books

1y

<p>The Editor Who Drove Hemingway Away</p><p>Harry C. Hindmarsh, assistant managing editor of the Toronto Daily Star, knew how to get under Ernest Hemingway’s skin.</p><p><a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-editor-who-drove-hemingway-away/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="daily.jstor.org/the-editor-who-drove-hemingway-away/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">daily.jstor.org/the-editor-who</span><span class="invisible">-drove-hemingway-away/</span></a></p><p>Hemingway at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/50533" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/50533"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/50533</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Hemingway's 1923 passport photo; at this time, he lived in Paris with his wife Hadley and worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star Weekly.

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150d

<p>This is really cool! Last year I read William Dalrymple's "The Golden Road" and central to its narrative are these trade routes. This was an experiment to reconstruct a lost 5th century CE ship design based on drawing in the Ajanta Caves. According to Dalrymple, images in the Ajanta Caves provide some of the best info for the period. </p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyn15110gvo" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyn15110gvo"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyn</span><span class="invisible">15110gvo</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/india/" rel="tag">#India</a> <a href="/tags/mastindia/" rel="tag">#MastIndia</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#History</a> <a href="/tags/ancienthistory/" rel="tag">#AncientHistory</a> <a href="/tags/histodons/" rel="tag">#Histodons</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#Bookstodon</a> <a href="/tags/ocean/" rel="tag">#Ocean</a> <a href="/tags/ships/" rel="tag">#Ships</a> <a href="/tags/sailing/" rel="tag">#Sailing</a> <a href="/tags/archeology/" rel="tag">#Archeology</a> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@histodons" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>histodons</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>

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58d

<p>Dear <a href="/tags/fediverse/" rel="tag">#fediverse</a>, please send more readers my way.</p><p>I’d love to connect with more people who read books, post about <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a>, write <a href="/tags/reviews/" rel="tag">#reviews</a>, share <a href="/tags/recommendations/" rel="tag">#recommendations</a>, and enjoy thoughtful conversations about <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a>.</p><p><a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#bookstodon</a> <a href="/tags/reading/" rel="tag">#reading</a> <a href="/tags/booksky/" rel="tag">#booksky</a> <a href="/tags/bookreview/" rel="tag">#bookreview</a> <a href="/tags/booklovers/" rel="tag">#booklovers</a> <a href="/tags/readingcommunity/" rel="tag">#readingcommunity</a> <a href="/tags/bookclub/" rel="tag">#bookclub</a> <br><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>

Best books to read

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151d

<p>A Review of Homeless: <a href="https://lydiaschoch.com/a-review-of-homeless/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lydiaschoch.com/a-review-of-homeless/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lydiaschoch.com/a-review-of-ho</span><span class="invisible">meless/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/sciencefiction/" rel="tag">#ScienceFiction</a> <a href="/tags/postapocalyptic/" rel="tag">#PostApocalyptic</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/bookreview/" rel="tag">#BookReview</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>

Book cover for Homeless by Neal Shooter. Image on cover shows a black and white sketch of someone walking through a forest on a cold winter day. The ground is covered in snow, the trees are bare, and the person is so bundled up you can’t tell what they look like.

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151d

<p>The strange tale of Sigmund Freud’s begonia</p><p>How the gift of a plant helped Emma Freud finally get to know her great-grandfather</p><p>by Emma Freud</p><p><a href="https://observer.co.uk/news/first-person/article/emma-freud-sigmund-freuds-begonia" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="observer.co.uk/news/first-person/article/emma-freud-sigmund-freuds-begonia"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">observer.co.uk/news/first-pers</span><span class="invisible">on/article/emma-freud-sigmund-freuds-begonia</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/botany/" rel="tag">#botany</a></p>

Begonia obliqua L.

Robert John Thornton (1768-1837) - Botanicus http://www.botanicus.org "Temple of Flora"

The image depicts Begonia obliqua (now more commonly known as Begonia species), showing:

A begonia with characteristic asymmetrical (oblique) leaves in rich green tones, with prominent red stems
Delicate pink blossoms and white star-shaped flowers scattered throughout the composition
An orange/brown butterfly in the upper left, adding life and movement to the scene

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begonia#/media/File:Begonia_obliqua00.jpg

