books

<p>You can never have enough cat manuals 😻</p><p><a href="/tags/catsofmastodon/" rel="tag">#CatsOfMastodon</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a></p>

<p>The Inquisitive Biologist looks back at 2025 and picks his five favourite books. Palaeontology, aerobiology, speleology, degrowth, and geomicrobiology top this year&#x27;s list.</p><p><a href="https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/12/31/year-list-the-inquisitive-biologists-top-5-reads-of-2025/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/12/31/year-list-the-inquisitive-biologists-top-5-reads-of-2025/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/</span><span class="invisible">12/31/year-list-the-inquisitive-biologists-top-5-reads-of-2025/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/bookoftheyear/" rel="tag">#BookOfTheYear</a> <a href="/tags/bookreview/" rel="tag">#BookReview</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#Bookstodon</a> <a href="/tags/scicomm/" rel="tag">#Scicomm</a> <a href="/tags/paleontology/" rel="tag">#Paleontology</a> <a href="/tags/palaeontology/" rel="tag">#Palaeontology</a> <a href="/tags/aerobiology/" rel="tag">#Aerobiology</a> <a href="/tags/historyofscience/" rel="tag">#HistoryOfScience</a> <a href="/tags/sciencehistory/" rel="tag">#ScienceHistory</a> <a href="/tags/histsci/" rel="tag">#HistSci</a> <a href="/tags/speleology/" rel="tag">#Speleology</a> <a href="/tags/caves/" rel="tag">#Caves</a> <a href="/tags/lechuguilla/" rel="tag">#Lechuguilla</a> <a href="/tags/economics/" rel="tag">#Economics</a> <a href="/tags/degrowth/" rel="tag">#Degrowth</a> <a href="/tags/microbiology/" rel="tag">#Microbiology</a> <a href="/tags/geology/" rel="tag">#Geology</a> <a href="/tags/geomicrobiology/" rel="tag">#Geomicrobiology</a> <a href="/tags/edgarallanpoe/" rel="tag">#EdgarAllanPoe</a> <a href="/tags/eapoe/" rel="tag">#EAPoe</a> <a href="/tags/biography/" rel="tag">#Biography</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a> <a href="/tags/goth/" rel="tag">#Goth</a> <a href="/tags/gothic/" rel="tag">#Gothic</a> <a href="/tags/horror/" rel="tag">#Horror</a> <a href="/tags/scienceconvention/" rel="tag">#ScienceConvention</a> <a href="/tags/sciencefair/" rel="tag">#ScienceFair</a> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://sauropods.win/@markwitton" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>markwitton</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@princetonupress" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>princetonupress</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@princetonnature" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>princetonnature</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@Carl_Zimmer" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>Carl_Zimmer</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fediscience.org/@timparrique" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>timparrique</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://sauropods.win/@TetZoo" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TetZoo</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1930.</p><p>American novelist Sinclair Lewis is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the first writer from the United States to receive the award.</p><p>Sinclair Lewis Nobel Lecture:<br><a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1930/lewis/lecture/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1930/lewis/lecture/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lite</span><span class="invisible">rature/1930/lewis/lecture/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/nobelprize/" rel="tag">#nobelprize</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/free/" rel="tag">#Free</a> @ <a href="/tags/smashwords/" rel="tag">#Smashwords</a>: <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1897925" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.smashwords.com/books/view/1897925"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.smashwords.com/books/view/</span><span class="invisible">1897925</span></a></p><p>Hungry and hunting alone, a goblin boy meets a bouncing, blue slime and assumes it will be dinner. Naturally, the slime has other ideas, and the boy gets his hind-end handed to him by what’s supposed to be one of the weakest monsters of the forest.</p><p><span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span><br><a href="/tags/author/" rel="tag">#author</a> <a href="/tags/indieauthor/" rel="tag">#indieauthor</a> <a href="/tags/writing/" rel="tag">#writing</a> <a href="/tags/fantasy/" rel="tag">#fantasy</a> <a href="/tags/fiction/" rel="tag">#fiction</a> <a href="/tags/goblin/" rel="tag">#goblin</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/audiobook/" rel="tag">#audiobook</a> <a href="/tags/eoysale25/" rel="tag">#EOYSale25</a> <a href="/tags/ebook/" rel="tag">#ebook</a> <a href="/tags/sale/" rel="tag">#sale</a> <a href="/tags/books2read/" rel="tag">#books2read</a> <a href="/tags/indiebooks/" rel="tag">#indiebooks</a></p>

