#soft science

[funeral]

Franny Choi, Soft Science

[wampyrs]

Lᴏᴠᴇ • Lᴇssᴇʀ Mᴀɴ Bᴏʏ Hᴀʀsʜᴇʀ Sᴏғᴛ Sᴄɪᴇɴᴄᴇ (2014)

[bestbookcover]

round 4, poll 51

click for better quality & to see the full image. sometimes they get cut off weirdly!

which cover do you like best?

Soft Science by Franny Choi

Minuit passé by Gaëlle Geniller

Voting ended onApr 18

remember, you're voting for the cover, not the author or the book!

[inconsistently--consistent]

Book Review

The 5th Wave

Could not put it down. Much better than the movie. Its funny and intriguing and engaging. I like the switching povs and the order in which the story was told.

Spoilers

The aliens not having physical bodies is very trippy. I'm interested to see how that goes in the next book.

Also, I love Bear and how he functions as like an embodiment of Cassie's humanity.

[annori]

franny choi from soft science (2019)

[bandcampsnoop]

2/6/26.

Postal Blue began as a 4 piece band in the late 1990s. Of course, I'm learning about the band here in the early days of 2026 - I first listened to the new EP "Anxiety of Influence". From the first guitar/bass notes on "Man to Child" I assumed I was listening to a British C86 or C86 adjacent band.

And while I assume Postal Blue would be honored with the C86 comparison, the adjacent is a hard sell, at least geographically. The band is from Brazil (one website mentions Sao Paolo). Their indie pop credentials are solid having released music on Shelflife, Cloudberry, Dufflecoat, and Jigsaw Records (you can find physical releases on Discogs). I chose this split with with Pale Sunday as an easily digestible one (this 7" was a co-release from Dufflecoat and Jigsaw).

As for influences, the clearest to me are The Smiths, The Go-Betweens and R.E.M. Adriano (Postal Blue is now down to a one-man outfit) was asked who his favorite bands were and he mentioned friends The Very Most, The Royal Landscaping Society and Soft Science.

[gennsoup]

i suppose i have always been here / drinking the same water / falling from the sky then floating / back up & down again / i suppose i am something like a salmon / climbing up the river / to let myself fall away in soft / red spheres / & then rotting

Franny Choi, Turing Test

[dk-thrive]

My hunger, too, has both hard and soft parts.

― Franny Choi, from "Soft Science" in "Soft Science" (Alice James Books, 2019) (via Regina Rosenfeld)