Oh, I learned the other day of the passing of Wendell Berry at the grand age of 92.

Until around 2017 I'd never heard of him. But I read one of Nick Offerman's books where he gushed of the beauty of Berry's writing, with particular regard to his Port William series.

At this point I've read most of that series, I think. They're all beautiful, but I particularly fell in love with The Memory of Old Jack.

https://www.counterpointpress.com/books/the-memory-of-old-jack/

If you're outside the States, they can be a bit of a bugger to find, but they're worth the search. They're not about the big things; they're about people. Regular people, living regular lives at various points over the past 150 years, and the trials and tribulations that go with that.

#RIPWendellBerry #Bookstodon

Book 18 was Out for Delivery by Leigh Landry.

Help! There’s a dead body in my delivery van 🚚
Exes solve a mystery 💔
Cute dog 🐶
Sapphic second-chance romance 💕

Get it direct from the author: https://leighlandryauthor.com/out-for-delivery/

#bookstodon #QueerBooks

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Out for Delivery by Leigh Landry.

And now I’m on to this. See y’all in a month I guess

#bookstodon

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Book: “Toll the Hounds” by Steven Erikson.

I mostly mention the art gallery, because I really wanted to post this, which has left me with SO MANY questions.

#Bookstodon

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Black and white photo of a gravestone. The carving on it reads "DANIEL DE FOE AUTHOR OF ROBINSON CRUSOE WHO DIED APRIL 24 1731 IN HIS 70TH YEAR"

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Information card that was below the photo. It reads: "'Tombstone of Daniel Defoe, died April 173(1) in his (70th?) year in the garden of No.' This is the actual gravestone of Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe, which, through a series of unfortunate events, ended up in the garden of 56 Portswood Road, Southampton. In 1958, it was returned to Stoke Newington, where Defoe wrote most of his books."

Book 17 was Rules for Aging and Larceny by Julia London (narrated by Christina Moore).

Older women doing crimes 🥷💰🔫
Second chance … but make it friendship
One last hurrah
Diverse and inclusive rep

#LibroFM: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798899741661-rules-for-aging-and-larceny

#bookstodon #QueerBooks

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Rules for Aging and Larceny by Julia London (narrated by Christina Moore). My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

give me all your favourite #bookrecs! looking in particular for:

- romance
- fantasy
- queer
- magical realism
- sci-fi
- horror
- any combination of the above
- subgenres are also fine
- no ai covers or i'll blast you into the sun

#books #bookstodon

Book 16 was The Tartan Thesis by Scott K Good (narrated by Stewart Crank).

An American in Scotland 🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Overly competitive PhD students 📑
Quick to love … glacial to act on it 🧊

#KoboPlus: https://www.kobo.com/en/audiobook/tartan-thesis-the

#bookstodon #QueerBooks

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The Tartan Thesis by Scott K Good (narrated by Stewart Crank).

I'd love to know from book fans on Fedi, who are the really hot *contemporary* noir novel writers who you love? Especially noir thrillers (vs mysteries), and extra especially from Ireland?

- noir writers, expec. thrillers
- Irish noir writers
- novel writers (vs other media)
- contemporary (publishing within last 5 years)
- popular and successful

*Based on specs for a particular project. Ta.

@bookstodon

#Bookstodon #AskFedi #IrishWriters #Noir #FictionNoir

"Look, I don't mind summoning some demon and asking it," said the Lecturer in Recent Runes. 'That's normal. But building some mechanical contrivance to do your thinking for you, that's ... against nature."

#Books
#Bookstodon
#Fredagsbog

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Short version: Audiobook Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett. Fuller description: Screenshot of Penguin Random House 2002 English-language audiobook performance of Interesting Times, read by Colin Morgan. E-Reolen Danish library loan via Libby library app. Cover: yellow butterflies flying through hellfire-ish flame-like red and orange tones. Author name in grey, slightly larger than book title in deep purple. A single young figure in a pointy wizard hat and a cape sits in the middle of it all, looking bored or possibly disconsolate or possibly just not arsed. Am on chapter 9, 31 minutes in, over 10 hours to go. I've read the print book several times, but never the Talking Book. This edition is wonderful. New to the library yesterday and - thank Odin for library notifications - I nabbed it immediately and first.

