books

79d

Wrapping up 2025 with gratitude to the many people who supported me this year while I was launching The Expert of Subtle Revisions. Thank you for reading the book, for buying the book, for checking it out from the library (I just learned it was a top check out from the Mechanics' Institute Library this year!) for sharing it with friends and online, for showing up at events, for your kind notes, your kind reviews, your attention. My year-in-review features moments I photographed--the book launch at Bookshop West Portal with Lilian Van Cleve, Book Passage with Allison Bainbridge, Symposium Books with Tanya Young, That was Then at Page Street, a New York City book store tour with Meredith Davis, a Boston book store tour with Daphne Kalotay, Sebastopol LitCrawl, and Kepler's Story is the Thing--but many important moments have no image to accompany them. They will always remain with me as well. Thank you!

#books #writing #writersofmastodon #WritingCommunity #bookstodon @bookstodon

https://youtu.be/7zfOlSfED28

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

German philosopher Immanuel Kant was born #OTD 300 years ago!

Kant’s most famous work, the "Critique of Pure Reason", is often considered one of the most significant works in the history of philosophy. In this book, he introduced the concept of a priori synthetic judgments, arguing that our ability to perceive & understand the world is shaped by the ways our mind structures experiences.

Books by Immanuel Kant at PG:
The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant

#books #literature #philosophy

Immanuel Kant, painted portrait, c1790. Kant (1724-1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers.

A classic painting depicting Immanuel Kant with white, curly hair wearing an 18th-century style dark coat with a white shirt visible at the collar. The background is dark, providing a strong contrast with the lighter elements of the figure's attire.

Cover of The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant.

"The Critique of Pure Reason" (Kritik der reinen Vernunft), published in 1781 and revised in 1787, is Immanuel Kant’s seminal work and one of the most influential texts in the history of philosophy. In this book, Kant endeavors to analyze the faculties of human reason and to establish the capabilities and limits of pure reason.

3 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

149d

Open Book Fountain

This sculpture was created by Kelecsenyi Gergely & engineer Jozsef Szita.
The fountain uses water to create the illusion of turning pages, and serves as a reminder of the importance of physical books.

Location: Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. On Egyetem Square, in front of the university.

#Art #Arte #StreetArt #Kunst #Straatkunst #Scupture #Escultura #Scultura #Creative #Creativetoots #Book #Books #Boeken #Boek #Livre #Lezen #Design #Creativetoot #Lire

Edited 149d ago

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

149d

📚 Yellowface by: Rebecca F. Kuang

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena's a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she...

https://bookblabla.com/book/yellowface

#books #reading #libraries #fiction #literaryfiction #psychologicalfiction #thrillers #generalfiction

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena's a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.
But June can't get away from Athena's shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June's (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.

White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences... Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn't write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American--in this chilling and

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

149d

Great piece by Ilana Masad on making art and marketing it:

#books #booksky #writing #writersofmastodon #WritingCommunity #bookstodon @bookstodon

https://electricliterature.com/artists-shouldnt-need-to-become-content-creators-to-get-fair-pay/

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist George Herbert Mead died #OTD in 1931.

He is considered one of the founders of social psychology and the school of thought known as symbolic interactionism. Mead’s most influential ideas revolve around the concept of the self, which he saw as arising from social interaction. Mead’s ideas were mostly published posthumously, with his students assembling his lectures and notes into books.

#books #philosophy #sociology

Black and white photograph of George Herbert Mead wearing a dark blazer, a light-colored shirt, and a tie. The image is focused on the upper body and the background is indiscernible.

Edited 1y ago

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

148d

I just read the two-part graphic novel "My Brother's Husband" by Gengoroh Tagame. It's set in Japan, where a single dad gets to know his deceased identical twin's Canadian husband. It's a mix of a young girl's enthusiasm over a surprise uncle and an adult's struggle with his culture's (and his own) view of gayness. Lots of layers, as he's also divorced and raising his daughter mostly on his own. They all develop a broader sense of family.

