@theotherotherone@mastodon.world
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theotherotherone

@[email protected]

Interests: #religiousstudies #books #classicfilm #spreadsheets #travel #television #wine #museums #history #philosophy #nba #nhl #generalist

Mostly toot sports (NHL/NBA) and reading. But my interests are far and wide.

I often say things to provoke you, maybe annoy you, in hopes it may challenge all of our thinking. AKA don't take everything so damned seriously.

Still looking for a place where responses are "Yes, and..." or "No, because..." instead of monosyllabic. Know of one?

🚫 politics

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theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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Just a thought--if you're going to recommend a book (which is great!), at least give us an idea of what it is about. Don't need a full paragraph summary, but a few words (even just a genre) can help tremendously. I don't care that you think "Olivia Thinkum" is the greatest book ever if I don't even know if it's a thriller, a mystery, a romance, a bildungsroman, etc., never mind a one sentence summary. Bonus - tell us why you love it.

@bookstodon

theotherotherone, to histodons
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What do you see as the pro's and con's of ? I'm often not a fan, but want to be. My issues with them, and mostly it comes from I love to learn and want docs to be a starting point, not the end:

  • Credentials of the experts can be spotty

  • No sources given

  • No way to ask follow-up questions

  • Too much theatrics / reenactment

  • Not as detailed as a book

  • Often don't cover the topics I want (social science, , , etc)


@histodons

theotherotherone,
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

@peterbrown @histodons To be fair, the same can basically be said about a single book, too. But it just seems with books, especially scholarly or academic, we're more willing to put some time into researching the author, their biases, and criticisms of the book. With a documentary, people tend to just accept it without any verification.

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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I'm reading The Tombs of Atuan, second Earthsea book, and although I'm still early in it, I feel like it's better than Wizard of Earthsea. It's been a bit since I read Wizard but from what I remember, the MC was kind of whiny (though MC in Atuan is not a charmer, either). But most of all, the ending of Wizard felt abrupt and not at all satisfying.

I know the books are well loved, but is there something to the idea of book to book it can be a little uneven?

@bookstodon

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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published their best historical fiction of 2023 list.

Interesting choices, but don't expect anything set before, I think, the 1700s. I guess in 2023, (great) "historical fiction" didn't include novels with settings similar to Clan of the Cave Bear (Auel), Pillars of the Earth (Follett), or Under Heaven (Kay - during the Tang Dynasty).

@bookstodon

Paywall'ed article - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/books/review/best-historical-fiction-books-2023.html

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

Following up on an earlier thread asking about similar to Agatha Christie mystery writers...

My understanding is are Japanese mysteries in a western orthodox style. So, what are some examples of Japanese mysteries NOT in a western orthodox style? Basically non-honkaku. I went down the rabbit hole a bit this weekend and learned about honkaku, but now I want to find, in a sense, traditional Japanese mysteries, if there is something like that.

@bookstodon

theotherotherone,
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@JimRion @bookstodon That makes sense. Thank you for the excellent explanation!

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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Who to read if you're an Agatha Christie devotee, but have read all of her books (besides re-reading her books, of course)? The former is true of me, but the latter, not quite yet. I'm planning ahead.

I know to at least consider Sherlock Holmes, anyone in the Detection Club (which Christie co-founded), medieval mysteries like Brother Cadfael, etc. And yes, I've already read some of those here and there, especially Cadfael.

What else?

@bookstodon

theotherotherone,
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@3148delCT @bookstodon Thanks, I think I have some of her books. Or used to.

theotherotherone,
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@JimRion @bookstodon Thank you! These look great. I'm familiar with Pushkin Press, they do good work.

theotherotherone,
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@tjradcliffe @bookstodon Looks interesting, thanks!

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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The book arrived today! I know what I'm reading until Soonish and other by @fuschmu and @ZachWeinersmith show up, hopefully next week.

@bookstodon

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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I guess you could say it's a hobby, I like reading novels about children of divinity / siblings (or friends) of Jesus. At least the ones I've read have all been humorous.

