@pivic@kolektiva.social
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pivic

@[email protected]

I love freedom, people, music, video, and reading. I review books. I work as a #TechnicalWriter, I dig #TechnicalWriting.

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pivic, to bookstodon
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‘It’s totally unhinged’: is the book world turning against Goodreads? https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/18/goodreads-review-bombing

I hate Goodreads. The site is just a continuation of Amazon as a surveillance capitalist nightmare, one that's never updated. Bugs are rife.

I prefer Bookwyrm and The StoryGraph:

https://bookwyrm.social
https://thestorygraph.com

@bookstodon

pivic,
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@antonioderosa @eddeeMN @bookstodon My fave on that is The StoryGraph; I personally dislike tech suggesting me what to read...

pivic,
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@beecycling @eddeeMN @bookstodon I'd rather use one of the two sites that I recommended than Goodreads. It's hard to change some erroneous book data via Goodreads. It's easy via The StoryGraph (most often requires moderation via the company) and instantaneous via most Bookwyrm instances.

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've finally started reading Noam Chomsky's :chomsky: 'Fateful Triangle': https://bookrastinating.com/user/pivic/generatednote/343225#anchor-343225

@bookstodon

pivic,
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@ridicol @bookstodon

pivic,
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@ridicol @bookstodon

pivic,
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@ridicol @bookstodon

pivic,
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@ridicol @bookstodon https://bookwyrm.social/user/pivic/quotation/3337762

pivic, to bookstodon
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Free eBook: 'From the River to the Sea': https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/500-free-e-book-from-the-river-to-the-sea

'From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine collects personal testimonies from within Gaza and the West Bank, along with essays and interviews that collectively provide crucial histories and analyses to help us understand how we got to the nightmarish present. Taken together, the texts comprising this collection provide important grounding for the urgent discussions taking place across the Palestine solidarity movement.

A collaboration between Haymarket and Verso Books, From the River to the Sea is now available to download as a FREE Ebook.

With contributions from: Reda Abu Assi, Asmaa Abu Mezied, Tawfiq Abu Shomer, Khalil Abu Yahia, Dunia Aburahma, Spencer Ackerman, Hil Aked, Yousef Al-Akkad, Jamie Allinson, Hammam Alloh, Riya Al’Sanah, Soheir Asaad, Tareq Baconi, Rana Barakat, Omar Barghouti, Sara Besaiso, Ashley Bohrer, Haim Bresheeth-Zabner, Nihal El Aasar, Mohammed El-Kurd, Sai Englert, Noura Erakat, Samera Esmeir, Rebecca Ruth Gould, Toufic Haddad, Adam Hanieh, Khaled Hroub, Rashid Khalidi, Noah Kulwin, Saree Makdisi, Ghassan Najjar, Samar Saeed, Reema Saleh, Alberto Toscano, and Eyal Weizman, alongside a number of Palestinian writers published pseudonymously.'

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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Sarah Bakewell's 'Humanly Possible' may well be my favourite book of 2023. Here's a nice quote about the book, courtesy of Jennifer Szalai.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/03/books/review/critics-favorite-books-2023.html

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/03/books/review/critics-favorite-books-2023.html

Sarah Bakewell, yes!

'Sarah Bakewell’s “Humanly Possible” gives you the sense that when it comes to humans, anything is possible — for good or for ill, which is part of what gives this book its undeniable charm. Bakewell, who has also written books about existentialism and Montaigne, is so generous and resolutely open-minded. That she is able to corral seven centuries of humanist thought into a brisk and readable narrative is a real achievement, even if this new book is more diffuse than her previous work. She is honest about the limitations of humanists, who can sometimes prize thinking above action — constantly seeing both sides of a question, even when one side is promoting a cruel fanaticism.

But “Humanly Possible” is full of funny stories, too. We are limited creatures, despite our pretensions to the contrary. Bakewell discusses “On Good Manners for Boys,” in which Erasmus addressed such pressing issues as how to pass gas in polite company. The most fruitful strains of humanism recognize what we share with nonhuman animals. After Bertrand Russell was in a seaplane accident, a journalist asked what his brush with death had made him think about — mysticism, maybe? No, Russell said. “I thought the water was cold.”'

