@v_i_o_l_a@openbiblio.socialim dezember gelernt: von der reihe "Mistress of the Art of Death" von Ariana Franklin ist 2020 noch ein fünfter band erschienen!
https://goodreads.com/series/44043-mistress-of-the-art-of-death
dem musste ich gleich nachgehen; mittlerweile liegt das …
@deabigt@universeodon.comInto the Fire (The Earthburst Saga, #2) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8148123732?utm_medium=api
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished reading “Erasure” by Percival Everett.
“Monk”, a largely overlooked black academic author, rages at the publishing industry & writes a deliberately offensive ghetto-lit parody. They love it, offering serious money. Satire collides with financial necessity.
A savage rebuke of publishing industry racism paired with genuinely moving dementia subplot. Uneven but provocative - raises uncomfortable questions about authenticity and selling out.
4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
@deabigt@universeodon.comOperation Starshot (The Earthburst Saga, #3) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8148124226?utm_medium=api
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished "Dissolution" by Nicholas Binge.
An elderly couple, Stanley & Maggie, are coping with his deteriorating memory, for which he's living in a care facility. A strange visitor credibly claims the home is responsible for removing his memories, and that Stanley's mind holds a secret that will save the world from imminent destruction.
A cat & mouse game ensues across time, memory, and featuring a deliciously evil character. Complex!
5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐…
@Mediagazer@mstdn.socialJack Posobiec, a new Pentagon press corps member, seems to be working in coordination with the Pentagon to threaten a journalist writing about a DoD official (Dan Friedman/Mother Jones)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/
@memeorandum@universeodon.comI Asked the Pentagon About Pete Hegseth's Mentor. Then the Threats Started. (Dan Friedman/Mother Jones)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/eric-geressy-goodreads-pentagon-dod-pete-hegseth-jack-posobiec-threat/
http://www.memeorandum.com/251211/p27#a251211p27
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished "Life, and Death, and Giants" by Ron Rindo.
Gabriel, 18 lbs at birth, his unwed Amish mother shunned for refusing to name the father, dies in labor. Gabriel lives w/ family & friends, liminally between English & Amish communities.
Exceptionally kind, incredibly athletic (a giant at over 8' tall), Gabriel attracts a lot of attention from the world. His exceptional kindness is life-altering for so many.
Tragic, but beautiful.
4/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐…
@deabigt@universeodon.comThe Last Horizon (The Earthburst Saga, #6) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8148125816?utm_medium=api
@v_i_o_l_a@openbiblio.social#TIL: von der reihe "Mistress of the Art of Death" von Ariana Franklin ist 2020 noch ein fünfter band erschienen!
https://www.goodreads.com/series/44043-mistress-of-th…
@deabigt@universeodon.comReason to Fear (The Earthburst Saga #5) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8148126156?utm_medium=api
@stiefkind@mastodon.socialUnd deshalb ist Bookwyrm für mich noch immer keine nutzbare Alternative zu Goodreads. Gerade mal wieder einen Import probiert. Die unbekannten sind ganz normale Bücher aus dem deutschen Verlagshandel. Alle erschienen in den letzten ca. 10 Jahren.
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished reading "So Many Steves: Afternoons with Steve Martin" by Steve Martin and Adam Gopnik.
Gopnik interviews his friend Martin in intimate conversations about his multifaceted career: magic, comedy, film, novels, banjo, and art collecting.
Martin emerges as a true renaissance man, applying analytical rigor across diverse art forms. Focused explorations rather than exhaustive biography, their friendship creates genuine reflection.
5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
@deabigt@universeodon.comWhen the Moon Hits Your Eye https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8125918883?utm_medium=api
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished "The Memory Collectors" by Dete Meserve.
A company has developed technology to transport your consciousness into your past, but only for one hour and without any precision as to when. Some go to see a lost loved one. Others to briefly escape the pain of future traumas.
Four strangers find themselves marooned on the same day and begin to discover a connection.
Strong start but devolves into an all too neat saccharine finish.
3/5 ⭐⭐⭐
@losttourist@social.chatty.monsterOK, so once again I'm the last person on the planet to learn about the good things.
