‘You are looking at a coward. I saw the way things were going. I said nothing. I’m one of the innocents who could’ve spoken up and out when no one would listen to the “guilty”, but I did not speak and this became guilty myself’ @bookstodon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17470674
#reading #bookstodon
bookstodon
Tajja Isen for The Walrus: "The Publishing Industry Has a Gambling Problem"
“I don’t know how people are supposed to develop in their careers,” says a novelist who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. She has published multiple books but, owing to editorial shuffles at her publishing houses, has had to take her books out on submission multiple times. “Every single time, the sales track becomes heavier.”
#books #writing #writersofmastodon #WritingCommunity #bookstodon @bookstodon
https://thewalrus.ca/the-publishing-industry-has-a-gambling-problem/
If the universe as a fair place you'd live long enough to finish your reading list 😜😂
@reading @bookstodon @books @humor @humor@lemmy.world @aiop
#ReadingMemes #Memes #ReadAllTheBooks #Humor #Humour
#Reading #Readers #ReadersOfMastodon #ReadingCommunity
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Fiction
#Recommendation #Bookrecommendation
#Bookwyrm #Bookworm #Bookstodon #BookLove
Pixy's Journey 
Hello fellow @bookstodon reading lovers! 
A few years ago, I found a blog called "The Happy Quitter!" , written by Bridget, aka nonsmokingladybug.
She shared her story "Losing It All" in installments on her site. 🔗 https://nonsmokingladybug.wordpress.com/category/losing-it-all/
People, me included, followed her journey, every step of the way... We thought her writing was captivating, and her story would make a great book. She was thinking of maybe publishing her story some day...
I've been struggling to keep up with reading people's blogs, so I've been missing out on most of her latest posts. But, she informed me that she made the dream a reality! She was publishing her story!
This is the link with all the info on her new book, which she is punishing under her pen name "Alexandra Lynn": 🔗
https://nonsmokingladybug.wordpress.com/2025/12/03/count-down-to-my-book-launch/
I haven't read the book yet, but I will try to get a copy somehow... It's published in the USA, and with all the tariffs... 🤔 But she mentioned an eReader version, so that may be the easiest way to get it for me. It is on Amazon, which isn't everyone's cup-of-tea... But still, it could be worth to check it out!
I always enjoyed her blogs about the journey she made after losing it all. So that's why I wanted to share this here with you.
Her book is just a little drop in an ocean of self-published books, so every bit of promotion could help her.
If you want to check out more about her, do check her blog: 🔗 https://nonsmokingladybug.wordpress.com/
Happy reading! 
Amazon.de link to the book: 🔗 https://amzn.eu/d/cFTzpGb
I've finished: When the Sparrow Falls by Neil Sharpson
This is a story about a Soviet style East European dystopia. As someone who grew up in the late 80s it really appealed to me.
An ideology turned into an authoritarian nightmare and the people that get ground up in the wheels.
It is Sharpson's ability to personalize those people as they get crushed in the gears that makes this a great novel.
It's a bit strange to read a novel in 2025 where the AI future is viewed in a positive light. But it was published in 2021, before AI became synonymous with LLMs.
It was interesting reading When The Sparrow Falls at the same time as The Ragpicker, a novel where the digitization of human consciousness and virtual reality are the cause of the apocalyptic nightmare.
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/50271032-ec89-41c3-87ad-ac67855b8417
@bookstodon @audiobooks #ScienceFiction #dystopia #AI #bookstodon #amReading #AudioBooks
Yesterday, I was reading Shklovsky and stumbled upon this unexpectedly chilling short text. I translated it for you (although I just googled that the book itself *is* available in English, if you decide to read it from start to finish).
![THE RED ELEPHANT
The red elephant, my son's toy, you'll be the first invited into my book, so all the other wouldn't be vain.
The red elephant squeaks and whines. All the rubber toys should be squeaking; otherwise why would the air come out of them.
So, despite the writings of [Alfred] Brehm, the red elephant squeaks and whines. And I'm writing in my nest high above Arbat street.
A rare bird would reach me without losing its breath. My nest broke my habit of long breaths.
My son is laughing.
He laughed when he saw the horse for the first time. He thought that it made itself four legs and a long face as a joke.
We all manufactured in different shapes, but we all have the same voice if we're squeezed.
— Move aside, red elephant. I want to see life without a jest and to tell it something with my voice through the squeaker.
This is the end of a feuilleton.
VICTOR SHKLOVSKY. THIRD FACTORY (1926)](/proxy/post_attachment/931946/4d422db15616904873fdb658b8893f67.png "THE RED ELEPHANT
The red elephant, my son's toy, you'll be the first invited into my book, so all the other wouldn't be vain.
The red elephant squeaks and whines. All the rubber toys should be squeaking; otherwise why would the air come out of them.
So, despite the writings of [Alfred] Brehm, the red elephant squeaks and whines. And I'm writing in my nest high above Arbat street.
A rare bird would reach me without losing its breath. My nest broke my habit of long breaths.
My son is laughing.
He laughed when he saw the horse for the first time. He thought that it made itself four legs and a long face as a joke.
We all manufactured in different shapes, but we all have the same voice if we're squeezed.
— Move aside, red elephant. I want to see life without a jest and to tell it something with my voice through the squeaker.
This is the end of a feuilleton.
