Janelle Shane
Janelle Shane is a writer and research scientist who works in optics. She writes the machine learning humor blog AI Weirdness. Her book You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why it’s Making the World a Weirder Place uses cartoons and humorous pop-culture experiments to look inside the minds of algorithms that run our world.
If you could recommend 3 books to anyone, what would they be?
All Systems Red (MurderBot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
How can a smart commentary on personal autonomy in a galaxy of runaway capitalism be both a page turner and a comfort read? I don't know, but the closer I get to understanding this, the better my own writing will be. This is one of the books I recommend the most widely, including to people who don't read much science fiction.
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
The thing about recommending The Raven Tower to people is that you can't tell them why, because you'd have to give out spoilers to do it. Like the others on my list it deals with sorts of minds that are… other than human. All I can do is say very mysteriously, "It is good. The narrator is very good. That other character is also good. There will be a reckoning." <ominous waggle of fingers>
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
It's a quiet road trip story on a planet that, while not quite an utopia, has figured a lot of things out about how to live sustainably. There is a robot, and the robot is friendly and mysterious and also delightful. If this book was a drink, it'd be a hot cup of tea on a rock in the wilderness, made fresh for you by a good friend.
What are you reading now?
I've really been enjoying some middle grade books: Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez, and Jilian vs Parasite Planet all have big hearts, big stakes, and refreshingly good family dynamics.
What is your favourite bookstore or library?
Boulder Bookstore, Colorado
Shoutout to Boulder Bookstore, which often has signed copies of my latest book!
