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

'Time's up.'

Janelle Monáe and Yohanca Delgado, from “Save Changes”

Book 41: The Memory Librarian

Back to our regular schedule and time for a choice book and I chose The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe with contributors Yohanca Delgado, Eve L. Ewing, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, and Sheree Renée Thomas. This book was absolutely delicious. I'd call it candy, but it was way more substantial than that. It's a set of five Afro-Futurism stories set in the same New World Order, in this case New Dawn where "cleanliness" and order are valued above all else by the powers that be. All of the protagonists from the stories are "dirty" in some way, be it lesbian, non-binary, or just wanting to defy the New Dawn that can and does collect your memories and stores them to be reviewed.

The book feels like it has a lot of classic sci-fi sources including things like A Wrinkle in Time or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. There is the ever present white is oppressing Black element, but there isn't too much horrible violence, unless you count mind wipes, which you probably should, I guess. The world building is fun- it sort of throws you in and you (I at least) grasp around until you start to put all the pieces together and they fit beautifully.

BEST LINE: "The obelisk has fully metamorphosed into its metaphoric counterpart now, a giant golden circumcised penis spitting white-gold ejaculate into the air like a pornographic Mount Vesuvius"

SHOULD YOU READ THIS BOOK: Omigod, yes, it's fun! I don't want to oversell it, but it was my favorite of what I've read so far.

ART PROJECT:

I drew the title character, the Memory Librarian, Seshet, based on a picture of Janelle Monáe, of course. I had to imagine what her outfit with ceremonial hat and robes might look like, and this was it.

My Summer Audiobook Log pt 10

The Trees (2021) by Percival Everett read by Bill Andrew Quinn

Moon Witch, Spider King (2022) by Marlon James read by Bahni Turpin

Rosewater (2016) by Tade Thompson read by Bayo Gbadamosi

Peaces (2021) by Helen Oyeyemi read by Ben Allen, Intae Kim, Deana Taheri, Rosa Escorda, and Deepti Gutpa

Sorrowland (2021) by Rivers Solomon read by Karen Chilton 

Noor (2021) by Nnedi Okorafor read by Dele Ogundiran

Flowers From The Sea (2021) by Zin E. Rocklyn read by Amina Koroma

The Black God’s Drums (2018) by P. Djelia Clark read by Chani Waites

The Memory Librarian & And Other Stories Of Dirty Computer (2022) by Janelle Monae, Alaya Dawn, Danny Lore, Eve L. Ewing, Yohanca Delgado, and Sheree Renee Thomas. Read by Janelle Monae and Bahni Turpin. 

Black Stars: A Galaxy Of New Worlds (2022) by Chimamanada Ngozi Adiche, Nnedi Okorafor, Nisi Shawl, C.T. Rwizi, Nalo Hopkinson, and Victor LaValle. Read by Levar Burton, Naomi Ackie, Nyambi Nyambi, Indya Moore, Brian Tyree Henry 

After months of being out of stock, we have hard cover editions of The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe!! The short story anthology incl months of being out of stock, we have hard cover editions of The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe!! The short story anthology includes stories by @shereereneethomas, Danny Lore, and Yohanca Delgado @yodelnyc. Purchase link in bio:@sistahscifi | www.sistahscifi.com| https://sistahscifi.com/products/the-memory-librarian-and-other-stories-of-dirty-computer-by-janelle-monae Reposted @readinginjenue 🫧 The Memory Librarian by @JanelleMonáe SYNOPSIS: In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, activist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums, exploring how different threads of liberation—queerness, race, gender plurality, and love—become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape…and what the costs might be when trying to unravel and weave them into freedoms. Expanding from that mythos, these stories fully explore what it’s like to live in such a totalitarian existence…and what it takes to get out of it. Building off the traditions of speculative writers such as Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang, Becky Chambers, and Nnedi Okorafor—and filled with the artistic genius and powerful themes that have made Monáe a worldwide icon in the first place—The Memory Librarian serves readers tales grounded in the human trials of identity expression, technology, and love, but also reaching through to the worlds of memory and time within, and the stakes and power that exists there. Thank you to partners @bibliolifestyle and @harpervoyagerus for this gifted copy. 🔖 #thememorylibrarian #janellemonae #janellemonáe #bibliolifestyle #igreads #bibliophile #bookphotography #booksofinstagram #bookishpost #bookishfeatures #booknerd #bookishflatlay #booklover #bookstagrammer #ilovebooks #bookblogger #booklove #bookgram #booksofig #becauseofreading #fortheloveofbooks #whattoread #readingismagic #booksbooksbooks #teacherswhoread #iteachhighschoolenglish #sistahscifi (at Sistah Scifi) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpfkhhML36W/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

20 Fiction Audiobooks written & read by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors and Narrators

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.

