Eggplant.place

70d

From PEN America:

Top 52 Banned Books: The Most Banned Books in U.S. Schools

"The 52 most banned books of the last four school years include National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winners, bestsellers, and beloved books by authors including Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, and Judy Blume."

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

https://pen.org/top-52-banned-books-since-2021/

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50d

Dictionary of the Oldest Written Language–It Took 90 Years to Complete, and It’s Now Free Online

https://www.openculture.com/2026/01/dictionary-of-the-oldest-written-language-free-online.html#google_vignette

#books #literature #language

Reading glasses on top of an open dictionary

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70d

📚 Kindred by: Octavia E. Butler

"I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm."

Dana’s torment begins when she suddenly vanishes on her 26th birthday from California, 1976, and is dragged through time to antebellum Maryland to rescue a boy named Rufus, heir to a slaveowner’s plantation. She soon realizes the purpose of her summons to the past: pro...

https://bookblabla.com/book/kindred

@bookstodon

#books #reading #libraries #fiction #sciencefiction #historical

"I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm."

Dana’s torment begins when she suddenly vanishes on her 26th birthday from California, 1976, and is dragged through time to antebellum Maryland to rescue a boy named Rufus, heir to a slaveowner’s plantation. She soon realizes the purpose of her summons to the past: protect Rufus to ensure his assault of her Black ancestor so that she may one day be born. As she endures the traumas of slavery and the soul-crushing normalization of savagery, Dana fights to keep her autonomy and return to the present.

Blazing the trail for neo-slavery narratives like Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s The Water Dancer, Butler takes one of speculative fiction’s oldest tropes and infuses it with lasting depth and power. Dana not only experiences the cruelties of slavery on her skin but also grimly learns to accept it as a condition of her own existence in the present.

Where stories about American slavery are often gratuitous, reducing its horror to explicit violence and brutality, Kindred is controlled and precise. (New York Times).

Selected by The Atlantic as one of THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS. ("You have to read them.")

The New York Times best-selling author’s time-travel classic that makes us feel the horrors of American slavery and indicts our country’s lack of progress on racial reconciliation

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1y

#OTD in 1926.

The children's book Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne first appears, published by Methuen in London.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh_(book)#

Winnie-the-Pooh's entrance into the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2022 was noted by several news publications, generally in the context of a greater Public Domain Day article.

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2022/#fn6text

Winnie-the-Pooh at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/67098

#books #literature

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70d

The ecstatic swoon

As Stendhal knew, the reason for art is to make you feel. Do not try to grasp the artwork: allow it to grasp you instead

by Robert D Zaretsky

https://aeon.co/essays/what-stendhal-says-about-the-purpose-and-promise-of-art?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=048e2ed722-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_12_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972

#books #art #literature

Portrait de Stendhal par Ducis, 1835, Bibliothèque Sormani, Milan. Portrait mélancolique.

An 1835 oil portrait of French writer Stendhal by Johan-Nepomuk Ender (attributed to Ducis), housed at the Bibliothèque Sormani in Milan. The melancholic portrait shows the author of "The Red and the Black" in dark formal attire against a muted green background, holding an elegant walking stick, capturing his contemplative demeanor during his mature years.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stendhal_par_Ducis.jpg

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1y

"Call me Ishmael."

#OTD in 1851.

Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.

In the October 1851 issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine "The Town Ho's Story" was published, with a footnote reading: "From 'The Whale'. The title of a new work by Mr. Melville, in the press of Harper and Brothers, and now publishing in London by Mr. Bentley."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick

Moby-Dick at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/15

#books #literature

The whale or Moby Dick (half-title page), Herman Melville, 1851

Herman Melville and one more author - State Library of New South Wales, [https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/74VK2oZrBwKZ/l3gXqDvw8yl0N DSM/813.3/M531/2A1

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69d

Are there any book clubs on Mastodon? The in-person ones around me keep petering out or are hard to get to, and the ones I’ve seen online are toooo big for my tastes. I have a slight preference for fantasy/sci-fi, but any genre is good. I just want to talk about books! #bookstodon #books #reading

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49d

📚 We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse) by: Dennis E. Taylor

There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state.

He has been uploaded into computer ...

https://bookblabla.com/book/we-are-legion-we-are-bob-bobiverse

@bookstodon

#books #reading #libraries

There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state.

He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets.

The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he'll be switched off, and they'll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty. The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad — very mad.

