Book Marks: Livid Over LibGen, TikTok To The Rescue

Much has happened since the last time I last posted here. Too much, some would say. I think few want to write about what's been happening since that guy returned to power. So I'm limiting the things to track or highlight and I'll post whenever I can.

Starting off is another whirlpool of AI-related outrage as Meta, the company behind Facebook, was found to have used LibGen, a database of pirated books, to train its AI model Llama. Authors are rightly pissed, including ours as works by Hanna Alkaf (all of them, apparently), Syed Hussein Alatas, Tun Dr Mahathir, Farish A. Noor and Tash Aw were also found in LibGen. Anyone in the business of words ought to be pissed.

AI has also not been good for websites such as the World History Encyclopedia. Google's AI Overviews, which you might have noticed while googling the web, has been summarising content from websites with articles to give you and other users the answers you want. Alex Kantrowitz at CMSWire asks a bunch of questions as to where all this might lead, not least being the future of online content and whether it's better to train AI models to write articles rather than have humans do that.

And if your first book on a publishing platform was a success, would you let that platform turn it into a series, with AI-assisted ghostwriting? That's what Berlin-based Inkitt is doing and it seems to be taking off. But isn't this just another writing factory a la James Patterson with more tech? Would the authors involved even want to be in this long-term? Will the end result be, yes, authors and ghostwriters training AI to write in their stead? Who'd be down with that, especially when current AI tech is largely based on stolen intellectual property?

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Much can be said of TikTok, but few would doubt this reach. The video platform has come tothe rescue of many authors, and aong the latest is Jonathan Stanley, who wrote Purposeful Performance: The Secret Mix of Connecting, Leading, and Succeeding. A video of him being neglected as he sat in a Barnes & Noble with a pile of his books went viral and sent Purposeful Performance up the charts.

But BookTok - US BookTok, at least - is also discussing the impacts of the latest changes to US policy over books and immigration, concerned that their next reads will become pricier or difficult to import from outside the States and doubting the safety of writers travelling into the country for events will be assured.

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Excited about Sarah Wynn-Williams new book, Careless People? Not if Meta gets in the way? The company, formerly known as Facebook, is "attempting to halt any 'disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental comments' about Facebook by Wynn-Williams through legal arbitration," reports the American River Current, American River College's student newspaper.

In the book, Wynn-Williams discusses, among other things, "how Facebook software became a propaganda tool for the military junta in Myanmar, how the company shares information with the Chinese Communist Party upon request and how Facebook sold the advertisement space that allowed misinformation to dominate the pages of American Facebook users going into the 2016 U.S. presidential election." She also testified to Facebook's connivances with China's government before a Senate committee on 9 April – testimony that Meta may have tried to prevent.

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Publishing in the UK is now less accessible to Black authors than it was before 2020. From the Guardian report, the apparent boom in Black authorship looks like a trend on the way to petering out, which it shouldn't be. Boosting the work of minorities in a predominantly White arena is a long-term mission, not a marketing gimmick that you cut back when the ROI isn't ideal.

One factor contributing to the fatigue in pushing diversity in publishing - not just in the UK - could be what Naomi Day at Literary Hub calls diversity syndrome, "a cultural condition where the 'otherness' of an author is elevated over the impact of their work, to the detriment of the author, their work, and their audiences." Authors are more than their ethnicity, and their lived experiences are shared to a certain degree by others outside that. That sort of pigeonholing by marketers limits discussions of the authors and their works and how far the works travel.


