I read lots of books on #coops, so I thought I would start writing short reviews of them for co-oppy people on #Bookwyrm. First up is this interesting book called Worker Cooperatives and Deep Democracy by Williams and Satgar. Its well worth a read.

https://bookwyrm.social/user/caribou/review/11387098#anchor-11387098

#cooperatives #bookstodon

Book 26 was Platform Decay by Martha Wells (narrated by Kevin R. Free).

The worst (best?) thing about Murderbot is I always get so absorbed in its reactions to people, places, and things – any nouns, really. Anyways, I inevitably lose track of what’s happening.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/00d63125-209e-4e5f-aa90-312915d089ee

#bookstodon

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Platform Decay by Martha Wells (narrated by Kevin R. Free).

This will be essential reading, I think.

Release date: 29th September.

The US is still trying to deport Mahmoud (again).

#Bookstodon #FreePalestine #USPolitics

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NO LAND TO STAND ON: PROTEST, PALESTINE AND BEING UNFREE IN AMERICA by Mahmood Khalil

Question of the Day: If you were transported to the place where a book you are reading is set, where would you be? #bookstodon

Book 25 was The Lost World of the Dinosaurs: Uncovering the Secrets of the Prehistoric Age by Armin Schmitt (narrated by Shaun Grindell).

I enjoyed the chapter that walks through the mathematical calculations of how many T-rexes ever lived.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/2485e2f5-93df-43b2-b9a1-799c84a444e4?redirect=true

#bookstodon

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The Lost World of the Dinosaurs: Uncovering the Secrets of the Prehistoric Age by Armin Schmitt (narrated by Shaun Grindell). My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

Dundee Book Festival 2026 https://dundeebookfestival.com #Books #Bookstodon #Dundee

Portland, Oregon! If you are a writer with questions about your manuscript or the overall state and process of publishing, come see me at Two Rivers Books in the St Johns neighborhood tomorrow. 15-minute slots are available for you to Ask the Editor in person.

#pdx #bookstodon

https://tworiversweirdsisters.com/pages/events-classes#?event-id=80626

Library sale loot. We need a word for the particular kind of joy you feel when you pay next-to-nothing for books you could have read for free before.

10 books for 80 kr. (€10.71). In a country where your average book costs about 250 kr. or €35.

2 CDs for 5 kr. (67 cents)

I love the fact that the librarians provide shopping baskets.

#Books
#Libraries
#Bookstodon

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Short version: Laid out on a cream rug, my library sale haul. Long list of titles and covers follows. Ancient Light by John Banville – cover photo of couple in working farmer-style clothes dancing in old farmhousey kitchen. Så Mange Live af Elsebeth Egholm – cover illustration of dark foreboding port with iron gates. Krigens Veje af Jørgen Stormgaard – cover drawing of windows showing a hooded prisoner being interrogated by a Nazi. Arven af Miguel Bonnefoy – cover illustration in reds and oranges of bird flying up from a leaf. Canada by Richard Ford – cover abstract yellow-orange. The Third Angel by Alicve Hoffman – generic muted cover photo of back of figure in flapping dress or wings. Birgithe med TH af Katrine Marie Guldager – cover blue and red-orange drawing of 60s-ish living room. Family Life by Akhil Sharma – cover illustration of child’s silhouette sitting on book title letters. Jeg hører, hvad du siger af Katrine Marie Guldager – cover green drawing of couhc and lamp and box of tissues. Komplekskuller Klimafiktion, a Science Fiction Cirklen anthology – cover photo of worn door with graffiti a penguin holding a red balloon that looks like it’s bleeding. CDs: Handel’s Acis and Galatea and, o joy, Kathleen Ferrier singing Gustav Mahler

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Bad photo from library sale last week at Dokk1 Aarhus Main Library Denmark. Hard to take while avoiding photographing people - an odd angle, showing some of the nearest tables with jumbled piles of books. A briefly empty blue shopping basket on the floor.

Book 24 was Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao (narrated by Nicky Endres & Natalie Naudus).