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69d

Rare public display for Mary Queen of Scots' final letter

The public are to be given a rare chance to see the last letter by Mary Queen of Scots, which was written just hours before she was beheaded.

by Cara Berkley

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg4nzy3r5zyo

Mary Queen of Scots at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=Mary+Queen+of+Scots

#books #literature

La mort de Marie Stuart, 19th-century painting by Abel de Pujol

The painting is centered around Mary, who is portrayed with an expression of a mix of resignation and strength.

The painting reflects the tragic fate of Mary, who was executed in 1587 after being imprisoned for years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Queen_of_Scots#/media/File:Execution-of-Mary-Queen-of-Scots.jpg

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1y

#OTD in 1911.

German novelist Hans Fallada, kills his best friend in a suicide pact staged as a duel.

Fallada made a pact with a friend, Hanns Dietrich von Necker, to stage a duel to mask their suicides, feeling that the duel would be seen as more honorable. However, because of both boys' inexperience with weapons, it was a bungled affair. Dietrich missed Fallada, but Fallada did not miss Dietrich, killing him.

Hans Fallada at Projekt Gutenberg-DE
https://www.projekt-gutenberg.org/autoren/namen/fallada.html

#books #literature

German writer Hans Fallada (1893–1947), depicted in Bonniers litterära magasin Nr.6, 1936.

In the image, Fallada appears as a middle-aged man with a solid, slightly rounded face. His expression is calm yet intense, reflecting a contemplative nature and the inner turmoil often associated with his life and writing. His eyes, framed by slightly heavy eyelids, have a distant, introspective gaze, as if lost in thought. His short, dark hair is combed neatly, and his face bears a mustache, common to his appearance in the 1930s.

Fallada's attire is formal but modest, in keeping with the style of the time. He is dressed in a suit with a high-collared shirt and a simple tie, perhaps signaling his role as a respected writer while also hinting at his working-class sensibilities. The black-and-white portrait from Bonniers litterära magasin emphasizes sharp contrasts, with Fallada's face and suit emerging starkly from the background, highlighting his features with a sense of gravity and weight.

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49d

I do like both, and I've never understood why this is an issue, is it not the content of the book that matters? Not how that content is delivered? 🤔😁

@reading @bookstodon @books @humor @humor@lemmy.world @aiop @joinin

#ReadingMemes #Memes #ReadAllTheBooks #Humor #Humour
#Reading #Readers #ReadersOfMastodon #ReadingCommunity
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Fiction
#Bookwyrm #Bookworm #Bookstodon #BookLove #FantasyBooks

Tom and Jerry meme, Tom is having a sword fight with the dog, and Jerry is watching.
Captions:
Dog: ebook readers
Tom: Physical readers
Jerry: Me liking both

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69d

New review fresh in for #FossilFriday: Bringing to life two palaeontological expeditions and excelling at explaining scientific concepts, The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt goes deeper into the tragic history behind Spinosaurus and resurrects the forgotten Ernst Stromer.

https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/12/19/book-review-the-lost-dinosaurs-of-egypt/

#Books #BookReview #Bookstodon #Dinosaurs #Theropods #Spinosaurs #Spinosaurus #Fossils #Paleontology #Palaeontology #Scicomm @bookstodon

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1y

Polish composer and virtuoso pianist Frédéric Chopin died #OTD in 1849.

To this day, Chopin's music remains one of the most widely performed, and an indispensable part of the universal piano repertoire. Along with Franz Liszt, he is the father of modern piano technique and influenced a whole line of modern composers, including Claude Debussy, Alexandre Scriabine, Maurice Ravel and Sergei Rachmaninov.

Books by or about Frédéric Chopin at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric+Chopin&submit_search=Go%21

#books #music #art

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49d

finished reading A Room of One’s Own 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
by Virginia Woolf.

A classic that is actually good! An essay on women & fiction (thus, feminism) that rambles along in a relaxed fashion without losing any of its coherency or piercing insight. And damn she can write. Sadly still relevant, nearly 100 years on. (For reference her £500/yr is A$55k/yr today.)

#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #NonFiction #Feminism

@WildWoila @wildwoila@wyrms.de

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1y

Argentinian poet and author Alfonsina Storni died #OTD in 1938.

Her first book, La inquietud del rosal, brought her recognition from the literary circles in Buenos Aires; but it was her volume El dulce daño that won her popular success.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonsina_Storni

#books

Alfonsina Storni walking along the promenade of Mar del Plata. Unknown author - Archivo General de la Nación Argentina Inventory 7770

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68d

I finally read "I, Robot" by Asimov. I think it is good, and especially with #Ai and #LLMs here now, so many tech-bros citing stuff like the three laws, think it is worthwhile to go read the actual book. It is not about robot crimes, at all. It feels astonishingly up to date for something written during and shortly after WW2. I guess because people now aren't that different from people who lived 100 years ago. #bookstodon @bookstodon #books #reading

bookcover of I, Robot by Asimov. the cover is a dark blue with the outline of a human head in light blue dots and lines representing circuits.