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen, narrated by Catherine Ho

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley, narrated by Isabella Star LaBlanc

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich, narrated by the author

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson, narrated by Peter Jay Fernandez

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe, Yohanca Delgado, Eve L. Ewing, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, Sheree Renée Thomas; narrated by Janelle Monae and Bahni Turpin

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley, narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori, narrated by Nancy Wu

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, narrated by Robin Miles

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi, narrated by Adepero Oduye

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka, narrated by Traci Kato-Kiriyama

The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote narrated by the author, Christian Nagler, Fantasia Painter, Drew Woodson, Phillip Cash Cash and Keevin Hesuse

Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma, narrated by Soneela Nankani, Sunil Malhotra and Vikas Adam

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, narrated by Cherise Boothe

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto, narrated by Risa Mei

The Strangers by Katherena Vermette, narrated by Michaela Washburn

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, narrated by the author

Zone One by Colson Whitehead, narrated by Beresford Bennett

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson, narrated by Kyla Garcia

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu, narrated by Joel de la Fuente

Book Review: The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe

Book Review: The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe

Author: Janelle Monáe with Alaya Dawn, Danny Lore, Eve L. Ewing, Yohanca Delgado, and Sheree Renée Thomas Title: The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer Narrator: Janelle Monáe, Bahni Turpin Publication Info: HarperAudio (2022) Summary/Review: Musician, actor, and fashion icon Janelle Monáe adds author to her many skills with this collection of stories rooted in the dystopian…

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The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

Dirty Computer was one of my absolute favorite albums of 2018, so when I saw Janelle Monáe had created a sci-fi anthology based on the album, I placed it on hold immediately. The stories themselves were a bit of a mixed bag for me, with my favorites being Timebox and Save Changes being my favorites out of the group. I wish that the collection had created more of a cohesive story about this world instead of just taking a handful of concepts and sprinkling them in once in a while. The commentary behind these stories on our own social structures felt especially poignant, if a bit heavy-handed at times. At the center of this collection is hope and the power people to make change so despite my gripes with the individual stories, I appreciated the overall message of the anthology.

Favorite Quote: Mama. Such a small word for the whole world. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Author: Janelle Monáe

Contributors: Yohanca Delgado, Eve L. Ewing, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, Sheree Renée Thomas

For me, holding time in a much larger perspective eases the day-to-day anxieties of living. In my Cuban and Dominican family, we arrive at one another’s houses whenever we arrive. Once we do, time stretches, rich in togetherness. I have a whole childhood’s worth of memories of falling asleep on a pile of coats to the sound of grown-ups laughing in the next room. Of being laid across the back seat of my parents’ car and drifting in and out of sleep under my mother’s coat. How many times was I carried into our apartment on my father’s shoulder and tucked into bed? How many years did this ritual last? I could not tell you. It does not matter. The counting of years isn’t the only way to measure time. There are other languages for it. My family is, generally speaking, not thinking too often of the formation of mountain ranges or the shifting of landmasses. But there is a forgiving ease in the shape of our days. Maybe that’s why I find the concept of geologic time so soothingly familiar. Time is not fixed, after all; it warps, it stretches, and it accordions.

Yohanca Delgado from “How I Let Go of My Time-Management Anxiety” in The New York Times Magazine

“Once we do, time stretches, rich in togetherness.” UNF.  This is precisely how I feel about my own family. I have similar memories of fighting sleep as the adults carried on and on throughout the night.

The rest of this piece is interesting in its intention.  I just particularly appreciate the poetry of this part of the prose.  Ah, time...

Coming out on April 19th, 2022: The Memory Librarian, by Janelle Monaé with collaborators. "In this moving, triumphant collection, singer Monáe returns to the dystopian world of her Dirty Computer concept album and short film. These five sci-fi shorts, each written with a different coauthor, explore the consequences of a totalitarian regime that, in pursuit of a pure society, monitors its citizens’ identities, thoughts, and relationships and scrubs clean the memories and personhoods of those who are labeled deviant." (Publishers Weekly) The book is set against a totalitarian backdrop and will explore different threads of liberation—queerness, race, gender plurality, and love—and how they become tangled when we try to unravel and weave them into freedoms.

National Book Award longlist Alaya Dawn Johnson is collaborating on the lead novella, “The Memory Librarian.” Sociologist and multi-genre author Eve L. Ewing is collaborating on the first of two short stories titled “Timebox,” while Sheree Renée Thomas, author, and editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, is collaborating on the second “Timebox” story. Stegner Fellow and author Yohanca Delgado are collaborating on the novella “Save Changes?” And, finally, multi-genre author Danny Lore is collaborating on the novella, “Nevermind.”