@bookstodon

pivic,
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@Jennifer @bookstodon it's a remarkable and outstanding book. Sarah is my favourite living author and she can explain the most complicated subjects in ways to make them clear for anyone.

I must also recommend her radiant books on Michel de Montaigne and existentialism, both truly mind-blowing.

pivic,
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@Jennifer @bookstodon recommendation: check out the video of her discussing Montaigne here (a bit down on the page): https://sarahbakewell.com/books-3/how-to-live-a-life-of-montaigne/

pivic, to bookstodon
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From 'Violence', a brilliant anthology about violence.

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I love Can, the band. This quote is from a wondrous book about them.

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've just started reading Jeff Horwitz's 'Broken Code' about Facebook and their nefarious ways: https://bookrastinating.com/user/pivic/quotation/319301#anchor-319301

#books #book #reading @bookstodon #JeffHorwitz #facebook #SurveillanceCapitalism #genocide #Philippines

pivic, to bookstodon
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Bookshelfie: Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast / Bookshelfie: Natalie Haynes https://audioboom.com/posts/8393993-bookshelfie-natalie-haynes

Author, broadcaster, comedian and classicist Natalie Haynes joins Vick to chat about her love for Greek Mythology and why there’s an appetite for female-focused stories.

Natalie is a Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020 shortlisted author for her novel In A Thousand Ships, which retells the story of the Trojan War from an all-female perspective. Her book Stone Blind tackles the story of Medusa through a feminist lens, and her latest book, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth is a female-centred look at Olympus and the Furies. She is a self-declared “classics nerd” who has made her career reinventing Greek myths for a modern audience through her books, stand-up, radio and television.

Natalie’s book choices are:

  • The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
  • A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
  • If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Anne Carson
  • The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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From 'Against Erasure', which will be published in February: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2325-against-erasure

#HaymarketBooks #books #reading #Palestine @bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've started reading Naomi Klein's 'Doppelganger', an interesting look both inside oneself and into one's 'shadow self'.

Klein is a highly skilled writer and teacher.

https://bookrastinating.com/book/475951/s/doppelganger

#NaomiKlein #reading #NonFiction #fiction #JoseSaramago @bookstodon #book

pivic,
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@radiophobicsherkpop @bookstodon To me, non-acceptance of ideas that don't suit your current worldview is basically the problem: if you're not open to anything new, you're basically a xenophobe.

This (as with most things to us humans) quickly leads us from psychology to philosophy...

If we can't open up to others, we'll shut the door on empathy. That type of behaviour will, ultimately, set one aside from most of humanity. I think anarchy and empathy are two of the most basic human tendencies, while we flock together in need of each other.

I think most people who float away into their own delusions, slight or all-encompassing as they may be, will be surrounded by fewer people over time, and simply go away from the public eye. Naturally, there are exceptions...

pivic,
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@BadExampleMan @bookstodon I actually think Klein included that mantra in her book, not as way of lauding herself.

pivic, to bookstodon
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Natalie Hayes is hilarious and enlightening!
https://bookrastinating.com/user/pivic/quotation/299210#anchor-299210

@bookstodon

pivic,
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@bookstodon More snakes! 🐍🐍

pivic, to bookstodon
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I'll review 'Against Erasure: A Photographic Memory of Palestine Before the Nakba', edited by Teresa Aranguren and Sandra Barrilaro, in February 2024.
https://bookrastinating.com/book/498255/s/against-erasure

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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'Free Books for a Free Palestine!' https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/495-free-ebooks-for-a-free-palestine

'Publishing books on the struggle for justice in Palestine has been a central part of Haymarket’s mission since we published our first book, The Struggle for Palestine, in 2001. Now as ever, we recognize the root cause and ongoing perpetrator of violence in Palestine to be Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid, and we stand in solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle for freedom.