Getting over their exes together 👩‍❤️‍👩
Trans MC 🏳️‍⚧️
BIPOC leads ✅
Workers of the world, unite 🤛

Get it in #KoboPlus: https://www.kobo.com/en/audiobook/make-room-for-love

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao (narrated by Nicky Endres & Natalie Naudus).

help me choose the next book I am going to read

#books #bookstodon

At some point in my life, I actually knew how to sit while reading a book for 12 hours without paying a considerable price for those 12 hours in that position the next day.

There's currently exactly on position in which my neck doesn't hurt like hell. And it's sadly not the "looking straight ahead" neutral position.

#Bookstodon

Please don't use Amazon. They've killed off uncountable numbers of independent used book shops. They treat their employees worse than they treat robots; their policies have LITERALLY killed off workers, for which they've paid virtually no price at all.

Their contracts have effectively raised the price of EVERYTHING on the web, whether you buy from Amazon or not. Jeff Bezos collects a cut of all online sales that aren't person-to-person; Corey Doctorow documented this clearly in his article on enshittification.

And their rapacious climate policies are moving the world rapidly towards uninhabitability. Amazon is literally working to exterminate the human race.

So PLEASE don't buy from Amazon.

There are alternatives.

• Your local used book shops, if they exist.
• Your local library.
• The Internet Archive has free borrowable (or even downloadable) ebooks, many of them.
• Biblio.com is a great independent source for used physical books. So are Bookshop.org, Thiftbooks.com, and Powell's Books. The latter two also offer new books.
• Project Gutenberg has a wealth of wonderful free ebooks.
• So do Standard Ebooks, FadedPage, and other sites.
• Kobo has a large selection of ebooks, as well as ebook reading devices.
• Anna's Archive offers access to virtually ALL ebooks, if you're willing to sail the high seas and fly the Jolly Roger. It's very easy to use. Look it up on Wikipedia.
• eBay is another option, although Amazon sometimes sneaks in. You can also buy far more than books there.

Amazon is, for lack of a better term, PURE EVIL. For your own sake and the sake of the children of the future, please make the effort to shop elsewhere!

#Books #Bookstodon #Amazon #QuasitBookRecs

Book 23 was Geoffrey the Very Strange by Angel Martinez (narrated by Dan Calley).

Pink-haired half demon meets weird loner necromage. Found family, one slightly evil ex, and an invasion of zombie rocks. Good fun!

Very short review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/0ca46b98-e25e-4ec5-8cb2-d11407e3a26b

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Geoffrey the Very Strange by Angel Martinez (narrated by Dan Calley). My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

Science Fiction Books of Gratitude

A cleanup that leads to a new-found reading adventure of science fiction books and an unexpected yet delightful surprise that brings gratitude.

https://www.adamsdesk.com/posts/science-fiction-book-gratitude/

#blog #bookstodon #books #ScienceFiction #reading

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Very large bold block shaped title of 'Science Fiction Books' stands next to the earth's bluish coloured haze atmosphere while the title is against the dark outer space.

Finished reading "Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar.

A short story collection — fairy tales, fantasy, and poems centering women's resilience and identity, gathered from years of El-Mohtar's commissioned work.

"John Hollowback and the Witch" is a delightful slow burn: a man guilty of wronging women, yet innocent in having no memory of it. "The Truth About Owls" handles displacement better than most novels.

4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231127187-seasons-of-glass-and-iron

#bookstodon

"getting their music by turning a dial. Getting their phrases from the comic strips instead of Shakespeare or the Bible..."

A pompous character in It Can't Happen Here criticising the "soft" modern youth. 1935. Today it would be streaming & influencers, but the same nonsense.

#books #livres #bookstodon

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A page of text from It Can't Happen Here

Managed several hours at the bookshop for the first time since surgery & the chemo started, felt good. Not too tired, but given the heat, quitting while I'm ahead rather than wait till I *am* too tired.

Slow amble homeward, pause for drink & read of It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis, which I have long meant to read; a warning from 1935 of authoritarianism & fascism in the US election (a warning too many did not heed today, clearly)

#books #livres #AmReading #bookstodon

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Penguin Modern Classics edition of It Can Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, the cover design resembling a 1930s era newspaper layout

I know it's the Onion, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

#bookstodon

https://theonion.com/respect-for-friend-drops-after-reading-book-they-recommended/

Stolen from @Funktious as I thought it was such a great idea: a thread of all the books I read in a year.

Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession, read for a #bookgroup that unanimously loved it. Set in modern day Ireland, it's a contemplative and gently humorous story of two men who in their own ways don't fit in to the world. It's lovely, and quite different in tone to the TV adaptation that treats them as a couple of kooky misfits. They are so much more than that. #books #bookstodon 🧵1

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Cover of the book Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession. A yellow paperback cover with what I assume is a sunfish drawn.

House of Splinters by Laura Purcell, a proof copy. I enjoyed this as I'm increasingly enjoying slightly spooky stories with a gentle supernatural element. It's set in the C18th and follows the events of a family moving into the family seat and facing up to the events of the past. I liked the protagonist Belinda and thought LP hit just the right note of 'is she imagining it or is there really something going on?'. Recommended if the tone and subject matter appeals to you. #books #bookstodon 🧵2

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Cover of House of Splinters by Laura Purcell: a dark cover depicting a loose wreath of roses with hands in it, with old fashioned sleeve cuffs.

Don't Tell the Patient by Bill Inman. This is a cheat really as I've been reading it on + off for ages but finished it today. BI set up the yellow card scheme monitoring adverse reactions to prescribed drugs and worked in drug safety for 30yrs. This is a fascinating history, if a little leaden in style, and a real eye opener about the politics and finances involved, as well as going into incentivising GPs to prescribe new drugs. We aren't told enough about this as patients #books #bookstodon 🧵4

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Don't Tell the Patient by (Dr) Bill Inman. A hardback with a block yellow and white cover with the title in black capitals.

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. Bought for a book group meeting that I had to bale on. I loved this! Set in the snow of early 1963, it follows two couples both expecting their first child. It's mainly about relationships of all sorts, where people come from and how realistic or not their expectations are. It's excellently written and although the ending is a little vague it's perfectly in keeping with the story. #books #bookstodon 🧵5

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The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. Appropriately pale snowy cover with a royal blue circle in the middle bearing the title in white letters. Just behind the book and out of focus, my cat Tails is curled up on an orange velvet chair.

Archaeology is Rubbish by Tony Robinson & Prof Mick Aston. This well-written storified skip through the process of a commercial archaeology dig is a fun and interesting read. I picked it up on a whim in the library then bought my own copy to augment my medieval #archaeology degree which taught me no practical skills whatsoever 😄 If you love/d #TimeTeam or are just generally interested in archaeology I recommend it, though some techniques have really moved on since 2002 #books #bookstodon 🧵6

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Archaeology is Rubbish - A Beginner's Guide by Tony Robinson and Professor Mick Aston.

As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel, another publisher's proof. A story about magic, selling your soul and living under a curse, set from the C16th-C20th. I felt all the way through that I wasn't quite grasping something, but there was enough in it to keep me reading. Overlong in my opinion: the charm wore off and I really wanted to be done with it, but the writing's not bad and it must have taken lots of research.

#books #bookstodon 🧵7

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A black book cover with a heavy design of flowers, leaves and stars. Gold capitals say LIVE MANY LIVES LOVE THE ONCE, which isn't the title.

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The spine of a black book with a pattern of flowers, leaves and stars and in gold capitals the author's name and the book's title.

The Defector by Evelyn Anthony. I loved this! This very copy used to sit on my grandparents' bookshelf, now on mine with a few of its fellows, so I thought it was time I read it. It's a spy story centring around an ex-KGB official, the Defector of the title, and the bargain he makes for sharing information on how far Russia and America are prepared to go to protect their oil interests in the middle east 🤷 I'll be reading the next two parts, probably starting tonight 😄

🧵8

#books #bookstodon

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Front cover of The Defector by Evelyn Anthony. A painted design of a man's head and shoulders, view straight up his nose, flanked by two smaller images of women.

The Avenue of the Dead by Evelyn Anthony. This was a poor successor to The Defector. The plot centres around the wife of a top US politician and reminded me very strongly of Second Lady by Irving Wallace, published just the year before. Another Davina Graham story, the plot is unlikely and hard to believe though to be fair I didn't see the crux of it til it was revealed. It ends on a good cliffhanger so I'll probs read the final part of the trilogy and leave EA there.

