“There’s no conflict in Death Comes for the Archbishop, except for the grinding of tectonic plates, the breaking of treaties, the murder of nations.”
by Patricia Lockwood
Death Comes for the Archbishop at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69730
My review of Conan: Cult of the Obsidian Moon by James Lovegrove just went up at Grimdark Magazine!
This book has a meandering start, but a thunderous conclusion, and a healthy dose of cosmic horror along the way.
(As always, boosts are appreciated!)
https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/review-conan-cult-of-the-obsidian-moon-by-james-lovegrove/
#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #Booksky #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #Conan #JamesLovegrove @bookstodon
RE: https://sunny.garden/@lichendust/116217917003025888
Not knowing what I'm doing is how I do everything 😂
@bookstodon @books @joinin
@worldbuilding @humor @humor@lemmy.world @aiop
#SpeculativeFiction #FantasyBooks
#FantasyMemes #SciFiMemes #Fantasy #SciFi #Meme #Memes #Humor #Humour #Funny
#Low #High #Epic #Science #Opera #Hard #CottageCore #SolarPunk #Comedic #Whatever #GiveMeAllYouveGot
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Bookstodon #Bookworm #Bookwyrm #BookLove
Graphic Novel Recommendation: "Are You Listening?" by Tillie Walden
I’m currently reading this graphic novel while enjoying a few days off before heading back to work, and I’m loving it! It’s a beautifully written story about two women and a cat on a road trip, blended with a touch of magical realism.
#IAmReading #Books #GraphicNovel #Literature #bookstodon #LGBTQ+
📚 The Poppy War by: R. F. Kuang
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d fi...
https://bookblabla.com/book/the-poppy-war
#books #reading #libraries #fiction #fantasy #historicalfiction #epicfiction #romancefiction
A Review of Hearth Stories, Summer Solstice 2025: https://lydiaschoch.com/a-review-of-hearth-stories-summer-solstice-2025/
Ebook omnibus: https://books2read.com/TheWizardsScion
Levi Jacobs always dreamed of being like his father, the greatest wizard in the world, but had no understanding what it would be like. Follow Levi’s journey from bumbling teen to a great hero, while the young wizard learns to master magical powers that are initially completely beyond him and barely under control.
@bookstodon
#author #indieauthor #writing #fantasy #scifi #sciencefiction #sff #sciencefantasy #scifi #actionadventure #fiction #books
Hi friends, I’m hoping someone here may be able to help…
I have just one copy of my 2011 book, The Science of Kissing, published in Japanese. I would like to buy another to share with a friend in Japan, and do not know how to find it.
Mastodon has proven a very smart community, and I’d appreciate any guidance to point me in the right direction? Thank you. #books
Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day!📚
Some links for what's happening in the Portland metro area beyond the obvious (Powell's)
The 2nd Annual North Portland Book Crawl is Saturday-Sunday, April 25-26
"Thirteen bookstores. Two days. One incredible prize package. A free book for every participant!"
2 more links (Axios, KOIN)
https://www.axios.com/local/portland/2024/04/26/celebrate-independent-bookstore-day-powells
https://www.koin.com/local/portland-area-shops-to-support-during-independent-bookstore-day-042624/
#PDX #Portland #IndependentBookstoreDay #Bookstores #Books #Bookstodon
finished reading The Windup Girl 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
by Paolo Bacigalupi.
In a dystopian future, Thailand has maintained independence despite rampant genetically-modified diseases destroying both humans & crops and fossil fuels becoming near unattainable. Western capitalists connive to inflame internal tensions and trigger a favourable coup, but in a world under so much tension, chaos reigns. A great choice of alternative perspectives highlighting the complexity of a society under strain, and the lack of any good choices.
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/50316606
I can’t talk about this comic book without stressing the important fact that much of the joy and wonder and amazement that I got out of this book was due to the fact that I was already familiar with a lot of the stories in this comic book.