We also believe that books, as tools for education, analysis, combatting misinformation, and inspiration, have a vital role to play in the global Palestine solidarity movement. In that spirit, we’ve made three crucial books free to download.'

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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Mavis Gallant on style. https://bookrastinating.com/user/pivic/quotation/291386#anchor-291386

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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From Mavis Gallant's 'Paris Notebooks': https://bookrastinating.com/user/pivic/quotation/289452#anchor-289452

#MavisGallant @bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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Paris Notebooks - https://bookrastinating.com/book/493905/s/paris-notebooks

Just started reading this exciting collection of essays and reviews by Mavis Gallant.

@bookstodon

pivic,
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@bookstodon https://bookrastinating.com/user/pivic/quotation/287108#anchor-287108

#MavisGallant

pivic, to bookstodon
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https://niklas.reviews/2023/10/05/sly-stone-thank-you/

I've reviewed Sly Stone's memoirs, 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).

It's a wild ride through times and, mainly, the mind of geniality.

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've just reviewed Viet Thanh Nguyen's 'A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir. A History. A Memorial': https://niklas.reviews/2023/10/03/viet-thanh-nguyen-a-man-of-two-faces/

A very candid, angry, hyperkinetic, and shimmering book against xenophobia and for love.

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I'm reading Viet Thanh Nguyen's 'A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial'.

It's astounding. The author's command of language churns and easily sways the contents of this book into anger, an easily read and yet complex turn into a deeply engaging Vietnam-in-USA trip.

The book is published tomorrow.

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I'm reading 'The Killer', the complete graphic novel series. I'm a fourth into the book and pleasantly surprised. I feared this might be just some simplistic take on a murderous person's life—as with 'American Psycho'—but this book has a few things going for it, especially during some of the protagonist anti-hero's inner discussions. At times, philosophical. Other times, nearly depressed. The book is quite carefully written.

https://bookrastinating.com/book/486744/s/complete-the-killer

It'll be interesting to see the film that's based on this book; the film is written by Andrew Kevin Walker, mainly known for having written 'Se7en', the film. David Fincher directs this film (having also directed 'Se7en') and Michael Fassbender plays the lead rôle: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/03/the-killer-review-terrific-david-fincher-thriller-about-a-philosophising-hitman

@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I'm looking forward to reading Patric Gagne's book 'Sociopath: a Memoir'. Bad title, but I'm really looking forward to this one. I hear it's more than shock and awe.

https://bookrastinating.com/book/487466/s/sociopath

The book will be published 2024-04-02. (2 April, 2023)

#book #reading @bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've reviewed Norman Solomon's 'War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of its Military Machine': https://niklas.reviews/2023/09/08/norman-solomon-war-made-invisible/

#book #BookReview #review #war #politics #NonFiction @bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've just started reading Peter Apps's sober, riveting, and horrifying book 'Show Me the Bodies', a non-fiction book about the Grenfell Tower fire.

'The Grenfell Tower fire killed seventy-two people, including eighteen children. It ripped families apart, traumatised an entire community, destroyed 129 homes and caused damage that, for many involved, can never be repaired. It is the most serious crime committed on British soil this century.'

https://bookrastinating.com/book/486770/s/show-me-the-bodies

#PeterApps #Grenfell #book #reading #NonFiction #scandal @bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've started to read Norman Solomon's 'War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of its Military Machine': https://bookrastinating.com/book/486298/s/war-made-invisible

6% in, the book provides relation through its simple language and many facts. The writing style is lovely: straightforward, illuminating, clarifying.

@bookstodon

pivic,
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@bookstodon 'During the first two decades of this century, five megafirms—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman—divided $2.1 trillion in U.S. military contracts. For fiscal year 2020 alone, the Pentagon provided them with prime contracts totaling upwards of $166 billion. In just that one year, as compensation, the CEOs of those five companies received a total of $105.4 million. The individual and corporate incentives to maintain and gun the war machine are boundless.'

pivic,
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@Jennifer @bookstodon The book is a sobering trip, the author has dug down and been in quite a few countries. His recollections of meeting Afghan families are really interesting and breathtakingly sad to read, and sobering.