So far I've read:

Only Begotten Daughter - James Morrow

Lamb - Christopher Moore

God's Other Son - Don Imus

Anyone know other novels like this?

#books #reading #bookstodon
@bookstodon

theotherotherone,
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@jendefer @bookstodon I think that may be my favorite of the three. Though Morrow's book felt the most original.

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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Reading the #AgathaChristie collection Poirot Investigates. The first story has a Marilyn Monroe-esque character (in a story published two years before Monroe was born) with a jewel that is insured for the "enormous sum" of 50,000 GBP. In today's money, that's 3.75 million GBP (1.68 million USD). Granted, it was 99 years ago, but that's a huge change from inflation (and still "enormous"). Half the time I love Christie just for the insight into 1920s-1970s England

#books #bookstodon
@bookstodon

theotherotherone, to movies
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Help me out with this question. Corridor of Mirrors (1948, UK) is often classified as film noir but is it? I know the classic definition of - a crime, a femme fatale, a morally ambiguous hero, nighttime and rain, etc - and I know film noir can go beyond that. Corridor of Mirrors is genre mystery but it's described by as "A man falls in love with a beautiful young woman and begins to suspect that he may have also loved her in a previous life." That's noir?

@movies

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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I hope I'm not alone in this - I own multiple #college #textbooks that were assigned in my classes and I read them now, 15+ years later. In many cases, we were not assigned the entire book, just select chapters, so this is the first time I've read them cover to cover.

It's interesting to read them in light of experiences since college. Also to read them in their entirety, see all they had to say.

#education #books #bookstodon @bookstodon

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

1 play, 1 story, 14 I read over 4 months as a challenge. I find most challenges are more goals, so I wrote my own.

All the President's Men

Almanac of the Dead

Central Places

Concise Economic History of the World

Little Fingers

Disgraced (Play)

Fahrenheit 451

I Can Speak! (Short story)

She-devil in the Mirror

Shadow of the Wind

Only Begotten Daughter

Sanshiro

Seven Serpents & Seven Moons

Sweet Beginnings

Houseboy

When Hell Was in Session

@bookstodon

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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"And in [his wife's] ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind."

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 1953.

Change Seashells to a different name, like earbuds or Airpods, and that image is very plausible today. Okay, maybe change "radios" as well.

@bookstodon

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

I just finished a book (Little Fingers) where paragraphs were on average around 5-6 pages long. And now I've started a book (She-devil in the Mirror) which doesn't have paragraphs. It's just one long run-on block of text until the next chapter (at least it has chapters).

People, learn what a paragraph is! It's actually useful.

@bookstodon

theotherotherone,
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@bookstodon What's really fun with no paragraphs is conversations. It's first person narrated, so basically the narrator relates the conversations rather than reading them, essentially, in real time. But it's still so weird when it's just one huge blob of text.

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

I've been reading When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro. Booker shortlist. I love books like this, that show me a world I know nothing about - it's about a English detective who returns to his childhood home of Shanghai in 1937 to solve his parents' disappearance.

@bookstodon

DocCarms, to bookstodon
@DocCarms@mstdn.social avatar

There was a poll that stated—Rowling’s opening line in the HP series is one of best in the world. Someone posted about how there are a bunch of other opening statements that are better.

Here’s one of my personal favorites, from Gabriel Garcia Marquez (English translated):
“It is inevitable. The scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”

What are some of your favorite opening lines in literature? 😊
@bookstodon

theotherotherone,
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@astrosaur @DocCarms @bookstodon This is one of the first I thought of. I love how it tells you 1) it's a world like ours with April and clocks 2) there is such a thing as the thirteenth hour.

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

Here's my experience with Queens for those who like out of area cards:

  • $50 USD per year, not bad

  • Ebooks and streaming services

  • If you browse, selection is good. If you want specific titles, then not great.