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149d

<p>This week's <a href="/tags/newbooks/" rel="tag">#NewBooks</a> at the library:<br>- I bought a second-hand copy of <a href="/tags/isotopes/" rel="tag">#Isotopes</a>: Principles and Applications, published by Wiley. Isotopes are hugely important in various branches of science, and I have it in mind to get to grips with the finer details at some point.<br>- I found a copy of Simon Lamb's Devil in the Mountain: A Search for the Origin of the Andes at a local charity shop, a classic from <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><br>- And I bought a copy of Paul Thagard's Bots and Beasts: What Makes Machines, Animals, and People Smart? from <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.mit.edu/@themitpress" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>themitpress</span></a></span> for basically the price of a packet of crisps.<br><a href="/tags/chemistry/" rel="tag">#Chemistry</a> <a href="/tags/physics/" rel="tag">#Physics</a> <a href="/tags/geology/" rel="tag">#Geology</a> <a href="/tags/earthsciences/" rel="tag">#EarthSciences</a> <a href="/tags/orogeny/" rel="tag">#Orogeny</a> <a href="/tags/cognitivescience/" rel="tag">#CognitiveScience</a> <a href="/tags/cognition/" rel="tag">#Cognition</a> <a href="/tags/intelligence/" rel="tag">#Intelligence</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/scicomm/" rel="tag">#Scicomm</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#Bookstodon</a> <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>

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, Isotopes: Principles and Applications, showing a chunky hardback book with a bluish-black cover. A band of large ochre and brown pixels is running diagonally across the bottom-left corner. Though no explanation is given on the cover, this is a close-up of a colourised schematic plot that shows nuclides and their decay products

In the middle, Devil in the Mountain: A Search for the Origin of the Andes, showing a colour photo of a group of small, single-storey concrete buildings on a barren hillside with a huge mountain range with snow-covered peaks in the background. This photo is reproduced in the book, with the legend explaining that this is a small cemetery on the road to the Zongo Valley in the Cordillera Real, just north of La Paz. The peak in the background is the 6088 metre high peak of Huayna Potosi.

On the right, Bots and Beasts: What Makes Machines, Animals, and People Smart?, showing a colour photo of three figures, a small white robot, a woman, and a dog, in a grassy field facing the viewer, the out-of-focus background showing a blue sky.

Edited 149d ago

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108d

<p>The Man Who Stole Infinity</p><p>In an 1874 paper, Georg Cantor proved that there are different sizes of infinity and changed math forever. A trove of newly unearthed letters shows that it was also an act of plagiarism.</p><p>By Joseph Howlett</p><p><a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-man-who-stole-infinity-20260225/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.quantamagazine.org/the-man-who-stole-infinity-20260225/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.quantamagazine.org/the-man</span><span class="invisible">-who-stole-infinity-20260225/</span></a></p><p>Cantor at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/34168" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/34168"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/34168</span></a></p><p>Cantor in Principia Mathematica:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78050" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78050</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/mathematics/" rel="tag">#mathematics</a></p>

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155d

<p>So I guess it's time for an <a href="/tags/introduction/" rel="tag">#introduction</a>. Well, I'm a 30 something <a href="/tags/black/" rel="tag">#Black</a> <a href="/tags/queer/" rel="tag">#queer</a> woman. I love to read <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a>. I love the <a href="/tags/nyknicks/" rel="tag">#NYKnicks</a>. I like <a href="/tags/bicycles/" rel="tag">#bicycles</a> even though, it's not my primary mode of transportation. I like refurbishing and upgrading old electronics, specifically <a href="/tags/ipods/" rel="tag">#iPods</a> and <a href="/tags/laptops/" rel="tag">#laptops</a>. <a href="/tags/tv/" rel="tag">#TV</a> and music have kept me going more than anything else. I'm branching into <a href="/tags/linux/" rel="tag">#Linux</a> and getting more familiar with <a href="/tags/foss/" rel="tag">#FOSS</a>. I am a <a href="/tags/blogger/" rel="tag">#blogger</a> and I have linked my blog in my bio.</p>

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149d

<p>Who Was the Inspiration Behind the ‘Gibson Girl’ Illustrations? The Artist Said She Was Every Woman</p><p>Charles Dana Gibson’s archetype became the original American “it girl” in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and helped transform fashion and beauty</p><p>by Michelle Mehrtens</p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/who-was-the-inspiration-behind-the-gibson-girl-illustrations-the-artist-said-she-was-every-woman-180988014/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/who-was-the-inspiration-behind-the-gibson-girl-illustrations-the-artist-said-she-was-every-woman-180988014/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.smithsonianmag.com/smithso</span><span class="invisible">nian-institution/who-was-the-inspiration-behind-the-gibson-girl-illustrations-the-artist-said-she-was-every-woman-180988014/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550</span></a></p><p>Charles Dana Gibson at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/26456" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/26456"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/26456</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/illustrations/" rel="tag">#illustrations</a></p>

