Search results for tag #books
Medical progress has been pushed forward in much of history through the experimentation on Black bodies. And it is NOT talked about enough. And it has NOT been compensated for in terms of reparations or judicial justice in most cases. This book takes one of these cases that is very much not known (even within the ranks of the college- VCU, then MCV- that it took place at). The trial transcripts are missing- through negligence, through actual misdeeds, we cannot say for sure.
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Library book- The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South by Chip Jones sitting on a wooden chest and a pile of books and papers. The cover of the book have a graveyard with graves, a tree, and grass.
Hi there, I’m Maddy.
I’m an American/German creator based in southern France. I’ve been over on Youtube for the past year, but hope contributing with content over here will help introduce more people to the #Fediverse and a different kind of social media experience.
I talk about:
#DumbPhone
#DigitalMinimalism
#BoardGames
#CD
#Thrifting
#Analog
#LowTech
#Books
#Library
#Hobbies
📞💿📚🎲
Big thanks to @andypiper and @_elena for introducing me to this world.
*appears in guise of helpful stranger*
If you like paranormal private eye fiction that isn’t scifi you might like https://books2read.com/AMemoryOfMurder
... [SENSITIVE CONTENT]
@CptSuperlative Hey man, I recall you talking about some books your liked, and I distinctly remember bookmarking the thread, but now I can't find it anywhere.
I remember Eversion, but not the other series you liked.
(Hi you, stranger, if you happend on this and have recommendations in the general style of fantastic or occult private eye books or adjacent in any direction, feel free to pipe up)
ATTENTION PAID SUBSCRIBERS ON MY SUBSTACK: This weekend (day and time to be determined) I am giving away for free some music CDs (The Temptations, brand new) and books and/or other prizes at random including some Black art, live on my Substack.
Books include brand new copies of “107 Days”, “White Fear” and others.
If you are not a paid subscriber, please become one!
https://popcornreel.substack.com
Thank you.
I'm so tired. People, I am not interested in reading *blogs* generated with claude, gemini or chatgpt. No, not even ones proofread by AI. Do it yourself. I do not wish to even accidentally click on "one-shotted" dummy projects. Don't show me your AI-generated analysis of anything. Above all, I do not wish to see images/artwork someone prompt created.
I value real content, with all its good and bad quirks, from actual human beings.
Somebody please normalize auto-tagging of AI generated content across all formats - text, images and code so I can blanket ban them from my personal computer.
This is a plead for help I never thought I'll have to make.
#noai #enshittification #writing #bookstodon #reading #books #quotes #quote #cybersec #mentalhealth #adhd #art #cooking #blog #indieweb
Not-so-happy 100th birthday to Ireland’s Committee of Evil Literature.
https://lithub.com/not-so-happy-100th-birthday-to-irelands-committee-of-evil-literature/
At PG:
"The Pivot of Civilization" by Margaret Sanger
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1689
"The Well of Loneliness" by Radclyffe Hall
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73042
"Family Limitation" by Margaret Sanger
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31790
#books #literature #censorship
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A stack of books with the pages facing the camera.
RE: https://mstdn.ca/@cdegroot/116086771614712320
A new Lisp book is always something to celebrate and this one doubly so, as Cees de Groot @cdegroot didn't hold back code and technical details from the book. More details here:
Landing page of the book
https://berksoft.ca/gol
Why I wrote The Genius of Lisp
https://cdegroot.com/programming/lisp/2026/02/17/why-i-wrote-the-genius-of-lisp.html
Free sample with the Table of Contents (Amazon)
https://read.amazon.com/sample/1069886416?clientId=share
#lisp #CommonLisp #books #retrocomputing
AodeRelay boostedWell, today is the day. I'm finally "sorta happy enough to pull the trigger" on publishing the book I've been working on for a very long time. It's a technical history book: by a techie, for techies (although I think that between all the code samples, there is plenty of meat for "tech-adjacent" and "tech-interested" people). It tells the story of the Lisp programming language, invented by a genius called John McCarthy in 1958 and today still going strong (to the extent that many people see it as the most powerful programming language in existence).
And this is a time for shameless self promotion, even if you don't plan on buying the book, please repost :-). Self-publishing is self-marketing, so there we go.
If you do buy and read it, please let me know how you liked it!
The book landing page, https://berksoft.ca/gol, has links to all outlets where you can buy the book,
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Cover of "The Genius of Lisp" book.
Bruno the brave
For anyone who dares to voice dangerous ideas and risk imprisonment or exile, Giordano Bruno remains a hero
by Stephanie Merritt
About Giordano Bruno at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/7069
#books #literature #philosophy
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Illustration of Bruno by German symbolist artist Fidus (1900), mixed media on paper, 60 x 50 cm, The Jack Daulton Collection.
This is a striking Symbolist mixed media artwork showing a frontal portrait of a hooded figure in dark robes against a background of radiating orange and golden light with white stars. The subject has an intense, direct gaze with large, haunting eyes and wears the dark cowl of a Dominican friar. His pale hands are crossed at the chest in a contemplative or protective gesture.
At the bottom, a greenish-gray banner bears the name "GIORDANO·BRUNO" in red Art Nouveau-style lettering. The notation "II 1900" appears in the lower left, with the artist's signature "Fidus" in the lower right.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno#/media/File:Fidus_-_Giordano_Bruno,_Aquarell_1900.jpg
Looking for a #Down's #sensitivity reader and #Chinese ditto both for work set in Victorian England.
#books #histfic #amwriting #amediting #writing
While many consider the wheel as man’s greatest invention I would say it is the book.
Bar none books and language are man’s greatest achievements.
So I’ve been trying to get her into reading…
2/4
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A row of books lined on a shelf, on top of which is sitting a black & white cat, as though the books are a comfortable bed
Hard Reading and Hip Hop After Humanity: A Review of Michael Ward's Guide to C.S. Lewis' Abolition of Man
https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2026/02/13/aom/
#books #Reviews #theology #philosophy #Inklings
What is the single oldest piece of hardware you own that is still in active, daily use? 💾
I don't mean a museum piece sitting on a shelf. I mean something you actually turn on and rely on every week.
Is it a first generation Kindle? A 2011 thinkpad? A printer from the Windows XP era? A mechanical keyboard from yesteryear? An old iPod? A really old toaster that works great?
#retro #hardware #technology #pc #music #reading #books #bookstodon #writing #art #righttorepair #cooking #baking
These books are over 20 years old. Obviously much has changed since they were released but I still hang onto them since many of the concepts are still relevant.
On a side note: I'd probably find some masochist level of joy running these ancient OSes as daily drivers. 🤣
#linux #unix #freebsd #suse #solaris #vintage #sunos #ancienthistory #tech #books
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Classic O'Reilly tech books.
Essential System Administration 3rd Edition
Internet Core Protocols: The Definitive Guide
TCP/IP Network Administration 3rd Edition
At the request of a friend, scraped a decade of old social posts about sci-fi and fantasy and put them up on my website. This is a truly golden age for both genres - I hope you find something new, fun, and mind-expanding in here. #books #bookstodon
Less screens, more books. Cartoon from last year.
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Cartoon showing a street with depressed people walking like zombies, all looking at the screens on their phones, with only their faces lit up by the blue glare from the screens. The only colorful part of the image is behind a window, where a woman is reading a book. The books casts a warm yellow glow, like sunlight, on her face.
What's your favourite trilogy? 🤔
Every speculative fiction reader has that one trilogy they can't get over...
