so I figured it'd be nice to consolidate them here.
Mainly essays and articles, sorted by subject. There is definitely some overlap between subjects but I sorted them as best I could, lol
Braiding Sweetgrass
THE seminal work on connecting personally with your local and global ecology. Doesn't require any real prior knowledge of anything to read. Absolutely life changing.
The Extraordinary Lives of Coast Redwoods
This article doesn't go into too much depth but it gives a fantastic glimpse at the enormity of the world's tallest trees. I appreciate how personal this article feels.
We Need a Greener Way to Die
A really great beginner's article into the alternatives to cremation and embalming. If you're interested in exploring the subject, Caitlin Doughty's youtube channel has a significant portion dedicated to discussing it.
It's Time to Rip Up Your Lawn and Replace it with Something You Don't Have to Mow
Another cursory look at a subject I've read too many resources to name. Check out Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't for further info.
The Chernobyl Story (Imgur Gallery)
(Couldn't figure out if this fit more strongly here or in politics lol) Incredibly detailed and insightful play-by-play on the Chernobyl disaster with photos, from the author of Chernobyl 1:23:40. Please heed the warnings for graphic depictions of injury.
Did You Know Tomatoes Hate Cucumbers? Secrets of Companion Planting
PLANTS AS PROTEST: Guerrilla Gardening and Its Role in Urban Environmentalism
The Urbanite's Guide to Guerrilla Gardening
This one's behind a damn paywall (very counterculture of you, Medium. very punk.) Here's the work around.
Guerrilla Gardening and Its Popularity
This one's a great resource on getting started on the GG for the upstart urban gardener.
How “Wilderness” Was Invented Without Indigenous Peoples
This is SUCH a good article about how people (cough-theUSforestservice-cough) mistakenly seem to equate "nature" to "lack of people".
Biology is Not as Hierarchical as Most Textbooks Paint It
Great article shining a light on how capitalist social hierarchies skew scientific understanding of the funtionings of cell biology and the natural world as a whole. Really good read if you're going into any social or scientific field really.
Dracula
MY BOY DRAC! I would've linked the annotated edition but I couldn't find it in free ebook form. Rip.
Carmilla
LESBIANS!!!!!!!!!!!
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
This is one I've had rotting in my files for years, unable to bring myself to pick one and read. Mayhaps you will find better use for it.
The Brothers Karamazov
Currently reading this one! Slowly. But surely.
The Count of Monte Cristo
This book and a few of its early film adaptions are some of my fav works of fiction ever. LOVE me some pettiness and revenge.
The Divine Comedy
The autism hit me hard on this one. I read Inferno and Paradiso over the course of a summer because the imagery was so juicy, but also because it's a very illuminating work that will show you EXACTLY where modern christian ideas of Literal Physical heaven and hell come from.
Leaves of Grass
Essential reading for the late 19th century dandy to signal other men you're a faggot of the highest calibre. Incidentally also a lovely collection of poetry.
Cadavers in Pearls: Meet the Anatomical Venus
Not erotica in the traditional sense, but anatomical venuses (venusi? veni?) are sexy so here we are.
Fucking Trans Women (Zine)
Informative, erotic, and heartfelt. All in all, essential reading for those curious about the experience of, well... It's in the title.
Blood Sisters: Leather Dykes and Sadomasochism (Documentary)
Absolutely essential viewing for the kinky lesbian. WILL change your entire life. Warnings for graphic depictions of injury, bondage, and consentual non-con. Frankly if you're not into the kink scene I'd maybe avoid this one.
Masc Sapphics in Books (Compilation)
A wonderful jumping off point if you're looking for masc lesbians in fiction! Each listing has a neat categorization: author and their race, the book's genre, the masc characters in question, their identities, races, and their importance to their story. It's so nice :) (a lot of these are romance and erotica, so this goes here)
Rather than link each individual video I've saved, I'm going to embed my youtube playlists for both media analysis and miscellaneous video essays. Take a look around, play a few for background audio while you're gaming, do what'cha gotta do.
These are mainly articles and pieces ABOUT cooking, or the chemistry behind it. I don't have many recipes linked here for a few reasons, chief among them being I HATE recipe websites. All mine come from a 1994 McCormic cookbook that has been worn down to a nub. I only look up recipes online as a last ditch.