#9 🧵 #books #bookstodon

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The Avenue of the Dead by Evelyn Anthony, 1980s hardback. A Mexican statue is posed with a gun against a glowing red background.

Circle of Days by Ken Follett. I had such hopes for this as I'm right into the Neolithic 🪨. It's worth listening to the pod shown first. It centres on relations between three tribes, how that leads to the building of Stonehenge, and what's involved. Sadly it's 75% fantasy and that spoilt it for me. I loved the PotE series so hoped for more from this but a history book it ain't. Not one for purists, which it turns out I am. Some good research in places though.

#10 🧵 #books #bookstodon

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Screenshot of an The English Heritage pod episode interviewing Ken Follett about the book. It wouldn't just let me copy the episode link, ooooh no.

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Circle of Days by Ken Follett. Two superimposed images of Stonehenge on another glowing red background - summer solstice - with KF's name in understated inch high gold letters.

The Story Collector by Iris Costello. Some interesting snippets of WWI history in an otherwise quite familiar type of book. The plot was rather lurid in places and 100% did not need the Reid's grandson strand. The accents project turns out to be real which is lovely.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/09/world-war-british-accent-recordings

#11 🧵 #books #bookstodon

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Dark blue cover with painted flowers up the sides growing out of an open wooden box.

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst. This book was hyped on the cover so my expectations were high and they were met.

Set in the 80s it focuses on Nick, who lodges in London with the grand family of fellow Oxford grad Toby, whose father Gerald is a Tory MP. Nick hides his homosexuality in a time of AIDS tragedy and hysteria, which together with Gerald's nefarious activities puts them ultimately on a collision course. Outstanding writing, excellent characterisation.

#12 🧵 #books #bookstodon

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Monochrome cover showing several blurry boys in evening dress larking about against an indistinct background. The title is in shocking pink capitals and relates to either cocaine, architectural elements or something else altogether.

Advance warning - please locate your towel. I repeat, please locate your towel. International Know Where Your Towel Day Is approaches. Also the Glorious 25th of May.
#bookstodon #HHGTTG #Discworld

Ich hoffe, ihr wisst alle wo euer Handtuch ist! 25 Jahre #Towelday #douglasadams #bookstodon

#onthisday

Tanith Lee, a British science fiction and fantasy writer died on this day back in 2015.

She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories and was the winner of multiple awards for her writing.

Today, she’s become a largely forgotten master whose work is underappreciated and underrated.

Probably best known for her breakthrough novel, The Birthgrave (1975), Drinking Sapphire Wine (1977), and Night’s Master (1978).

I was originally drawn to reading her because of her witchy sounding name which is actually derived from the name
Tanit, an ancient Carthaginian lunar goddess in the Punic pantheon.

#bookstodon #WritersOfMastodon #onthisday #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

just finished my first discworld novel. the first one I managed to stick with start to finish, I should say. moderately enjoyed it.

I think my problem with it is that growing up outside the Pratchettphone world, but having collected many friends who internalised the works growing up, I love the humour but came to the books too late not to have them come across as dated and less urgent than the thinking as I’ve seen it applied around me on a day-to-day basis by people I love, if that makes sense.

#bookstodon

Book 22 was Transmentation | Transience: Or, an Accession to the People’s Council for Nine Thousand Worlds by Darkly Lem (narrated by Dion Graham).

Complex, multiverse-spanning literary speculative fiction.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/9f3c71fa-f20f-4ed9-a630-7524cdd36ff1?redirect=true

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Transmentation | Transience: Or, an Accession to the People’s Council for Nine Thousand Worlds by Darkly Lem (narrated by Dion Graham). My listening supports The Portal Bookshop Libro.fm

Top story: Sports play an important role in the effort to remove trans people from public life, because so many Americans need little evidence or convincing to believe that trans athletes do not belong.

It's time to question the assumptions behind these attacks. https://www.texasobserver.org/trans-athletes-inclusion-sports-culture/

#books #bookstodon #culture #LGBTQIA #trans #sports

May 22 is International Sherlock Holmes Day — the birthday of Arthur Conan Doyle, the man who created the world’s most famous detective.

Holmes was inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell, a real physician who could read a patient’s profession, habits, and character from tiny details: a walk, an accent, worn sleeves, mud on shoes.