For me it's between The Seagulls and Lord of the Rings, Star Wars barely breaks the top 50 😜😂
@bookstodon @books @joinin
@humor@fedigroups.social @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop
#SpeculativeFiction #FantasyBooks
#FantasyMemes #SciFiMemes #Fantasy #SciFi #Meme #Memes #Humor #Humour #Funny
#Low #High #Epic #Science #Opera #Hard #CottageCore #SolarPunk #Comedic
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Bookstodon
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Meme from 50 Nerds of Grey
Friend 1: What is your favourite trilogy?
Friend 2: Star Wars
Friend 3: Lord of the Rings
Me:
Three pictures from The Argus newspaper headlines.
1: Student attacked by seagull
2: Seagull attacked by student
3: Angry seagulls strike back
#WordWeavers Feb. 17: Would you still write if you had to use a typewriter or pen and paper?
If computers didn't exist? Sure, that's how I started after all, even if nothing I wrote long-hand was ever published.
Poem of the week: To Wordsworth by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The radical young poet’s backhanded tribute to the older writer is a stern judgment on his lapsed political idealism
by Carol Rumens
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/feb/09/poem-of-the-week-to-wordsworth-by-percy-bysshe-shelley
To Wordsworth & Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4800
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Portrait of William Wordsworth by Sir William Boxall, 1831.
The oil painting depicts the great Romantic poet in his early sixties, with white hair, wearing a dark coat and cravat, rendered in warm brown tones with loose, atmospheric brushwork against a dark background.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth#/media/File:William-Wordsworth.jpg
My new release, That Murder Feeling, is a month old! It’s a magical realism, feel-good mystery and you can find all the buy links here:
https://books2read.com/thatmurderfeeling
#bookstodon #mystery #eighties #fantasy #feelgood #books #indie
New account, new #introduction!
My name is Kat and I'm a postgraduate student studying Computer Science at Oregon State University.
Before joining software engineering, I had a whole career in content marketing (plus a bunch of random gigs to survive the Great Recession).
Follow me if you're interested in seeing toots from a career-transitioning junior.
My interests include #softwareEngineering, #bigTech, #books, and just #learning in general.
Hello 👋🏿
From The Sick Times:
“Invisible Illness” could have been transgressive. Instead, it minimizes Long COVID.
"The book fails to convey the severity of infection-associated chronic conditions, demands for treatment, or importance of infection prevention."
#LongCovid #PASC #MEcfs #ChronicIllness #CovidIsNotOver #Books #BookReview
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Good histories of medicine are always transgressive, illuminating the politics behind treatments later seen as neutral science. With Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. platforming “soft eugenics” and clinicians neglecting hard-won aerosol science, medicine needs more history.
Unfortunately, against a backdrop of historical overviews that correlate traumatic social events with outbreaks of mysterious ailments, Mendenhall’s thesis posits a mechanism for chronic illness based purely on pseudoscience. While ignoring infection prevention, the merits of pharmaceuticals, and leading biophysical theories around Long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), Mendenhall examines chronic illness interventions that can harm people with Long COVID and ME, such as graded exercise therapy (GET), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and meditation.
English for Writers. Poetic and Literary English Vocabulary.
#writing #writers #poetry #english #books #bookstodon #literature
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English for Writers
Incredible dedication to indexing in Kleinberg & Tardos.
#Algorithms #Algorithmics #ComputerScience #Books #ProfessorLife #Textbook #AcademicMastodon #AcademicChatter
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Start of the index of a textbook. The first elements of the index are "/", "//", "}", "!", "<", ">", "+" and "1984", some of which have dozens of page numbers listed after them.
This Week in Literary History: Malcolm X was Assassinated in New York City
“Whatever hand pulled the trigger did not buy the bullet.”
https://lithub.com/this-week-in-literary-history-malcolm-x-was-assassinated-in-new-york-city/
#blackhistorymonth #ushistory #books
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A black and white photograph of Malcolm X. It shows his head and shoulders. He has his hand on top of his hand. A lamp is next to him.
The remarkable, unsung women behind Charles Dickens’s stories
Behind every great man, there’s a great woman, so the saying goes. Behind Charles Dickens, however, there were many great women supporting and inspiring him.
Dickens at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/37
About Catherine Dickens:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Dickens
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This is a portrait of Catherine Dickens (née Hogarth, 1815-1879), wife of Charles Dickens. Catherine married Charles in 1836 and bore him ten children over fifteen years. Despite being central to Dickens's domestic life during his most productive writing years, she has been largely written out of his story, particularly after their acrimonious separation in 1858.
Catherine is depicted in three-quarter view, seated and resting her arms on an ornate chair back with decorative ribbon or fabric draping. She wears an elegant off-shoulder with a fitted bodice, puffed sleeves, and flowing skirt. Her hair is arranged in the period's typical fashion—parted in the center and swept back into a braided bun with decorative elements.
Let’s show that Americans love their libraries! Like, follow, and share!
#library #libraries #read #reading #book #books #librarylove #author #publiclibrary #literature #lit
Books. Culture.
Since I'm Canadian, I decided I'd try to focus on Canadian authors when I went to the library. Easy to do since there's almost no demand for such books. I did read a couple of good sci-fi dystopias over the past year. They were primarily focused on societies in the near future that were dramatically altered by climate change and big business social media control.
An American cousin of mine recommended a sci-fi book called Project Hail Mary (an American book) by Andy Weir. So, I put myself on the wait list for it. There were about a hundred copies of it in the Toronto library's possession, and about 700 hold requests. So, a big demand here for it. It took over a month to get it.
I'm two thirds of the way through it.
Synopsis: an alien microbe life form begins eating our sun. So, we must burn fossil fuels as much as possible. And we must find ways to release much more methane in the atmosphere to promote global warming and slow the upcoming ice age. Also, we must send out a renegade junior high school science teacher to a different solar system to find out how to get the microbes to stop eating our sun. We can do this because the microbes are also a super fuel that allows space ships to travel really fast.
The above explains why it's so popular here in Toronto Canada. Just look at the federal government we recently elected. But I digress. Anyway, to the author's credit, he makes the ridiculous premise almost seem feasible.
The Cross-Dressing Marquess Who Made Arthur Conan Doyle Turn Detective
"Henry Paget, the fifth Marquess of Anglesey, who loved expensive costumes and jewelry, turned to Arthur Conan Doyle when his jewels mysteriously disappeared"
https://www.thecollector.com/henry-paget-arthur-conan-doyle/
Books by Doyle at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/69
#history #books #literature #lgbtqia
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"Photo portrait of Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey by John Wickens" - picryl.com
He is dressed in a theatrical costume. It is a long stripped robe with an elaborate headdress. He is holding a stick with ribbons tied around it.
Hello #Fediverse book lovers. I’m an indie author prepping a comedy-horror novella for print and digital publication. I’m looking for an #artist who’s available for #commission on a front cover illustration. If you know someone who doesn’t use AI and is open to a quick turnaround time, I would appreciate any recommendations. Thank you! 🤘🏼
#bookstodon #books #IndieAuthor #HorrorAuthors #IndieHorror #SupportIndieHorror #HorrorCommunity #DavidRider
Previously Unknown Medieval Chronicle Discovered
A newly discovered chronicle from the early eighth century is giving medieval historians a rare new window onto the political shocks and religious debates that reshaped the eastern Mediterranean in the decades before and after the rise of Islam.
https://www.medievalists.net/2026/02/previously-unknown-medieval-chronicle-discovered/
More articles about Maronite Chronicle of 713:
https://medievalworlds.net/0xc1aa5572_0x004102d6.pdf
#books #literature #old_manuscripts
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Arabic Manuscripts 597. Book of Daniel and Solomon's Proverbs.
The image shows two pages of Arabic text written in traditional calligraphy, appearing to be a biblical manuscript. St. Catherine's Monastery houses one of the world's most important collections of ancient manuscripts, including significant Arabic Christian texts. This manuscript represents the Arabic translation tradition of biblical books, important for understanding how scripture was transmitted and read in Arabic-speaking Christian communities.
Part of
Manuscripts in St. Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai: Microfilm 5014: Arabic (312)
Manuscripts in St. Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai (1,691)
https://www.loc.gov/resource/amedmonastery.00279390684-ms/?sp=19&st=image
Design insights from studying the Van Gogh Museum
A new predictive model can forecast visitor movement through a museum to help illuminate how physical and digital spaces shape engagement.
By Dylan Walsh
https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/design-insights-studying-van-gogh-museum
Van Gogh at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/40599
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The Sower with Setting Sun, c.1888. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
The painting depicts a peasant farmer striding across a plowed field, scattering seeds, silhouetted against a brilliant yellow sun. A gnarled tree trunk dominates the right side of the composition, with furrows of the field rendered in vivid blues, purples, and greens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh#/media/File:De_zaaier_-_s0029V1962_-_Van_Gogh_Museum.jpg
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Still Life: Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers, August 1888. National Gallery, London
One of the most iconic paintings in art history, it shows fourteen sunflowers in various stages of bloom arranged in a simple earthenware vase signed "Vincent" in blue. The composition is dominated by brilliant yellows and golds against a pale yellow background, with the flowers ranging from fresh blooms to wilting seed heads.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh#/media/File:Vincent_Willem_van_Gogh_127.jpg
With his erudite comments on religious extremists and people who want to ban books, one would think this interview took place yesterday and not 45 years ago. I could listen to Gore Vidal all day. #Politics #Culture #Entertainment #Books #Book #US #USpol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU7UD_KHOP0
Just a reminder that the world's greatest book ever written in all of history is available for you to purchase from Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/water-dogs-eric-gordon/1147799755?ean=9798988816157
#ya #scifi #sciencefiction #writing #author #books #fantasy #adventiure #youngadult #humor #aliens #unicorns #specfic #speculativefiction #Ramones #punkrock #1970s
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The cover of a book, called Water Dogs, featuring an illustration of an underwater dog with shadowy forms of aliens and unicorns and other creatures in the background.
#OTD in 1975, humorist P. G. Wodehouse died.
Wodehouse "was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeves; the immaculate and loquacious Psmith; Lord Emsworth and the Blandings Castle set; the Oldest Member, with stories about golf...."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse
Books by Wodehouse at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/783
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Photograph of P. G. Wodehouse. He standing by a railing wearing a coat and a hat.
Arundhati Roy quits Berlin film festival over ‘stay out of politics’ comment https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/feb/13/arundhati-roy-quits-berlin-film-festival-over-stay-out-of-politics-comment #BerlinFilmFestival #ArundhatiRoy #WimWenders #Books #Culture #Film #Gaza #Palestine #WorldNews #Europe #IsraelgazaWar
Suck it linguists I'll make my own grammar rolls 😜😂
@linguistics @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop @writingcommunity @writingbooks
#LinguisticMemes #Meme #Memes #Linguistics
#Language #Words #Humor #Humour #Funny
#Reading #Readers #ReadersOfMastodon #ReadingCommunity
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Fiction #Bookstodon
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Post by keva
Here's my first attempt at synonym rolls, with attached picture of cinnamon rolls.
Reply by BrazilFlair
Just like grammar used to make.
The Ur-“Conspiracy”: History of a Pseudoconcept
By Barrett Brown
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2026/02/12/the-ur-conspiracy-history-of-a-pseudoconcept/
#books #literature #literarycriticism
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Theophilus Schweighardt, The Temple of the Rose Cross, 1618,
The representation was created around 1604 and was published in the Speculum sophicum Rhodostauroticum by Theophilus Schweighart. At the center of the picture is a wheeled, fortress-like building. Look at the picture from the OCCIDENS, i.e. from the west. The lower image caption provides us with an indication of this (it is difficult to recognize here in the picture). The entrance to this building, which is directly revealed to the viewer, is marked by a lettering. Above the archway you can read "VENITE DIGNI" ("COME HERE, WORTHY"). To the right of the archway you can see a cross and to the left a rose. Directly below the entrance you can read the word "MOVEAMVR" spread over two lines. Above the archway there are two windows along which the lettering "IESVS NOBIS OMNIA" ("JESUS [IS] EVERYTHING FOR US") runs along. It therefore becomes clear that, in addition to all the many other symbolic representations, it could be a rose cruiserical representation. The cross and rose can be clearly identified, but not presented united, as in today's form.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Templeofrosycross_highres.png
"Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; ..."
Don’t fall in love this Valentine’s Day – read Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë’s novel celebrates the head-spinning, hair-raising, all-consuming experience of falling in love.
by Andrew McInnes
Wuthering Heights at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/768
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Photo of Sir Laurence Olivier knighted 1947-page 144 and Merle Oberon from the 1939 film Wuthering Heights.
This is a publicity still from the 1939 film adaptation of "Wuthering Heights," showing Laurence Olivier (later knighted in 1947) as Heathcliff and Merle Oberon as Catherine Earnshaw seated together on the Yorkshire moors. The romantic scene captures the passionate, doomed lovers from Emily Brontë's classic novel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights#/media/File:Laurence_Olivier_Merle_Oberon_Wuthering_Heights.jpg
Reading #books at an early age may help cats get arts and science degrees
#books #caturday #caturdayeveryday
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A cat over an open book has wisdom to share
More blog updates! Feeds, books and watch log oh my!
I've added a few more features to my site. A book log, a watch log and the feeds to go with them.
https://michaelharley.net/posts/2026/02/13/more-blog-updates-feeds-books-and-watch-log-oh-my/
You can support libraries today at action.everylibrary.org
#library #libraries #read #reading #book #books #librarylove #author #publiclibrary #literature #lit
Hello #fediverse!
i've been lurking for a while on another server, but it's time to make my home here.
So here's my #introduction post. My handle is @vitskapsdama, which means the Science Lady in Norwegian. I'm a medical writer and #science educator, and have worked for a non-profit youth organisation.
I'm born in #Indonesia, grew up in the #Netherlands and moved in the early 2000s with my family to a small village in #Norway.
I'm interested in Life, the Universe and Everything, love to explore what comes my way and am a lifelong #learner. I love learning by doing and am an #arts and #crafts person.
I try to lead a #sustainable life and to minimize my #footprint, but modern society doe not make that easy. So I like to learn from others and maybe share what works for me.
My main hobbies are #cooking and eating #food, #fiberarts like #crochet and #embroidery, #origami #handwriting, #postcrossing, #notebooks and #fountainpens.
I love #books and #libraries, and I mainly read for enjoyment. My favorite genres are old-school #fantasy and #sciencefiction. I have also play #games when I have the time.
I post a daily picture of my life over at pixelfed.social (just look up my handle there). I'm not sorry at all for the long post and love to connect with interesting and open-minded people.
