books

#books #reading #libraries #fiction #literaryfiction #fantasy #contemporary

Truth is not found in fixed stillness, but in ceaseless change/movement. Isn't this the quintessential core of what stories are all about? Haruki Murakami, from the afterword to The City and Its Uncertain Walls

The long-awaited new novel from Haruki Murakami, his first in six years, revisits a Town his readers will remember, a place where a Dream Reader reviews dreams and where our shadows become untethered from our selves. A love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, and a parable for these strange post-pandemic times, The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a singular and towering achievement by one of modern literature’s most important writers.

#Books #Scicomm #Bookstodon #Evolution #DevelopmentalBiology #EvoDevo #HistoryOfScience #ScienceHistory #HistSci #Fossils #Mammoths #Paleontology #Palaeontology @bookstodon

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

256d

This week's #NewBooks at the library: I bought second-hand copies of Animal Anomalies: What Abnormal Anatomies Reveal about Normal Development and The Correspondence of #CharlesDarwin, Volume 14: 1866, both from Cambridge University Press. I also adopted a damaged copy of the large-format English/German Elefantenreich: Eine Fossilwelt in Europa from Verlag Beier & Beran, which features some amazing fold-out plates. I hear it is basically out of print now.

A photo of three books 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.

On the left, Animal Anomalies, showing a prepared specimen of a frog. The body has been soaked in chemicals that make the flesh translucent and have stained the skeleton red and yellow. This particular frog has a mutation, resulting in its right hind leg splitting into two legs.

In the middle, Elefantenreich, showing a colour illustration of a mammoth in a parched yellow grassland with a herd of mammoths in the background. The individual in the foreground is facing the viewer, dramatically throwing its trunk back over its forehead, and has its mouth open.

On the right, The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Volume 14: 1866, showing a hardback with a moss-green dust jacket with black and white lettering.

https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/i-am-making-the-world-my-confessor/?utm_source=newsletter

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

“I Am Making the World My Confessor”: Mary MacLane, the Wild Woman from Butte

By Hunter Dukes

In 1902, a woman named Mary MacLane from Butte, Montana, became an international sensation after publishing a scandalous journal recording life at the age of 19. Rereading this often-forgotten debut, Hunter Dukes finds a voice that hungers for worldly experience, brims with bisexual longing, and rages against the injustices of youth.

At PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/42291

#books

1903 portrait of Mary MacLane.

Mary is seated, gazing directly at the camera with a confident, almost defiant expression.

She wears dark, modest attire typical of the early 20th century, likely a high-collared blouse or dress, which contrasts with her bold persona. The simplicity of her clothing draws more attention to her facial expression and eyes.

Her hair is pulled back in a neat and simple style, again emphasizing her face and expression rather than ornamentation.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_Maclane_in_1903.jpg

https://thediaryofareader.com/2026/02/06/the-whole-enchilada/

2 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

The decision to strip chapters from books that had already won the approval of the state’s Republican-controlled board of education represents an escalation in how local school boards run by ideological conservatives influence what children learn.
https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-cypress-fairbanks-removed-textbook-chapters?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Texas #Education #School #Diversity #DEI #Books

0 0 2 View Post & Replies See Original

235d

Our critics pick the 11 best books of the summer

106255824

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

257d

I got my first book blogger review this morning, from Dominique over at "Diary of a Reader."

TWE isn't a perfect novel by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel so SEEN by this review. She got it. 100% understood what I was doing and *how* I was doing it.

ngl, I got tears in my eyes. What a feeling.

#Bookstodon #books #indie #indieauthor

Graphic featuring a quote from the book review of "The Whole Enchilada" by Daniela Quirke, by Dominique at the "Diary of a Reader" blog:

"The Whole Enchilada isn't the light, quirky alien romp its premise might suggest. It's a character-driven science fiction novel that uses the strange to interrogate the deeply human, and it's beautiful."