As drones do the bombing, media reports less, even though drone operators are traumatized; this is, of course, nothing in comparison with people who are bombed, maimed, etc.

As for your anecdote, I'm sorry to hear that, but I think a lot of people who profit from war tend to shut down certain basic human emotions as they rarely meet their victims...

pivic,
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@bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've reviewed D. X. Ferris's 'Reign in Blood', a book about Slayer's thrash-metal masterpiece.

#Slayer #DXFerris #ReignInBlood #thrash #metal #music #book #NonFiction @bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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Johnny Marr - Marr's Guitars - Hardback | Rough Trade https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/product/johnny-marr/marrs-guitars#hardback-signed-plus

Part from your hard-earned cash for pics of guitars! The book is signed! Johnny Marr is still cool.

#JohnnyMarr #book #reading #guitars #FenderJaguar @bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've started reading a book on Slayer's masterpiece album 'Reign in Blood' - https://bookrastinating.com/book/485726/s/reign-in-blood

#book #reading #music #Slayer #ReignInBlood #thrash #metal #analysis #MusicAlbum @bookstodon

pivic, to bookstodon
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I've started reading 'Joyce Carol Oates: Letters to a Biographer', a collection of letters from Joyce Carol Oates to Greg Johnson.

Oates is much funnier than I somehow expected. There's a lot of author type in these pages.

The book is published in March, 2024.
https://bookrastinating.com/book/483576/s/joyce-carol-oates

#JoyceCarolOates #book #reading @bookstodon

pivic, to random
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Zoom is a horrifying company with a long history of causing mayhem and exposing their users to different types of extreme risks, from serving Israel (denying Palestine groups use of Zoom) to installing a web server on Macs that had Zoom installed (which Apple had to remove).

Now, they've updated their terms of service to allow training of AI on user content; one can't opt out of this.

Don't user Zoom. Use Jitsi Meet or Matrix or other stable, free, and open-sourced solutions.

Zoom Terms of Service: https://explore.zoom.us/en/terms/

pivic, to bookstodon
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I just started reading Michael Parenti's 'To Kill a Nation', about the war against and inside of Yugoslavia https://bookrastinating.com/book/482377/s/to-kill-a-nation

6% in, it's breathtakingly sobering. The image from the book is an example of how some murderous bureaucrats view their work, and mainly themselves.

@bookstodon

pivic, (edited ) to bookstodon
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I have reviewed Wolfram Eilenberger's 'The Visionaries', which will be published on 8 August.

https://niklas.reviews/2023/07/27/wolfram-eilenberger-the-visionaries/

#WolframEilenberger #philosophy #literary #book #books #review #HannahArendt #SimoneDeBeauvoir #SimoneWeil #AynRand @bookstodon

pivic,
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@Enema_Cowboy @SteveClough @sinabhfuil @Talia @bookstodon Lawd have mercy! :molotov:

pivic,
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@SteveClough @sinabhfuil @Talia @bookstodon

'Personally, I find it ridiculous that Eilenberger gives this sophomoric pseudo-Nietzschean space in a book devoted mostly to much more subtle women. Her endless blethering in the imperative mood like Jordan Peterson on a bad day, about will, selfishness, the worthlessness of altruism and the moral foundation of capitalism, is very hard to take. And yet, I suppose, it is important to realise that Rand, though the feeblest of the thinkers here, was the most successful: as of 2020 her terrible novels had sold 37m copies, and her thoughts have underpinned the barbarous project of neoliberalism, inspiring former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, the Republican Tea party and, arguably, Trump’s low-tax and anti-regulation policies. Former British cabinet minister Sajid Javid, he of the “Tory power stance”, is a fan.'

from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/30/the-visionaries-review-wolfram-eilenberger-simone-weil-simone-de-beauvoir-hannah-arendt-ayn-rand-salvation-of-philosophy-female-philosophers-who-were-shaped-by-shadow-of-war

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