@bookstadon I'm currently #reading "Mod: A very British style". I anticipate finishing it it today. I've had some interesting music recommendations from the book (Two Tones and The Specials) that I've followed up, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the explanation of the political philosophy of dandyism.
#BookReview Setting the perfect tone for this collection of twenty-three tales of Baba Yaga is the spell-poem by Stephanie M. Wytovich that opens it. The stories that follow are traditional and modern, set in Slavic forests or a swamp in the American Deep South. Two of the stories are interesting variations on our Hansel and Gretel tale, another is told by the Baba Yaga's hut on chicken legs, and in one Baba Yaga falls in love.
The Baba Yagas vary too, they are ancient and young, beautiful and ugly, cruel and compassionate, but she is always a powerful figure who is closely connected to the natural world.
Into the Forest was edited by Lindy Ryan with an introduction by Christina Henry, and the stories are by women fantasy and horror writers who bring a welcome feminist sensibility to many of them. There are some very strong selections, but the collection does have a few weaker choices.
A couple of the stories are bursting the seams of a short story and could be developed into novels. The perfect kind of eerie anthology to cozy up with through the dark, cold months. #reading#books@bookstodon
I #read Gnome Sweet Gnome by Elva Birch (#book 2/Lawn Ornament Shifters) today because rn it’s #free (not sure how long that will last), and because the cover & title made me laugh. This shorter-length Christmas story takes rom-com almost to absurd #romance. Get ready for a jewel thief owl shifter to meet her mate as a Norwegian gnome factory owner. #reading#books#romancelandia@romancebooks https://amzn.to/3NlwpzF
We aim for self-knowledge, to have some level of self-assuredness. A degree of certainty. But is that more of a hindrance than an aid? When we tie ourselves to static identities, what happens when we confront the reality of the way things change? When like everything else we cease to be the same? We are an event rather than a name.
Five stars: Murder at the Lobstah Shack by Maddie Day and Rachel Dulude (Narrator) (2021) is the third book in the Cozy Capers Book Group mystery series. Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida discovers the body of Annette DiCicero in the walk in freezer of the local Lobstah Shack. Tulia Peters, the shack's owner, had a contentious relationship with Annette but swears she didn't kill the woman. Mac believes her and decides to help figure out who actually did.
Recently finished "Not A Good Fit At this Time" by Adam Hulse and had a blast with it. Check out my Goodreads review for details but fans of horror, science fiction, and dark fantasy should absolutely give it a read!
Everything is made of small things. Electrons. Atoms. Nuts. Bolts. Screws. Prayer beads. Everything carries bits of something else. Nothing arrives fully formed. Everything starts as something other, becomes one thing and then another. Shifts. Changes, and then becomes something different yet again.
Give the gift of a year's free access to the best #ShortStories and #comics from all around the world, with #fiction from Joyce Carol Oates, Etgar Keret, Ali Smith, Lizzy Stewart and lots, lots more in 2024…
A PhD student at the U of Kansas is doing research on "The Darcy Dilemma" which asks the question: what version of Darcy do you like better: Firth or MacFayden AND why did you choose that particular Darcy. You can find the research survey here: https://forms.gle/JpBDswCqy5EzyeMc7
"...how pointless I think dystopias are now. This sort of creeping sense that we're doing their imagining for them. We're just feeding them - the right - with more and more possibilities for how bad things could get. Our imaginations are in service to the wrong ends."
Here we are, trying to make do on a rainy Monday morning. I had a pretty good weekend. Nothing super special, but got plenty done, including finally buying a Christmas tree. It's a little short but very well-shaped. We'll decorate tonight. I did not, however, get my big project even started - cleaning out the garage. I really need to do it before the snow flies, but there's no sign of it in the 10 day, so I'm safe.
I also got some #reading in. I finally finished Rise & Fall of the 3rd Reich - only took me 4 years! More than 50 years since it was written and it is still terrifying. And I'm almost done with Silkworm, the 2nd Cormoran Strike novel. It's good but a bit wordy. And I'm listening to Knife Creek, the 8th book in the Mike Bowditch series. He's a Maine game warden and the books are solid, but I think I need something gritty. #AmReading#books@bookstodon
Somedays we push, and pull, and pry. Most days we blister and ache. We feel the weight of every failed attempt like sediment. Like coarse conglomerate. Immovable granite and bouldering clay. It's heavy. It's hard to carry. It's hard to move, but even a little bit goes a long way...
We "assemble a life from the usable fragments", Lewis Hyde says. Sacred relics of the wreckage, gathered and connected. We experience the world as wholeness when all our pieces have a space.
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. You are a pilot who crash lands in a desert, where you meet an alien child who lives on his own asteroid and dispenses cryptic stories about his travels on earth and elsewhere. 3 of 5 library cats 🐈 🐈 🐈.
Do you love speculative fiction? Well, have I got some books for you! 📚🙂👍 Explore the Nod/Wells Timelines literary universe today and find your next great read!
I #read Claimed by the Barbarian Warlords by Charmaine Ross (#book 1/Stolen Planet). I think it’s great when FMCs assert & fight for their own agency, but the burden of assholery behavior that provokes the fight for independence often rests on the MMC(s) in that plot line. This is the case for this story. I wanted to kick the alien warlords for being dumbasses for 75% of the book. #reading#books#romance#romancelandia#romancebooks@romancebooks https://amzn.to/47O0TTb