Those who would like to say goodbye to The Washington Post Book World, which Bezos and his minions gutted, can do so at this Politics and Prose event on February 21st.
It will be livestreamed for those who can’t make it to the store.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the average American reads at a 7th grade level. That's the punch, not the punchline. The national literacy benchmark is Goosebumps with fewer metaphors. So when we're talking about books like Nineteen Eighty-Four (10th grade), Fahrenheit 451 (9th), Hunger Games (8th) or The Handmaid's Tale (12th), we're already leaving half the country gasping for air in chapter one.
#literacy #reading #books #1984
#Fahrenheit451 #HungerGames
#TheHandmaidsTale
Book Review: Lessons in Magic and Disaster
A Russian nested doll of stories, characters and relationships, and yes, magic
My review of @charliejane 's book at the NOAF blog:
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2026/02/book-review-lessons-in-magic-and.html
7 of the Most Scandalous Romantic Plot Twists in Classic Literature
By Paul Anthony Jones
https://www.mentalfloss.com/literature/books/romantic-plot-twists-in-classic-literature
They are all available at PG:
Bleak House
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1023
Ethan Frome
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4517
Far From the Madding Crowd
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/107
Jane Eyre
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1260
Sense and Sensibility
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/161
The Return of the Native
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/122
Twelfth Night
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1526
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Cover image of Bleak House by Charles Dickens.
The cover features a decorative gold-stamped coat of arms or heraldic emblem with the title "BLEAK HOUSE" at the top and "Charles Dickens" at the bottom, along with what appears to be a motto banner reading "IN CHANCERY." Published serially from 1852-1853.
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1023/pg1023-images.html
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Cover image Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.
This is an ornate Victorian-era cover of "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen, featuring elaborate gold Art Nouveau-style floral and vine patterns on a dark green background. The decorative design frames the title and author name in elegant lettering.
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/161/pg161-images.html
Subverting hell
In their visions of the underworld Dante and Milton were truly subversive, incorporating predecessors into their own repudiation
by Charlie Ericson
Dante and Milton at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/507
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/17
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Dante and Virgil in the Ninth Circle of Hell (1861) by Gustave Doré.
The painting depicts a scene from Dante Alighieri's Inferno, showing Dante (in orange/red robes) and his guide Virgil (in blue) standing on an elevated position, looking down upon the frozen lake of Cocytus, the ninth and deepest circle of Hell where traitors are punished. The damned souls are shown frozen in ice in various states of torment, emerging from the misty, icy landscape.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_et_Virgile_dans_le_neuvi%C3%A8me_cercle_de_l%27Enfer.jpg
Everywhere, advice on how to write faster. A novel in four months, a blog post a day, Substack longform in an hour.
Write quicker. Publish more. Optimise. Optimise. Optimise.
This essay argues for something else.
Speed doesn’t just change how we write, it changes what can be written at all.
https://kristiedegaris.substack.com/p/the-writing-factory
#Writing #WritingCommunity #Reading #Book #Books #Scotland #UK #Publishing #Craft
The Queer Liberation Library (queerliberationlibrary.org) is seeking votes in the 2026 Project for Awesome, an annual event that raises awareness and grant money for charities doing good work across the world. Their grant video and vote link are on the Project for Awesome website below.
#queer #lgbtq #books #bookstodon
https://projectforawesome.com/videos/queer-liberation-library-project-for-awesome-2026
You're a supervillain/evil overlord, what's the embarrassing/humiliating way you go out?
#fiction #books #tv #anime #manga #comics #fantasy #scifi #poll
| killed by a child: | 5 |
| killed by an animal companion: | 3 |
| killed by the comic relief in a total accident: | 13 |
| betrayed by your lieutenant/minion that everybody saw coming but you: | 4 |
| killed by your own spell/weapon backfiring because you didn't read the spell/manual carefully: | 9 |
| unsealing an even more powerful evil & assuming it would work for you: | 9 |
| tricked into killing yourself/revealing your weakness by a trick that wouldn't fool a kid: | 6 |
| your parents show up and tell you it's bedtime and apologize to the heroes for your actions: | 20 |
Closes in 16:04:35
I’m very much enjoying Isaac Asimov’s Foundation.
What other classic science fiction books should I read? I’ve read very little of the genre.
Nuclear Bodies: The Global Hibakusha
by Robert A. Jacobs
Yale University Press (2022)
In the fall of 1961, President Kennedy somberly warned Americans about deadly radioactive fallout clouds extending hundreds of miles from H‑bomb detonations, yet he approved ninety‑six US nuclear weapon tests for 1962. Cold War nuclear testing, production, and disasters like #Chernobyl and #Fukushima have exposed millions to dangerous #radioactive particles; these millions are the global #hibakusha.
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Many communities continue to be plagued with dire legacies and ongoing risks: sickness and early mortality, forced displacement, uncertainty and anxiety, dislocation from ancestors and traditional lifestyles, and contamination of food sources and ecosystems. Nuclear Bodies weaves these seemingly distinct legacies into a comprehensive global history, examining the colonialism(s) with which nuclear weapon states "select the irradiated," the political use of medical models to render their harm invisible, and the millennia-long legacies of our embrace of nuclear technologies.
https://nuclearbodies.com/
The Toni Morrison Book Club was a 5 star read for me and I knew it would be as soon as I got through the introduction. Four authors, all university professors, three Black women, one gay white man, all with a love for Toni Morrison's novels- consider their own lives and lived experiences in relation to Morrison's novels. Part memoir, part examination of the novels. I highly recommend reading this small book that comes in under 200 pages.
@bookstodon
#books #bookstodon
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Cover of The Toni Morrison Book Club. Cover has a read background with the profile of the side of a Black woman face with natural hair across the entire front.
Why Do We Keep Telling the Same Stories? Archetypes in Pop Culture
"Archetypes aren't just storytelling tools—they're reflections of us. We keep retelling them because they help us feel understood."
https://www.thecollector.com/archetypes-pop-culture/
Books by Jung at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/44679
Odysseus und Nausicaa
#books #literature #psychology
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Painting of Odysseus und Nausicaa by Carl Fielgraf. Odysseus is sitting on a rock with a cloth around him, and he is about to drink from a bowl. He is looking at Nausicaa who is standing and pointing to the right. A servant kneels at the foot of Odysseus and is offering him a bowl of fruit.
Forget flowers: lovers in 18th- and 19th-century Ireland exchanged hair
by Leanne Calvert
Saint Valentine at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=saint+valentine
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Only a Lock of Hair by John Everett Millais
The portrait shows a young woman in a dress russet-coloured fabric with areas of blue (possibly a shot silk, giving an iridescent effect) with lace at the collar and cuffs, in the process of cutting off a lock of her hair with a small pair of silver scissors, while she gazes off to her left.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_a_Lock_of_Hair#/media/File:Only_a_Lock_of_Hair,_by_John_Everett_Millais.jpg
Inside Switzerland's extraordinary medieval library
By Mike MacEacheran
The Abbey Library of St Gallen is a Baroque hall of globes, manuscripts and curiosities that has survived, improbably, for 1,300 years.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20260202-inside-switzerlands-extraordinary-medieval-library
Medieval library at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=medieval+library
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PLATE XXV
DUKE HUMFREY’S LIBRARY, OXFORD
The image captures the historic reading room with its magnificent barrel-vaulted wooden ceiling with decorative coffers, tall windows providing natural light at the far end, and rows of bookshelves lining both sides. Reading desks are positioned along the central aisle. Duke Humfrey's Library, the oldest reading room of the Bodleian, dates to the 15th century and was named after Humfrey, Duke of Gloucester (1390-1447), younger brother of Henry V, who donated his collection of manuscripts to Oxford University.