Elsewhere:

• At The Verge, Kevin Nguyen outlines how he uses apps in his writing process. "In addition to my work at The Verge, I write novels ... and while I admire Murakami's commitment to an immovable schedule, I've found that I produce my best work when I'm constantly rethinking routines, processes, and, mostly, how I'm writing. In the modern age, that means what software I'm using."
• "Several years ago, I was telling a friend about my career spent working with Mario Batali, Tony Bourdain, and all the male magazine editors. She said, 'My gosh, you've really made a career out of the care and feeding of difficult men.' It resonated with me." Laurie Woolever speaks to Vogue about "cultivating her own voice, the state of food media, grieving a pop culture figure, and getting honest on the page about addiction."
• The week before Hari Raya, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur overturned the ban on Boey Cheeming's When I Was a Kid 3. The book was banned two years ago after an Indonesian NGO protested against how an Indonesian domestic helper was depicted in one chapter. The book is being sold again, at least at the recent Popular Bookfest. The author is relieved but wary, as the government still has time to appeal the decision.
• Have changes to publishing led to a surge in author numbers but dwindling readers? Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta thinks so, adding that "this may be good news for book lovers." Gupta cites the rise of digital tools that have democratised publishing, which may include the alternatives to Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) highlighted by SlashGear.
• At Electric Literature Samuel Ashworth highlights several of what he feels are the greatest cooks in fiction and wonders why aren't novels being written about chefs at the rate TV and streaming churns out cooking shows. "While there are a handful of recent novels about the restaurant industry, almost none of them are set in the kitchen. So to make this piece work I wound up expanding the frame to include the greatest cooks in literature—but don't worry. They include, as with any decent restaurant, a bunch of absolute freaks."
• "The publishing industry is willing to embrace the disruptive power of AI, an anti-sentient pretender that uses an inordinate number of natural resources—water and mined minerals—produces large amounts of electric waste, and will induce job loss for writers and designers. Yet, the self-same industry remains infuriatingly unwilling to make the sustainable changes that can and must be made in the production and distribution of books." Lucy Kogler believes the publishing industry has a serious waste problem that has to be remedied.
• China's cross-border obsession with quashing dissent continues with the sentencing of an editor for "inciting separatism". According to The Telegraph (of Alton, Illinois, not the UK), "Li Yanhe is a Chinese citizen who had been living in Taiwan, according to Taiwanese media. He was detained two years ago during a trip to China, and Taiwanese media reported last week that he had been tried and sentenced by a court in Shanghai but gave no details."
• Mallary Tenore Tarpley recounts the editing process for her book, SLIP: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery, after securing a publisher for it. Even for a journalism and writing professor at the University of Texas, this stage of the publishing life cycle can be a slog. "It's both exhausting and energizing; it requires the humility to accept most edits and the confidence to speak up when you disagree with others; it demands time, undivided attention and an openness to change — all in service of making your book as good as it can be before it goes out into the world."
• "My book The Serpent Called Mercy, with its monster-fighting arena premise, must’ve been crafted with the desire to replicate the same electric thrill of encountering a beast in the PlayStation-rendered wild and analysing how to defeat it." Give it up for Roanne Lau, who went on sci-fi bigwig John Scalzi's blog to talk about her Big Idea for this new novel. The book looks interesting but I heard that the big distributors have no plans to (BOO!) bring it in to Malaysia. That may change as her profile keeps rising, however.
• "This line from Anna Karenina is mentioned often, because it might be the best one: 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Leo Tolstoy dropped the mic in 1878." Min Jin Lee takes Elle's literary survey and recommends some books. Ah, if only more of us are well-read enough to contribute to segments like this...
• Anu Khosla sits down with Vauhini Vara, author of Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, "to discuss AI and its impact on our culture." Vara wrote an essay with the help of an early version of ChatGPT, and she's putting it to work (a little) on this book.
• Publishers Weekly is apparently charging money for review submissions. Anyone who wants to submit their book for review consideration will have to fork out US$25, but reviews are not guaranteed. Jeff O'Neal, writing at Book Riot, thinks it's a good idea, as another source of income and a way to slash the number of submissions. Nor is he concerned if others get into the act. "...maybe a few of those Meta dollars or Amazon ad dollars will need to come out of those marketing budgets and flow into media outlets that actively participate in and are interested in furthering the book making and reading business."

A Bookseller's Lament And A Culture Of Xcess

BookXcess at KL East Mall is closing and they're giving away free books. Happy news all around, except for a local author and bookseller who seemed to be having a bad day. "Queuing up for free books but not support a bookstore when it was open? Can't give up your little luxuries to help the local book industry?"

