arratoon

arratoon, 6 months ago to bookstadon

Book 56, 2023: am Homeless if this is not my Home by Lorrie Moore. I love Lorrie Moore’s work; her short stories especially. But this novella about a man driving across America with the ghost/corpse of his ex-lover just didn’t resonate with me at all. I liked some lines, and the final chapter was good but nope, not for me. And that’s fine. Has anyone else read it, and liked it? @bookstadon #novels #Reading #literature

claudiac, 6 months ago to random

📖 Every book lover has a TBR list a mile long. 📚 What's next on your to-be-read list?

Let's talk about the books that you can't wait to read! 📣

#books #read #tobereadlist #whatarereading

arratoon, 6 months ago to bookstadon

Book 55, 2023: A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm. I get why this has been so popular. An open look at the grim underbelly of being a waiter in the French capital. Full of filth, booze, violence, and despair. But it's well written, and cracks along.

#books #nonfiction #Paris #restaurants

@bookstadon

sunflower, 6 months ago to bookstodon

recommend me a book! i like fantasy, paranormal romance, sci-fi, queer fiction. i need 12 recommendations from other people for a 2024 reading challenge :blobcatblep:

#reading #books #bookstodon @bookstodon

arratoon, 6 months ago to bookstadon

Book 54, 2023; As the Eagle Flies by Nolwenn Le Blevennec. Described as a cross between Annie Ernaux and Woody Allen this first-person novella tells the story of a woman having an affair. Written in a wry and dry style, it’s full of frustrations and furies. And it’s very French. Published by the always-reliable Pereine Press, which specialises in translated fiction. @bookstadon #fiction #books

arratoon, 6 months ago to bookstodon

Book 53, 2023: Do it for Your Mum. The story of Cumbrian/Brighton rock band British Sea Power. I read this when it came out in 2011 or something, and loved it, and rereading it was enthralled all over again. It’s a love song to doing things your own way, taking in Nick Cave, Violet Szabo, various birds of prey, and Ronnie Corbett along the way. A magnificent biography. @bookstodon

TarkabarkaHolgy, 6 months ago to bookstodon

So here is a question to the @bookstodon community: what is the best #nofiction book you have read this year?

#reading #books #AmReading #bookstodon

meshell, 6 months ago to bookstodon

I think I need to pick up some 500 pagers to round out the year.

Any doorstopper suggestions? @bookstodon

pseudonymsupreme, 7 months ago to bookstodon

Huh. It just occurred to me that not everyone reads all the time. Like, there’s a bunch of people without books they’re reading right now. That concept is so bizarre to me. I’ve always got several books going. Ebooks, audiobooks and physical copies of books. If you don’t read anymore, when and why did you stop? No judgement. I’m genuinely curious. @bookstodon #bookstodon #books #reading #amreading

Helen50, 7 months ago to bookstodon

when do you abandon a book?
I'm not very good at it, but I might be about to do it again.
#books @bookstodon

sarahmatthews, 7 months ago to bookstodon

Boundary Road by Ami Rao is going straight on my TBR list - a book set on a London bus, with all the possible drama that will likely involve and the glimpses of life outside the window - looks like it’ll be a Kindle read for me as it’s from a very small publisher called Everything with Words #bookstodon #blind #publishing @bookstodon
https://www.everythingwithwords.com/books/boundary-road/

arratoon, 7 months ago to bookstodon

Book 52, 2023: Our Lady of the Highway by Hal Hartley. I loved this novel. Renegade anarchist nuns hole up in a Brooklyn convent! Lola joins them to try to curb her violent mystical powers. They make hallucinogenic beer! The cops try to close them down!There's a pitbull named Desmond!