VICTOR SHKLOVSKY. THIRD FACTORY (1926)")
Edited 335d ago
Four stars:
Witches of Dubious Origin by Jenn McKinlay and Saskia Maarleveld (Narrator) (2025) is a paranormal urban fantasy with some romantic and mystery overtones. Zoe Ziakas is a librarian who likes routine and her cozy cottage. The appearance of her family grimoire turns her life upside down. To further complicate things, an undead friend of her grandmother has arrived at her doorstep demanding that she be freed from her situation.
https://pussreboots.com/blog/2025/comments_12/witches_of_dubious_origin.html
Five stars:
Assault and Beret by Jenn McKinlay and Karyn O'Bryant (Narrator) is the fifth book in the Hat Shop mystery series. Vi and Scarlett are in Paris; Vi to teach a class on hat making and Scarlett to find Vi's husband. Both end up in the middle of a stolen painting mystery, a kidnapping, and a murder.
https://pussreboots.com/blog/2025/comments_11/assault_and_beret.html
Just a reminder that my Kickstarter is still running! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/villyard/immortal-gifts-hardcover-paperback-and-audiobook
If you’re looking for FREE STUFF on YouTube, my entire short story collection audiobook is there: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhQiWBjDWW3YFpjxqYO8F_WKtlRBCCvee&si=tGgcNFU5QHlPOuz9
Do you want to hear me chat with Sheryl on the Nice Jewish Books podcast? It’s here, and wherever else you get your podcasts!
https://jewishlibraries.org/immortal-gifts-tales-of-a-jewish-vampire-with-katherine-villyard/
#bookstodon #nicejewishbooks @books @Books@mstdn.social @bookstodon
Bookstore haul! We went to Tsunami to nibble at my credit after the last time I sold back seventeen (probably a real number) bags of books.
1. Syntax of the River by Barry Lopez
2. Mindfulness Meditations for Anxiety by Michael Smith (a plethora of different angles into meditation, lots of exercises, excited to dive into this one)
3. Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
ME on Nice Jewish Books! https://www.katherinevillyard.com/2025/11/16/me-on-nice-jewish-books/ #fantasy #bookstodon @bookstodon
Have you been on the fence about my Kickstarter? It’s almost over! Only 5 more days for the last chance at my audiobook for two months and the last chance at this special edition hardcover ever!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/villyard/immortal-gifts-hardcover-paperback-and-audiobook
#bookstodon #vampirebooks #kickstarterbooks @books @Books@mstdn.social @bookstodon
Since discovering them a couple of years back, #KatharineKerr 's Deverry series has become my fantasy comfort read; it's so easy to slip into her world with its particular catchphrases and characters that reoccur, but change, across hundreds of years of resurrections. This is the first part of her second quadrilogy, which focuses on the elves of her world. #bookstodon @bookstodon
Book promotion: Move slow, fix things. Heroes beaten down by the system team up to fight for a philanthropist targeted by shadowy enemies in this science fiction adventure about a future more optimistic than dystopian.
DRM-free ebook direct price $0.99 https://kmherkes.com/sale-bookshop/p/controlled-descent-ebook1
Other vendors & formats here:
https://books2read.com/ControlledDescent
#Fedibookshop
#Fedifiction
#bookstodon
#books
#reading
#writing
#ScienceFiction
#Technothriller
#RestorationSeries
finished reading The Scar 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
by China Mieville.
An exuberant, barely believeable steampunk world with cactus & mosquito people, underwater & floating cities, and mysterious powers. Very very long, and rather too serious.
In The Defense, Nabokov’s language is, as always, rich, sharp, and full of vivid imagery and wordplay.
The characters, however, feel strangely soulless and do not inspire sympathy. It even seems that the author treats them with a kind of superiority bordering on contempt.
#Nabokov #TheDefense #books #reading #bookreview #book #bookstodon @bookstodon #literature #novel #booksky #amreading #chess #readingcommunity #BookTok #Bookwyrm #bookish #booklovers #readers #review
finished reading The World We Make 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
by NK Jemisin.
New York finishes the job against the Multiverse, despite the conservative reticence of the Old Cities. Clunkier and without the freshness of the original. But fun to see more city avatars. I think Mamdani could easily be a character in these books!
“Saturday began with my new boyfriend disappearing in front of my eyes. Not a good start for the day, to be honest.”
Season to Be Witched is here! Find it on
Az: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FSKQ19D6
Others: http://books2read.com/u/mqLx91
Sample: http://www.susannashore.com/seasontobewiched.html
🌴 What would you do if you washed ashore on a tropical island full of giant women?
Daughters of Atlantis is an erotic tropical island fantasy story I narrated for Amber Collins. If you're a fan of sensual tiny man + giantess stories, this is the audiobook for you. 💋
Daughters of Atlantis is available as an audiobook on Amazon, Audible and Apple Books. It's also available as an ebook for Kindle Unlimited on Amazon.
#NSFW #Erotica #Macrophilia #SizeFantasy #Audiobook #Audiobooks #Book #Ebook #Bookstodon #Audiofiction #Audiodrama #GiantWoman #Giantess #TinyMan #MSub #MaleSub
Five stars:
"A Miscellany of Characters That Will Not Appear" by John Cheever (1960) first appeared in the November 12, 1960 edition of the New Yorker as "Some People, Places, and Things That Will Not Appear In My Novel." The original title was then used for a collection of Cheever short stories and the story's title was changed to "A Miscellany of Characters That Will Not Appear."
https://pussreboots.com/blog/2025/comments_12/miscellany_of_characters_that_will_not_appear.html
Because all the cool kids do it! https://soundcloud.com/katherine-villyard/sets/immortal-gifts-retail-sample
#audio #audiobook #bookstodon @books @Books@mstdn.social @bookstodon
My year in review for reading as calculated by LibraryThing: