@bourgwick@heads.socialsomehow not *not* a beach book: made a game of trying to spot the proto-heads among the communards in chris jennings' brilliant, oddly fun, & wonderfully written "paradise now," a history of 19th century american utopians & socialist forerunners. #books
@cellfourteen@social.petertoushkov.eu“I walked along to the double doors and stood in front of them. They were motionless now. It wasn’t any of my business. So I pushed them open and looked in.”
#books #quotes #FarewellMyLovely
@hikingdude@mastodon.socialHow to read more #books
(quit social media 😉)
https://scotto.me/blog/2026-07-12-how-to-read-more-books/
@stefan@gardenstate.socialReading Dungeon Crawler Carl at a Great Wold Lodge water park 3 days told me it's the best book. Is this the biggest book series since harry potter?
#books
@colinpurrington@flipping.rocksWeeded the front flower beds in the hot sun while listening to the latest Murderbot installment from Martha Wells. Lost a little blood during an engagement with several thornless honeylocusts that had hacked their programming and in fact had plenty of thorns (don’t get me started). #murderbot #books #gardening
@aligyie@digitalcourage.social"Sometimes #love looks like knowing when to stay quiet."
Dr Srividya Sivakumar - Marsala and Marginalia
#shortstories #books
@tezoatlipoca@mas.to @stefan@gardenstate.socialAvid reads are good at seeing Chekhov's gun. TBH it can be distracting when reading. Dungeon Crawler Carl's solution is like have 5 Chekhov's guns on every page. Truly insane.
#books
@kurtsh@mastodon.social
@tiotasram@kolektiva.socialJust finished "Snake-Eater" by T. Kingfisher (@…). I'd read and thoroughly enjoyed her "Digger" webcomic, and found this book to be quite enjoyable too. There's something indelibly heartwarming about an anxious character growing to feel more comfortable and self-assured, especially when escaping and unlearning emotional abuse, and I'm certainly a sucker for heartwarming characters. I like the way that Kingfisher has taken time to talk about and try to avoid cultural appropriation, in a way that I feel is reasonable, although of course I'm not an expert judge of the nuances and I'm biased by having liked the book, so I'm willing to be told things are complicated in that regard it others judge differently. I also really liked the window dressing of a vaguely solarpunk future society, in a book that's not at all about that society. I'd love to see Kingfisher write something focused on how that society could work (or maybe she already has?).
Probably going to look up some of Kingfisher's fantasy books soon.
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon
@bourgwick@heads.social
@dhuyvetter@mastodon.socialJust started reading The Butcher’s Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl Book Five) by Matt Dinniman and it has the funniest dedication I gave ever eead: “Thanks everyone for all your continued support. A special thanks to the dude who sent nudes. It’s not necessary, but I appreciate it. I hope you get the help you need.” #bookstodon
@darkrat@chaosfurs.social @stefan@gardenstate.socialPhilip Reeve discusses 25 years of MORTAL ENGINES! Forbidden Planet TV
#books
@trezzer@social.linux.pizza
@kineticdiplomacy@infosec.exchangeSomehow, me working on the library section in my website tends to repeatedly lead to me having to re-label 600 books.
#personalwebsite #smallweb #books
@bourgwick@heads.socialfinally devoured this absolute unit & it feels kind of cruel to tom o'neill & everybody involved that i'm totally ready for volume 2. suppose i could rewatch the errol morris doc. not totally sold on anything (& maybe neither is o'neill), but that's not the point, either. #books
@aligyie@digitalcourage.social @stefan@gardenstate.sociallol at page 350 the plot starts? omg
#books
@vague@social.linux.pizza#Shopped some #leatherbound #books by Brandon #Sanderson from
@ronaldsnijder@mastodon.socialHappy #birthday to me...
#books #TerryPratchett #StarWars @…
@Treppenwitz@sfba.social @bourgwick@heads.socialreading a '90s paperback that's kinda meh but my god it smells amazing. #books
@mariyadelano@hachyderm.io
@mgorny@social.treehouse.systemsI've finished reading Quentin #Tarantino 's "#Cinema Speculation" (yes, he writes books too), and I have to admit it's been a fun read.
A little vulgar for my taste, but definitely an interesting look at the 1970s cinema, made even better by being put alongside personal stories of his childhood. It's a bit of a spoiler for the movies involved, but also gives you some context that may make (re)watching them a different experience.
Added a few movies into my watchlist while reading it, and will probably track down more.
#books #bookstodon
@pre@boing.worldThere's a bit in QualityLand [ #books #reading #socialMediaBan
@bourgwick@heads.social3 very different & nearly equally surprising new books about the grateful dead & surrounding universe in the 1980s, a mini-thread... #books
@chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.caAI companies are committing cultural genocide.
#AI #genocide #books
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/29/ai-firms-are-buying-up-old-books-then-scanning-and-destroying-them/
@stefan@gardenstate.socialMoniquill Blackgoose is trolling me by having all these viking names as hard to remember and pronounce as the native names. lol.
#books
@enriquericos@mastoart.socialOctavia Butler's Bloodchild just unlocked a childhood memory: this guy I read on an interview, got a botfly infection and, instead of getting the larva out with extreme prejudice, he let it grow out. Also said the bug was made of him
It made me question things. My parent's philosophy was: bug=bad=kill it, which I Never accepted, but this guy was on another level
Also, I never saw our own materiality the same way again
I owe a lot to that (maybe not) crazy bastard
#books
@bourgwick@heads.socialtfw pocket paperback fits in pocket, still unmatched. #books
@ginevra@hachyderm.ioHave finished 'Balcony Over Jerusalem' by John Lyons. It's showing its age (published 2017), but was on this list: #AmReading #Bookstodon
@mgorny@social.treehouse.systemsI've read Douglas Preston's "The Blasphemy" and it was pretty good.
The synopsis is that the US government has built the largest particle accelerator ever, in the remote area of Arizona, and a small team of scientists are about to get it running. However, as it is about to reach full power, they suddenly start losing output and a mysterious "greetings" appears on the main screen. Suspecting prank malware, they decide not to report it upstairs but to resolve it themselves. However, with no progress and suspiciously piling up problems, an ex-CIA operative is sent to investigate, under the cover of liaison tasked with improving the relations with the local Navajo people. On top of that, a lobbyist wanting to see their contract renewed engages with a televangelist to put some pressure on the project.
The book sets a mystery quite really, and keeps you caught in it to the very end. It's also packed with action. You get annoyed by politics, corruption and fundamentalism. You get mystified by the philosophical and theological problems. At some point, you just keep reading to see how the events unfold.
Apparently it's a part of Wyman Ford series, but the story is self-contained.
#books #bookstodon #thriller #SciFi
@bourgwick@heads.socialrecent-ish reading/rereading. #books
@pre@boing.worldI read Naomi Klein's "Doppelganger", mostly by the pool or the beach while on holiday last week.
It isn't really about her being confused with Naomi Wolf, except on a surface level. Or even really about Wolf moving from left feminism towards right wing conspiracy theory.
Really it's about how political culture has changed as the world has moved more online and suffered the consequences of a pandemic and the often wrongheaded political responses to that.
Conspiracy thinking and a whole culture concentrating on reticence and reactionary thinking instead of evidence and logic.
While reading it I was hanging out with some folks who are much more right wing than I generally do. Here's some things they said:
I don't believe in Sunscreen. Isn't it funny how skin cancer rates have gone up as sunscreen becomes more popular.
I don't believe in COVID.
Carbon Warming models don't even take into account the sun.
I thought Chemtrails were a conspiracy theory, but came to believe it.
Claiming to believe in freedom while also wanting a crack-down on asylum-seekers, thinking they are destroying society.
So it's easy to believe Klein's basic thesis here, the worry that reactionary conspiracy thinking is breaking the entire body politic.
I don't think it's that people have lost all rationality. It's that people are wearing their conspiracy theories as badges, identifying them as a member of a group. Like religious beliefs that bind a group, the more stupid and outrageous they are the more those badges work to identify the ingroup from the outgroup.
The worry is always when they decide the outgroup need punishing for not taking on those conspiracy beliefs and turn to suppression and violence.
#reading #books #worldPol
@Xavier@infosec.exchangeI'm going on a reading adventure. I just finished up with Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. As I started thinking about what to read next, I thought I might go back and finish series that I never completed. I try to only read book series whose story is concluded. But occasionally I can't resist like Dungeon Crawler Carl. But I'm so bad at waiting.
So thought this might be a good use case for my local AI. I downloaded by reading history from #BookWyrm and asked it to find all the series that had concluded, but I never finished. And it worked great.
So now I get to go back and jump into old worlds that I used to explore. Its going to be so much to visit old friends, old stories. Squee! First up, #Mistborn!
#bookstodon #books #reading @…
@enriquericos@mastoart.socialPlease, don't justify your texts if you don't know how to adjust the spaces, and, for the love of Satan or whatever deity you fancy, please don't print a book like this.
#GraphicDesign #Unjustified #books #layout
@tiotasram@kolektiva.socialJust finished reading "The Beast Player" by Nahoko Uehashi. I had already watched the anime, but it had been so king I didn't remember all the details. While the anime was great, the book is even better, and it's going to be high on my list of things to recommend to my children when they're old enough to read for fun.
The neurodivergent representation is cool, as is the deep central question of interspecies bonds and the political possibilities and dangers they entail. Uehashi handles the exploration of that question well in my judgment, including appropriate ambiguity without muddying moral clarity. Elin is a truly fantastic protagonist, not without flaws but nevertheless a excellent role model and a very sympathetic figure without being pitiful.
One thing I really love about Uehashi's writing is that she's not shy about using interior narration to tell the reader directly what a variety of characters are feeling, but when she does this she focuses on human contradictions, quirks, and weaknesses that make those characters feel much richer, and that remind the reader of all the ways our weird and sometimes contradictory or inexplicable quirks guide our actions just as much as both logical thought and predictable/expected feelings. None of the characters is an unerring source of wisdom, with every grand principle presented shown to have its weaknesses and biases, and even the wisest characters making mistakes and learning from them.
Overall, a wonderful book, and having also seen the "Seirei no Moribito" anime but not read the books, I'm excited to dig into more of Uehashi's extensive catalog.
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon
@kineticdiplomacy@infosec.exchange @mgorny@social.treehouse.systemsTime for another book on my #Bookstodon: "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson. I'm pretty sure I've read it because someone recommended it on Fedi, and it's a good recommendation. However, note it's a bit on the emotionally heavy side.
The book is built upon a thesis that the racism in the USA is actually a caste system. It covers a lot: the history from slavery through Jim Crow regime to today's white supremacist movements and US elections; comparisons to India and Nazi Germany; detailed analysis of causes ("pillars of caste") and consequences. As it turns out, these can be pretty detrimental to the dominant caste itself too. All of it is illustrated by many examples and personal stories.
It's an important read, and it reads really good though. However, it weighs heavily, so I had to take breaks while reading it.
#books
@kineticdiplomacy@infosec.exchange#BookReview #Books #Reading #Nonfiction #Politics #History #EconomicHistory #BusinessEconomics #Sociology
@enriquericos@mastoart.social @enriquericos@mastoart.socialAlien Clay: fascinating xenobiosphere fascism
Shroud: fascinating xenobiosphere capitalism
Is there any book by Tchaikovsky where our future society isn't a nightmare?
Not a rhetorical question, I very much liked those two books, that's why I'm curious about how he'd write a livable future.
#books #adrianTchaikovsky #sciFi #scienceFiction
@kineticdiplomacy@infosec.exchangeThe authors make a very clear argument against all merit of the current Media extrusion machines being peddled by Silicon Valley. The book lays it all out in all the details. Unfortunately it's not helpful in giving tools how to fight back, although that is to be expected. I higly recommend slapping the leadership of your organisation in the face with this book, or at the very least make them read it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#BookReview #Books #Reading #Nonfiction #Politics #BusinessEconomics #TechnologySociety #InformationMediaStudies
@kineticdiplomacy@infosec.exchangeA little frustrating to read, as seems to be the standard for this series. I liked the lost colony idea, but the presentation is very fragmented. I guess that's on purpose, but it doesn't work for me. I wont be getting part 4 of the series, I'm done.
⭐⭐⭐
#BookReview #Books #Reading #Fiction #ScienceFiction #SpaceOpera
@kineticdiplomacy@infosec.exchangeThe book describes the political headwinds the Dutch company ASML found itself in, after people found out what the strategic importance of their products was. It is however a very light book. It glances over ASML's history, jumps back and forth in the timeline, and it keeps repeating itself. The authors love to talk about how amazing their own research work was, and how the authors this and how the authors that. I don't trust people who speak about themselves in the 3rd person, and are not God Emperor of Planet Earth. So low score, there are better books about the subject.
⭐
#BookReview #Books #Reading #Nonfiction #Politics #21stCentury #TechnologySociety
@enriquericos@mastoart.socialI like Tchaikovsky's views on genAI, from the there's no "I" in it and the Chinese Room argument to what he says about the artistic process. Oh, and his advice to young writers / artists: "I mean... don't use it?"
I guess it's a very Mastodon friendly interview:
- Invidious: #adrianTchaikovsky #ai #books #writer #tech #scienceFiction #genAI #writing #interview
@kineticdiplomacy@infosec.exchangeYes, the Netherlands had its own CIA. Spies and everything. But with about 1% of the necessary budget, and you get a typically Dutch version of it. Always underfunded, more lucky than competent, the IDB was never going to be a great success. This book gives a fascinating insight into the service, it's reason for being and ultimate demise.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
#BookReview #Books #Reading #Nonfiction #History #TheNetherlands #20thCentury #Espionage
@enriquericos@mastoart.socialI don't want to be that guy, I don't know how this biotech will pan out, but I really want to say:
Hey! I know the name of this Torment Nexus! It's called Korrok! From John Dies at the End!
#ArtificialIntelligenge #bioComputing #biologicalComputer #tech #biotech #dataCenters #computing #JohnDiesAtTheEnd #JasonPargin #JamesWong #books #movies #sciencefiction #corticalLabs #dayOne