Just finished Justin Currie's The Tremolo Diaries. Reading this straight after Atul Gawande's Being Mortal was, on reflection, not a wise choice. But nevertheless, I enjoyed JC'S melancholic, curmudgeonly account of life on tour with Del Amitri, and of his Parkinsons diagnosis, the death of his mother, and the suffering of his partner following a stroke. Definitely one for Del Amitri fans, but also for anyone who's finding old age is catching up with them. #Bookstodon #AmReading

I have finished reading:
45: Martha Wells - Artificial Condition.

I am now reading:
46: Martha Wells - Rogue Protocol.

#Books
#Reading
#Bookstodon

I have finished reading:
46: Martha Wells - Rogue Protocol.

I am now reading:
47: Martha Wells- Exit Strategy.

#Books #Reading #Bookstodon

I have finished reading:
47: Martha Wells- Exit Strategy.

I am now reading:
48: Martha Wells - Fugitive Telemetry.

#Books #Reading #Bookstodon

I have finished reading:
48: Martha Wells - Fugitive Telemetry.

I am now reading:
49: Martha Wells - Network Effect.

#Books
#Reading
#Bookstodon

I have finished reading:
49: Martha Wells - Network Effect.

I am now reading:
50: Martha Wells - System Collapse.
#Books #Reading #Bookstodon

Book 15 was The Build-a-Boyfriend Project by Mason Deaver (narrated by Logan Rozos).

After a frustrating day at work and an even more frustrating date, Eli decides to fake-date an anxious man in order to improve his standing at work while teaching the other man how to be a good boyfriend.

#bookstodon #QueerBooks

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The Build-a-Boyfriend Project by Mason Deaver (narrated by Logan Rozos).

Book 14 was How Queer Bookshops Changed the World, written and read by A.J. West.

Queer bookshops have been at the forefront of the battle for better rights for all. This book tells the stories of a few of them.

Get it on #LibroFM: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798349162398

#bookstodon

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How Queer Bookshops Changed the World, written and read by A.J. West. My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

So clever.
I love the shapes it’s making.

#upcycle #chairs #bookstodon #design #interiorDesign #DIY

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4 plain light wood chairs upcycled to make softly curved shelving unit. Two chairs at top facing inward (front legs cut down resting on a row of books on a long wood shelf, though the books seem impractical and maybe the books replacing the legs are fake & made of wood blocks covered with book covers), two chairs on the bottom are facing outward holding plants. As well as another shelf resting in the seat through openings on the backrest.

what a truly hilarious way to describe hitting someone with a blunt weapon lmao

(from The Amulet of Samarkand, Bartimaeus, by Jonathan Stroud)
#book #bookstodon #reading #bartimaeustrilogy

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A photography of an excerpt from the novel, it's a description of an action scene, the main character hits another with a blunt weapon, highlighted is "gave him a clout that reversed the topography of his features"

Anyway, I often hear that my generation only read Harry Potter, and so I set on to re-read the books I loved as a kid.
The little Vampire by Angela Sommer Bodenbürg was a big favourite of mine, it isn't edited in France nowadays so there's a market by collectors to get their hands on them.
His Dark Materials (of course), Artemis Fowl, Bartimaeus, Ewilan.
I don't believe Ewilan has been translated into English but now that there's an animated series who knows.
#books #bookstodon #reading

Bartimaeus is delightful tho, the sarcastic way he's talking, the character of Bartimaeus and Nathaniel, all the mysteries about AU magic London, it's very solid.

Some of the old books I re-read were pretty bad, but this one I was genuinely surprised at how good it is.

#books #bookstodon #bartimaeustrilogy

I really wish English speakers were a bit more curious about other language kid lit/young adult novels, it's a shame I can't share such a gem with non-french speakers.