  • How to renew/cancel - I chatted with them on their site & the person didn't know. Monday I got an email saying "call us." I called & learned it autocancels, you have to call to renew. Just put that on the site or in email/chat.

@bookstodon

theotherotherone,
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@MadisonMonkey @bookstodon Overdrive / Libby for ebooks. Not sure about audiobooks. My ereader (kobo) supports overdrive directly.

RichStein, to bookstodon
@RichStein@econtwitter.net avatar

This post was marked as spam...🤔

are awesome!

Limited time for individuals in the US, ages 13-21 —

Get a free Public Library (BPL) eCard and access BPL's as part of BPL's " Unbanned" initiative https://www.bklynlibrary.org/books-unbanned

Apply via email:
[email protected]

Or get a Public Library card (in the US, ages 13-26):
https://www.spl.org/programs-and-services/teens/books-unbanned

Please

@bookstodon

theotherotherone,
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@openbuddha @RichStein @bookstodon @leftofseatac Can't say it's necessarily better, but Queens still has out of state available.

theotherotherone,
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

@openbuddha @RichStein @bookstodon @leftofseatac No problem. I find Queens selection for ebooks only, being remote from there, isn't the greatest. But combined with the streaming services they have-including Qello, Kanopy, and Hoopla-I can justify the cost.

theotherotherone, to startrek
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

Love to see make non-Starfleet shows. I'm watching Voyager's Distant Origin ep and the main cast doesn't appear until 15 min because it's following Voth. It's refreshing.

Star Wars has been doing something similar through shows like Book of Boba Fett. A friend of mine likes SW but was thrilled when they stopped following the Skywalker family. Similarly, ST could expand by following more than just Starfleet. Guessing books do that, but shows would be nice too.

@startrek

theotherotherone,
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@oehlda2000 @startrek I would think Star Trek fan fic did the same thing. And same with the traditionally published books. I know that's the case for Star Wars novels, quite possibly Trek as well (Trek has over 850 novels, something in there is likely non-Starfleet).

theotherotherone,
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@KI5SMN @oehlda2000 @startrek Well, except arguably for Episodes IV, V, and VI, which all revolve around "Luke & Friends... and Sister"

theotherotherone,
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@KI5SMN @oehlda2000 @startrek All fair. I think there's an argument that George Lucas was kind of obsessed with the Skywalkers. I think the first TV/film that wasn't about them was Clone Wars, 2008, and he sold to Disney in 2012.

theotherotherone,
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@oehlda2000 @KI5SMN @startrek No, I haven't read any. I think I read a couple of Trek books, maybe 30 years ago, but that's it.

theotherotherone, to bookstodon
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Just finished reading the textbook A Concise (400 pg) Economic History of the World by the late economist Rondo Cameron.

I challenged myself to read, among other things, a nonfic on a topic I'm interested in but don't have much exposure to.

Honest title - A Very Brief History of Economics pre-Middle Ages and Extensive History of post-Middle Ages to Now, Particularly about Europe and the United States, with a Few Asian Countries Thrown In

@bookstodon

theotherotherone,
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@bookstodon For what it had, and being completely outside of economics and unable to evaluate accuracy, etc., it was good. Dense of course, but good. If you like economics and textbooks, it could be worthwhile... when you have the time. It took me about 5 weeks to read, averaging just over 10 pp per day.

CindySue, to bookstodon
@CindySue@bookstodon.com avatar

I have been trying to find something to read, but nothing is standing out to me. I guess I am in a slump of some sort. Any recommendations are welcome. I read just about anything, but very little fantasy. I enjoy nonfiction especially nature or social justice focused. I love middle grade books and some YA. So throw anything at me and maybe I will find something to get me out of this slump.

@bookstodon

theotherotherone,
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@duquedeturing @CindySue @bookstodon Nice! Thank you!

And for anyone trying to find a way to follow (clicking the link took me to a separate window at hachyderm.io, not logged in) - I searched [email protected] on here.