“The radical joy of this process has been creating space–creating narratives–within the Dirty Computer world, And to then have the opportunity to invite these talented writers into those narratives and swim in creative waters together–letting our ideas push each other even further–made it even more special,” said Monáe.“I have been an admirer of Janelle Monáe’s art and afro-futurist vision since The Chase Suite EP first dropped in 2007. It sounds like a cliché, but it has been a dream come true to be able to work with Janelle on this project, diving into this dystopian world a blink away from our own,” said Alaya Dawn Johnson.

“Working with Janelle and the Wondaland team was such a source of joy in a difficult year. Collaborating with creators that are multi-faceted and insistently expansive in their artistic vision reminded me that imagination really is the most vital form of resistance. It’s hard to feel hopeless when you’re busy imagining all the different ways in which the world could be transformed. I experience that sparkling, innovative energy in so much of Janelle’s work, and I hope readers will experience it in this collection, too,” said Yohanca Delgado.

“Janelle Monáe is one of my most important influences as an Afrofuturist writer, so collaborating with her on this project is literally a dream come true. We’ve pulled together a story that I think is classic sci-fi, and I hope folks will find it to be a conversation starter for a long time to come, “ said collaborator Eve. L Ewing.

Nightmare Magazine, Issue 92, edited by John Joseph Adams, May 2020. Cover art by Alexandra Petruk/Adobe Stock Images, info: nightmare-magazine.com.

We have original fiction from Yohanca Delgado & Claire Wrenwood (“The Blue Room”) and Decorating with Luke (“Adam-Troy Castro”), along with reprints by Jarla Tangh (“The Skinned”) and Steve Toase (“Call Out”). We also have the latest installment of our column on horror, “The H Word,” plus author spotlights with our authors, and a feature interview with Molly Tanzer.

FICTION The Blue Room by Yohanca Delgado and Claire Wrenwood The Skinned by Jarla Tangh Decorating with Luke by Adam-Troy Castro Call Out by Steve Toase

NONFICTION Editorial: May 2020 by John Joseph Adams The H Word: The Horror of Solitude by Gwendolyn Kiste Interview: Molly Tanzer by Gordon B. White

Can you imagine a more dangerous monster than one who reads?

- Yohanca Delgado, “Our Language.”

We are delighted by these nods in the latest Best American Short Stories for Carolyn Ferrell, Yohanca Delgado, and Elizabeth Poliner. #litmag #fiction https://www.instagram.com/p/CHN0BIRBsPI/?igshid=1hqz640gysege

So what.

“So what,” she said in Spanish. She wiped a thumb across my tear-stained cheek. “You’ve had a bad day. You think all those snot-nosed kids in your class don’t have bad days? There’s no shame in suffering, the shame is in giving up.” —“The Rat,” Yohanca Delgado

Who finished reading The Memory Librarian?!? While ALL the stories are *amazing*, we want to know which was your favorite. Vote in the comments! We will work to invite the collaborator for your favorite story to a Sistah Scifi Wine Down Wednesday in November. Our favorite is Save Changes. If you haven't read The Memory Librarian, you can purchase using the link in our bio: @sistahscifi | www.sistahscifi.com or check it out from your local #library! In The Memory Librarian, Janelle Monáe and an esteemed cohort of collaborating writers bring to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of her album Dirty Computer, exploring how different threads of liberation -- queerness, race, gender plurality and love—become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape. “In this moving, triumphant collection, singer Monáe returns to the dystopian world of her Dirty Computer concept album and short film...This is a knockout.” –Publishers Weekly, *starred review @publisherswkly “Blistering, hopeful, and richly written. . . All readers will finish the book craving more of these extremely queer, bold stories that battle gatekeeping and erasure, digging into both the worst potential of a surveillance state and the gritty glimmer of the rebellion that can defeat it.” —Booklist, *starred review Collaborators Save Changes - YOHANCA DELGADO @yodelnyc Timebox - EVE L. EWING @eve.ewing The Memory Librarian - ALAYA DAWN JOHNSON @alayadj Nevermind - DANNY LORE @weredawgz Timebox Altar(ed) - SHEREE RENÉE THOMAS @SHEREERENÉETHOMAS @harpervoyagerus , @williammorrowbooks , and @janellemonae #thememorylibrarian #janellemonae #janellemonáe #newrelease #afrofuturism #shortstories #futurism #scifi #readersofinstagram #readersofig #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #dirtycomputer #bookobsessed #sciencefiction #booksaremyhappyplace #sistahscifi #booksofinstagram #booksofig // @HarperCollins @monaedroid @librofm @free_kgd https://www.instagram.com/p/CgzO6chLOZE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=