Tootfinder

We're a few days out from midterms as I release a fifth copy of Another World is Possible at Flava Coffee. This morning I'm feeling hopeful. There are get out the vote signs everywhere. And people working to help their neighbors get to the polls. I've never seen this many people engaged in the project of democracy. Whatever happens Tuesday, I see people determined to keep doing good work. #bookstodon

Just finished reading "The Language of Spells" by Garrett Weyr with illustrations by Katie Harnett. An *excellent* book, not high fantasy but instead a tale of an ordinary kid who happens to get caught up in some extraordinary business when she makes a friend.
I absolutely love the parenting example that the book sets, the ways it deals with grief, its unique conception of magic (and of dragons), and its steadfast commitment to the personal over the epic perspective.
Meets and exceeds the "will I recommend it to my kids" bar that quite a few things I've read recently have failed to clear.
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon

Just finished reading/listening to Abyss by Nicholas Binge.
The setting and narrator initially reminded me of The Stanley Parable, but it took that office drudgery trope quickly into a more sinister and confusing place.
I quite liked it. A better horror story than what the real billionaires are doing, but satisfying in its brevity.
#Bookstodon #horror
https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798349160271-abyss

So, a #bookstodon request: who are the kids (14-18 year olds), getting their recommendations from?
Looking for a smart but cool person* recommending great books to smart teens reading older than their years.
Specifically widening out of the romantasy genre would be nice and ideally to books outside the US cultural hegemony too..
*Not a parent because parent's suggestions are somehow pure poison at this age.
#AskFedi

Reading 'The Compatriots' by Soldatov & Borogan. I'm near the beginning, around the 1920s and 30s:
Why do all the Soviet spies have so many wives? Was it usual to re-marry & re-partner in that time period, or is it just a spy thing??
#AmReading #Bookstodon

Just finished "Soviet Land" by Pierre-Henry Gomont. It's an epic graphic novel that has
some interesting stuff to say about art, even if I feel less sure of the wisdom of its observations on the human condition. Overall I enjoyed it.
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon

Writing this story took me back to my favorite class discussions in college. Minus the violence part, of course. Love how @gargoyle.pastures gives every figure here their own personality in this art for the upcoming book. #bookstodon

I just finished The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez. I wish it hadn't ended, so I could know what happened next. Still, I get why it ended there and to be honest, that was the end of the story being told.
It reminded me a bit of Slow Gods by Claire North. However, while it takes a long time, the characters of Slow Gods are able to see some kind of social justice whereas the corporate overlords in The Vanished Birds are much more like our own reality. Not that it's doom and gloom. It's just more nuanced in how fault is distributed and true justice isn't likely.
I don't want to spoil either books. They're both worth a read, but The Vanished Birds does have a wider cultural distribution of characters than the cis, white man that is Slow Gods' main character.
#Bookstodon #SciFi #ScienceFiction

Just finished "Across the Widest Sea" by Jean Cremers. An excellent graphic novel about found family, the open ocean, and the unfairness of life. I really like how there's a lot that the book just refuses to explain and you just have to accept how things are as a reader, which mirrors the dietetic situation pretty closely.
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon

Just finished reading Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer, read by Traci Odom.
It was perfect. A story about a motley found family of humans, bots, and a cyborg dog. Half-broken characters in a half-broken world yet again on the brink.
The ending made me cry, but a good cry. An ending that was earned, but made me want more.
#Bookstodon #ScienceFiction #Dystopia
https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798347046096

Have finished 'Balcony Over Jerusalem' by John Lyons. It's showing its age (published 2017), but was on this list: #AmReading #Bookstodon

Broder, von Dörte Hansen
#Buch #Rezension #Roman #bookstodon

Just finished "Furia" by Yamile Saied Méndez. An excellent book about a young Argentinean woman who wants to play fútbol, and all of the barriers she faces, including from even the most well-meaning men in her life.
I particularly liked the handling of the romantic subplot.
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon

Just finished reading Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi. The novel was translated into English by Jonathan Wright.
It's quite a read. It makes you think. Yes, about what we, US taxpayers, have wrought on other people around the world and how now it's coming home. About the nature of people and communities and what is evil and who is responsible for the harm done among ourselves.
It's also just a good story. I highly recommend it. I listened to the Libro.fm audiobook, which was read by Edoardo Ballerini & Kaleo Griffith quite effectively.
#Bookstodon #horror
https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781524778613

The Dentist (The DS Cross Mysteries #1), by Tim Sullivan
#Crime #Mystery #PoliceProcedural