Ooh, the sodium, the vinegar. If he had to rail against the apathy of those who love free books but would spend lots on other stuff and afterwards proclaim the doom of society if people kept hankering for free books, that salt and vinegar must have seeped into his bones. Then, someone who retweeted screenshots of the Facebook post seemed to concur and wondered why locally published books aren't popular despite being cheaper and rich in variety.

News of the BookXcess giveaway tickled me. Some time back, MPH Bookstores impersonators ran online scams pretending to give away free books. BookXcess's offer is legit, but perhaps they can dispose of their stock that way.


Remainders of the day
BookXcess, the ones behind the Big Bad Wolf book sales, primarily sells remaindered stock - unsold copies written off by bookstores and publishers that would have been pulped otherwise. That's why BookXcess can sell for much cheaper but as far as I know, none of the proceeds go to authors or publishers, which may be why some don't feel comfortable with the business model.

Besides bargain hunters, BookXcess also attracts bookworms in the lower-income bracket who want to read but can't afford market prices. Authors and publishers may not be benefiting directly, but at least the books aren't being junked. With concerns over waste in the book industry, we should do what we can.

Even if Salty Bookseller's rant is directed at those who'd rather splurge on luxuries such as hipster coffees, fancy meals, and the latest gadgets instead of locally published books (not all of whom are "denizens of X/Twitter"), calling those lining up for free books "stingy" or "pleasure-seeking" addresses nothing.


Too atas, or too mahal?
Books have always been expensive and are becoming more so. Even BookXcess books are priced higher these days. Being choosy and going with recommendations is safe, which is probably why books of certain genres seem popular and, as a response, are being published. I believe some bookworms have their favourite genres and build a collection of the same, rarely venturing beyond.

Money is also why most readers and publishers don't want to gamble on new names, so such titles slip through the cracks. While it's a shame, one shouldn't associate "weird" or badly written and produced books with "edgy", "indie", or "avant garde". That's another conceit and almost as iffy.

Oversaturation is also present in the local industry. See how many titles in the same genres crop up, many with synopses that read like film trailers. Don't get me started on suspicious titles shelved under "general reading". But such is our market, and the influx of titles coming out of Wattpad of late means some publishers are banking on the online crowd paying for what they used to read for free, to support their favs.

Though some may seem too snobbish to read local, I wouldn't use the s-word to describe Malaysian bookworms. They're keen to back local, but flag-waving or cheaper prices can only go so far. The dearth of support, sadly, applies more to loftier strata of local literature – academic, literary, and intellectual works, and poetry – rather than the mass-market segment.

While kinks in locally published stuff – bad writing, factual errors, typographical snafus and such – are generally tolerated, some of us are more sensitive to that and react accordingly. Disproportionately, some might say. To the latter: Have you had to slay such demons for a living for years? Supporting local authors doesn't include turning a blind eye to what makes a work bad – how would anything improve?


A troubled ecosystem
Whatever ails our local book industry – or some segments of it – I think we're aware that it isn't well supported. We don't have a nurturing, ethical book culture. The arts are looked down upon, seen more as a bohemian pursuit rather than a real career. Many creators are paid peanuts. We don't pay advances to authors, and the royalty rates suck.

In Malaysia where so much is politicised, literature is hobbled by censorship and Triassic mindsets. Creative freedom is tenuous, made worse by self-appointed art and language police. Books can be banned years after they hit the shelves because no one seems to be vetting materials before they are brought in. Post-ban recalls can be costly and troublesome, as not all suppliers will reimburse you for returned stock.

(Along with the looming threat of unregulated generative AI, a fair bit can also be said about the involvement of the authorities, vested interests, and "concerned citizens" in the arts. The same names are boosted, often at the expense of other talents who don't fit a certain mould.)

Without intervention, our publishing sector will remain trapped within a vicious cycle. No oxygen for local publishing means no incentive to write, innovate, or improve; no new works that excite readers, same stuff gets released, readers look elsewhere, ad infinitum.