Doyle later tried to kill Holmes at Reichenbach Falls… but readers refused to let him go.

#books #writers #SherlockHolmes #ConanDoyle @bookstodon #bookstodon #reading #today

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Arthur Conan Doyle

Reading is an act of rebellion whether it's legal or not 😁

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

#ReadingMemes #Meme #Memes #Humor #Humour #Funny
#Reading #Readers #ReadingCommunity
#Novel #Books #Fiction
#Bookwyrm #Bookstodon

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Drawn image of a woman carrying a stack of books with '1984' falling of the top. Caption: READ! While it is still legal.

Book 21 was Zero Pucks by E.M. Lindsey (narrated by Iggy Toma & Kirt Graves).

Drunken wedding💍
Traumatised x2
Bros being bros … for good🥊
Disability rep🧑‍🦽‍➡️

Get it in #KoboPlus: https://www.kobo.com/en/audiobook/zero-pucks

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Zero Pucks by E.M. Lindsey (narrated by Iggy Toma & Kirt Graves).

LOLLY

FUCKING

WILLOWES

I finished reading Lolly Willowes last night and cannot recommend it enough. It is old-fashioned and English and has a long, rewarding on ramp of a plot. Act 1 sets the scene, act 2 is very relatable, and act 3 is a charming shock.

It's in the public domain, so Standard Ebooks has a very good edition for free (but donate if you can!)

#bookstodon #literature

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/sylvia-townsend-warner/lolly-willowes

Ich würde gerne meine Bücher und meinen Lesefortschritt zwischen meinem eReader und meiner #Calibre Web Automated-Instanz synchronisieren.
Eignet sich dafür die Kobo-Integration mehr oder empfiehlt es sich mehr, dazu den KOReader zu installieren?
#calibreweb #calibrewebautomated #koreader #bookstodon

Book 20 was This Princess Kills Monsters by Ry Herman (narrated by Kristen Sieh).

Take a load of fairy tales and chuck ‘em in a blender. A gender-bendy blender.

Review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/98373ee6-da8b-41db-accb-b8d30c4fada5?redirect=true

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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This Princess Kills Monsters by Ry Herman (narrated by Kristen Sieh).

RE: https://taonaw.com/2026/05/19/any-recommendations-for-a-good.html

Hi there, friendly #books bubble. 👋🏻 Does anyone happen to have a good recommendation for JTR?

@bookstodon #bookstodon #darkcyberpunk #cyberpunk #literature #askfedi

#Edinburgh peeps, a reminder that the Auld Alliance Comics Festival is coming up at the Institut Francais soon, in conjunction with the excellent La Belle Adventure European comics shop on Leith Walk https://www.ifecosse.org.uk/events-agenda/auld-alliance-comics-festival-2026/#/

#Edimbourg #books #livres #BandeDessinee #GraphicNovels #LiteraryFestival #bookstodon #AuldAllianceComicsFestival #AuldAlliance #French #Francais #Scottish #Ecossais

If there are avid #Readers out there who like the function of Goodreads but don't want to support Amazon— I suggest Storygraph. It's 4MM readers instead of 150MM. But that doesn't matter. All the books are there. And you can export/import your GR library to them lickety-split.

#Writers #WritingCommunity #Bookstodon

https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/author_markharbinger

Book 19 was Up Close and Personal by Jay Hogan (narrated by Gary Furlong).

One-and-done meets long-term-only🌞🌑
An adorable giant dog 🐶
A slight case of murder 🔫

Get it in #KoboPlus: https://www.kobo.com/en/audiobook/up-close-and-personal-36

#bookstodon #queerbooks

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Up Close and Personal by Jay Hogan (narrated by Gary Furlong).

I find it disturbing enough when any creator espouses using AI, but when it is a writer who is the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, they're not just letting themselves down, they are betraying all writers. Go to silicon hell, Olga Tokarczuk
https://lithub.com/nobel-laureate-olga-tokarczuk-apparently-used-ai-to-write-her-latest-novel/

#writing #books #livres #bookstodon #AI #AISlop

FOR
FUCKING
FUCK'S
SAKE

The CEO of Barnes and Noble says he will stock books written by AI 🤬 🤬 🤬 🤬

#FuckAI #Bookstodon