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theotherotherone,
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@startrek I forgot Tuvok. And that's kind of the point. He's not on-screen enough. I like Tim Russ quite a bit. My other issue with Tuvok is so far I haven't seen enough to really distinguish him from other Vulcan characters, like Spock. There's the ep with the children, but I think that's it. Mostly I blame it being an ensemble show, you can never get enough depth on characters. At best, maybe 1-2 get good depth but they had 8 main characters who were credited in every ep.

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theotherotherone,
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@weebdeluxe @bookstodon It's not a set number, but usually 3+. I can get, not bored exactly, but more reading the same book constantly wears on me. I need to mix it up some. In fact, often I am reading at least one non-fiction and one fiction at the same time.

theotherotherone,
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

@weebdeluxe @bookstodon I even do the same thing with hobbies in general. In all cases, especially moving from one hobby to another, I think for me it has to do with feeling productive. If I make a lot of progress on one thing in a day but it's the only thing I work on, I feel unproductive. In my hobbies, I have way too many goals to ever finish them so making progress toward as many as possible every day/week feels better to me.

NickEast, to reading
@NickEast@geekdom.social avatar

Mom, I'm looking at you! 😆

@bookstodon @reading @bookbubble @books



theotherotherone,
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@NickEast @bookstodon @reading @bookbubble @books "This sentence I'm reading is terrific." - Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye

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theotherotherone,
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@qwxlea @bookstodon It's quite interesting, though very dense. I'm glad when I get 10 pages read in a day (alongside other books I'm reading). It's called a Concise Economic History of the World (Cameron & Neal). "Concise," at 400 pages which are, and I measured, 23 cm x 15 cm (9 in x 6 in). If this is concise, I expect "full" or "expanded" to be 10 of these books.

theotherotherone,
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@qwxlea @bookstodon Definitely not for bedside reading!

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theotherotherone,
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@bibliolater @johnrakestraw @bookstodon "Not all who wander are lost." - Tolkien. I think you can liken wandering to "unplanned endeavour" and if you put it in a different context, such as exploring, I would argue unplanned is often better than planned.

theotherotherone,
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@johnrakestraw @bookstodon To me, this gets filed under, "Why not both?" Use a reading plan as a basic guideline, but still be open to other possibilities as they come along.

And that's basically what I'm doing now. I wrote a reading challenge for myself and I'm following it, but I'm also reading other books as they come along.

At the end of the day, I suppose you could say all my reading is planned in that I have a wishlist and everything I read comes from there (though it's almost 5k books)

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theotherotherone,
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@heroineinabook @bookstodon Ouch on the price. Yes, it's not bad for hardcover... as long as you're in the UK. Shipping to EU (I tried Germany) is another £60 and to the US is £165. Over $900 USD (£734.50) total to ship it to a US address. Ouch, again.

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theotherotherone,
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@tannat @ericsfraga @agt @bookstodon True. But what you can't do is transfer your Nook or Kindle library to the Kobo and read those books. You have to reacquire them in a format Kobo supports. This is the issue with any ereader, you're stuck with what it supports. If you are coming from a different company/device, you effectively have to start over.

theotherotherone,
@theotherotherone@mastodon.world avatar

@tannat @ericsfraga @agt @bookstodon You can read an AZW3 file on a Kobo? Still, it's a limitation of the device - my point was, you're not normally going to read Kindle books, Nook books, etc on Kobo. And you're not going to read Kindle books on Nook. At least, not without a lot of work first, and is it really worth it? If you want the sales Kindle has for ebooks, maybe just buy a Kindle. But if you buy a Kobo/Nook/Boox, etc, don't expect to benefit from Kindle sales, and vice versa.

theotherotherone,
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@ericsfraga @tannat @agt @bookstodon "Once you've removed DRM" is an important note though. And Amazon is good at making that hard.

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theotherotherone,
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@patrascan @movies @bookstodon Have you read Scorpions' Dance? Also about Watergate, from mid 2022. I haven't read it, just saw it mentioned in an article

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