books

Drawing of Elizabeth Prentiss from the frontispiece of The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Prentiss Provided by the Wheaton College Archives - From the frontispiece of The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Prentiss, compiled by her husband George Lewis Prentiss (New York: Randolph & Co., 1882)

https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/12/01/it-takes-two-people-to-make-you-and-one-people-to-die/

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321d

“It takes two people to make you, and one people to die”

Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying," set in Yoknapatawpha County, enters US public soon. Despite 15 stream-of-consciousness narrators making it challenging, Holly at Nut Free Nerd explains why it's worth reading.

By John Mark Ockerbloom

#books #publicDomainDayCountdown

First-edition dust jacket cover of As I Lay Dying (1930) by the American author William Faulkner.

Published in New York by Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_I_Lay_Dying#/media/File:As_I_Lay_Dying_(1930_1st_ed_jacket_cover).jpg

https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/felix-salten-the-jewish-author-and-hunter-who-created-bambi?mtm_campaign=europeanathemed-animation-nov2025

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321d

Felix Salten: the Jewish author and hunter who created Bambi

Bambi is a beloved story which has entertained people for decades. Though the tale of the deer's life has been enjoyed by generations, many do not know the name of its author.

by Adrian Murphy

Salten at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/35122

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovers%27_Vows

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2y

#OTD in 1798.

Elizabeth Inchbald's Lovers' Vows (adapted from Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe – 1780; literally "Love Child," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated) is first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.

It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity.

Lovers' Vows at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4554

#books #literature #theatre

Title page of Elizabeth Inchbald's Lovers' Vows (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1796)

https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/12/02/destrys-long-ride-to-the-public-domain/

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320d

Destry’s long ride to the public domain

Max Brand's Destry became a symbol of Western clichés through multiple adaptations since 1930, though the famous versions strayed far from his original revenge-and-redemption tale of wrongful conviction.

By John Mark Ockerbloom

#books #publicDomainDayCountdown

This is the front cover art for the book Destry Rides Again (novel). The book cover art copyright is believed to belong to the publisher or the cover artist.

Destry Rides Again was first published in 1930, in a series of installments under the title "Twelve Peers" in Frank Blackwell's Western Story Magazine. It was republished, as a paperback, later that year under the title Destry Rides Again. The word "again" in the title refers to Destry's renewed freedom to ride after being let out of prison, not to any previous story; this novel was the Destry character's fiction debut.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destry_Rides_Again_(novel)#/media/File:Destry_Rides_Again_(novel).jpg

https://daily.jstor.org/zelda-fitzgerald-on-f-scotts-writing/

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2y

Zelda Fitzgerald on F. Scott’s Writing

Zelda’s satirical review of F. Scott’s second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned, revealed much more than her wit.

By: Emily Zarevich via @JSTOR_Daily

The Beautiful and the Damned at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9830

#books #literature #literarycriticism

F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald, 1923 via Wikimedia Commons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3T4VhvKcj4
#Gaza #GazaGenocide #Palestine #colonialViolence #stateCrime #counterforensics #cartography #infographics #books @bookstodon

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306d

What book(s) are you currently reading or listening to? December 16

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124d

Makdisi Street welcomes #EyalWeizman, founder of #ForensicArchitecture, to talk about his new book #Ungrounding: The Architecture of Genocide

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141d

📚 Taiwan Travelogue by: Shuang-zi Yang

May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She’s been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs...

https://bookblabla.com/book/taiwan-travelogue

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

May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She’s been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste as much of its authentic cuisine as her famously monstrous appetite can bear.

Soon a Taiwanese woman—who is younger even than she is, and who shares the characters of her name is hired as her interpreter and makes her dreams come true. The charming, erudite, meticulous Chizuru arranges Chizuko’s travels all over the Land of the South and also proves to be an exceptional cook. Over scenic train rides and braised pork rice, lively banter and winter melon tea, Chizuko grows infatuated with her companion and intent on drawing her closer. But something causes Chizuru to keep her distance. It’s only after a heartbreaking separation that Chizuko begins to grasp what the “something” is.

Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered text by a Japanese writer, this novel was a sensation on its first publication in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 and won Taiwan’s highest literary honor, the Golden Tripod Award. Taiwan Travelogue unburies lost colonial histories and deftly reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships.

A bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in an artful exploration of language, history, and power

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

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2y

#OTD in 1923.

A production of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus at The Old Vic, directed by Robert Atkins, is the first in London since 1857. It is also the first to restore the full original text since the playwright's time.

It is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent & bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were extremely popular with audiences throughout the 16th century.

Titus Andronicus at PG
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1507

#books #literature #theatre

Title page of the first quarto of Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare, published 1594

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2y

Irish novelist Edith Somerville died #OTD in 1949.

She wrote in collaboration with her cousin "Martin Ross" (Violet Martin) under the pseudonym "Somerville and Ross". Together they published a series of fourteen stories and novels, the most popular of which were The Real Charlotte, published in 1894, and Some Experiences of an Irish R. M., published in 1899.

Books by E. Œ. Somerville at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5334

Somerville atop her horse Tarbush.

Source book page: https://archive.org/stream/irishmemories00some/irishmemories00some#page/n218/mode/1up

In the photograph, she appears composed and elegant, sitting confidently on her horse.

Somerville is dressed in traditional 19th-century riding attire. This would typically include a riding habit—likely a long, dark-colored skirt and jacket, tailored for horseback riding.

Her hair is styled modestly, often covered by a riding hat or bonnet, suitable for outdoor activity and in keeping with the fashion of the era.

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

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2y

English philosopher and women's rights advocate Harriet Taylor Mill was born #OTD in 1807.

She is considered to have been a key contributor to many of John Stuart Mill’s most famous works, particularly "On Liberty" (1859) & "The Subjection of Women" (1869). Some of her own writings, such as her essay "The Enfranchisement of Women" (1851), argued for women's equality and their right to vote.

Books by Harriet Taylor Mill at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73404

Harriet Mill, by unknown artist, Harriet Taylor Mill (née Harriet Hardy) (8 October 1807 – November 1858) was a philosopher and women's rights advocate. Her extant corpus of writing is very small, and she is largely remembered for her influence, which he said was very great, on her second husband, John Stuart Mill, one of the pre-eminent thinkers of the 19th century, Painting given to the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1982.

In the painting, Harriet Taylor Mill is presented with a refined and composed demeanor, reflecting her intellect and influence as a thinker. Her expression is calm yet thoughtful, with a sense of quiet determination that hints at her significant contributions to women's rights and social reform.

She has a delicate face, with fine features—perhaps high cheekbones, a soft jawline, and bright eyes that convey her sharp intellect. Her lips are often depicted with a slight, gentle smile or in a neutral, contemplative pose.

Her hair is styled in the fashion of the mid-19th century, likely parted in the center and arranged in neat waves or curls around her face, with the rest pulled back in a simple, elegant updo.

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319d

New on my #blog: "Books Reviewed: November 2025."
https://itinerantlibrarian.wordpress.com/2025/12/03/books-reviewed-november-2025/

A small wrap up this month, but still got something in.

#books #reading #AlchemicalThoughts #reviews #BookReview #bookstodon
💙📚

https://bookblabla.com/book/snap

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319d

Story Graph?

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306d

📚 Snap by: Susin Nielsen

Frances Partridge, fifty-five, is a beloved children’s author. Geraint Blevins, forty-one, is an auto mechanic and devoted family man. Parker Poplawski, twenty-three, is just starting her career as a wardrobe assistant on a hit TV show. What do these people have in common?

Nothing, that’s what. Until...

#books #reading #libraries #fiction #friendshipfiction #familylife #generalfiction #humorous

Frances Partridge, fifty-five, is a beloved children’s author. Geraint Blevins, forty-one, is an auto mechanic and devoted family man. Parker Poplawski, twenty-three, is just starting her career as a wardrobe assistant on a hit TV show. What do these people have in common?