If you love Hartley's #films you'll love this. #reading #novels #books @bookstodon

arratoon, 7 months ago to bookstadon

Book 51, 2023: River by Esther Kinsky. An exploration of London’s rimy River Lea, and the neighbourhood’s characters, combined with stories from time spent near the Rhine, Oder, and other rivers. @bookstadon #books #reading #novels

Narayoni, 7 months ago to reading

Behold! A solvent, disciplined #cat 🤣
A model citizen! I think he would make a very entertaining co - passenger 🤣🤣

Quotations from The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

@bookstodon @reading
#themasterandmargarita #mikhailbulgakov #literature #jokes #humor #funny #funnycat #satire #comedy #bookquotes #funnyquotes #reading #books #amreading #russianliterature

"Neither the conductress nor the passengers were struck by the essence of the matter: not just that a cat was boarding a tram-car, which would have been good enough, but that he was going to pay! The cat turned out to be not only a solvent but also a disciplined animal. At the very first shout from the conductress, he halted his advance, got off the footboard, and sat down at the stop, rubbing his whiskers with the ten-kopeck piece. But as soon as the conductress yanked the cord and the tram-car started moving off, the cat acted like anyone who has been expelled from a tram-car but still needs a ride. Letting all three cars go by, the cat jumped on to the rear coupling-pin of the last one, wrapped its paws around some hose sticking out of the side, and rode off, thus saving himself ten kopecks.” --A quotation from The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

kimlockhartga, 7 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon New and notable book releases in the U.S. for November 14, 2023

So Late in The Day, Claire Keegan. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ [Three short, but impactful, stories about relationships between men and women, particularly focusing on agency and autonomy. Strong voice and sense of place.]

The Book of Ayn, Lexi Freiman. [Razor-sharp satire targeting contemporary politics and culture, and the people who think they're above it all.]

Good Girls Don't Die, Christina Henry. [What if you woke up trapped inside your favorite book genre trope, and your familiarity with that type of story is the only way you'll get out alive?]

Other Minds and Other Stories, Bennett Sims. [Strange, eerie, weird, sometimes humorous, but also edging toward horror. Clever stories that slip into that liminal space between fear and anxiety.]

Pritty, Keith F. Miller, Jr. [Family loyalties, gay identity, and an unsolved murder, are all points of tension affecting the relationship between two young Black men in the entrenched culture of Savannah.]

Kinfolk, Sean Dietrich. [Feelgood story of found family and second chances in the Deep South.]

The Great Gimmelmans, David Matthew Goldberg. [Hilarious adventure-chase story of a family on the run in an RV. They must face more than the Feds as they tackle greed, family loyalty, religious traditions, and what it takes to create close bonds.]

A New Race of Men From Heaven, Chaitali Sen. [These short stories feature those who are searching, the wanderers, those who migrate in both a literal and a figurative sense.]

Blood Orange, Yaffa. [Reflective, sensory, liberation poetry, written by a Trans, Muslim, Palestinian author, a myriad self to excavate and transcend.]

Leizar, David Gelernter. November 15th. [The harrowing experiences of generations of a Polish Jewish family who survive in spite of pogroms and every kind of antisemitism.]

Sad Happens: A Celebration of Tears, Brandon Stosuy and Rose Lazar. Graphic Nonfiction. [When we don't try to repress our tears, we find ourselves healthier and, perhaps counterintuitively, happier. Various perspectives on the cleansing power of crying.]

The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are, Tariq Trotter. Nonfiction [Beautifully and poetically examination of how we develop not just our art, but also a deep sense of self.]

Sleep is Now a Foreign Country: Encounters With the Uncanny, Mike Barnes. Nonfiction [Mesmerizing fever dream memoir of madness.]

#books #NewBooks #bookstodon #BooksWorthReading

Tinido, 7 months ago to bookstodon

„The kidneys (grilled over a clear fire) lay on top of thick slices of bacon, surrounded by fried potatoes, golden brown and sizzling. The bacon was farm bacon (…) Gilbert fell to and enjoyed his supper; the grill, followed by apple tart, and the apple tart by home-made cheese.“ — I would love to read a novel full of food descriptions like that .Any #suggestions?
@bookstodon #Reading

arratoon, 7 months ago to bookstadon

New arrival. Only recently found out one of my favourite film directors, Hal Hartley, has written a novel. Can’t wait to read it. #books #reading #films #movies @bookstadon