Bookstores and book festivals, meanwhile, get little respect from some patrons. Water bottles and paper cups find their way onto the shelves. Remember the instances of vandalism at Tsutaya Bukit Jalil? That theft at Books n Bobs in Taman Desa, which sells second-hand books? And I still remember that one lady who took snapshots of the pages of a remaindered cookbook at a Big Bad Wolf sale.

Without education and awareness, many will treat books and bookstores like they do, not knowing how much time, effort and money go into them.


Cheap thrill or lifeline?
These days, other worries take centre stage. Books are reportedly exempt from the new US tariffs, but one can't say the same for everything else in the supply chain. We should expect the book sector to be affected if those tariffs kick in.

Even in tough times, people find comfort in little luxuries, and that includes books – took me long enough to arrive here! Those who can indulge in or work with books are fortunate or privileged enough to, like those who open bookstores. Lost between the bindings, we may have forgotten that books remain out of reach for some.

As reality intrudes – market forces, changing reading habits, industry developments and so on – our reading and book-buying habits, along with any romantic notions we have about books and writing, need to be tempered. What does it say when bookstores give stock away rather than sell it?

Tough times also mean more people reading to escape, and platforms such as Wattpad excel here because it costs almost nothing, though some works should stay on Wattpad. The likes of BookXcess and Books n Bobs, book corners, and book exchanges help in their own ways. Bookstores do not have a monopoly on reading materials.

Whatever we feel about certain books, non-book frivolities or "cheap entertainment", we have to acknowledge that people will spend money and effort on things that bring them joy or satisfaction, however fleeting. Let these things tide them over until they can reach a better place, where they feel comfortable enough to reach for a book, or read beyond their personal preferences.

Normal Women, Extraordinary Stories

Nine centuries of real-life princesses and pirates, rebels and rioters


Philippa Gregory is more well known for her historical novels featuring prominent Englishwomen, but in Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History, she puts the spotlight on lesser-known women throughout nine centuries of British history, from the days of William the Conqueror to the early 1990s.

The book aims to tell the story of Britain through the lives of women and to redefine what "normal" female behaviour entails. It also compels one to wonder what (other) women were up to in one's neck of the woods ages ago and whether they were as rambunctious as some of the ladies in this book.


Go to the full review.

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Normal Women
900 Years of Making History

Philippa Gregory
William Collins
688 pages
Non-fiction
ISBN: 9780008601713

A Black Viking Warrior Makes Her Mark

When I laid eyes on the book, one of the names on the cover leapt forth. Oh, surely not... . But it was.

So Willow Smith, daughter of actor Will Smith, co-authored a book about an African woman in medieval times who, about to be sold as a slave, ends up running with Vikings up in the cold north. Intrigued by Viking culture, Smith delved further into the history of Vikings, and wondered whether they had contact with or even enlisted Africans in their ranks. This book, written with Jess Hendel, was the result.


Check out the review of Black Shield Maiden.

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Black Shield Maiden

Willow Smith & Jess Hendel
Dl Rey
480 pages
Fiction
ISBN: 9781529102000

Writing Shades Of Grey

Amy Leow on her debut novel's savage antiheroine and penning villain protagonists


Amy Leow's The Scarlet Throne, the first novel in the planned False Goddess trilogy, has made waves since it dropped in September 2024. The protagonist, Binsa, is a living goddess facing "retirement" who schemes to hold on to her position by any means. We asked Leow about Binsa and about crafting not-so-heroic characters like her.


Briefly, what made you want to write about a morally grey character like Binsa? Did you have any aims in mind in telling her story?

When I wrote Binsa's story, I set out to portray an irredeemable, remorseless female villain character. Female villains in current media are often presented as people swayed to the dark side, and are not necessarily villains out of their own volition, while their male counterparts are allowed to be evil for the sake of being evil. We also tend to glorify morally grey male characters, but a woman who does the same is immediately labelled as a badly written character. I wanted to break that mould and show that women should be allowed to be bad, sometimes.