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1615/pg1615-images.html
la frontière des tartares
Dino Buzzati / Śnieżka, Karkonosze, The border between Poland and the Czech Republic, Photo : Tomasz Szyrwiel / observatoire météorologique de haute montagne Tadeusz Hołdys, située à 1602 m sur la Sniejka, la plus haute montagne des monts des Géants et des Sudètes
#Winter #architecture #scifi #books #weather #Poland #photography #ecology
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un homme se dirige dans la neige sous le soleil levant vers la frontière où les bâtiments circulaires de l’observatoire météorologique de haute montagne Tadeusz Hołdys, composante de l’Institut de météorologie et de gestion de l'eau de Pologne, située à 1602 m sur la Sniejka, la plus haute montagne des monts des Géants et des Sudètes, sont posés comme des soucoupes volantes
You're a villain, what're your weaknesses?
#poll #fiction #fantasy #scifi #books #anime #manga
| a relatively common substance or material: | 6 |
| a rare substance or material: | 3 |
| something special magically embued or blessed: | 5 |
| an object that houses my soul or power etc that can be destroyed: | 4 |
| my unending ego/hubris: | 17 |
| women/men/etc or other vices: | 14 |
| allergies: | 10 |
| my underpaid/poorly trained/sentimental dark forces keep leaving children alive after massacres: | 7 |
Closes in 10:03:22
Looks like @pluralistic has a few fans in Western Sydney.
I searched for #Enshittification in the Parramatta Library app. It's on loan.
I went to put it on hold, and it told me I'm now number four in the queue.
In other words, not only is it borrowed, but three other people placed a hold on it too.
I look forward to reading it in April sometime 😂
#book #books #literature #library
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Library screenshot.
It reads:
Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
by Doctorow, Cory
You have placed a hold for this item. The current status of the hold is Pending.
Currently position 4 in the queue.
"More Everything Forever" by Adam Beck is a great if scary read of how the minds (and money) powering Silicon Valley see the world. And the problems with those views.
Recommended reading.
Today in Labor History February 11, 1938: BBC Television produced the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R. Čapek coined the term "robot,” deriving it from the Czech word for forced labor by Serfs. R.U.R. is an archetype for many of the science fiction stories and films that followed, like Bladerunner, West World and Terminator, and others about robots, replicants and hosts that rebel against humans. However, “R.U.R.,” like Čapek’s 1936 novel “War with the Newts,” is also a satirical critique of totalitarianism, which was on the rise in Europe at the time he wrote the play.
#workingclass #LaborHistory #play #playwright #KarelCapek #robot #RUR #totalitarianism #fascism #antifascism #serf #slavery #sciencefiction #scifi #czech #bladerunner #books #fiction #playwright @bookstadon
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Male robots, in metal vests and helmets, breaking into the factory at the end of Act III. One has his arm raised to strike a human.By Unknown author - http://www.umich.edu/~engb415/literature/pontee/RUR/RURsmry.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8442825
Rediscovered photograph sheds light on Jeanne Duval – Manet’s Lady with a Fan
by Maria C. Scott
Manet (as illustrator) at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/6624
#books #history #art #photography
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Baudelaire's Mistress (Portrait of Jeanne Duval), 1862. By Manet.
Manet shows Jeanne Duval reclining on a green sofa or chaise lounge, wearing a voluminous white crinoline dress and holding a green fan. Her dark hair and direct gaze create a striking contrast with the white dress. The background features decorative wallpaper or fabric panels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Manet#/media/File:Portrait-of-jeanne-duval-1862.jpg!Large.jpg
A White Historian Claimed That Black People ‘Had No History.’ This Trailblazing Scholar Dedicated His Life to Proving Otherwise
Carter G. Woodson, the “father of Black history,” founded the celebration now known as Black History Month in 1926. A prolific writer and activist, he viewed his efforts to educate the public as a “life-and-death struggle”
by Meilan Solly
Carter G. Woodson at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3835
#books #literature #blackhistorymonth
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The formal portrait shows Dr. Carter Woodson in a suit and patterned tie, representing him as a distinguished scholar and educator.
During the dawning of the twentieth century, it was widely-presumed that people of African descent had little history besides the subjugation of slavery. Of course, it is obvious today that Africans have significantly impacted the development of the social, political and economic structures of not just the United States but also the world. Credit for the evolving awareness of the true place of blacks in history can, in large part, be bestowed upon one man, Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Dr. Woodson's parents had been enslaved, so he understood the importance of a proper education. Though he didn't begin his formal education until the age of 20, he earned his high school diploma, bachelor's and master's degrees in the span of a few years. Then, in 1912, he became the second African American to earn a PhD from Harvard and was the first person of enslaved parents to earn a PhD in history!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_G._Woodson#/media/File:Dr._Carter_G._Woodson_(1875-1950),_Carter_G._Woodson_Home_National_Historic_Site,_1915._(18f7565bf62142c0ad7fff83701ca5f6).jpg
What a Renaissance plate reveals about a woman who shaped literary history
The expression is, ‘handed to you on a silver plate’; but a recent breakthrough came to me on a painted ceramic one.
by Maria Clotilde Camboni
Renaissance art at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/3037
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Portrait of Isabella d'Este by Leornardo da Vinci.
Black and red chalk with stump, ochre chalk, white highlights on the face, throat, and hand. Original black chalk lines are visible in several places: face, hair, veil on the forehead, neck, garment covering the breast, left shoulder. Paper prepared with white in the upper left and right parts.
The drawing shows Isabella in profile, facing right, wearing Renaissance dress with a striped bodice and her hair covered by a headdress.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Isabella_d%27Este_(Leonardo)#/media/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci,_Portrait_of_Isabella_d'Este.jpg
Dorothy Parker: Sharp-Witted Writer, Bitter Professor
Dorothy Parker’s year as a visiting professor shows how a celebrated literary voice struggled to adapt to the realities of academic teaching.
By: Emily Zarevich
https://daily.jstor.org/dorothy-parker-sharp-witted-writer-bitter-professor/
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American writer Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), c. 1910s-1920s.
The image shows Parker as a young woman with short, dark bobbed hair and a contemplative expression in three-quarter profile.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Parker#/media/File:Young_Dorothy_Parker.jpg
I was introduced to John McPhee in grad school. “Encounters With the Archdruid” was assigned reading in an enviro policy class, which approached the topic from the perspective of motivating factors that underlie policy.
McPhee’s writing hooked me; I read a dozen or so of his books in the ‘90s.
Just discovered & read “The Founding Fish.”
I recommend it highly.