@galacticwriters @writers @books @fantasy @bookstodon @joinin
@writingbooks @keepwriting

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

256d

I wish I would've realised sooner that I don't have to solve every fictional problem I came up with the same second I came up with them 😁

#WritingMemes #Meme #Memes #Humor #Humour
#Author #Authors #IndieAuthor #IndieBooks #AmWriting #Writerdons #Writers #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #Writinglife #WritersOfMastodon #Bookstodon #Books

Two part meme.
Top part is a picture of a pill bottle that says, Hard to swallow pills.
Bottom part is captioned: If you can't come up with solutions to basic fiction writing problems that you yourself made then try again timorrow, keep learning. Writing is a skill that can be improved.

https://providencemag.com/2025/04/george-orwell-knew-what-made-shakespeare-great/

2 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

George Orwell Knew What Made Shakespeare Great

By Michael Lucchese

William Shakespeare by John Taylor, edited.

Shakespeare appears with a high forehead, arched eyebrows, and deep, contemplative eyes that suggest wit and introspection.

He wears an elegant black doublet with a white collar — modest yet refined, reflecting his status as a respected playwright and poet of the Elizabethan era. A gold earring in his left ear adds a touch of bohemian flair, hinting at his creative spirit.

His dark hair is shoulder-length, slightly tousled, and he sports a trimmed mustache and goatee — a fashionable look for a man of letters in the early 1600s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Shakespeare_by_John_Taylor,_edited.jpg

https://lithub.com/nancy-reddy-on-researching-beyond-the-archives/

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

255d

Nancy Reddy on Researching Beyond the Archives

Reading sideways requires a willingness to re-read, to wander through a set of sources, to widen your gaze. Sometimes, though, the answers continue to elude us and the record remains incomplete.

People working in Card Division in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Card Division, United States Library of Congress, 1910s or 1920s

The image shows librarians and staff working at long tables covered with catalog cards laid out in rows for sorting and processing. In the background, an enormous card catalog cabinet with thousands of drawers lines the wall. Multiple workers, mostly women dressed in white blouses typical of the era, are engaged in the meticulous work of organizing, filing, and maintaining the library's card catalog system - the primary method of cataloging and accessing library materials before computerization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_catalog#/media/File:Card_Division_of_the_Library_of_Congress_3c18631u_original.jpg

#Books #Literature #Magazines #Culture #Arts

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

Bringing this from writer Joseph Malik over from Bluesky. I think it's spot on.

"Subtext separates a novel from a novel-length story. Subtext is the part that AI can't--and never will--generate. It can't read for subtext. It can read Cliff's Notes to determine an existing novel's subtext, but there is no mathematical or logical process to create it. Subtext is uniquely human."

It's the conclusion to a 3-post thread. You can find that via my mentions if you're so inclined.

#writing #books

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

A special shoutout to The New York Review of Books which has just started using the Fediverse:

➡️ @nybooks

The NYRB is a celebrated magazine on literature, politics, arts, ideas & current events.

They've just started posting, so their profile may look blank to your server. Follow them and their posts will start showing up on your server too 🙂

(By the way, NYRB has no connection to the New York Times Book Review, they just have similar names.)

Edited 1y ago

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

254d

How Bertolt Brecht and Walter Benjamin Pioneered a New Way of Creating

Katherine Hollander on Intellectual, Political and Artistic Collaboration Among the Exiled Mitarbeiter

https://lithub.com/how-bertolt-brecht-and-walter-benjamin-pioneered-a-new-way-of-creating/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01KGXQ3HHJ926DWA8QFPY71TN5&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER

#books #literature #literarycriticism

Photo d'identité sans auteur, 1928 - Akademie der Künste, Berlin - Walter Benjamin Archiv.

The portrait shows Benjamin at age 36, wearing round glasses, a mustache, suit and tie, with a serious, contemplative expression.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin#/media/File:Walter_Benjamin_vers_1928.jpg

https://www.indiebound.org/independent-bookstore-day

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

Today in the US is Independent Bookstore Day!

Wherever you are, show some love for your favorite indie bookstore.

#books #bookstore

The picture below is a bookstore in Canada. Show love for all indie bookstores in every country.

Postcard of Christie's Bookstore, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.
by Warwick Bros & Rutter

Publication date 1908.