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1y

In November 1873.

The children's periodical St. Nicholas Magazine begins publication by Scribner and Company in New York under the editorship of Mary Mapes Dodge.

Books by Mary Mapes Dodge at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/402

#books #literature

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67d

"It’s as if the landscape, first pushed and puckered up like velvet trim embroidered in luxuriant green, before falling away to flat and endless yellow, fundamentally rejects a clear perspective. And as if this is also true of its inhabitants, whose behaviour is similarly contradictory: observing everything, understanding nothing. Commenting on everything, explaining nothing." ~~ 'Darkenbloom' by Eva Menasse, trans. Charlotte Collins

#BookQuote #books #reading @bookstodon

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1y

Available from 1 November: another thriller I translated, by the same author as the last one, Catherine Cooper.

This time we're going skiing in the French Alps, but there's another storm, which means nobody can leave the chalet... 🏠 🇫🇷 🏔️ ⛷️ 🍷 🍄 🌨️ 😱

#books #thriller #hetchalet #BookTranslation #translation #xl8 #boeken #BoekVertaling #VertaaldDoorEenMens #TranslatedByAHuman

Book cover: four glasses of champagne on a table outside against a snowy landscape, one glas has blood spatters on it and there are shards of glass on the table.

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1y

Dutch author and poet Isabelle de Charrière, known as Belle van Zuylen, was born #OTD in 1740.

She is now best known for her letters and novels, although she also wrote pamphlets, music and plays. She took a keen interest in the society and politics of her age, and her work around the time of the French Revolution is regarded as being of particular interest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabelle_de_Charri%C3%A8re

Books by Isabelle de Charrière at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Isabelle+de+Charri%C3%A8re&submit_search=Go%21

#books #literature #poetry

Isabelle de Charrière by Jens Juel, (1777), Bibliothèque publique et universitaire de Neuchâtel.

Jens Juel - http://www.charriere.nl/images/juel.htm [1]

Isabelle de Charrière, born Isabelle Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken, known as Belle de Zuylen (1740-1805)

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67d

"#KarenHao joins Scientific American to discuss her new book #EmpireOfAI, exploring how companies like #OpenAI wield power that is reminiscent of historical empires. From ideological quests for artificial general intelligence to the environmental toll of massive #dataCenters, Hao reveals the hidden forces shaping our technological future—and the reasons we should all be paying attention."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd8ZTI2Ft0w
#AI #AGI #artificialIntelligence #tech #BigTech #books @bookstodon

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68d

📚 The Librarians by: Sherry Thomas

In the leafy suburbs of Austin, Texas, a small branch library welcomes the public every day of the week. But the patrons who love the helpful, unobtrusive staff and leave rave reviews on Yelp don't always realize that their librarians are human, too.

Hazel flees halfway across the...

https://bookblabla.com/book/the-librarians

@bookstodon

#books #reading #libraries #fiction #thrillers #domesticfiction #mysterydetective #amateursleuth

In the leafy suburbs of Austin, Texas, a small branch library welcomes the public every day of the week. But the patrons who love the helpful, unobtrusive staff and leave rave reviews on Yelp don't always realize that their librarians are human, too.

Hazel flees halfway across the world for what she hopes will be a new beginning. Jonathan, a six-foot-four former college football player, has never fit in anywhere else. Astrid tries to forget her heartbreak by immersing herself in work, but the man who ghosted her six months ago is back, promising trouble. And Sophie, who has the most to lose, maintains a careful and respectful distance from her coworkers, but soon that won't be enough anymore.

When two patrons turn up dead after the library s inaugural murder mystery themed game night, the librarians’ quiet routines come crashing down. Something sinister has stirred, something that threatens every single one of them. And the only way the librarians can save the library and themselves is to let go of their secrets, trust one another, and band together...

All in a day's work.

This delicious murder mystery is a must-read for any library lover! New York Times bestselling author Shelby Van Pelt

Murder disrupts four quirky librarians' lives when they try to hide among books to keep their secrets.

A LIBRARY READS PICK! l An NPR Books We Love

Sometimes a workplace isn’t just a workplace but a place of safety, understanding, and acceptance. And sometimes murder

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67d

📚 We Could Be Rats by: Emily Austin

Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal but having always resisted the idea of growing up into the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. Her...

https://bookblabla.com/book/we-could-be-rats

@bookstodon

#books #reading #libraries #fiction #lgbtq #generalfiction #humorous #literaryfiction