McPhee’s writing style is superb, as discussed here https://theelementsofwriting.com/mcphee/
#books #BookClub #writing #fish #shad #fishing #history
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Back jacket of a book by John McPhee. Text: "The Founding Fish is ... far more than a fishing book. It is a mini- encyclopedia, a highly informative and entertaining amalgam of natural and personal history, a work in a class by itself" -ROBERT H. BOYLE, The New York Times Book Review Cruded as "a fishing classic" (The Economist) upon its publication in hardcover John McPhee's twenty-sixth book is a braid of personal his- tory, satural history, and American history, in descending order of volcane spring, American shad—Alosa sapidissimaleave the ocean in saw bede of thousands and run heroic distances upriver to spawn. MrPhee a shad fisherman himself—recounts the shad's cameo role in the lives of George Washington and Henry David Thoreau. He fishes with famous ichthyologists and visits their laboratories; he takes instruc- sion in the making of shad darts from a master of the art; and he cooks shad in a variety of ways, delectably explained at the end of the book. Mostly, though, he goes fishing for shad in various North American rivers, and he "fishes the same way he writes books, avidly and in- tensely. He wants to know everything about the fish he's afterits his- tory, its habits, its place in the cosmos" (Bill Pride, The Denver Post). His adventures in pursuit of shad occasion the kind of writing expert and ardent-at which he has no equal. "A blue-chip tour of the American shad." - Kirkus Reviews "Under McPhee's close eye, everything about this fish is fascinating." etc.
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Paperback book cover showing a fish (American Shad), and text:
JOHN McPHEE, The Founding Fish
The perfect job doesn't exi-
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A four-panel comic strip set in a park, by Tom Gauld. Panel 1: "It's my perfect job, really! Their owners are busy people who love them but don't have time to give them the attention they need." There's a person walking a dog in the background. In subsequent panels, the view slowly pans to the right. Panel 2: "Nobody likes to think of them just lying around in the house alone." Panel 3: "So I pick them up bright and early and we spend the whole day in the park." Panel 4 reveals that the person saying all this is actually sitting on a bench reading a book, with a pile of more books next to her. She concludes: "I read a few chapters of each and drop them home with a short precis of what happened. Everyone's happy!"
@ShaulaEvans @diazona
So many! The first one I always think of is Moby Dick which I didn't finish when I read it in high school. But the beginning had such a vibe of get out and DO things in order to learn more about the world that it's stuck with me ever since.
“Everybody has an auntie like that who doesn't give a crap about anything and will say what she thinks. And who will just be like, ‘Meh, whatever.’ And will wear t-shirts that say, ‘Check your privilege’…”
#Indigenous #Métis #graphicnovel #books #youngreaders
https://www.windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/second-book-three-part-series-leaves-readers-edge
I have now added these two eBook covers to my ko-fi shop - abs, fantastical animals, and you can also commission something like this if you like!
If you are looking for covers, check my shop now!
And please share so I can get these covers sold. (:
(I also have discounted covers, and some old ones can be retouched a bit as well.)
https://ko-fi.com/hiisikolo_art
Contact for commissions: hiisikoloart@gmail.com
#bookcovers #illustration #art #books #bookstodon #author #forsale
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An illustrated eBook cover which depicts a man wearing nothing but a colorful green and blue loincloth made of rich patterned fabric, golden jewelry on his wrists, around his muscled arm, fingers, and a golden shoulder protector. Coiled around him is a golden snake that is looking at him with its turqoise eye.
The man's abs are clearly visible, as he is looking back at the snake. He has a long dark hair, and golden paint on his lips. The background is also vivid blue.
The lighting is soft, and smooth.
The green text overlays say :
Two hiisikoloART signatures, hiisikoloART watermarks, "author name" and "very cool title" on bold text. No AI label, illustrated typography! 100% human made original art!
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Illustrated eBook cover for sale. Depicts a red dragon with green horns and eyes geaming in cold sunlight with its wing over an elf-man. Sunlight shows the patterns of its wing, and reflects on its curved horns, neck spikes, and long claws.
The elf man is pale, and has white, slightly curled short hair resting on his forehead and temples. The hair in a long braid that snakes down his shoulder to his exposed peck. The braid is tied with a silky white ribbon and it turns from white to pale red and finally turns entirely black at the end. His eyes are red, and his pointed ear is red and sunlight makes it look luminecent.
He is wearing green, buttoned trousers and nothing else. They are resting low on his hips. His abs are visible, as he holds the head of his dragon companion. He has tattoos all over his arms, around his navel, neck, decolte, and ear. He also has scars on his side, arm, and chest if you look closely. They have long since healed.
The background is of cold mountain ranges disappearing into a fog. The light is cold, and unyelding.
The yellow text overlays say:
Two hiisikoloART signatures, hiisikoloART watermarks, "author name" and "very cool title" on bold text. No AI label, illustrated typography! 100% human made original art!
How Bertolt Brecht and Walter Benjamin Pioneered a New Way of Creating
Katherine Hollander on Intellectual, Political and Artistic Collaboration Among the Exiled Mitarbeiter
#books #literature #literarycriticism
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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
Recreating the smells of history
Using chemistry, archival records and AI, scientists are reviving the aromas of old libraries, mummies and battlefields
By Kaja Šeruga
Smells of history at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=smells+of+history
#books #science #olfactory_system
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David Ryckaert (III) - Old women smelling a carnation (Allegory of smell).
The painting depicts an elderly woman in dark clothing with a white collar and head covering, delicately holding and smelling a pink carnation. She also cradles a small dog in her other arm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_smell#/media/File:David_Ryckaert_(III)_-_Old_women_smelling_a_carnation_(Allegory_of_smell).jpg
This piece is about drystone walling, and about belonging. About building something solid before building something beautiful. About making a life, and a place in it, with your own hands.
https://kristiedegaris.substack.com/p/the-work-of-belonging
#Scotland #UK #Books #Book #Reading #Writing #WritingCommunity #Women #Land #Nature #Life
What is one book that positively shaped who you are as a person and how did it influence you? At what point in your life did you read it?
Fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel, audiobook: however you define "book" for yourself is fine with me.
New blog post: About Reading and Books (https://recondo.com.br/2026/02/08/about-reading-and-books/) #books #reading
Wolf Almanac by Robert Busch
A Celebration of Wolves and Their World
The newly revised reference work on the history and evolution of wolves, their biology and physiology, behavior and sociology, and their mythology.
Hello.
This is my nth attempt at staying on #Mastodon, after leaving Meta, X, and related noise.
I work around (dual-use) #technology and #ethics, mostly from my hometown, #Barcelona, and sometimes from the Italian Alps (a long love story).
I don’t have a clear plan for what to do here.
Maybe existing, slowly, is already doing something.
Perhaps I’ll post occasionally — or not; who knows. I might leave again after a while.
I love #philosophy, sacred places, reading both digital and paper #books, and listening to #music — all day long.
Somewhere in between, a #catcow walks across the keyboard and takes partial control
My mother tongue is #Catalan — English, Spanish, and Italian also happen here.
Time zone: CET.
If that resonates, welcome.
P. S. Much of this is typed on a neo-vintage phone, complete with a physical keyboard — for reasons.
... Només un vianant.
Polar Plunge: An Exploration of Antarctic Publishing
In 1901, a small crew of sailors, meteorologists, biologists, and other scientists embarked on a three-year journey of polar exploration known as the British National Antarctic Expedition.
by: Callie Beattie
https://blogs.loc.gov/bibliomania/2026/01/14/polar-plunge-an-exploration-of-antarctic-publishing/
Antarctica -- Discovery and exploration at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/8188
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Frontispiece “A sledging experience”, illustrated by Dr. E. A. Wilson. South Polar Times, Volume 1. 1907. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
The atmospheric illustration depicts two figures struggling to pull a sledge with flags through a fierce Antarctic blizzard, their forms barely visible against the swirling snow and wind.
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.
https://lithub.com/nancy-reddy-on-researching-beyond-the-archives/
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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
Sorry, boss, but you're getting written out, how do you go?