#GraphicNovel #queer #lgbtq #japan #books
@bookstodon

1 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

Norwegian writer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson died #OTD in 1910.

His novel "Synnøve Solbakken" helped inaugurate the genre of the "bonde-fortelling" or peasant tale in Norwegian literature, focusing on rural Norway with a realistic portrayal of everyday life. As a dramatist, Bjørnson wrote several important plays. "The Bankrupt", "The Editor" and "A Gauntlet". He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903.

Books by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1772

#books #literature

Cover of the book "WORKS OF BJORNSTERNE BJORNSON PATRIOTS EDITION ARNE EARLY TALES AND SKETCHES Translated from the Norse By RASMUS B. ANDERSON NEW YORK DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY" with an orange and brown emblem in the center.

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

As Jews around the world begin to celebrate the festival of #Passover tonight, they’ll open up thousands of different editions of the Haggadah, the guide to the ritual feast.

The curator of a Judaica library looked through their collection of hundreds of Haggadahs to highlight three of his favorites – including this groundbreaking edition published in Amsterdam in 1695.

Chag sameach to all who celebrate!

https://theconversation.com/from-sumptuous-engravings-to-stick-figure-sketches-passover-haggadahs-and-their-art-have-been-evolving-for-centuries-227269

#Jewstodon #Books

A yellowed book page with lots of detailed illustrations in back ink, and text in Hebrew.

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

130d

Simple yet effective - Strange Pictures (2025) Review

Strange Pictures was published by YouTuber Uketsu in 2022 and translated into English in 2025. The book is about multiple drawings connected to different murders and the interlinked story connecting them together, told through simple writing and hand drawings.

One way to take this book into perspective would be to call it “telegraphic horror”, I suppose. The first chapter starts with an epistolary form and it’s obvious to see that it’s meant to be simple enough to engage readers and hook them in without any purple prose or complex sentences.

The diary entries and minimal storytelling reminded me of those exciting times as a kid when I used to read creepypastas and every mystery seemed like a larger than life puzzle that felt like it could be solved and which kept me interested even when I took a break from reading them.

That’s the kind of charm Strange Pictures started with and moving forward it does demand more from it’s readers in terms of attention to sustain the allure of its mystery, it felt earned because I wanted to figure out what the drawings meant and why the second chapter started out in such an unrelated fashion.

One minor criticism would be that it’s marketed as a horror book for Jungi Ito fans but I never found that abyss like horror of human nature and I wouldn’t say the book goes that far in it’s character’s mind, therefore to me it’s still a better mystery and suspense novel with pictures then a new horror addition to Japanese canon but I guess it comes close.

Anyway, if you’re going through a reading slump and would like to read something fast and exciting and mysterious and have had any interactions with reading creepypastas as a kid then I would wholeheartedly recommend this unique experience. I loved it

4/5***

Takahe has limited support for this type: See Original Page

(no description)

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

Swedish astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Anders Celsius died #OTD in 1744.

In 1742, Celsius introduced the temperature scale that bears his name. His original scale was actually the reverse of what we use today: it set the boiling point of water at 0 degrees & the freezing point at 100 degrees. However, shortly after his death, the scale was reversed by Carl Linnaeus, resulting in the 0 degrees for freezing & 100 degrees for boiling that we are familiar with.

#books #science #physics

"Observationer om twänne beständiga grader på en thermometer" [Observations about two stable degrees on a thermometer]. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar (Proceedings of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) (in Swedish). 3: 171–180. 1742.

Edited 1y ago

4 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

148d

Assata: An Autobiography Takahe has limited support for this type: See Original Page

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

148d

Assata: An Autobiography Takahe has limited support for this type: See Original Page

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

Italian inventor and electrical engineer Guglielmo Marconi was born #OTD in 1874.

He is best known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system. He is often credited as the inventor of radio, and he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun for their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy.

Books about Guglielmo Marconi at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Guglielmo+Marconi&submit_search=Go%21

#books #technology

Guglielmo Marconi, portrait, head and shoulders, facing left.