That’s one of the strengths and weaknesses of this book, it relies on you as a fan of these stories and much of the themes of this book depend upon you knowing these characters beforehand. Now, I have never read more than a handful of comic books but I have seen a lot of the movies which helped a lot.
Marvels is about our main character Phil Sheldon, a photographer in New York as he lives through the 40s and 50s and 60s and 70s and witnesses the stories of many of the major characters from Marvel Comics. We see Captain America fighting the Nazis, the rise of Fantastic Four and the arrival of Galactus, we see Avengers forming and taking on new members and of course the X-Men and how they differ from other heroes.
I have no idea how it would feel to read these stories if you were unfamiliar with most of the stories because one of the reasons why this book works is that it reflects our own childhood wonder and amazement of these characters onto us. We see people marveling at them just as we used to, just as I did when I was a kid watching Spider-Man on an old CRT. Without that reflection, I think much of the appeal would be lost.
Of course, Alex Ross’s drawing is amazing and it feels even more cinematic somehow than Kingdom Come. In that story the amount of busy action sequences left me disoriented at times but here even though there are some really cool battles against foes, much of the focus is on everyday people. I like how these scenes have a momentum to them, the sense of pace as Phil walks the streets or runs toward his house feels impactful even though there’s nothing grand going on action-wise.
What I love about also is how people are hostile towards these heroes, especially the mutant X-Men who are treated like commies and hunted down at every turn. The scenes of human brutality hit a lot harder than any large scale action sequences could. The book also manges to be consistently grounded, this is not one of those stories where an average guy gets in a team-up with superheroes and forms a relationship with them. Instead,
spoilerthe only time he comes too close them, he ends up losing his right eye.
spoilerIt’s not a criticism per say but I find it very strange and interesting how this book forms it’s own version of superhero fatigue within the story. Phil Sheldon towards the end gets so sick and tired of people admiring these heroes whenever they get saved and accuse them of villainy when things are peaceful that he doesn’t want to be a part of it and retires, leaving the story at an inconclusive end for him and the reader.
A glorious recap - Marvels (1994) Review
https://lemmy.ml/post/50318230
Finished up GOOD AND EVIL AND OTHER STORIES, by Samanta Schweblin. I've rated it 4 out of 5 stars. MOUTHFUL OF BIRDS is still my favorite collection, that turned me on to her unique approach to horror stories.
The thing she does that is so different is that she makes the reader hyperaware of what *could* have happened, in addition to what actually happened. It adds a layer of unease. The characters feal real, and so does their panic.
My thoughts on PYTHON'S KISS: Stories, by Louise Erdrich. 4 out of 5 stars.
I first learned of Erdrich by reading the Pulitzter Prize winning THE NIGHT WATCHMAN, a novel about the fight against Native American dispossession. Erdrich is an Indigenous author who crafts purposeful storytelling. I was hooked. But then, I could not connect with her next novel. So, I figured I'd try again with PYTHON'S KISS, and Wow! These are some very inventive stories. I was mesmerized by nearly all of them. Only two seemed to lack the punch of the others. I can certainly live with that.
Erdrich knows how to create a setting that draws you in, with quirky characters whom you can care about, so their eventual anguish really resonates. The themes are dark, but they also feel real, even when the circumstances may feel utterly unfamiliar. A worthwhile read.
Today is (the very first) National Black Bookstore day!
Celebrate with a treat from a Black-owned indie bookstore.
Brittany Allen
https://lithub.com/today-is-the-very-first-national-black-bookstore-day/
#books #literature #blacklivesmatter #NationalBlackBookstoreDay
Ebook and paperback: https://books2read.com/TymeStarwitch
Audiobook: https://owentyme.bandcamp.com/album/the-book-of-newts-starwitch
The undead queen of the space pirates kidnapped Amelia’s sisters and damaged her ship, leaving her with little fuel. Amelia’s a dead woman without her sisters, forced to attack the pirate’s mountain-sized star ship, despite how slim the odds are…
@bookstodon
#author #indieauthor #writing #fantasy #scifi #sciencefiction #sff #sciencefantasy #scifi #actionadventure #fiction #books #audiobook
📚 Trouble with Lichen by: John Wyndham
Francis Saxover and Diana Brackley, two scientists investigating a rare lichen, discover it has a remarkable property: it retards the aging process. Francis, realizing the implications for the world of an ever-youthful, wealthy elite, wants to keep it secret, but Diana sees an oppo...