#fiction #anime #books #fantasy #scifi #comics #comicbooks #manga #TV #television #videogames #poll
| heroic sacrifice that saves the hero/everybody and/or takes a major secondary villain down with you: | 2 |
| heroic sacrifice that in retrospect didn't actually do much and fans are pretty upset about it: | 3 |
| randomly killed by the bad guy to show how powerful they are and to show "anybody can die": | 5 |
| killed by the traitor in the party when they reveal themselves: | 2 |
| killed or otherwise removed (exiled/frozen/etc) in way that you could be brought back (so fans hope): | 3 |
| killed in the same episode that your very obvious replacement is being introduced: | 4 |
| you decide to quit the team and stay in the village/faction/etc because you found where you belong: | 14 |
| you betray the team for flimsy reasons/turn out to be evil all along to justify your death/exile: | 0 |
What class, decency and leadership looks like. Please buy this coffee table book. That is one way you respond to anti-Black racists.
They were told kids 'didn't read' in this town, they opened a bookshop anyway
By Jenae Madden
In one of Australia's most disadvantaged regions, more known for its lead than its literature, a couple wanted to open a book store but were told children didn't read books there. They did it anyway, and it went on to become a "world class" institution.
#Books #SmallBusinesses #KidsBooks #Children #YoungAdultLiterature #BookPublishingIndustry #RegionalCommunities #HumanInterest #JenaeMadden
SHEL SILVERSTEIN
Inside Shel Silverstein
1970 U.S. reissue
A record (and artist) with very deep roots from my childhood.
I (like MANY others) grew up on the holy trifecta of Silverstein’s books; Where The Sidewalk Ends, A Light In The Attic, and Falling Up.
I was completely unaware that he was a musician and had albums until I was in my late teens, when I started seeing them in record stores and thrift shops.
Inside… is a reissue of his 1962 album Inside Folk Songs, and the material has the same quirky, humorous and biting humor as the poems from his books.
In fact, two of these songs ARE in Where The Sidewalk Ends; “Boa Constrictor” and “The Unicorn”, the former which was covered by Johnny Cash.
To this day, whether it’s his albums or books, Shel still makes me happy.
#vinyl #vinylrecords #vinylcommunity #vinylcollection #retro #vintage #art #music #poetry #shelsilverstein #books
‘The crowd was unforgettable. The people seemed gradually to lose their individuality and to become fused into a not very intelligent but immensely powerful monster, which was not quite sane and therefore capable of anything. Yet there was something mechanical about it too; for it was under the complete control of the figure on the rostrum.’
-From: How To Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler; by Peter Pomerantsev
If you’re looking to make your knowledge of the world more well rounded, the Oxford University Press’ Very Short Introduction series is a great place to start. The books are written by experts, usually 120-160 pages long (3-5 hours in audio) and generally at roughly a first year university subject level. They have books on an astounding range of subjects. I’m trying to read as many of them as possible, I’ve finished 25 so far
https://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/v/very-short-introductions-vsi/
#OTD in 1823 novelist Ann Radcliffe died.
She "was an English novelist who pioneered the Gothic novel, and a minor poet. Her fourth and most popular novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho, was published in 1794.... Her novels combine suspenseful narratives, exotic historical settings, and apparently-supernatural events."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Radcliffe
Books by Radcliffe at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1147
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"Emily discovering a body in Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)." - picyrl.
The drawing shows a woman holding a lantern. She is pulling back a curtain which reveals a dead man lying on a bed.
"Mastered by desire impulsive,
By a mighty inward urging,
I am ready now for singing,
Ready to begin the chanting
Of our nation’s ancient folk-song..."
An epic border: Finland’s poetic masterpiece, the Kalevala, has roots in 2 cultures and 2 countries
by Thomas A. DuBois
Kalevala at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Kalevala
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Mistress of the North, Louhi attacking Väinämöinen in the form of a giant eagle with her troops on her back. (The Defense of the Sampo, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1896), Turku Art Museum.
The scene depicts an episode from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, showing the sorceress Louhi (the Mistress of the North) transformed into a giant eagle attacking the hero Väinämöinen and his companions as they flee in a boat with the magical Sampo. Louhi carries her warriors on her back as she swoops down, her enormous wings spread across the green-gold sky. The heroes in the boat below defend themselves with weapons, fighting desperately to protect the Sampo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalevala#/media/File:Sammon_puolustus.jpg
A Community-Curated Nancy Drew Collection
A team of volunteer Open Librarians have worked together to organize the many Nancy Drew book series into a beautiful collection on Open Library.
by elizabethmays via @OpenLibrary
https://blog.openlibrary.org/2026/01/30/a-community-curated-nancy-drew-collection/
Carolyn Keene at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/58985
#books #literature #publicdomain
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Cover of the book The hidden staircase
Author: Carolyn Keene
Illustrator: Russell H. Tandy
The cover shows Nancy Drew, the iconic teenage detective, holding a flashlight while descending a hidden staircase in what appears to be a mysterious old house. The illustration uses warm tones of orange and gold, with Nancy wearing a blue outfit and green cape.
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/77602/pg77602-images.html
Two months to my fantasy debut, THE VALE OF SEVEN DRAGONS! A rebellious princess, a cosmic horror invasion, and the heroes who must rise to face the breaking of their world! Preorder now from your favorite bookseller.
#fantasy #fantasybooks #books #epicfantasy
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Red and gold dragon framing around the cover of THE VALE OF SEVEN DRAGONS by Jendia Gammon PREORDER NOW! April 7, 2026 Sley House Publishing
We’re here to support libraries. Take action at action.everylibrary.org.
#library #libraries #read #reading #book #books #librarylove #author #publiclibrary #literature #lit
Okay! More progress!
Back from a walk to Broadway, the other side of Cambie to my favourite book store! I grabbed two titles (attached images), using a Christmas gift card! PLUS: the one by Chris Hadfield is signed!
Then I came home via the grocery store and picked up foodstuffs. Complete refresh of the vegetable drawer, plus a few basics.
Now, it’s time to check email and probably have a #nap!
Ooooooo… naaaap…
#Booktodon #Books #productivity #GettinErDone
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Cover of the novel “Final Orbit,” by Canadian polymath Chris Hadfield; published October 7, 2025, Random House of Canada [ISBN: 9781039011335]
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Cover of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” written by Michael Chabon; published June 12, 2012 by Random House Publishing Group [ISBN 9780812983586]
Read 'V is for Venom' by Kathryn Harkup. A follow up to 'A is for Arsenic' it is a survey of additional chemical methods by which Agatha Christie killed off here fictional victims.
It is interesting but re-hashes a fair bit that is in 'A is for Arsenic'. A good read for those interested in chemistry and toxicology. May poisons ultimately target the same set of physical systems and that can get a bit repetitive -- I'm not sure how many times Harkup needed to describe what acetylcholine does and how disrupting its binding or break-down can be toxic, but it got a bit tedious and I would just skim those bits.
"If you’ve been looking for a wealth of imaginative speculative fiction to add to your library, grab this bundle while you can, and support Miss Major and Alexander L. Lee’s TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center with your purchase! "
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/charlie-jane-anders-annalee-newitz-tor-books
#SpecFic #Books #Bookstodon #TransRights #SupportTrans #SupportBlackTrans #BHM2026
What's really crazy is this assumes I have both the time and the attention span to read for hours on end.