Nothing, that’s what. Until each of them reaches a breaking point and snaps in spectacular fashion. They meet in a court-mandated anger management class: three very different people, forced to spend a lot of time together, who slowly end up bonding and helping one another in unexpected ways, whether it’s to move on or to exact revenge.

Lighthearted, timely, and funny, Snap is Nielsen at the top of her storytelling game, delivering flawed but relatable characters whose heartaches, foibles, and choices will make you cringe as you laugh out loud.

A laugh-out-loud novel about the consequences of being pushed to the edge—and plummeting right over it

https://www.medievalists.net/2025/12/bayeux-tapestry-monastic-dining-hall/

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305d

Was the Bayeux Tapestry Made for a Monastic Dining Hall?

A new study offers a fresh way of thinking about one of the most famous works of medieval art by asking a deceptively simple question: where was the Bayeux Tapestry originally meant to be seen?

Original article:
https://academic.oup.com/histres/advance-article/doi/10.1093/hisres/htaf029/8377922?login=false

#books #old_manuscripts #history

This scene from the Bayeux Tapestry shows a banquet held by the Norman leaders before the invasion of England.

At the center is a long, curved table laden with food—round loaves of bread, bowls, and drinking vessels—around which several Norman figures sit and gesture animatedly. One central figure, dressed as a bishop, raises his hand in a gesture of blessing, indicating that the meal is being formally blessed before it begins. The Latin inscription above the scene refers to this act of blessing.

To the sides, attendants prepare and serve food: one cuts meat, another carries dishes, and others hold drinking cups or signal to one another. Beneath the table, a servant hurries forward carrying a large wine vessel, emphasizing the scale of provisioning. Below this register, animals being prepared for food (such as livestock) appear, reinforcing the theme of feasting and supply.

https://www.andrewliptak.com/mass-market-paperback-novels-publishing-books/?ref=transfer-orbit-newsletter

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306d

Great essay by Andrew Liptak on the loss of mass market paperbacks - "there are fewer opportunities to buy stories from new authors, and fewer places for people to encounter books in their everyday lives."

#books #publishing

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318d

How Ramanujan's formulae for pi connect to modern high energy physics

Most of us first hear about the irrational number π (pi)—rounded off as 3.14, with an infinite number of decimal digits—in school, where we learn about its use in the context of a circle. More recently, scientists have developed supercomputers that can estimate up to trillions of its digits.

by Rohini Subrahmanyam

https://phys.org/news/2025-12-ramanujan-formulae-pi-modern-high.html

#books #mathematics #physics

A pi pie.

A creative pie decorated with the pi symbol (π) in the center and the digits of pi (3.14159265358979323846...) written around the edges, creating a visual pun celebrating the mathematical constant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi#/media/File:Pi_pie2.jpg

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

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306d

Can Bibliotherapy Heal the Pain of the World?

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318d

#OTD in 1875, poet and novelist Rainer Maria Rilke is born

Rilke "was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as a significant writer in the German language. His work is viewed by critics and scholars as possessing undertones of mysticism, exploring themes of subjective experience and disbelief."

Rilke at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/846

#books #literature #poetry

#books #literature
#bookstodon
@bookstodon

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202d

The very first Nobel Prize in Literature in history was awarded to Sully Prudhomme in 1901.

Most people don’t know him today - which makes it even more interesting to read the man who started Nobel literary history.

Try his elegant, heartbreaking “The Broken Vase”.

Sully Prudhomme

The Broken Vase

The vase where this verbena is dying
was cracked by a blow from a fan.
It must have barely brushed it,
for it made no sound.

But the slight wound,
biting into the crystal day by day,
surely, invisibly crept
slowly all around it.

The clear water leaked out drop by drop.
The flowers’ sap was exhausted.
Still no one suspected anything.
Don’t touch! It’s broken.

Thus often does the hand we love,
barely touching the heart, wound it.
Then the heart cracks by itself
and the flower of its love dies.