It's not just that, a lot of comic books from France Italy Spain and Germany never get translated into English even tho they'll get translated into the 3 other languages. It's sad.
#bookstodon #ewilan #ewilansquest
https://youtu.be/GwzJE3oHm4I

I've finished the first book of the Bartimaeus Sequence, the Amulet of Samarkand! It was very good, no notes. I have a soft spot for sardonic characters.

I'm going to start the next book, I'm curious about how Stroud will bring back Bartimaeus. I think it might or might not be a plot hole, but Bartimaeus have lived for millenia and regardless of his opinion on magicians I don't think he'd care for societal change that'd be transient in his eyes.

#books #bookstodon #bartimaeustrilogy

But it's pretty clear that under the layers of sarcasm he's a caring characters for a chosen few humans.
But then I don't know what reason Nathaniel might have to bring back a djinn that knows his birth name.
I skimmed the excerpt of the 2nd book at the end of the first and it looks like he's still very indoctrinated. So I'm curious.
#books #bookstodon #bartimaeustrilogy

#bookstodon #reading #bartimaeus
I'm at Part Two of Book Two. I'm glad Kitty is a pov character now.
I took the same edition on the book store but for some reason the units are all imperial instead of metric. The first book was in metric. I don't get it.
I really have no idea how much a foot is, and having to open a converter every few pages is irritating.
It's not unusual that the book I read use imperial, but when I saw the first book was in metric I was happy and hopeful. Why :(

What! It was in imperial but two pages later it's meters now! What is this! Is this some kind of British nonsense?
#reading #bookstodon

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"about fifteen feet tall"

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"three meters tall"

I've just finished reading the most recent Frederik Backman book. It's every bit as heartwarming and delightful as all of his others.

Sometimes it's nice to have saccharine sweet and heartbreak. It reminds us we're human.

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/my-friends-fredrik-backman/6b001f077fb44819?ean=9781398516434&bkshp-astro=t

If you're not familiar with Frederik Backman, then go and read everything he's published, starting with A Man Called Ove. And also the Beartown trilogy. And Anxious People. And Britt-Marie Was Here.

Just read his books.

#Bookstodon

GIFs became a defining part of the early web, including the ubiquitous “under construction” signs that marked unfinished pages. JD Shadel looks at what these fleeting images can teach us about preserving digital culture before it disappears.

📚 Read 'What Early Internet Era GIFs Show Us About Preserving Digital Culture' in VANISHING CULTURE from the Internet Archive
📖 Download & read, FREE: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026/page/159/

#Bookstodon #VanishingCulture #DigitalMemory #InternetArchive

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Quote tile with a light grey background and black text. Headline reads: "What can an old GIF teach us about preserving digital culture?" Quote below reads: "As with a lot of things on the web, GIFs were everywhere until the moment they weren't." Attributed to JD Shadel, Writer & Editorial Director. Vanishing Culture logo in the corner.

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Quote tile with a teal background and black text. Quote reads: "Early GIFs off GeoCities websites are really only accessible thanks to the work of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and the GifCities search engine." Attributed to JD Shadel, Writer & Editorial Director. Vanishing Culture logo in the corner.

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Quote tile with an orange background and black text. Quote reads: "This is, after all, the ephemeral truth of the Internet: if you don't save it, even if it seems like it's everywhere momentarily, it will just as quickly disappear." Attributed to JD Shadel, Writer & Editorial Director. Vanishing Culture logo in the corner.

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Book cover titled “Vanishing Culture” on a teal background. Pixel-art style graphics show a VHS tape, open book, film reel, chain link, and vinyl record dissolving into digital fragments. At the bottom, a cursor icon points to the word “SAVE,” alongside an archive-style building icon, evoking digital preservation.

Early morning autumn sunlight through the bookshop window, a little tranquil moment before opening.

.

#Bruntsfield #Edinburgh #Edimbourg #photography #photographie #bookshop #librairie #bookstodon

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Looking from the back of the bookshop, along the shelf lined wall, to the large, plate glass window letting early morning light in

A little cheery news for this wet Tuesday morning.