#reading #literature #books #bookstodon #memes #humour
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Have you ever realized how surreal
reading a book actually is? You stare
at marked slices of tree for hours
hallucinating vividly
If you're going to go to hell anyway, why not go laughing 😂
@reading @bookstodon @books @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop
#TheExorcist #Horror #Evil
#Book #Books #BookMemes #Memes #Humor #Humour
#ReadingMemes #Memes #ReadAllTheBooks #Reading #Readers #ReadersOfMastodon #ReadingCommunity
#Litterature #Novel #Novels #Bookshelf #Mastobooks #BooksofMastodon #Bookstodon #Bookworm #Bookwyrm #Bookstodon #BookLove #FantasyBooks
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Years ago, my Mother-in-law began reading, "The Exorcist". She said it was the most evil book she ever read. So evil in fact, she couldn't finish it, took it over to the beach and threw it into the ocean off a fishing pier.
| went and bought another copy, ran the faucet over it and left it in the night table drawer by her bed. My Father-in-law said that night was the first time she ever screamed and fainted.
I'm going to Hell, but I'll go laughing.
Finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Shroud".
It's a bleak picture of a far future humanity that has conquered the galaxy but succumbed to "Concerns" (corporations).
But it's also a fascinating work of hard sci-fi world building of a completely alien way of life and intelligence, and what it might take to interact with such life.
Recommended.
A new business model for book shops is doing well in Tokyo, where the old one is dying out.
I rent the shop space and keep the shop. Then I sub-let shelf space in 40-centimetre chunks for €30-60 per month to self published authors, small publishers, associations, celebrities. And I pocket 5% of their sales.
If you are a lover of history and/or great works of literature and wish to read about how they may influence each other then, this book review is for you. The Pet Shop Boys and their song "West End Girls" even manage to make it into today's post. So, enjoy and have a great rest of your day!
From the Library of Dr. Oliver Sacks: Book Review #10: To The Finland Station by Edmind Wilson https://tommacinneswriter.com/2026/02/06/from-the-library-of-dr-oliver-sacks-book-review-10-to-the-finland-station-by-edmind-wilson/ ##books, ##EdmundWilson, ##FrenchRevolution, ##FromTheLibraryOfDrOliverSacks, ##RussianRevolution, ##ToTheFinlandStation
Black History Month: What is it and why is it important?
Black History Month is an opportunity to understand Black histories.
By Alem Tedeneke (from the archives)
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/02/black-history-month-what-is-it-and-why-do-we-need-it/
Index of Project Gutenberg Works on Black History by Various edited by David Widger is available online:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58975
#books #literature #blackhistorymonth
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Photograph of Frederick Douglass, circa 1879.
Douglass is dressed formally in a dark suit with white shirt and bow tie, with his distinctive wild gray hair and beard. The dignified portrait captures him at approximately age 61, during the period when he served as U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia and continued his work for civil rights and social justice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass#/media/File:Frederick_Douglass_(circa_1879)_(cropped).jpg
Got confused and picked up The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, instead of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. But, that's okay. I'll just read both. #Books #Bookstodon #IAmReading
Edited for clarity: finished Evelyn Hardcastle. Good mystery with a very unique premise. A slower pace than most mysteries, but good.
However, on to the other Evelyn (Hugo), and eleven chapters in, I am very bored. Am I just short of where the story takes off, or have I already passed the point where it should have clicked with me, if it were going to?
I am reticent to abandon a novel with such high ratings and glowing reviews.
If you're looking for a gift for a photographer or nature lover in your life, please consider getting a copy of my photo book Wild Vancouver Island, a print (some are on sale on my website) or a photo tour / workshop on Vancouver Island. Check my website: https://www.catherinebabault.com/
I just had work done on my vehicle (cost in the 4 digits) and some income would be much appreciated. Thank you.
#GiftIdeas #photography #books #FineArtPrint
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Large waves crashing on a rocky coastline under a grey menacing sky.
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Silhouette of pine trees on an outcrop backlit by a sunset with orange hues.
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View of a rocky shoreline with a forested coast on the right, a calm sea, a dark blue sky and a mountain range on the horizon.
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Cover of my book Wild Vancouver Island with a black bear standing on sandstone and looking at the camera.
#Writing #WritingCommunity #Reading #News #Scotland #UK #Books
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Screenshot of a Substack post titled 'There Is Nothing More to Know.'
The post reads: 'Knowledge has a terminal limit, beyond which it becomes part of the harm. Spare facts already make things clear. Reading every detail will not meaningfully expose those responsible to consequence. Instead, it is assimilated, made part of us. I refuse that. There is so much we have no choice in. This is a choice. I do not need to know everything. I already know enough. I am unequivocally against genocide without witnessing it. The sexual abuse of children does not require further description to be abhorrent and condemned. My resolute opposition to state violence does not increase the longer I look. My position does not depend on the details.'
Beneath the text is a black and white photograph showing a narrow stream running through rough grassland, leading toward distant hills beneath a cloudy sky.
The End of the World in Images: The Picture Book of the Life of St John and the Apocalypse
Picture Book of the Life of St John and the Apocalypse is a unique and visually striking example of the picture-book Apocalypse – a distinctive group of medieval manuscripts that present the apocalyptic visions of the Book of Revelation primarily through images.
https://www.medievalists.net/2026/02/picture-book-st-john-apocalypse/
Apocalypses at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=apocalypses
#books #medieval_manuscripts #palaeography
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The Douce Apocalypse (21r); Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Douce 180.
The page features a beautifully illuminated miniature depicting scenes from the Book of Revelation, showing Christ enthroned within a mandorla (almond-shaped frame) with the Lamb of God below, accompanied by saints and angels with golden halos.
The figures are rendered in vibrant colors including blues, reds, and golds, using Gothic architectural framing. Below the illumination is Latin text in Gothic script, with the manuscript notation "Ch.8 v.1" visible at the top. The Douce Apocalypse is one of the finest examples of English Gothic manuscript illumination from the mid-13th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Apocalypse_manuscripts#/media/File:The_Douce_Apocalypse_21r_-_Oxford_-_Bodleian_Library.jpg
George Orwell called for a new way of thinking about science
In October 1945, George Orwell responded to a letter from Mr J. Stewart Cook in the leftwing weekly newspaper Tribune calling for more science education.
By Robert Colls
https://theconversation.com/george-orwell-called-for-a-new-way-of-thinking-about-science-274447
Science education at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=science+%2Beducation
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Picture of George Orwell which appears in an old accreditation for the Branch of the National Union of Journalists (BNUJ).
The black and white portrait shows Orwell with his characteristic thin mustache, intense gaze, and slightly disheveled dark hair, likely taken during his years as a journalist and writer in the 1940s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell#/media/File:George_Orwell_press_photo.jpg
Well, I've now added a bunch to my collection for @Action.Jay #dnd #ForgottenRealms #books!
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/forgotten-realms-vault-wizards-coast-books
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A bunch of Forgotten Realms D&D Novels in my Readest
‘“There must be something in us that makes us peculiarly sensitive to any suggestions that we are ill-treated. Most people, although they seek to deny it, carry an imaginary enemy within themselves; and for this reason they are often over-ready to believe in a grievance of external origin.” We are all, Money-Kyrle argued, more than ready to embrace the language of grievance because it gives us the chance to blame external forces for all the things we don’t like about ourselves.’
-From: How To Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler; by Peter Pomerantsev
Okay, more tomorrow, have some other things to do for now.