https://bookblabla.com/book/trouble-with-lichen
#books #reading #libraries #fiction #sciencefiction #generalfiction #geneticengineering
This week's #NewBooks at the library: A toss-up of three different titles
- Having reviewed a biography about Edgar Allan Poe, I determined that Thomas Olive Mabbott's version, originally published by Belknap Press, is probably one of the more authoritative collections of Poe's work. I managed to find a 1979 hardback original of the first volume via eBay.
- I found a very affordable second-hand version of Cambridge University Press's Meteoroids: Sources of Meteors on Earth and Beyond in their Cambridge Planetary Science series.
- One more book from my employer's January clearance sale is Muhammad H. Zaman's Biography of Resistance: The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens, published by Harper Wave.
#Books #Bookstodon #Scicomm #Gothic #Poetry #Astronomy #Astrodon #Microbiology #Disease @bookstodon
Cover Reveal! Here is our next book, which opens for pre-orders soon, and it is a reprint of what some scholars say is a landmark publication, the first single-author collection of speculative stories from an African author (based on the continent and in contemporary times, we believe). First published in 2014, it went out of print when the original publisher folded. We are proud to bring it back to life!
https://www.ododopress.com/blog/cover-reveal-a-killing-in-the-sun/
#books #bookstodon #sff #sciFi #writing #writingcommunity #blog
Today is the birthday of John Fowles, and it feels like a good moment to return to a writer who made novels feel intimate, troubling, and alive.
His books do not leave the reader untouched. They linger. They raise questions about love, freedom, illusion, loneliness, and the stories people tell themselves just to keep going.
If you have read him, which book stays with you most?
#books #reading #literature #writers
#bookstodon
@bookstodon
Buzzwords or Phrases That Make Me Want to Read a Book: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-buzzwords-or-phrases-that-make-me-want-to-read-a-book/
#Reading can support mental health too.
A systematic review of randomized clinical trials found that #bibliotherapy (structured reading used in treatment) can reduce depressive symptoms and may have lasting benefits.
#Books are not a replacement for care when someone needs help, but they can be a real part of healing.
#mentalhealth #literature #readingcommunity #book #booksky #BookTok #booklovers #bookstagram #bookstodon @bookstodon
📚 About to Fall Apart by: Ashley Hickson-Lovence
This is the story of one man's weekend, a weekend in which everything could change
These lines could change everything.
He sips more of his tinny.
Imagines a new life.
Aidy's just punched a co-worker, but he hasn't got time to deal with the fallout. With a deadline fast looming he must get home, knuckle down an...
Days
:Hours
:Minutes
:Seconds
We tried our best :'(
April’s basic necessities were not fully met. The goal was $625, but only $440 of that was met.
The minimum for April was $375, but only $190 was received for April essentials. The rest of that $440 covered overdue March costs and groceries for the first weeks of April.
Since April’s overdue utilities and internet were already handled, the remaining $185 is the groceries gap. That shortfall now carries into May.
Total needed: $560
🗒️ Breakdown:
$185 — April groceries gap carrying into May
$375 — May basic necessities
• $250 groceries
• $90 utilities + water
• $35 internet + phone data
Monthly pledges are preferred due to disability and the constraints that come with it. However, one-off support also helps greatly.
Aside from Ko-fi, other support options and social profiles are here:
https://wrzky.com/links
This support helps keep me fed, connected, and able to continue sustaining a global mutual-aid network with comrades organising across borders.
Every bit helps keep it going. Thank you.
@mutualaid
@mutualaid
@disability
@autistics@chirp.social
@autistics
@actuallyadhd