Tall brick building. - from the Internet Archive

Edited 1y ago

2 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

183d

here's a peek at my current bookshelf, I need to get linux internals book.... and maybe even Riku's nuke rants too haha!

if you know of any other classics / good books i should get- do say!
I know for a fact i want the rest of the Low-Tech-Magazine series at least.

#books #shelfreveal

a Ikea shelf with some books on it:
- Several "Hergé / Tintin" books
- a few "Skrolli" magazines
- a Finnish "almanakka" for the year 2025
- "Using the X Window System" /for HP/Hewlett-Packard)
- "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan & Ritchie (Second Edition, i think its like the 8th print).
- "Imaging in Lung Transplantation" by Gracijela Bozovic
- "How to Build a Low-Tech Internet?" by Kris De Decker

on top of the shelf there are some legos
on the shelf where the books are there is a "Router Freedom" sticker (for openwrt)
and a plastic anime cutout figurine is a bit visible too

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/07/poem-of-the-week-a-sonnet-to-the-noble-lady-the-lady-mary-wroth-by-ben-jonson

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

Poem of the week: A Sonnet to the Noble Lady, the Lady Mary Wroth by Ben Jonson

"A strategically flattering tribute to a pioneering female writer is lifted by authentic warmth and admiration"

Ben Jonson at PG

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1269

#poetry #authors #books #literature

Erato, Muse of Lyrical Poetry by Charles Meynier (French, 1768–1832). "Erato is the muse of lyric poetry in Greek mythology. She is often depicted holding a small kithara or lyre, a stringed musical instrument, here seen resting against a tree in the lower left. She is writing with an arrow given to her by a winged Eros or Cupid, the god of love. This painting belongs to a cycle of five works commissioned by businessman François Boyer-Fonfréde for his home in Toulouse."

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

"Men with common minds seldom break through general rules. Prudence is ever the resort of weakness; and they rarely go as far as as they may in any undertaking, who are determined not to go beyond it on any account."

Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796)

~Mary Wollstonecraft (27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797)

Mary Wollstonecraft at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/84

Wollstonecraft in 1790–1791, by John Opie

Wollstonecraft is depicted in a three-quarter view, her body turned slightly to the side while her face looks directly toward the viewer. Her expression is calm, serious, and contemplative, suggesting deep intelligence and moral conviction.

She wears a simple white garment, likely a muslin or linen dress with a soft, open collar.

Her dark hair is loosely gathered under a soft, dark cap or bonnet, with curls escaping naturally around her face.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wollstonecraft#/media/File:MaryWollstonecraft.jpg

#BooksByLornaPeel #Books #Ireland #HistoricalRomance #BookSeries #HistoricalFiction #KindleUnlimited #Bookstodon #Romance @bookstodon

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

126d

In 19th-century Dublin, a disillusioned doctor and a fallen woman cross paths, sparking a forbidden love that defies society's judgments.

Amazon - https://mybook.to/ascarletwoman
Other Retailers - https://books2read.com/AScarletWoman

Promotional image for the Irish historical fiction novel A Scarlet Woman by Lorna Peel, book one in The Fitzgeralds of Dublin series, an Irish family Saga. The image features an e-reader displaying the book cover, which shows a young woman in a pale blue dress looking downward against a faded Dublin cityscape background. Large text at the top reads, “Begin The Fitzgeralds of Dublin series with A Scarlet Woman.” On the right, text describes the story as an escape to 19th-century Ireland, featuring scandal, sacrifice, and a love that changes everything. At the bottom, the available formats are listed: Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Paperback.

https://bookblabla.com/book/dawn

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

254d

📚 Dawn by: Octavia E. Butler

When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali a seemingly benevolent alien race intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then...

#books #reading #libraries #fiction #sciencefiction #womenfiction #dystopian

When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. She discovers that the Oankali a seemingly benevolent alien race intervened in the fate of the humanity hundreds of years ago, saving everyone who survived a nuclear war from a dying, ruined Earth and then putting them into a deep sleep. After learning all they could about Earth and its beings, the Oankali healed the planet, cured cancer, increased human strength, and they now want Lilith to lead her people back to Earth--but salvation comes at a price.

Hopeful and thought-provoking, this post-apocalyptic narrative deftly explores gender and race through the eyes of characters struggling to adapt during a pivotal time of crisis and change.