Still intact in the eyes of the world,
it feels its wound, narrow and deep,
grow and softly cry.
It’s broken. Don’t touch!

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306d

When you're reading and someone assumes that means you're doing nothing and they can interrupt you.

#books #reading #writing

At Vespers by Halle. A young woman looks up from reading a book. It's probably some religious thing, but I've cropped out the cross and I just like the intensity on her face.

#Books #BookReview #Christmas #Fantasy

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304d

A Review of A Very Uncanny Christmas: https://lydiaschoch.com/a-review-of-a-very-uncanny-christmas/

Book cover for A Very Uncanny Christmas - A Jack Hansard Short Story by Georgina Jeffery. Image on cover is a drawing of four small bottles of potions, one purple, one pink, one red and one white, left by a brick fireplace. In the centre of the display of potions is a light blue glowing potion in a glass jar that’s attached to a large red container.

@bookstodon
#author #indieauthor #writing #fantasy #scifi #sciencefiction #sff #sciencefantasy #scifi #actionadventure #fiction #books

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284d

Ebook and paperback: https://books2read.com/FeyFighters

Two soldiers on opposite sides, pixie Commander Stargazer Candleflash and human Sergeant Edwin Harris, find their fates forever entwined, first by revenge, but as they crash together in a dangerous rainforest, they’re forced to work together, just to survive. Will they make it or will their bickering get them killed?

(Left) The cover of Fey Fighters, by Owen Tyme.

The background is the stars of space, with nebula-like clouds, in blue. This has been divided into jigsaw puzzle pieces by dark lines marking the lines between pieces.

The foreground features an enormous, stylized phoenix, which is composed of fire. The phoenix looms over an Earth-like world heavily obscured by cloud cover.

(Right) The same world from the cover orbits a purple gas giant, with a stream of flame above it, which may be the phoenix, with the following text over the top:

“We’re in a human-made, goblin-enchanted spacecraft, powered by a dryad that’s under the mistaken impression she’s a nuclear reactor, half-piloted by a pixie and half-piloted by a human.”

“Is there anywhere we can go we won’t be shot on sight?”

(Bottom) https://books2read.com/FeyFighters

@bookstodon
#author #indieauthor #writing #fantasy #scifi #sciencefiction #sff #sciencefantasy #scifi #actionadventure #fiction #books

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318d

Ebook and paperback: https://books2read.com/TheThirdWish

Spies, aliens, trolls, wizards and a disowned prince use a time machine, to improve their place in history, but Levi Jacobs stands in their way, despite having just lost his parents in war. Will he stop them or will the time travelers kill his father at a pivotal moment, on which the fate of the galaxy hangs?

(Left) The cover of The Third Wish, by Owen Tyme, illustrated by Ryan Johnson.

A wizard in a black robe that glitters with hints of gold stands on a mountain and looks down at a city of sky scrapers covered in greenery. In his shadow lurks a creature with glowing red eyes.

In the background, the sun is setting and stars are becoming visible.

(Right Background) Four images separated by black lines, with the silhouette of a woman wielding two swords laid over them. She's outlined in black and her interior is yellow clock-based imagery that spirals outward from the center.

The upper left quarter is a queen in a red, furred robe, wearing a gold and diamond crown. She has dark eyebrows and blond hair.

Upper right is a planet seen from orbit.

Lower left is a symbolic wire frame representation of the view inside a wormhole, in green and yellow.

Lower right is dandelions among grass.

The angle of the planet, one of the woman's swords, the yellow highlights of the wormhole and some of the dandelions form a line that draws the eye along a sweeping curve.

(Right Foreground) The following quote:

He admired the flawless beauty of the insane swordswoman’s fluid movements as Ida took desperate step after step, backwards!

He felt waves of mental energy pour off the panic-stricken troll, but the energy bounced right off of Nicole’s mind, as though she’d shut herself inside a solid, red-hot, steel box of rage!

(Bottom) https://books2read.com/TheThirdWish