The_BookishWolf, 7 months ago to bookstodon

hey @bookstodon lets try something fun. Give me a quote from the book you're currently reading. Here's mine.
""We're going to eat and flirt, and you know what?" "What?" "We're even going to order dessert. Dammit." - Lucky in Lace, By Mellisa Brayden. #bookstodon

hlseward, 7 months ago to bookstodon

I'm definitely late to the party on this - and I haven't seen the TV show - but I have just sat and devoured this in pretty much one session after it being recommended by a student. "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus really is incredible. Amazing characters and such clever, clever writing about the roles and experiences of women in society. I loved every moment and I'm sad it's over. #Books #bookstodon #AmReading @bookstodon

kimlockhartga, 7 months ago to bookstodon

You know the drill, @bookstodon Whatcha reading this weekend? ❤📚👀

I finished WE ARE THE CRISIS, the excellent second installment of Cadwell Turnbull's Convergence Saga. NO GODS, NO MONSTERS was the first book.

I'm currently reading Ed Park's bizarro SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS.

Next up: THE FUTURE, by Naomi Alderman, author of THE POWER.

arratoon, 8 months ago to bookstadon

Book 48, 2023: Shame by Annie Ernaux. This memoir covers the year when she was 12, and opens with the line: "My father tried to kill my mother one Sunday in June, in the early afternoon."

It looks at the realisation that she has grown up relatively poor, in a difficult household, and the shame that comes with that. As usual, she opens up everything to scrutiny, her entire life on the pages.

#memoir #books #reading @bookstadon

arratoon, 8 months ago to bookstadon

Book 47, 2023: Sleepless – Marie Darrieussecq. I loved these sketches and stories about insomnia culled from artists and literature through the ages, as the writer contends with her own inability to sleep. Another killer book from the always-reliable Fitzcarraldo Editions.

#books #literature #nonfiction
@bookstadon

arratoon, 8 months ago to bookstodon

Which idiot thought it was a good idea to read Marie Darrieussecq’s Sleepless, a book about insomnia, the night before he had to get up at 0630 to go on a long train journey? 🙄 #train #reading @bookstodon

arratoon, 8 months ago to bookstadon

Book 45, 2023: The Young Man by Annie Ernaux. This is an EXTREMELY short memoir, with a font the size of a Dr Seuss book, about the relationship she had, when she was in her early fifties, with a male student 30 years her junior. It is as unsparing as usual, and is interesting on the reversal of gender roles, such as the looks the couple get from strangers, which they wouldn't were the sexes reversed.

#books #memoir #AnnieErnaux @bookstadon

arratoon, 8 months ago to bookstadon

Book #44, 2023: 1923 by Ned Boulting. The cycling commentator and writer buys an old newsreel at auction, and begins a quest to discover the story of a Belgian cyclist who appears in the film. The year 1923 echoes through the story, which branches out to include war, family, and Sarah Bernhardt. Recommended. #cycling #biogrsohy #reading #books @bookstadon

arratoon, 8 months ago to bookstadon

I feel seen. Tom Gault in The Guardian. @bookstadon #books #reading

arratoon, 9 months ago to bookstodon

Book 43, 2023: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. I loved this story of a woman telling her three daughters about her past, her relationship with a famous actor, and the things she keeps to herself. It’s magnificent. #books @bookstodon #reading #Fiction

jillrhudy, 9 months ago to bookstodon

I'm in a reading slump! I had a long weekend and couldn't get any book to "catch." I need ideas! Something that grabs the reader from paragraph one but isn't a thriller. @bookstodon

kimlockhartga, 9 months ago to bookstodon

@bookstodon #BookReview The Vaster Wilds, by Lauren Groff.

This novel is beautifully written. Groff's poetic prose expands along with the story's progression, and culminates in a soaring revelation about humanity, life, and purpose.

The main character is a girl named Lamentations, a kind of living elegy for us all.

As in most literary fiction, character is more important than the plot. The premise does not seem like enough structure to build on, but the author manages to make every step of Lamentations' journey memorable and engaging.