<p>One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. By Ken Kesey.</p><p>You’re a half-Native guy in a mental hospital (it’s the 1950s) for 20 years, when a complete asshole conman white dude shows up thinking he can control everything; since he has little regard for his own life or that of others he succeeds in the way a wrecking ball succeeds in its task.</p><p>2 of 5 library cats 🐈 🐈</p><p>CW: hate speech, racism, misogyny, cultural appropriation </p><p><span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/reading/" rel="tag">#reading</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#bookstodon</a> <a href="/tags/mentalhealth/" rel="tag">#mentalhealth</a></p>

<p>📚 The Midnight Train by: Matt Haig</p><p>When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop?</p><p>No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there.</p><p>The chance to re-live the moments that meant most.</p><p>To see what kind of person you really were.</p><p>For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the lov...</p><p><a href="https://bookblabla.com/book/the-midnight-train" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="bookblabla.com/book/the-midnight-train"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">bookblabla.com/book/the-midnig</span><span class="invisible">ht-train</span></a></p><p><span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/reading/" rel="tag">#reading</a> <a href="/tags/libraries/" rel="tag">#libraries</a> <a href="/tags/fiction/" rel="tag">#fiction</a> <a href="/tags/generalfiction/" rel="tag">#generalfiction</a> <a href="/tags/literaryfiction/" rel="tag">#literaryfiction</a> <a href="/tags/visionarymetaphysical/" rel="tag">#visionarymetaphysical</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1878.</p><p>Henry Irving&#x27;s production of Hamlet, with himself in the title rôle playing opposite Ellen Terry as Ophelia, opens at the Lyceum Theatre, London (of which they have taken over the management). The tendency of actor-managers to emphasise the importance of their own central character did not always meet with the critics&#x27; approval.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet</a></p><p>Hamlet at PG:<br><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1524" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/1524</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/theatre/" rel="tag">#theatre</a> <a href="/tags/drama/" rel="tag">#drama</a></p>

<p>My favorite books published in 2025: </p><p>Gliff - Ali Smith<br>One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This - Omar El Akkad<br>Audition - Pip Adam<br>Dusk - Robbie Arnott<br>Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng - Kylie Lee Baker<br>The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones<br>Sour Cherry - Natalia Theodoridou<br>The Hymn to Dionysus - Natasha Pulley<br>Eternal Summer - Franziska Gansler (tr. Imogen Taylor)<br>The Silver Book - Olivia Laing<br>We Pretty Pieces of Flesh - Colwill Brown<br>Woodworking - Emily St. James</p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#bookstodon</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1877.</p><p>Anna Sewell&#x27;s animal welfare novel Black Beauty is published. It was written from a horse as main character&#x27;s perspective. Sewell wrote it in the last years of her life, during which she was bedridden and seriously ill.</p><p><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/271" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/271</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>📚 Crossroads by: Kaleb Dahlgren</p><p>On April 6, 2018, sixteen people died and thirteen others were injured after a bus taking the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team to a playoff game collided with a transport truck in a rural intersection. The tragedy moved millions of people to leave hockey sticks by their fron...</p><p><a href="https://bookblabla.com/book/crossroads" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>bookblabla.com/book/crossroads</a></p><p><span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/reading/" rel="tag">#reading</a> <a href="/tags/libraries/" rel="tag">#libraries</a> <a href="/tags/biographyautobiography/" rel="tag">#biographyautobiography</a> <a href="/tags/wintersports/" rel="tag">#wintersports</a> <a href="/tags/hockeyselfhelp/" rel="tag">#hockeyselfhelp</a> <a href="/tags/motivationalinspirational/" rel="tag">#motivationalinspirational</a></p>