Engraving after the pen and ink drawing of the Gibson Girl by illustrator w:Sarah Kaplan

It depicts a voluminous, upswept hair styled in the signature "Gibson Girl" pompadour with soft curls; long, elegant neck; delicate, refined features with a confident, somewhat aloof expression.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dana_Gibson#/media/File:Gibson_Girl.png

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39d

Recommend me your favorite horror

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150d

<p>Stumbled across an interesting <a href="/tags/reading/" rel="tag">#reading</a> challenge from the Boston Public Library—to read a book by an author from each of six geographic regions: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania. It looks easy enough to do independently, and there’s some great stuff on the rec lists for each region. <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <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="https://www.bpl.org/winter/" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.bpl.org/winter/</a></p>

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1y

<p>Join the Texas Observer in conversation with author Jessica Pishko on February 5th for this FREE event at Alienated Majesty Books.</p><p>We'll discuss Pishko's provocative and important book about the dangers posed by extremist sheriffs in the United States. </p><p>RSVP: <a href="https://buff.ly/4gzkA5r" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>buff.ly/4gzkA5r</a> </p><p><a href="/tags/events/" rel="tag">#events</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#bookstodon</a> @bookstodon <a href="/tags/austin/" rel="tag">#Austin</a> <a href="/tags/texas/" rel="tag">#Texas</a> <a href="/tags/police/" rel="tag">#police</a> <a href="/tags/extremism/" rel="tag">#extremism</a> <a href="/tags/criminaljustice/" rel="tag">#CriminalJustice</a> <a href="/tags/law/" rel="tag">#law</a></p>

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150d

<p>📚 Little Bosses Everywhere by: Bridget Read</p><p>Companies like Amway, Mary Kay, and Herbalife advertise the world’s greatest opportunity: the chance to be your own boss via an enigmatic business model called multilevel marketing, or MLM. They offer a world of pink Cadillacs, white-columned mansions, tropical vacations, and most precious of all fin...</p><p><a href="https://bookblabla.com/book/little-bosses-everywhere" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="bookblabla.com/book/little-bosses-everywhere"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">bookblabla.com/book/little-bos</span><span class="invisible">ses-everywhere</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/businesseconomics/" rel="tag">#businesseconomics</a> <a href="/tags/marketing/" rel="tag">#marketing</a></p>

Companies like Amway, Mary Kay, and Herbalife advertise the world’s greatest opportunity: the chance to be your own boss via an enigmatic business model called multilevel marketing, or MLM. They offer a world of pink Cadillacs, white-columned mansions, tropical vacations, and most precious of all financial freedom. If, that is, you’re willing to shell out for expensive products and recruit everyone you know to buy them, and if they recruit everyone they know, too, thus creating the multiple levels of MLM.

Overwhelming evidence suggests that most people lose money in multilevel marketing, and that many MLM companies are pyramid schemes. Yet the industry’s origins, tied to right-wing ideologues like Ronald Reagan, have escaped public scrutiny. MLM has slithered in the wake of every economic crisis of the last century, from the Depression to the pandemic, ensnaring laid-off workers, stay-at-home moms, and teachers—anyone who has been left behind by rising inequality.

In Little Bosses Everywhere, journalist Bridget Read tells the gripping story of multilevel marketing in full for the first time, winding from sunny postwar California, where a failed salesman started a vitamin business, through the devoutly religious suburbs of Michigan, where the industry built its political influence, to stadium-size conventions where today’s top sellers preach to die-hard recruits. MLM has enriched powerful people, like the DeVos and Van Andel families, Warren Buffett, and Presid

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1y

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1815.</p><p>Jane Austen's novel Emma is published anonymously by John Murray in London dated 1816. About 1500 copies sell over the next 5 years. Murray offered Austen £450 for this plus the copyrights of Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility, which she refused. Instead, she published two thousand copies of the novel at her own expense, retaining the copyright and paying a 10% commission to Murray.</p><p>Emma at PG:<br><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/158" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/158</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Title page of the first edition of Emma by Jane Austen, published on 23 December 1815, although the title page is dated 1816.

The text reads:
"EMMA: A Novel. In Three Volumes. By the Author of 'Pride and Prejudice,' etc."

The publisher's details are printed at the bottom:
"London: Printed for John Murray, 1816."