One woman is called upon to rebuild the future of humankind after a nuclear war, in this revelatory post-apocalyptic tale from the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower.

#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #PeriodDrama

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

finished reading The Grand Sophy 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
by Georgette Heyer.

A irrepressible cousin comes to stay and causes a great upheaval, but between cunning plans and good luck it all works out neatly. More wit than romance, but it does that well.

@WildWoila @wildwoila@wyrms.de

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

253d

📚 I Will Kill Your Imaginary Friend for $200 by: Robert Brockway

To bright and anxious eight-year-old Kay Washington, the worst thing in the world is being alone with the quiet. That's why Eddie Video makes the perfect imaginary friend: He's smart, he's loud, he loves pulling pranks, and he's always there...

https://bookblabla.com/book/i-will-kill-your-imaginary-friend-for-200

#books #reading #libraries #fiction #horror #generalfiction #humorous #darkhumor

To bright and anxious eight-year-old Kay Washington, the worst thing in the world is being alone with the quiet. That's why Eddie Video makes the perfect imaginary friend: He's smart, he's loud, he loves pulling pranks, and he's always there to chase away the silence.

To mid-forties, down-on-his-luck Ivan, the worst thing in the world happened when he lost his imaginary friend. Now cursed with the ability to see everyone else's, Ivan makes a living by killing the imaginary friends of adults who couldn't let go. But when one of Eddie Video's 'pranks' goes too far, Ivan agrees to make an exception and help Kay.

Only Ivan will soon learn that Eddie Video is nothing like the talking ostriches, star bears, and goblin princesses he's encountered in the past, and it’s going to take a lot more than clumsy haymakers and steak knives to bring him down. A balance of comedy and catharsis, this dual-narrative tackles both the fear of growing up and the scars our childhood leaves behind.

https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/happiness/looking

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

1876 | Laurel Springs, NJ

Looking Up

Walt Whitman has a happy hour.

Whitman at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/600

An 1862 photograph of Whitman taken by Mathew Brady.

Whitman is shown seated, with a relaxed, almost casual posture. His expression is thoughtful but unforced — a slight, knowing look in his eyes suggests both introspection and resilience.

He wears plain, slightly rumpled clothing: an open-collared shirt.

Whitman’s hair is tousled and his beard is full and flowing, giving him a weathered, natural look that breaks from the more polished, formal portraits typical of the era.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman#/media/File:Walt_Whitman_-_Brady-Handy_restored.png

#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #NonFiction #MaterialsScience

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

finished reading Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
by Ed Conway.

A high-octane tour through the materials that underlie our civilisation: sand, salt, steel, copper, oil & lithium. So many intriguing side notes that sent me off down rabbit holes (African ghost miners!). Really brings home the mammoth scale, complexity & interconnectedness of these critical industries that we take for granted. But also highlights their fragility, the environmental damage they cause, and the immense difficulty of reforming them to be sustainable.

@WildWoila @wildwoila@wyrms.de

Edited 1y ago

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

1y

Leigh Hunt, the Unstoppable Critic

Convicted and imprisoned for libeling the Prince Regent, Hunt capitalized on his incarceration by turning his prison cell into a newsroom and grand salon.

By: Emily Zarevich

https://daily.jstor.org/leigh-hunt-the-unstoppable-critic/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily:%20April%207%2C%202025&utm_term=lithub_master_list

#books #literature #journalism

James Henry Leigh Hunt, by Benjamin Robert Haydon (died 1846).

Hunt is shown in a half-length view, typically with his head turned slightly to one side.

His expression is gentle, intelligent, and somewhat introspective.

His features are finely drawn—delicate mouth, straight nose, and bright, expressive eyes that suggest warmth and wit.

https://bookblabla.com/book/women-of-a-promiscuous-nature

0 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

253d

Foreigner Review – Cherryh on Top

0 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

253d

📚 Women of a Promiscuous Nature by: Donna Everhart

On a brisk February morning while walking to the diner where she works, 24 year-old Ruth Foster is stopped by the local sheriff. He insists she accompany him to a health clinic, threatening to arrest her if she doesn't undergo testing in order to preserv...