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1891.</p><p>Maurice Maeterlinck&#x27;s play The Blind (written in 1890) is premièred. Les Aveugles is, along with L&#x27;Intruse, one of Maurice Maeterlinck&#x27;s first two plays.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_(play)" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_(play)"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blin</span><span class="invisible">d_(play)</span></a></p><p>Les Aveugles is available at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48368" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48368</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/theatre/" rel="tag">#theatre</a></p>

<p>Going to the Moon: Early Cartography of the Lunar Surface</p><p>The lunar maps shown in this post were created long before satellite images became available. The topography is highly detailed and the historical backgrounds of the astronomers who created them are compelling.</p><p>by: Cynthia Smith (from the archives)</p><p><a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2020/03/going-to-the-moon-early-cartography-of-the-lunar-surface/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="blogs.loc.gov/maps/2020/03/going-to-the-moon-early-cartography-of-the-lunar-surface/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">blogs.loc.gov/maps/2020/03/goi</span><span class="invisible">ng-to-the-moon-early-cartography-of-the-lunar-surface/</span></a></p><p>Galileo at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/39014" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/39014"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/39014</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/astronomy/" rel="tag">#astronomy</a></p>

<p>A Review of New Year: <a href="https://lydiaschoch.com/a-review-of-new-year/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lydiaschoch.com/a-review-of-new-year/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lydiaschoch.com/a-review-of-ne</span><span class="invisible">w-year/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/bookreview/" rel="tag">#BookReview</a> <a href="/tags/fivestars/" rel="tag">#FiveStars</a> <a href="/tags/sciencefiction/" rel="tag">#ScienceFiction</a> <a href="/tags/newyear/" rel="tag">#NewYear</a> </p><p><span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span></p>

<p>&quot;Intelligent men are cruel. Stupid men are monstrously cruel.&quot;</p><p>Jack London died <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1916.</p><p>A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/120" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/120"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/120</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Mildly interesting. The receipt that was stashed in the cover, I assume from the purchase in Jan or Jun of 96, kept the cover from being faded.

<p>Danish author Marie Bregendahl was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1867.</p><p>Her first novel Hendrik i Bakken was published in 1904. She went on to gain fame with En Dødsnat in 1912, based on the death of her mother when she was only 12.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Bregendahl" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Bregendahl"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Br</span><span class="invisible">egendahl</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>&quot;Call me Ishmael.&quot;</p><p>Readers dive into New Bedford Whaling Museum&#x27;s 30th &#x27;Moby-Dick&#x27; marathon</p><p>by Andrea Shea</p><p><a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/01/new-bedford-whaling-museum-moby-dick-marathon" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/01/new-bedford-whaling-museum-moby-dick-marathon"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/01/n</span><span class="invisible">ew-bedford-whaling-museum-moby-dick-marathon</span></a></p><p>Moby-Dick at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do:...&quot;</p><p>Lewis Carroll’s Personal Copy of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ Returns to its ‘Spiritual Home’ in Oxford</p><p>The book has been donated jointly to Christ Church and the Bodleian Library, which are both part of the University of Oxford</p><p>by Sarah Kuta </p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lewis-carrolls-personal-copy-of-alices-adventures-in-wonderland-returns-to-its-spiritual-home-in-oxford-180987910/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lewis-carrolls-personal-copy-of-alices-adventures-in-wonderland-returns-to-its-spiritual-home-in-oxford-180987910/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-n</span><span class="invisible">ews/lewis-carrolls-personal-copy-of-alices-adventures-in-wonderland-returns-to-its-spiritual-home-in-oxford-180987910/</span></a></p><p>Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

<p>&quot;Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. &quot;</p><p>‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’: The raunchy banned book that became a best-seller and helped to launch counterculture</p><p>by Paulina Subia</p><p><a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/raunchy-banned-book-helped-to-launch-counterculture/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="faroutmagazine.co.uk/raunchy-banned-book-helped-to-launch-counterculture/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">faroutmagazine.co.uk/raunchy-b</span><span class="invisible">anned-book-helped-to-launch-counterculture/</span></a></p><p>Lady Chatterley’s Love at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73144" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73144</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>