Baked Chicken Wings that are Actually Crispy? Just Add Baking Soda
When It Comes to Curd, Lemon is Just the Beginning
How Cream of Tartar Helped Invent Modern Baking
Food Timeline: Food History Research Service
An awesome look into the history of food across the world! The glimpses are cursory, but they're a wonderful jumping off point for further research.
Anti-Colonial Research Library (Web Library)
Excellent research tool for decolonization, indigenous sovereignty, and ethics in modern-day capitalism.
Not Just Putin: Why the American Right Falls in Love with Dictators
A good read to help mentally reconcile some of the batshit craziness coming from the Republican party lately.
Slut City Journal: Issue #1 (Zine)
Honestly this could go into many of the above categories, but it's got a lot of focus on practical community building, anarchy, and metal music. Into sociology it goes. (Genuinely fantastic zine though, even if you don't live in Utah this is a great read)
Stone Butch Blues
I only ever got halfway through this (sorry Leslie Feinberg) but it's genuinely world-changing. I reccommend it to everyone I can.
The Autobiography of Malcom X
I went into this without a clue who Malcom X was, and after reading it really highlighted every single racial inequality I'd ever previously ignored. It's astounding how resonant it is a half-century later.
The Seven Stages of Gun Violence
Stonekettle's essay here provides such a quick, to-the-point solution to mass tragedy after mass tragedy. It's astounding how easily bipartisan this essay is. I reccommend this to republican acquaintances a lot.
Caring Too Much. That's the Curse of the Working Class
A Practical Utopian's Guide to the Coming Collapse
I couldn't say a lot about David Graeber's essays that hasn't already been said, but this essay in particular is SO good it hurts.
The Wretched of the Earth
Essential reading for those interested in the interplay between class and race under capitalism.
The Mohawk Warrior Society: A Handbook on Sovereignty and Survival
A really great look into the AIM movement of the 70s and its lasting impacts across the US and Canada today.
Fuck Your "Magic" Antisemitism: A Lesser Key to the Appropriation of Jewish Magic and Mysticism
This is a really great no-holds-barred zine about New Age mysticism and it's (frankly horrific) problem with cultural appropriation and erasure, especially in relation to Christian occultism and Jewish beliefs.
Squeamishness Around Meat is Embedded Into the English Language
I have such a fascination with cultural attitudes towards meat.
I am NOT an Animal; Mortality Salience, Disgust, and the Human Denial of Creatureliness
The World Cannot Afford the Rich
Great article about how the rich are literal leeches on society and the environment as a whole.
Your Harry Potter Addiction is Funding Transphobia
We're Building a Dystopia Just to Make People Click on Ads (Ted Talks)
Great Ted Talk about persuasion advertising and the infrastructure of digital targeted ads taking over the wider internet, affecting social movements and political landscapes.
The Forgotten Trans History of the Wild West
The 2010s Have Broken Our Sense of Time
MAUS 1 and MAUS 2 (Google drive PDF links)
Maus by Art Spiegelman is one of the essential reads on the holocaust. I was introduced to these graphic novels in high school and I realized that a lot of folks didn't have the privelage; so, here you go. They're very accessable and shed some insights on attitudes around the holocaust and its survivors (and the generational trauma that still effects their families) that go unexamined in culture at large. Of all the reads I've listed here, this is probably the most important one if you haven't read it already.
Liberation Library: Social Justice Resources for Beginners (Notion Site)
I've only gotten to read a few resources from here, but they're so well organized and easy to find I'm going to be coming back for a while. Check out the rest of the categories on here as well if you're not interested in the social justice ones, there are lots to choose from!
The Yellow Wallpaper
Great piece of psychological horror right here. Can't reccommend enough.
When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry
If you're a fan of really moving poetry, this anthology is for you. Give it a read if you've got a few bucks to spare.
NPR: Reading the Game: Red Dead Redemption 2
A wonderful review of my favorite game, Red Dead 2. Not a fiction book, but eh. It's going here for now.
I don't have a lot of ebooks here, as unfortunately I'm allergic to reading longform books on a screen. Give me good ol' paper any day. I will be adding more as I find them, however, so keep an eye out.