There is an unmistakable message, a moral imperative presented in not so much a heavy-handed way, just abundantly clearly. Essentially, of all the deadly dangers humanity can face, it turns out that we are our own worst enemies. Our greed and arrogance are the obstacles we put in our own way.

The author zerores in on a philosophical problem plaguing humankind: a void within each of us, a great "nothing" which almost by definition can never be filled. It is this unfillable hole at the center of us which creates our collective insatiable gaping maw, a destructive desire to consume everything in our path.

Among the many epiphanies the main character realizes, the girl named Lamentations sees exactly what the world needs in order to truly heal. Just as humanity was birthed in a perfect place, Eden will only return when all humanity has died and merged with the natural world. It gives new meaning to "the fall of man." This also begins her crisis of faith, as she struggles with her inner voice.

The girl, in her lengthy solitude, ruminates over what truths can be known. She concludes that the earth holds fast to the memories of everything that happens on it, and to it. To win, to succeed, is not to master, to dominate nature, but rather to submit, to live in harmony with all other life. That is the secret all of humanity missed, or at least refused to accept.

Unless we see ourselves as one with the natural world, rather than separate or even superior to it, we will not endure. Lamentations decides that harmony is our only hope for redemption. #books #BooksWorthReading #LaurenGroff #TheVasterWilds

arratoon, 9 months ago to bookstodon

Book 42, 2023: August Blue by Deborah Levy. Really liked this. A concert pianist freezes during a Rachmaninov performance. She then travels round the world giving private lessons, all the while encountering a possible doppelgänger, and reflecting on the maestro who brought her up. A hazy, bewitching novel. #books #fiction #music #Bookstodon @bookstodon

arratoon, 9 months ago to bookstadon

Book 41, 2023: Voyager by Nina Fernández. Beautiful non-fiction account by Chilean author about memory, civil war, censorship, stars and space. Recommended. @bookstadon #books #reading #chile #astronomy

schaferj, 9 months ago to bookstodon

August Books! 1/2 @bookstodon

Everything I Need I Get From You by Kaitlyn Tiffany
Lobster is the Best Medicine by Liz Climo
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
⭐️ The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing
The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe
Cheshire Crossing by Andy Weir and Sarah Andersen
⭐️ The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch
⭐️ News of the World by Paulette Jiles

arratoon, 9 months ago to bookstodon

Book 40, 2023: The Beauty of Living Twice - Sharon Stone
Interesting autobiography. I had no idea about her tough upbringing. She’s been through a lot, including a bleed on the brain and a couple of strokes. #Autobiography #films #movies #SharonStone @bookstodon

I_Like_Books, 9 months ago to bookstodon

Book 5 for August 2023

Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson

This is the second Moomin book that I have read. It is interesting that it is a Moomin book but none of the Moomin's are in it. It details a number of the other characters and what they do as they congregate at the Moomin's place while they are asleep for the winter.

It is a fun read though a bit odd in places.

#Fiction #ChildrensBooks #Moomins

@bookstodon #Books #Bookstodon #Reading

kimlockhartga, 10 months ago to bookstodon

I recommend purchasing used books from the library, especially if they sell donated books, and not just library discards. I picked up all of these for a cool five bucks.
@bookstodon

AimeeMaroux, 10 months ago to antiquidons

I want to let everyone who voted in this poll know that I am travelling to a museum today to take photos and attend a guided tour on the subject of ideal nudity in ancient art.

I will share photos and write about the tour on my blog ☺️

I hope everyone is pleased with the reward 🙂

#milestone #celebration #fun #erotica #museum #MuseumBums #smutstodon @smutstodon @antiquidons

https://mastodon.social/@AimeeMaroux/110759340038517960

arratoon, 10 months ago to bookstodon

Me: "I'm not going to buy any more books until I've finished my to-read pile."

Fitzcarraldo Editions: "30% off in our sale!"

Me: *quickly puts eight books into my basket and clicks Apple Pay before I can change my mind."

#books #reading #bookstadon
@bookstodon