"Hypotheses, treated as mere poetic fancies in one age, scouted as scientific absurdities in the next — preparatory only to their being altogether forgotten — have often, when least expected, received confirmation from indirect channels, and, at length, become finally adopted as tenets, deducible from the sober exercise of induction."
Michael Faraday #BOTD in 1791.
I'm trying to decide who to read next. I've got a Joshua Whitehead novel for some Indigiqueer representation. I've also recently acquired some Andrea Gibson poetry, Charlie Jane Anders new book, and an older Alice Hoffman novel.
Choices, choices. Whatcha reading these days? And are you having any concentration issues?
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#AynRand is quoted, misquoted, praised, and vilified — often by people who haven’t read her.
_The Ayn Rand Reader_ offers excerpts from her #fiction and #nonfiction: her ideas, her voice, her terms.
If you’re serious about understanding her — whether to agree or disagree — start here: https://aynrand.org/novels/the-ayn-rand-reader/
#philosophy #books #bookstodon #literature #AynRand #Objectivism
Mary Wollstonecraft, The Woman Who Laid the Foundation for Feminism
Think 18th-century feminism must be outdated? Think again—there is still so much to learn from the life and writing of Mary Wollstonecraft.
by Dr. Victoria C. Roskams
https://www.thecollector.com/mary-wollstonecraft-woman-laid-foundation-feminism/
Wollstonecraft at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/61
📚 Lights Out by: Navessa Allen
I want someone with a soul as black as night. Someone who would burn the world down for me and not lose a single minute of sleep over it.
Trauma nurse Aly Cappellucci doesn't need any more kinks. She likes the one she's landed on just fine. To her, nothing could top the masked men she follows online. ...
https://bookblabla.com/book/lights-out
#books #reading #libraries #fiction #romance #suspensefiction #humorous #blackhumor
Another great discussion w/ #RossWolfe about his trilogy of essays critiquing the late neo-Stalinist philosopher & historian #DomenicoLosurdo, w/ particular focus on #Losurdo's attacks on #WesternMarxism in his eponymously titled book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9QM64C1glw
(the trilogy is here:
https://newintermag.com/against-losurdo/
https://newintermag.com/losurdos-lies/
https://newintermag.com/revisionism-revisited/)
#Marxism #FrankfurtSchool #socialism #politicalTheory #historyOfMarxism #Stalinism #campism #philosophy #books #bookstodon @bookstodon
Irish writer and poet who wrote under the pseudonym "Æ" George William Russell was born #OTD in 1867.
As a poet, Russell's work often explored themes of spirituality, mysticism, nature, and the Irish landscape. One of Russell's most famous works is "The Candle of Vision" (1918), a mystical autobiography in which he describes his spiritual experiences and encounters with the divine.
Books by George William Russell at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1869
“Knowledge leaves no room for chances.”
American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, politician, diplomat, & author Lew Wallace was born #OTD in 1827.
He is best known for his historical novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" (1880), which became one of the best-selling novels of the 19th century. He wrote several other novels, essays, and biographies, though none achieved the same level of success as Ben-Hur.
Books by Lew Wallace at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/836
What Pride and Prejudice Tells Us About British History, Class, and Women’s Leisure Time
Patricia A. Matthew Explores the Historical Context of Jane Austen’s Most Famous Novel
Pride and Prejudice at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=pride+and+prejudice
"According to two district sources, AI was used to measure instructional texts against a rubric that took into account “DEI content.” The books must be removed from all classrooms, and cannot be used as instructional resources—either as texts read in class or as choice books in classroom libraries. Though the books have received no formal challenge, they are currently awaiting further review."
"Book banners have told us over and over again that they’re just trying to take books with extreme sexual content out of public schools. Classics are safe, they’ve said. We’re not removing books based on the ideas they contain, they’ve said. We knew none of that was true; Senate Bill 12 proves it."
#books #writing #writersofmastodon #WritingCommunity #bookstodon @bookstodon
https://franklinstrong.substack.com/p/to-kill-a-mockingbird-pulled-from
#OTD in 1897
The Grand Guignol is opened in Paris by Oscar Méténier.
From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it specialised in naturalistic horror shows. Its name is often used as a general term for graphic, amoral horror entertainment, a genre popular from Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre (for instance Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, and Webster's The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil), to today's splatter films.
Children of famous writers. I wonder what influence they have on their careers.