A vintage black and white portrait of Guglielmo Marconi wearing a dark suit, white dress shirt, and a light-colored necktie. The individual's attire suggests a formal context. The photo appears aged with some textural wear, indicative of its historical nature.

A black and white photograph of an early 20th-century telegraph communication setup with a paper sheet hung on the wall, a telegraph key, and a receiving device on a wooden table connected by wires.

Marconi's first transmitter incorporating a monopole antenna. It consisted of an elevated copper sheet (top) connected to a Righi spark gap (left) powered by an induction coil (center) with a telegraph key (right) to switch it on and off to spell out text messages in Morse code.

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

130d

Oscar Wilde's library card reissued 130 years after being revoked over gay conviction.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2lymkm1jno

#books #literature

3 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

English poet William Cowper died #OTD in 1800.

His first volume of poetry, "Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq." was published in 1782. This volume included some of his most famous poems, such as "Table Talk" and other shorter pieces that reflected his views on nature, spirituality, and humanity. His most famous work is "The Task" (1785), a six-book poem in blank verse, which was inspired by a friend who challenged him to write a poem about a sofa.

#books #literature #poetry

Portrait of William Cowper (1731-1800).

A portrait of William Cowper dressed in 18th-century attire, with a black coat, yellow waistcoat, and matching breeches, seated beside a red upholstered chair with one arm resting on a table. The individual holds a quill in their right hand, and an open book lies on the table. The background is a plain dark color, providing a contrast to the lighter tones of the clothing and furniture.

Page of The Task, and Other Poems by William Cowper.

An old book cover titled "The Task and Other Poems" by Cowper, with a floral design around the central circle which reads "Cassell's National Library" and edited by Professor Henry Morley.

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

Swedish feminist writer Ellen Key died #OTD in 1926.

One of her most influential works is "The Century of the Child," first published in 1900. In this book, she projected her ideas about education and the rights of children into the 20th century, which she termed the "Century of the Child." She was also a proponent of women's rights: she believed in the importance of motherhood in society and argued that women should have more choices regarding marriage and children.

#books #literature

Ellen Key, 1910
Becker & Maass / Marie Boehm - Nyström-Hamilton, Louise (1913) Ellen Key, Her Life and Her Work, New York City: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

A sepia-toned vintage photo of a seated person (Ellen Key) wearing a Victorian style dress with a lace collar and long sleeves.

Old black hardcover book with title "The Century of the Child" by Ellen Key in gold lettering.

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

#OTD in 1920.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" appears in the Saturday Evening Post and on the magazine's cover, illustrated by artist Norman Rockwell. It was Fitzgerald's first short story to achieve national prominence. The original publication featured interior illustrations by May Wilson Preston. The work later appeared in the September 1920 short story collection Flappers and Philosophers published by Charles Scribner's Sons.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4368

The May 1, 1920 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, the first time Fitzgerald's name appeared on the cover of the magazine to which he contributed for much of his life. Fitzgerald's short story Bernice Bobs Her Hair appeared in this issue.

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

129d

Who is that, so insistently tapping at my chamber door?

Something suitably spooky is coming to https://inquisitivebiologist.com this #Halloween... For now, here is a quick progress shot while you all wait for the next #BookReview to drop. I'm about halfway in.

#Literature #Biography #Gothic #Horror #Scicomm #Books #Bookstodon @bookstodon

A photo of a book standing on a small, brown, wooden table. The out-of-focus background shows black shelves full of books and part of the beech-coloured laminate floor. The book is pictured showing its face, the pages heavily annotated with numerous Post-it notes. The cover and spine are purposefully not visible. The book is standing on top of another hardback book, lying down: The Knickerbocker Classics version of The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. The spine is golden cloth with a fancy black repeating floral pattern on it, such as you might find on old wallpaper.

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

148d

‘A cottage of one’s own’: Newly unearthed Virginia Woolf stories to be published

A chance discovery at a country house revealed the three funny – sometimes surreal – interlinked tales, written almost a decade before Woolf’s first book was published

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/sep/27/a-cottage-of-ones-own-newly-unearthed-virginia-woolf-stories-to-be-published

Woolf at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/89

#books #literature

Woolf in 1927.