The layout is symmetrical, with no decorative embellishments or illustrations, emphasizing the content of the book rather than its exterior. As typical for books of the time, the title page serves both an informational and promotional purpose, linking the novel to the author's previous works, which would have been recognizable to readers.

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153d

<p>So here's the first of the <a href="/tags/mysteryauthors/" rel="tag">#MysteryAuthors</a> from our <a href="/tags/winter/" rel="tag">#Winter</a> issue.</p><p>Nice trees, somewhat obscured by the <a href="/tags/blankpage/" rel="tag">#BlankPage</a></p><p>But who could it be?</p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/reading/" rel="tag">#reading</a> <a href="/tags/writing/" rel="tag">#writing</a> <a href="/tags/shortstories/" rel="tag">#ShortStories</a> <a href="/tags/fiction/" rel="tag">#fiction</a> <a href="/tags/comics/" rel="tag">#comics</a> <a href="/tags/translation/" rel="tag">#translation</a> <a href="/tags/blog/" rel="tag">#blog</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#bookstodon</a></p>

A desk looks out on lush foliage, with piles of books, a lamp and a computer screen showing an empty page

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151d

<p>Ebook omnibus: <a href="https://books2read.com/AshenBladesOpenWounds" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="books2read.com/AshenBladesOpenWounds"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">books2read.com/AshenBladesOpen</span><span class="invisible">Wounds</span></a></p><p>The arch-demon, Pride, leads demon-kind in an ancient plan to open a gate between worlds, so vast demon armies might march forth and conquer, but opening a portal requires both energy equivalent to a nuclear explosion and the cooperation of a half-demon, to stabilize it. However, the only half-demon available has made it her life mission to kill all demons.</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/actionadventure/" rel="tag">#actionadventure</a> <a href="/tags/fiction/" rel="tag">#fiction</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a></p>

$(Background) A fractal pattern of red and orange that resembles a demonic portal. (Center) Pride needs a half-demon to stabilize the portal between worlds. There’s just one hitch: she hates him. One stubborn half-demon vs. all of demon-kind? It could go either way... (Top Left) The cover of She Hunts Demons, by Owen Tyme, illustrated by Ryan Johnson. Sitting on the roof of a building in New York City is a teenage girl with a Japanese short sword. The image is black and white, aside from a few details in blue. (Bottom Left) The cover of She Goes to War, by Owen Tyme, illustrated by Ryan Johnson. Three people in tiger-stripe camouflage crouch in the jungle, including a teen girl, a soldier and a huge cat-man with black fur. (Bottom Right) The cover of the novel, Demon for President!, by Owen Tyme, illustrated by Ryan Johnson. Two politicians (Democrat and Republican) shake hands, as if for a photo-op, while a city burns behind them and the flag of the United States waves in the smoke. (Top Right) The cover of the book bundle, Ashen Blades: Open Wounds, by Owen Tyme, which includes a Japanese sword, a pistol and a pineapple grenade on a wooden surface.$

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1y

<p>After Failing Math Twice, a Young Benjamin Franklin Turned to This Popular 17th-Century Textbook</p><p>A 19th-century scholar claimed that “Cocker’s Arithmetick” had “probably made as much stir and noise in the English world as any [book]—next to the Bible”</p><p>By James Fox</p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/after-failing-math-twice-a-young-benjamin-franklin-turned-to-this-popular-17th-century-textbook-180985664/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.smithsonianmag.com/history/after-failing-math-twice-a-young-benjamin-franklin-turned-to-this-popular-17th-century-textbook-180985664/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.smithsonianmag.com/history</span><span class="invisible">/after-failing-math-twice-a-young-benjamin-franklin-turned-to-this-popular-17th-century-textbook-180985664/</span></a></p><p>1716 edition of Cocker's Arithmetick is available at <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.archive.org/@internetarchive" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>internetarchive</span></a></span> <br><a href="https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_cockers-arithmetick-be_cocker-edward_1716/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_cockers-arithmetick-be_cocker-edward_1716/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">archive.org/details/bim_eighte</span><span class="invisible">enth-century_cockers-arithmetick-be_cocker-edward_1716/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a></p>

By age 16, “being on some occasion made ashamed of my ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed in learning when at school,” Benjamin Franklin wrote, “I took Cocker’s book of arithmetic and went through the whole by myself with great ease.” Illustration by Meilan Solly / Images via James Fox