I have just discovered #letterboxd, which is sort of like Goodreads/Bookwyrm for films and TV programmes.
Now if only it had ActivityPub functionality it would be amazing.
#films #movies
@deabigt@universeodon.comTermination Shock https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4549701652?utm_medium=api
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished “Deacon King Kong” by James McBride.
In 1969, an elderly church deacon known as “sportcoat” in his community of the Causeway Housing project in south Brooklyn, approaches & unexpectedly shoots a drug dealer, wounding him.
What happens afterwards is a great character & community driven story of colliding tectonic plates: changing neighborhood demographics, police presence, the destruction of drugs. Stays mostly humorous & light.
5/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
…
@deabigt@universeodon.comHomo Deus: A History of Tomorrow https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8303019579?utm_medium=api
@deabigt@universeodon.comTerminus (Threshold, #4) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4549711349?utm_medium=api
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished “Starman’s Saga” by Colin Alexander.
Leif Grettison, former combat veteran and current paramedic, is “chosen” by a rigged lottery to accompany a team of scientists on an interstellar mission of discovery. His cool head and decisiveness will be needed throughout varied mission crises.
Entertaining plot but flat characters and more than a bit cliché. I enjoyed it, even so.
3.5/5 stars, rounded up ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
@deabigt@universeodon.comAll Or Nothing (The Earthburst Saga #9) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8148125741?utm_medium=api
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished "Moon of the Crusted Snow" by Waubgeshig Rice.
As winter approaches, an Anishinaabe reservation in Northern Ontario loses contact with the outside world when a blackout takes down power, internet, and eventually hope for resupply. They slowly begin to realize the blackout is much more widespread and that they're on their own. That is, until some outsiders begin to trickle in.
Sparsely written and beautifully bleak.
4/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, the only short story she ever wrote.
Two girls, Twyla & Roberta, bond as roommates for a few months in a shelter at age 8. They lose touch but encounter each other later in life, always at odds.
Morrison tells us one girl is black and one is white, but intentionally removes all racial clues and language. Brilliant thought experiment, of which, why do we care? Does it matter?
4.5/5 stars, rounded up ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
@deabigt@universeodon.comDead Moon (Threshold, #3) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4549711034?utm_medium=api
@deabigt@universeodon.comThe Anomaly (The Earthburst Saga, #4) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8148125526?utm_medium=api
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished “People Like Us” by Jason Mott.
I will admit that there were moments early where I struggled, trying to puzzle out the dual narratives. You have to accept it as experimental writing with a plurality in scope. When I surrendered and just READ, I absolutely loved it!
What is it about? So much. Gun violence. Where home is. America. Race. Writers. Trauma & coping. Time travel. Peacocks.
So much to say, but for spoilers 🤐
5/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
@deabigt@universeodon.comThe Reckoning (The Earthburst Saga #8) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8148126014?utm_medium=api
@deabigt@universeodon.comEchoes of Destiny (The Earthburst Saga #7) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8148125947?utm_medium=api
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished reading "Intermezzo" by Sally Rooney.
Two brothers wallow in their grief after their father's death. Peter, the lawyer, and Ivan, the chess player, struggle to connect across their ten-year age gap. Beautiful prose, but the endless navel-gazing introspection drags!
Ivan's growth is compelling, but the women—Margaret, Sylvia, Naomi—remain underdeveloped. Add to it a too-neat ending that undercuts the existential hand-wringing?
3/5 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished “We Begin at the End” by Chris Whitaker. A bit whodunit, a bit about coping with tragedy, and a bit about holding onto a past that can never be again.
Duchess Day Radley is a young girl who had to grow up fast. She raises her young brother while her mom suffers with substance abuse and a violent man. A self proclaimed outlaw, Duchess lashes out at the world rebelliously. But when tragedy strikes, so too does trouble.
4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
@mlawton@mstdn.socialFinished "Exiles" by Mason Coile, the nom de plume for Andrew Pyper who, sadly, passed away earlier this year.
A crew of three humans is enroute to Mars to help build a future human colony when the robots sent ahead of them to assemble their base and help them land go dark. Figuring out what has happened slowly transitions this story from sci-fi to horror and it's a great blend.
4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