Whether it be War and Peace or The Very Hungry Caterpillar, according to a study from the University of Cambridge, regardless of “what or how we read”, sitting down with a book is linked to improved health and problem solving. Benefits include lowering stress and reducing the risk of dementia, and span all types of reading, from comic books to classic novels or hefty non-fiction tomes.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/reading-and-associations-with-brain-health-cognition-wellbeing-and-mental-health/1A3565FA61831A975813113DE1AB2B09

#Reading #Bookstodon #GoodNews

How come you didn't tell me about Tana French? Holy shit, she's brilliant. I'm listening to The Hunter on audiobook, and I'm blown away.

Shame on you for not telling me about her.

#books #bookstodon

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Cover of the audiobook for Tana French's The Hunter. It's got a silhouette of what looks like a cowboy against an orange background

Book 13 was Spirited Situation by Louisa Masters (narrated by Nick J. Russo).

He can see dead people 👻
One night hookup 🔥
But now they work together 😬
Oh, and there’sa hellmouth in the basement 🕳️

#KoboPlus: https://www.kobo.com/en/audiobook/spirited-situation

#bookstodon

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Spirited Situation by Louisa Masters (narrated by Nick J. Russo).

Book 12 was How Migration Really Works: 22 Things You Need to Know about the Most Divisive Issue in Politics by Hein de Haas (narrated by Matthew Spencer).

Starts out by saying that being pro- or anti-immigration is on par with being for or against the economy. Then presents dozens of positives about immigration, a few neutral points, and a few things that could work better.

#bookstodon

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How Migration Really Works: 22 Things You Need to Know about the Most Divisive Issue in Politics Hein de Haas (narrated by Matthew Spencer).

"Toft had never been in Moominvalley, but he didn't get lost. It wasn't raining at the moment but the forest was covered in mist and looked very beautiful. Everywhere there were deep pools and hundreds of streams and waterfalls.

Toft walked as quietly as he could and very slowly. Moominvalley was very near now. He walked even more quietly, his paws hardly touching the mossy ground. He listened.

It was Moominpappa, chopping wood for the winter."

#MoominMonday #BeMoreMoomin #Bookstodon

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Black and white pencil sketch from Moominvalley in November, shows tiny Toft walking through a huge forest.

I'm pretty sure that's not what the Doctor meant...

But would I watch Doctor Who with John Wick as the companion? 🤔
Hell yes I would 😂

(No one had better do anything to K9) 😊

@DrWho@fedigroups.social
@tvshow
@reading @bookstodon @books
@humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop

#GeekMemes #Geek #Meme #Humor #Humour #Funny
#SciFi #TV #Movies #DoctorWho #JohnWick
#Reading #Readers #ReadingCommunity #Bookstodon #FantasyBooks

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Two photo meme 1: A quote on a wall, "You want weapons? We're in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world! -Doctor Who" 2: Photo of John Wick using a book to split someone's skull open.

Book 11 was To Catch a Flieff, written and read by Julia Rios.

Cosy sci-fi sapphic romance 💕 🚀
Cute cat 🐈
Christmas (sort of) 🎄
Inclusive cast 🏳️‍🌈
Just really sweet 🍬

#KoboPlus: https://www.kobo.com/en/audiobook/to-catch-a-flieff-1

#bookstodon #QueerBooks

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To Catch a Flieff, written and read by Julia Rios.

Book 10 was A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers (narrated by Marisha Tapera).

Mil sci-fi with a liberal dash of pansexual sports romance – think the Expanse meets Heated Rivalry without the spice. 🚀🪐🏅

#bookstodon #QueerBooks

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A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers (narrated by Marisha Tapera). My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

Ancora una volta il Principe si trovò di fronte a uno degli enigmi siciliani.
In questa isola segreta dove le case sono sbarrate e i contadini dicono di ignorare la via per andare al paese nel quale vivono e che si vede lì sul colle a dieci minuti di strada, in quest'isola, malgrado l'ostentato lusso di mistero, la riservatezza è un mito.

[Il Gattopardo - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa]

#bookstodon #libri #lettura #IlGattopardo #TheLeopard

"Per il Re, certo, ma per quale Re?". Il ragazzo ebbe una di quelle sue crisi di serietà che lo rendevano impenetrabile e caro. "Se non ci siamo anche noi, quelli ti combinano la repubblica. Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga come è, bisogna che tutto cambi. Mi sono spiegato?"