The illustration depicts a young Benjamin Franklin, at the age of 16, engrossed in studying arithmetic. The setting is likely modest, reflecting his humble beginnings. Franklin is seated at a simple desk or table, with an open book—presumably Cocker’s Arithmetic—in front of him. His focused expression conveys determination and curiosity, embodying his well-known self-taught nature and drive for knowledge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin#/media/File:Feke_-_Benjamin_Franklin.png

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151d

<p>My favourite story from Russian writer Leonid Kostyukov, whose seminar I attended in the 2000s: once, in the 90s, he was asked to read and review a novel, and then the author asked his advice on a title.</p><p>“Not a word about Yeltsin,” said Kostyukov (still the Yeltsin era).</p><p>— But there’s nothing about Yeltsin in it!<br>— Exactly, — Kostyukov replied.</p><p>The title, oddly enough, was never used — even with another name in Yeltsin's stead.</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/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#bookstodon</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a></p>

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151d

<p>📚 Dungeon Crawler Carl by: Matt Dinniman</p><p>You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game ...</p><p><a href="https://bookblabla.com/book/dungeon-crawler-carl" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="bookblabla.com/book/dungeon-crawler-carl"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">bookblabla.com/book/dungeon-cr</span><span class="invisible">awler-carl</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/sciencefiction/" rel="tag">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="/tags/fantasy/" rel="tag">#fantasy</a></p>

You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

Includes part one of the exclusive bonus story Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.

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151d

<p>finished reading <a href="https://eggplant.place/search?r=1&q=https://reviewdb.app/book/285jz09giIlViRRSkhMEBA" rel="nofollow">I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life</a> 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 <br>by Ed Yong.</p><p>Delves into the many varied & amazing ways humans & animals have evolved to depend upon microbes. Most of this was familiar to me already, though told in the author's excellent clear & awed way. New was the incredible nesting of microbes within high-order animal cells, with each doing distinct jobs, such that none can survive without the others. Yong is always good for a celebration of life & its complexity.</p><p><a href="/tags/bookreview/" rel="tag">#BookReview</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#Bookstodon</a> <a href="/tags/nonfiction/" rel="tag">#NonFiction</a> <a href="/tags/sciencewriting/" rel="tag">#ScienceWriting</a></p><p><span class="h-card"><a href="https://aus.social/@wildwoila" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>WildWoila</span></a></span> @wildwoila@wyrms.de<br></p>

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151d

<p>📚 Against the Grain by: Terry O'Reilly</p><p>In Terry’s bestselling book, My Best Mistake, he uncovers the surprising power of screwing up. Now, he turns his incredible eye to the mavericks who go “against the grain” in their work to see what makes them tick and to explore what lessons we can learn from them. People wh...</p><p><a href="https://bookblabla.com/book/against-the-grain" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="bookblabla.com/book/against-the-grain"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">bookblabla.com/book/against-th</span><span class="invisible">e-grain</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/businesseconomics/" rel="tag">#businesseconomics</a> <a href="/tags/managementselfhelp/" rel="tag">#managementselfhelp</a> <a href="/tags/personalgrowth/" rel="tag">#personalgrowth</a> <a href="/tags/success/" rel="tag">#success</a></p>

In Terry’s bestselling book, My Best Mistake, he uncovers the surprising power of screwing up. Now, he turns his incredible eye to the mavericks who go “against the grain” in their work to see what makes them tick and to explore what lessons we can learn from them. People who chose to ignore conventional wisdom, found or invented a better way, questioned the status quo at great sacrifice and pushed for change against all odds.

Some were drummed out of their careers for it but in the end were proven right (Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis). Some were celebrated but had to fight every inch of the way (Norman Lear). Some re-invented their industry but preferred to stay an outsider (Tom Laughlin—aka Billy Jack).

Some confounded their competitors with ingenious strategies (NHL coach Roger Neilson). One even saved millions of people around the world, but was humiliated, demoted, and dismissed for her entire career (Dr. Katalin Karikó—co-creator of the COVID vaccine). All persistent visionaries, each covered in battle scars.

New from the bestselling author and host of CBC Radio’s Under the Influence

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1y

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1910.</p><p>Serialisation of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) concludes in the Paris newspaper Le Gaulois.</p><p>Because of his fascination with both Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he wrote a detective mystery entitled The Mystery of the Yellow Room in 1907, and four years later he published Le Fantôme de l'Opéra.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera_(novel)" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera_(novel)"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phan</span><span class="invisible">tom_of_the_Opera_(novel)</span></a></p><p>The Phantom of the Opera at PG:<br><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/175" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/175</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Dressed in a red death mask for a costume ball, Erik the Phantom descends the grand staircase of the Opéra Garnier. He “appears with his true face, challenging the masked characters with his unveiled ugliness” (François Raymond and Daniel Compère, Les maîtres du fantastique en littérature, Paris, Bordas, coll. “Les Compacts” (n° 36), 1994, ISBN 2-04-018502-X.) Watercolor by André Castaigne illustrating the first American edition of Gaston Leroux's Fantôme de l'Opéra (1911).

