@shriramk@mastodon.social1/ Something a bit unusual and fun: I read a travel book *after* returning from #Italy25. This is a book first written in 1913; I had the 1923 edition. It was tough going to read before I left, because (as the title suggests), it's really a tour guide of a book. #BookReview ↵
@mgorny@social.treehouse.systemsTime for another "review". This one's hard. While the book was quite interesting, it required me to be quite open-minded. Still, I think it's worth mentioning:
Robert Wright — Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny
The book basically focused on a thesis that both biological evolution and cultural evolution are a thing, they are directional and this directionality can be explained together using game theory — as eventually leading to more non-zero sum games.
It consists of three chapters. The first one is is focused on the history of civilization. It features many examples from different parts of the world, which makes it quite interesting. The author argues that the culture inevitably is evolving as information processing techniques improve — from writing to the Internet.
The second chapter is focused on biological evolution. Now, the argument is that it's not quite random, but actually directed towards greater complexity — eventually leading to the development of highly intelligent species, and a civilization.
The third chapter is quite speculative and metaphysical, and I'm just going to skip it.
The book is full of optimism. Capitalism creates freedom — because people are more productive when they're working for their own gain, so the free market eliminates slavery. Globalisation creates networks of interdependence that make wars uneconomic. Increased contacts between different cultures makes people more tolerant. And eventually, the humanity may be able to unite facing a common "external" enemy — the climate change.
What can I say? The examples are quite interesting, the whole theory seems self-consistent. Still, I repeatedly looked at the publication date (it's 1999), and wondered if author would write the same thing today (yes, I know I can search for his current opinions).
#books #bookstodon @…
@bobmueller@mastodon.world
@outer@mas.to"Everything is Tuberculosis" by John Green is a 2025 non-fiction book everyone should read.
Tuberculosis kills more people each year, once again, than any other disease. Now that
John was a chaplain at a children's hospital before he became famous, after he and his brother Hank Green invented vlogging. This is his second non-fiction book. Everything he writes is GREAT.
#BookRecommendations
@bourgwick@heads.socialrecent-ish reading/rereading. #books @…
@newstik@social.heise.deSaint Exupéry's #book "Flight to Arras" was originally translated by Lewis Galantière.
Has there ever been a second #translation ?
I feel Galantière is too far off the original.
@unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyzAs with covid, you don't want to give TB the chance to evolve, either. There already is a multiple-drug-resistant strand of TB (or more than one, probably - I'm not up on the details). I remember reading a book about it, Tracy Kidder's book about Dr Paul Farmer.
#tuberculosis #MDRTB #books
@maxheadroom@hub.uckermark.socialYay!!! #book #drystonewall #ALifeRebuilt @…
@theDuesentrieb@social.linux.pizzaI'm so hyped for the fourth part of Adrian Tchaikovskys "Time" series, 'Children of Strife'. I'm currently on a re-listening of the audiobooks with the equally phenomenal speaker Mel Hudson.
As each book of the series was increasingly mind bending, I don't know what to expect from the next.
#books
@Rob_Oost@mastodon.social
@AmazingMeagen@historians.socialTomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by G Zevin
Was captivated by the people, the changing narrative style and a new world for me, gaming.
New York Times "100 Best Books of the 21st Century"
#bookstodon
@stf@chaos.sociallast year i was blessed to read the #murderbot series by Martha Wells. last week i had the pleasure to watch the series based on the 1st book. if you want to read something cool go buy the #books, and as an appetizer go and watch the tv series. both have my blessing of approval.
@Philantrop@mastodon.mailstation.deEcho Park (Harry Bosch #12), by Michael Connelly
#Book #Crime #Mystery #PoliceProcedural
@stefan@gardenstate.socialThis book is so cool. 650 pages with amazing screen shots and descriptions of each game.
#books #videogames #jrpg
@callunavulgaris@mastodon.scotIs anyone familiar with The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher? I picked one up at a book swap, by total fluke the first in the series, and so far it's actually quite good. Given the premise I wasn't sure which way it would go.
This was an emergency book as I'd left my *actual* book in my work bag: Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai, which I'm really enjoying #books
@ronaldsnijder@mastodon.socialAt @oapenbooks.bsky.social, we have updated our #Metadata feeds, to better integrate our #OpenAccess #books into #libraries
@edintone@mastodon.greenI've just finished reading and reviewing Murray Bailey's
The Heretic Cypher. It's the first of a thriller series with with an Egyptology theme. It's due to be published on 25 July. #bookstodon
@shriramk@mastodon.social1/ I know very little about the Balkans, and I discovered this excellent book, Modern Albania by Fred Abrahams, in an unusual way. I was at the Albania exhibit at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, and this happened to be placed with the exhibit. ↵
#BookReview
@UP8@mastodon.social𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 by Charles Perrow. It made a big impression on me when I first came across it but when I put it in my backpack for a trip to Binghamton I recalled that the versions of many incidents in it aren’t the best you can find in the literature.