Mary Shelley (Mary Wollstonecraft & William Godwin)
Ada Lovelace (Lord Byron & Lady Byron)
Alexandre Dumas fils (Alexandre Dumas père & Marie-Laure-Catherine Labay)
Christina Rossetti & Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Gabriele Rossetti & Frances Polidori)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Hartley Coleridge & Sara Fricker)
Anthony West (H. G. Wells & Rebecca West)
Evelyn Waugh (Arthur Waugh & Catherine Raban)
Nobody Would Edit Shakespeare, Right? Right?
by: Neely Tucker via @libraryofcongress
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2025/09/nobody-would-edit-shakespeare-right-right/
Shakespeare at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/65
#OTD in 1889, writer Walter Lippmann was born.
He "was an American writer, reporter, and political commentator. With a career spanning 60 years, he is famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of the Cold War, coining the term "stereotype" in the modern psychological meaning, as well as critiquing media and
democracy...."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Lippmann
Books by Lippmann at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Walter+Lippmann
#OTD in 1914.
The first English-language performance of George Bernard Shaw's comedy Pygmalion at His Majesty's Theatre is given in London starring Mrs. Patrick Campbell and Herbert Beerbohm Tree, and famously including the Act III line "Not bloody likely!".
Shaw's play has been adapted many times, most notably as the 1938 film Pygmalion, the 1956 stage musical My Fair Lady, and its 1964 film version.
Pygmalion at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/3825
📚 Artemis by: Andy Weir
Jasmine Bashara never signed up to be a hero. She just wanted to get rich.
Not crazy, eccentric-billionaire rich, like many of the visitors to her hometown of Artemis, humanity’s first and only lunar colony. Just rich enough to move out of her coffin-sized apartment and eat something better than flavored algae. Rich eno...
https://bookblabla.com/book/artemis
#books #reading #libraries #fiction #sciencefiction #thrillers #suspense
French author Georges Duhamel died #OTD in 1966.
One of Duhamel's most famous works is the "Chronique des Pasquier" series, which consists of ten novels that follow the lives of the Pasquier family over several generations. Duhamel was also known for his essays and philosophical reflections on literature, art, and the human condition. He was also a committed pacifist and humanist.
Books by Georges Duhamel at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1445
"Movement will cease before we are weary of being useful."
Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci was born #OTD in 1452.
Leonardo's notebooks are perhaps as famous as his artworks, containing sketches, diagrams, and notes on a wide range of subjects. He made significant contributions to anatomy through his detailed anatomical drawings, which were far ahead of his time. He also conducted experiments in various scientific fields, including optics and aerodynamics.
British novelist and dramatist Charles Reade died #OTD in 1884.
One of Reade's most famous novels is "The Cloister and the Hearth" (1861). Other notable works by Reade include "It Is Never Too Late to Mend" (1856), "Hard Cash" (1863), and "Put Yourself in His Place" (1870). Reade also published three elaborate studies of character: Griffith Gaunt (1866), A Terrible Temptation (1871), A Simpleton (1873).
Books by Charles Reade at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/618
#OTD in 1888, writer T.S. Eliot is born in St. Louis, Missouri, US.
"He was a leading figure in English-language Modernist poetry where he reinvigorated the art through his use of language, writing style, and verse structure. He is also noted for his critical essays, which often re-evaluated long-held cultural beliefs."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot
Eliot's books at PG:
📚 Clown Town by: Mick Herron
Jackson Lamb and the bad spies of Slough House are caught in a deadly battle between MI5's secret past and its murky future in this gripping, hilarious, and heartbreaking thriller by Mick Herron, “the le Carré of the future” (BBC).
“Old spies grow ridiculous, River. Old spies aren’t...
https://bookblabla.com/book/clown-town
#books #reading #libraries #fiction #thrillers #espionagefiction #mysterydetective #traditional
"In what intellectual freedom advocates have seen coming for months, a Texas school district has just shut down access to all secondary school libraries for students due to the regulations of the state’s Senate Bill 13... The district also offers no timeline for when students will have access to their own school libraries–facilities that their family tax dollars go to operate. NBISD’s decision to shut down the libraries in order to complete a review of materials based on vague language showcases how quickly and easily public schools are and will continue to cower to far right politics infiltrating communities throughout Texas."
#books #writing #writersofmastodon #WritingCommunity #bookstodon @bookstodon
https://bookriot.com/new-braunfels-isd-library-closures-sb-13/