Go here for the rest of the Q&A.

Pressed For Time In The Kitchen

I love most of Anthony Bourdain's works. Kitchen Confidential remains an evergreen favourite. While Bourdain also preaches about what cooking is and how things should be done in the book, readers are reminded that everything is based on what he feels should be, his experiences in kitchens he worked at and what it took to survive in them, so do not treat his words as gospel.

So what does this have to do with the garlic press I now own and use a bit too frequently?

In "Kitchen Confidential", Bourdain scoffs at the results of garlic presses, which produces a garlic paste when, well, pressed. "I don't know what that junk is that squeezes out the end of those things, but it ain't garlic." He asks that garlic be treated with respect, and has harsh words for those who use pre-peeled cloves. "Too lazy to peel fresh? You don't deserve to eat garlic."

Bear in mind that his tone may stem from the assumption that his book won't be widely read or quoted from to browbeat wayward cooks. The swagger and machismo in Kitchen Confidential come from a tiny corner of the big wide world of global cuisine, one that can only be appreciated by cooks of his ilk.

Hence, he may have never taken into account that some, especially the disabled, miiight take shortcuts whenever they're hankering for garlic or anything made with stock. "Make stock [from scratch] already! It's easy!" Not for certain groups.

Anyone going to preach to the Japanese who use wasabi powder instead of grating the fresh root on a sharkskin grater that "it's not how it's done"? Wasabi, ginger and garlic in Japan can come out of a tube. Would one decry the Indian home cook's use of jarred ginger-garlic paste?

If the product is fine or won't make you sick, what's the problem? Does it affect the taste of the food?

A strong argument against pre-made ingredients would be the presence of additives, some of which aren't good for us if consumed in large amounts or over long periods. I think consumers these days have enough – perhaps too much – resources to make informed choices, so it's up to manufacturers to make their products safer.

Also, Tony B can be remarkably sensitive and empathetic, and his travels since have changed him, for better or worse. Who's to say he didn't revise some of his opinions since he wrote that book? He went back against his "don't eat fish on Monday" rule, for one.

Myself, I've been chopping extra garlic to add to my takeaways – an arduous task on some days when I can't be bothered to wash the cutting board and knife. So when I saw a Daiso selling garlic presses, I thought, what's the fuss?

That I'm using the press more now speaks of the convenience I'm enjoying. Mincing garlic can be meditative but not after peeling those annoying tiny cloves in the middle of each garlic bulb. And I seem to get more of the flavour. One issue is that with the press, I sometimes end up using too much garlic. The burn from raw garlic can be worse than spicy chillies. And there's still some fried garlic in a jar somewhere in the kitchen.

But by all means, press your garlic. Take all the culinary shortcuts you need – but not those that mess up your dishes – because time is precious and limited. Cooking and food should be accessible and enjoyable even for non-chefs.

Among the many things Bourdain wanted was for more people to cook. In the wake of COVID and other outbreaks many will lose some degree of physical mobility and cognitive ability and those who want to cook will be grateful for anything that will ease their time in the kitchen.

Do what works for you.


This is a version of a post published on Instagram on 23 December 2024

Make Yourself At Home In Alix E. Harrow's House Of Secrets

Welcome to Eden, a gloomy, decaying former coal-mining town in Kentucky and a misnomer if there ever was one. All known coal deposits are mined out, and thanks to a coal-fired power plant, air quality is poor and the water tastes strange. Some of the denizens would leave for greener pastures, if they could.

Opal is one of those who probably couldn't. A high-school dropout with bad teeth, a menial job, and a history of delinquency, she and her younger brother Jasper have been orphaned for years after their mother died in a car crash that Opal survived. Seeing Jasper's performance in school and talent in filmmaking, Opal strives to pave a way out of Eden for him.


Read the full review of Alix E. Harrow's Starling House here.

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Starling House

Alix E. Harrow
Pan
448 pages
Fiction
ISBN: 9781529061147