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1y

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1818.</p><p> Lord Byron, in Venice, sends the final part of Childe Harold to his publisher.</p><p>The poem contains elements thought to be autobiographical, as Byron generated some of the storyline from experience gained during his travels through Portugal, the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea between 1809 and 1811.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childe_Harold%27s_Pilgrimage" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childe_Harold%27s_Pilgrimage"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childe_H</span><span class="invisible">arold%27s_Pilgrimage</span></a></p><p>Childe Harold's Pilgrimage at PG:<br><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/5131" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/5131</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

This is the title page of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, circa 1812.

The name of the work, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, prominently displayed in an elegant and serif typeface, reflecting the literary and romantic style of the period.

Lord Byron, the author, would be credited beneath or near the title. His name might appear in a slightly smaller or secondary font.

The name of the publisher (John Murray), the location (London), and the year of publication (1812) would be included, often at the bottom of the page.

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43d

<p>Five Good Books about Mental Illness. As a parent and caregiver for an adult living with a serious psychiatric illness, I have read a lot about the subject. Here are my five favorite books about psychiatric illness. </p><p>An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness (1996) by Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD. The best memoir about living with a serious mental illness and the best book overall that I have read about mental illness, in this case bipolar disorder. Fine literature written by a brilliant author who earned a PhD in psychology and has been awarded about a dozen honorary doctorates. It is inspirational. </p><p>The Mad Among Us: A History of the Care of America’s Mentally Ill (1995) by Gerald Grob, PhD. The author was a medical historian who wrote this balanced and objective book about the history of psychiatry. It includes the good and the bad. Despite the unfortunate title, this is a great non-fiction book about the history of psychiatry in the USA. </p><p>We’ve Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication (2010) by Judith Warner. This book, written by a journalist, was originally intended to be a critique of psychiatry and the parents of children with mental illnesses. But as the author met families and did her research, she changed her mind and wrote a balanced book about parents trying to help their children. As the author points out, we parents are not eager to put our children on psychiatric medications; in fact the opposite is true. </p><p>Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of An American Family (2020) by Robert Kolker. This biography was written by a journalist about the lives of a large family with twelve children, six of whom were eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia. It is intense and disturbing, as is living with schizophrenia. It is not an encouraging or feel-good book. </p><p>Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are (2018) by Kevin Mitchell, PhD. This book by a neuroscientist is more broadly about neuroscience, rather than specifically about mental illness. But the author addresses serious mental illness and the state of our knowledge about possible underlying causes of it as a developmental disorder. This book focuses on modern scientific evidence, rather than assumptions and the blame game often associated with attitudes about mental illnesses. </p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#Bookstodon</a> <a href="/tags/mentalillness/" rel="tag">#MentalIllness</a> <a href="/tags/mentalhealth/" rel="tag">#MentalHealth</a> <a href="/tags/psychiatry/" rel="tag">#Psychiatry</a> <a href="/tags/caregiving/" rel="tag">#Caregiving</a> <a href="/tags/disability/" rel="tag">#Disability</a> <a href="/tags/schizophrenia/" rel="tag">#Schizophrenia</a> <a href="/tags/neuroscience/" rel="tag">#Neuroscience</a></p>

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1y

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1851.</p><p>A fire at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroys 35,000 books, about two–thirds of the collection. Between 1890 and 1897, a new library building (Thomas Jefferson Building), was constructed. Two additional buildings, the John Adams Building (opened in 1939) and the James Madison Memorial Building (opened in 1980), were later added.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_</span><span class="invisible">of_Congress</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/library/" rel="tag">#library</a></p>

Library of Congress in the Capitol Building in 1853.

Ornamental columns and arches in the neoclassical style, symbolizing strength and permanence.

Wooden shelves, likely reaching high, filled with bound volumes, representing the library’s growing collection at the time.

Sunlight streaming through large windows or skylights, illuminating the space with a warm, diffused glow.

Sturdy, elegant furniture arranged for study and research, reflecting the purpose of the library.

Early gas lamps or chandeliers providing artificial light, as electricity was not yet in use.

A few individuals working, cataloging, or reading, dressed in mid-19th-century attire.

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