Welcome to Litsy!

Janelle Monae expands the world of her concept album "Dirty Computer" with these novellas and short stories written with five different co-authors. All the stories explore a dystopia where New Dawn has created a dichotomy between "clean" and "dirty", the latter being where Black, queer folks find themselves, and are often in very real danger of having memories erased or worse. Thought provoking and well done.

Dystopian sci fi will never be my first choice, but it is a powerful vehicle for getting messages across. I appreciate Monáe's expansive vision and how they've employed multiple art forms and collaborations in music, video and writing to build it. ⚠️ Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia

I appreciate a full signature, rather than a couple scribbles 😅
Monae has been building her Metropolis world for over a decade. Unfortunately, I feel like she didn't fully succeed in translating the world in her head to the page. I usually like when a story drops you right in the middle of a world, but since these were individual short stories, there wasn't enough time to properly world build. Still enjoyable, but a little hard to follow at times

Puppy pancake! The wife gets distracted some nights while reading...

A series of interconnected stories set in a futuristic world, where Dirty Computers are ‘erased‘ to become clean. A commentary on capitalism, segregation, racism, and the struggles of minority populations and LGBTQIA individuals, this was a book that packed a punch. The first story had me struggling to get into the world and concept, but then it really took off.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cheers to being a dirty computer! 🏳️‍🌈

A quiet mid-week chill session with the current read and a hot chocolate with Amaretto 😊

Exchanging books and chocolate on Christmas Eve!

This was a lot to listen to but sooooo enjoyable, with emotional highs and lows that a good story (or stories) brings. The stories build a dystopian world with an intricate architecture busting through with the human spirit- Monáe is a talent! What can‘t this free-ass motherf—, they/them, her/she do?!?!!

Low pick. I absolutely loved the first (titular) story but each following story was another step down. I especially feel that “Timebox” could have been developed better—where‘s the foreshadowing for what Ms. Cornelia does at the end?! I hadn‘t realized going in that the stories are all collaborations, but it makes sense for Monáe and for the different styles of stories. I love the world she has built and how the stories just dropped me into it.

Group F, these are my current options. I will have more after Tuesday (when my stuff finally arrives) if none of these work for y‘all. 😀

#LMPBC

Yaaaaaay

I am coming at this completely backwards, because while I was peripherally aware of Monae's work, I'm not a big music person & don't tend to keep up w/ new(ish) stuff.*

In any case, I was pretty much blown away with this collection of stories set in her dystopian 'New Dawn' world. Some are better than others, but they all hit hard and left marks on my soul. So now I'm off to listen to Dirty Computer & watch the short films too. What a talent.

Got some good deals tonight at the Long Beach B&N.

I like this a lot for way too many reasons to list. It's interlinked stories set in the future. Janelle Monáe does a great job of incorporating all kinds of diversity into it. Litsy fan favorite Bahni Turpin reads the #audiobook. Those are my top reasons. It's smart.

Very much reminded me of the worlds and characters of Octavia Butler.

My favorite stories were:
- Nevermind
- Save Changes
- Timebox Altar(ed)

I think I had much too high expectations for this. I absolutely love Janelle Monae.
This collection though was not for me. While creative I often found it confusing - what even is a dirty computer?? And it was a total slog for me to get through as I never wanted to pick it back up. I do think it was well done and I like how the voices of each other are very distinct. It just wasn't for me.

I went into this with high expectations and perhaps I set myself up for disappointment.

The concept of this book is interesting and I love the collaboration. Individually, I felt several stories were very strong, but there was a lack of cohesiveness for me between all of them when I finished.

Outdoor pain day reading. I‘m about 40 pages into THE MEMORY LIBRARIAN, and I‘m feeling it way less than I expected to. Sadness. I hope it‘s just the way Monáe‘s style jives with coauthor Alaya Dawn Johnson‘s and I‘ll like the other stories, co-written with other people, more.

In contrast, I‘ve found Simu Liu to be a really engaging storyteller so far. I hope his memoir keeps up.

Ooh. Thanks #NetGalley. Did NOT expect that to be approved!

Narrated by Janelle Monae and Bahni Turpin.

🎉📚🎉📚🎉

Up next 😍

#bookhaul day!! I gotta bunch today in the mail most from Thrift books (used) but this one! I was so excited I pre-ordered
The book I got that I am the most exciting to read!

Reading Envy Podcast Episode 246: Unsettling Endings with Yanira

Yanira shares why she deleted Goodreads and how it's improved her reading life, and we talk about rereading books before we dig into books we've read and liked lately.

Listen and subscribe:
https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy246

These stories link back to Dirty Computer the album and Dirty Computer [Emotion Picture] that you can watch in YouTube. Written in collabortion with Yohanca Delgado, Eve L. Ewing, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, and Sheree Renée Thomas, all stories are set in this dystopian tech-totalitarian society where people who are outside the norms (aka Dirty Computers) are hunted down and imprisoned, memories wiped, and more.↘️

I rarely preorder books, because it usually takes me months or even years to get around to reading them anyway! 🙄 But I really wanted a signed edition of this one. My precious. *caresses book* 🤩

Pre-ordered a signed edition of Janelle Monae's book! 😁
Also ordered The Dark Vault for my wife. It was one of the first books on her Goodreads to-read list, hope she still wants to read it 😬

Singer and actress Janelle Monae brings her Dirty Computer inspiration to life by collaborating with several POC sci-fi/fantasy authors to create a dystopian Afrofuturistic world where AI and humanity is controlled, manipulated, and enslaved. However, each story is a fight for the characters to reach some form of freedom and emotional autonomy. Though an ambitious concept, it falls flat with the overall connection. Only for fans of Janelle Monae.

😮😮😮😮😃😃😃😃