[Il Gattopardo - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa]

#bookstodon #libri #lettura #IlGattopardo #TheLeopard

Pssst! Do you like books? What about when they’re queer? What if they’re free?

https://books.bookfunnel.com/lgbtqnewslettergiveaway/wpk6n8vens

#bookstodon #queerbookstagram

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An urban scene with picture frames containing five of the books available in this giveaway.

Looking for a #solarpunk book? Here's a review of The Blossoming of the Big Tree, the story of a grandma who coordinates the defense of her decentralized country when a colonizer invades.

“This was a very interesting novella. Science fiction that presents a new world always is… All in all: If Dilman Dila’s goal was to create an interesting and engaging world, then he definitely succeeded.” Limfic review.

Read sample chapter https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/

#books #bookstodon #sff #scifi #amreading

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett. This is more like it! A prequel to TPotE series, we see King's Bridge develop and get its name, against the usual backdrop of villainous clerics and nobles vying with our hero and heroine Edgar, who becomes the stonemason, and Ragna, who marries into the ealdorman's scheming family, all supported by Aldred the good monk. The usual creative political solutions together with prime KF rip-roaring story telling.

#13 🧵 #books #bookstodon

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A chunky paperback with a red cover decorated with faint illuminated manuscript, and a Sutton Hoo-esque helmet in gold.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. At the moment of her death, Nora is transported to the library that holds books about the millions of lives she's living in parallel universes. Nora tries out as many lives as she needs to realise her regrets weren't based in reality. It's an interesting idea, raising some philosophical questions. Well written, readable rather than gripping. I'm told there's a sequel on the way. I hope it resurrects Mrs Elm.

#14 🧵 #books #bookstodon

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Hardback novel with a starry midnight blue cover, title and author's name in white. In the centre is a stylised building with its roof opened like the flaps of a box. It shows rainbow colours inside, and a white cat walks towards it.

Nonesuch by Francis Spufford. Francis Spufford never disappoints. This book sound bonkers - wartime finance, magical realism, early adventures in TV, a spiky love story - but it comes together in a page-turning adventure.

Iris Hawkins, City clerk, has ambitions and likes her flings on her terms. One night she leaves with Geoff Hale just to annoy Lady Lall who doesn't want him but likes his adoration. Iris could never have imagined what form Lall's revenge would take.

🧵15 #bookstodon #books

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Purply swirly cover with title and author in gold. Fan in the background because is it ever hot.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I've just sat and read this in one go, having picked it up from the library this morning. I've never read a graphic novel before but loved it as a format.

At age 10 Marjane abruptly has to wear a veil and try to understand the changes happening in her country, Iran. The next few years bring unimaginably brutal change to Iran, during which time Marjane is sent abroad to continue her education in safety, but it doesn't go to plan.

🧵16 #books #bookstodon

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Paperback cover framed in black with a cartoon-style drawing of Marjane Satrapi and her family partially covered by a large cartoon drawing of Marjane in profile.

Action at a Distance by Ben Aaronovitch et al, the first of the #RiversOfLondon graphic novels in terms of when the action's set (some short stories and novellas are set earlier). Only my second ever graphic novel read, and a continuation of my determination to read everything in the RoL canon.

An old friend of Nightingale's has died, which brings back events from the 50s when Nightingale's help was needed with a post-war German working in Britain's nuclear industry.

🧵20 #books #bookstodon

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Composite grey cover showing Peter's face in the background with a shiny WWII aeroplane superimposed and heading straight for you. Lettering in white.

Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch. This is a series of short stories in the #RiversOfLondon canon, many of which were commissioned by Waterstones to go alongside a new book coming out or a big event, such as the 2012 Olympics. This brings them all together with an introduction to each by Ben Aaronovitch. They vary from a page to quite long and are as always imaginative and surprising. I read it as an #ebook.

🧵21 #books #bookstodon

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Pale biscuity cover showing an annotated architectural plan of the Folly. The title is in red with the author's name in white across the top.