BUFF / September 15, 2016 by matt freire

“Observing that, from this height, the city which had been so dark as he walked through it seemed to be on fire.”

— James Baldwin, Another Country

SUNFLOWER / September 8, 2016 by matt freire

SUCCESS / September 5, 2016 by matt freire

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. ”

— Vince Lombardi

THE CITY OF GOOD NEIGHBORS / September 1, 2016 by matt freire

THE 'BURGH / September 1, 2016 by matt freire

“We build too many walls and not enough bridges.”

— Isaac Newton

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Reading as Orientation: How Speculative Fiction Shapes Thinking and Choice

library

books, speculative fiction, reading reflections, book review, science fiction, fantasy, malazan, best of the shelves

Reading as Orientation: How Speculative Fiction Shapes Thinking and Choice

library

books, speculative fiction, reading reflections, book review, science fiction, fantasy, malazan, best of the shelves

I don’t read books just for escape. I read them for orientation. In 2025, I spent the year immersed in 42 works of science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction — stories that bend reality just enough to reveal the systems, consequences, and moral frameworks shaping how we think, act, and endure. From the ritual-bound halls of Earthsea to the sprawling consequences of Malazan, these books don’t simplify the world; they make it legible.

library

books, speculative fiction, reading reflections, book review, science fiction, fantasy, malazan, best of the shelves

library

reframing analog

library

Reframing Analog argues that analog is not a rejection of digital tools, but a way of working rooted in attention, continuity, and return. It is about spending time with books, music, and ideas long enough for meaning to accumulate, rather than chasing immediacy. In a culture optimized for speed and disappearance, the library becomes a counter-structure—one that assumes memory matters and influence moves both ways. Analog, here, names a practice: attention held over time, work allowed to age, and meaning shaped through use rather than completion.

library

lal, library, linden

on the library

lal, library, linden

Linden Analog Library is a living archive of books, records, images, and objects chosen for their ability to slow time. It is not a collection built for completion or display, but for use—worn spines, surface noise, marginalia, and memory. In an era of infinite access, the library insists on limits, on the weight of objects made and handled by human hands. Attention becomes an ethic here, not nostalgia but resistance. The library asks what remains when speed is removed, and who we become when we choose to stay.

lal, library, linden