Unknown author - Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University

Woolf is shown resting her head on her hand. Her gaze is softly directed toward the camera, though not in an intense stare.

She is wearing a fur-stole or wrap around her shoulders. Her hair is styled in a period-appropriate way, likely neat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf#/media/File:Virginia_Woolf_1927.jpg

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

German mathematician and mathematics educator Felix Klein was born #OTD in 1849.

He is best known for his substantial contributions to group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and for connecting mathematics with other disciplines, notably physics. His notable achievements are the Erlangen Program, Complex Analysis and Algebraic Geometry, Klein Bottle, and Klein's Quartic Curve.

Books by Felix Klein at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/9227

#books #mathematics

Edited 1y ago

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

147d

> Books on the Move: Bookmobiles, Mobile Libraries and More https://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/2025/09/books-on-the-move-bookmobiles-mobile-libraries-and-more/

Via #LibraryOfCongress. Locally our county public library does have a bookmobile.

#libraries #history #Bookmobile #books #reading

@bookstodon@a.gup.pe
@bookstodon

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

148d

This week's #NewBooks at the library: I bought second-hand copies of
- From Crust to Core: A Chronicle of Deep Carbon Science, published by Cambridge University Press;
- Confronting Consumption, published by @themitpress (this copy was in the holdings of the library of The American University of Paris);
- Cohabiting Earth: Seeking a Bright Future for All Life, published the State University of New York Press (I was really impressed by Eileen Crist's most recent book).

#Consumerism #Geology #EarthSciences #Books #Scicomm #Bookstodon @bookstodon

A photo of three books standing on a small, brown, wooden table. The out-of-focus background shows black shelves full of books, a red curtain covering the door, and part of the beech-coloured laminate floor.

On the left, standing up, From Crust to Core, showing a colour photo of a volcanic eruption of Etna at night. It is a long-exposure photo with numerous fiery streaks erupting from the crater.

In the middle, lying down, Confronting Consumption, showing a hardback without its dustjacket, bound in black cloth. The title and author names are printed on the spine in gold lettering, but the cover is plain black cloth.

On the right, standing up, Cohabiting Earth, showing a colour photo of a bird perched on top of a ceramic water fountain with a small column of water gently rising up out of the fountain. The background is out of focus. The bird is looking at the camera rather than drinking. I don't know what species it is, but it is predominantly an orangy-yellow with a black face and breast, and dark iridescent wing and tail feathers.

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

148d

When you collaborate in a #DarkFantasy #HorrorAnthology #NewRelease 👇

https://mybook.to/Fallen1

And letting your newsletter know other books your partners have....

https://books.bookfunnel.com/fallen-vol-1-stories-from-the-shadows/s1y8kdk552

And realize you want some of those new-to-you books yourself! 📚

Even better?! 😁 They're on Bookshop.org!

Buy friend books, help local bookstores, share 20% off! 😎

https://refer.bookshop.org/e7zcfkk9

#Books @bookstadon @bookstodon@a.gup.pe @bookstodon @fantasy @horror @romancelandia @lgbtqbookstodon

Bookshop.org screenshot showing Crimson Chains by Sienna Rae and Gero by YD La Mar available for sale, plus the note of how much the total order will send to support local bookstores ($8.80).

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

146d

Online event hosted by #MEAction

Discussion and Q&A with Brian Buckbee, author of We Should All Be Birds.

Wednesday, October 1st
3 pm Eastern/noon Pacific

More details here:

https://www.meaction.net/event-details/q-a-with-author-brian-buckbee

You must register in advance in order to get the Zoom link for the event.

@mecfs
@bookstodon

#Reading #Books #Memoir #Bookstodon #MEcfs #ChronicIllness

Announcement for the event with this text: "Q & A with author Brian Buckbee, Wednesday, October 1st, at 12 pm PT / 3 pm ET."
It includes the cover for his book - We Should All Be Birds: A Memoir - which includes a close-up view of a pigeon.

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

Previous Page Next Page