Not sure how well it aged: flying has gotten safer and people don’t write about maritime accidents like they did in the 70’s
#books
@PwnieFan@infosec.exchangeExcerpt from a poem I found in a book I picked up for free at an estate sale. The cover has coffee rings on it; I like thinking of this book as someone’s constant companion. #bookstodon (excerpt from ‘A Feather for Voltaire’ by Jorie Graham)
@stefan@gardenstate.social
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #DriveTime
Booker T. & the MG’s:
🎵 Red Beans and Rice
#BookerT #theMGs
https://sfbdhq.bandcamp.com/track/booker-t-the-mgs-red-beans-and-rice
https://open.spotify.com/track/19Ctz6FcKusc2P3Z4WaQgj
@spamless@mastodon.socialI will try to use "Demon Copperhead" in my book club next spring here in Wiesbaden, Germany.
#books #acitivism
@ruth_mottram@fediscience.orgLong trip back to Copenhagen starts with EV to Lyon a packed but slowly emptying train to Geneva, during which I have been completely captured by an #IainMBanks #Culture novel. Actually, surprisingly my first. That's the gift of both train travel and a good book. #bookstodon #booksky #FlyingLess
@pre@boing.worldRead "Outland" by Dennis E Taylor, book one of the Quantum Earth series in which some college students figure out how to make a portal to parallell Earths just in time for their Earth Prime to suffer a supervolcano.
Taylor is pretty good at this stuff, loved his Bobiverse books.
Story was always progressing, even if it sometimes seemed to progress too slowly. Everyone's hip with all the literature so are comparing their situation to movies and TV shows all the time. Realistic cat-herding difficulties as they try and save as many people as they can and slowly realize that none of them will be going home and their home is doomed.
Looking forward to the next one.
#reading #books #scifi
@ruth_mottram@fediscience.orgIn spite of having read several of Iain Banks' non-Sci Fi oeuvre I had never been remotely tempted by the culture novels, though I have friends who raves about them at Uni. Then I spotted this on a summer reading table at the library, which I suppose shows the value of a good librarian...
#IainMBanks #Culture novel. Actually, surprisingly my first. That's the gift of both train travel and a good book. #bookstodon #booksky #FlyingLess
@Rob_Oost@mastodon.socialAtlas Shrugged (1957) by Ayn Rand. A strange book, many pages, set in an unnamed industrial age, with some science fiction elements. Deals with clashing political and economic lines of thoughts. Romances (dis)connect the main characters. All a bit shallow and incredible.
#book
@andrewspink@mastodon.greenGraafdier door Nikki Dekker is een interessante boek. Hier is mijn review:
#books
@glauber@writing.exchange
@jake4480@c.imFound the Cosmos book from 1980 (made about the show) at thrift for a couple bucks, this thing is incredible.
#CarlSagan #Cosmos #bookstodon #books
@callunavulgaris@mastodon.scotI've just finished Lissa Evans' Small Bomb at Dimperley. I love her #books: they're well written often quite humorous easy reads with great characters.
Next up, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai, followed by The Place of Tides by James Rebanks. That one's for a book group run by a local bookshop. I'm trying it for the first time in September.
Also picked…
@tgpo@social.linux.pizzaFinished #reading The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril #book for the 3rd time. I love the old #noir #detective
@Rob_Oost@mastodon.social
@laimis@mstdn.social @UP8@mastodon.social @kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #KEXP's #DriveTime
Book of Love:
🎵 Boy
#BookofLove
https://evankenney.bandcamp.com/track/the-book-of-love
🎶 show playlist 👇
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2KW4FxNKVGpVTgIJYolnNY
🎶 KEXP playlist 👇
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6VNALrOa3gWbk794YuIrwg
@Philantrop@mastodon.mailstation.deThe Drop (Harry Bosch #15), by Michael Connelly
#Book #Crime #Favourite #Mystery
@Philantrop@mastodon.mailstation.de @Philantrop@mastodon.mailstation.de @unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyzGood to see Tiago Forte talking about this. A lot of people read his stuff.
(He's a writer/teacher best known for the "Building a Second Brain" framework.)
"It was that summer when climate change stopped being an abstract concept and became viscerally personal for me. I realized that this wasn’t a one-time freak event—every summer we could expect deteriorating air quality from rampant wildfires. ...
"This convergence of physical heat, failing infrastructure, and human vulnerability isn’t just a temporary inconvenience. It’s a preview of the fundamental challenge that Jeff Goodell explores in The Heat Will Kill You First, a book that forced me to confront an uncomfortable truth: all our routines for productive living and working are built on the assumption of a stable climate. It no longer makes sense for me to teach people how to build productive systems without taking into account the increasing instability of our wider environment."
#TiagoForte #ClimateChange #ClimateDiary #environment #books #heatwave
@Philantrop@mastodon.mailstation.deNine Dragons (Harry Bosch #14), by Michael Connelly
#Adventure #Book #Crime #Mystery
@Philantrop@mastodon.mailstation.de @Philantrop@mastodon.mailstation.de
