reading

"The man who came in from the cold," has become "The dog who got away from his relentless sister by hiding behind the reader in the chair." Less catchy, but more significant. #Dogs #DogsOfMastodon #Reading

ALT

📚 #Books and #Reading accounts to follow:

BOOK NEWS & WRITING ABOUT BOOKS
@BookRiot - Book news site based in Canada
@kerry_ferrand - In-depth book review videos
@faereviews - Romantic fantasy book videos
@lunastation - Magazine of speculative fiction by female writers
@bookgaga - Bibliophile on books, literary news, poetry etc
@philosophiclee - Essays on philosophy & literature etc
@craicer - Newsletter for indie authors
@horrordna - Horror site covering books, films, comics etc

🧵 1/10

Reading in the Park - City of Chicago by Frank J Casella. Great summer weather and quiet nature brings people out to Millennium park in Chicago, Illinois. It's important in life to have balance and to do some reading so that we may grow our knowledge and prosper our life in this world. https://pixels.com/featured/reading-in-the-park-city-of-chicago-frank-j-casella.html

#chicago #reading #recreation #people #squareFormat #photography #fjcasellaphoto #fineart #fineartamerica

ALT

I think it's time for a #reintroduction post. I've been on Mastodon since 2024 and hanging out at The Mended Drum for over a year, and I'm doing a bit of remodeling on my feed. I'd love to make some new friends, and I would also appreciate any hashtag recommendations to follow!

I'm a cis woman of the Oregon Trail Generation living in #Raleigh, #NC, US. Currently a freelance proofreader specializing in deposition transcripts. I'm (lazy) #plantbased, unattached, #nonreligious, sober-ish, and #childfree.

Likes: #reading, #concerts, #animals (especially #cats), #photography, glamping, dragons, spreadsheets, pockets, bubbles, word games/puzzles, #solarpunk, #sustainability, a little light yoga, and the Oxford comma.

Dislikes: patriarchy, bigotry, billionaires, cars, fossil fuels, ads, #misophonia, #perimenopause, summer, basketball (see: misophonia), cooking, running, clothes shopping, phone calls, and glitter.

I'll expound on some of my favorite authors, artists, genres, and titles in a thread.

#introduction

读过 寻找我们的鱼类祖先
https://neodb.social/book/2vdFTB7hqErFK4ji1zNQ4n

预期是科普，结果发现是讲的空棘鱼的发现和后续研究过程，即便是自诩自然科普爱好者看这本书之前也没意识到进化论的重要 missing link 实物证据如它是这么晚（20 世纪中期）才被发现的，这个世界上真的是还有太多未知了。最动人的是书里记录的研究者们的一腔热情，比如自学成才把博物馆办得有声有色机缘巧合发现第一只而名垂青史的拉蒂迈，逃离东德去实现自己潜水梦骑自行车穿越欧洲最后设计潜水器又搞到船成功拍到鱼的弗里克，丈夫死后继承衣钵并绽放自我充满热情建立史密斯研究所饱受当地人爱戴的玛格丽特……都非常 inspiring。

#reading

It's National Library Week! Libraries need you! Find out how to run for office at ReadLeadRun.org

#NationalLibraryWeek #library #libraries #librarianship #Read #Reading

Happy National Library Week!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_Week

#libraries #NationalLibraryWeek #LibraryWeek #books #reading #bookstodon

ALT

读过 我们从哪里来 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
地质史如何影响人文史这个题材我真的很感兴趣，聚焦现代中国这片区域也比欧美 centric 的多了一些亲切感，但都不需要多深的专业知识就能感受到其多处不严谨不靠谱之处，导致看到有趣的观点总让人将信将疑，颇有在看科普视频博主的感觉，阅读乐趣就减少了很多。以及不知道是不是简中特有的莫名自豪感读着总让人觉得有些别扭，就这片现在居住的土地上几十万年前可能有世界第一长河或者几百万年前来的直立人到底有没有全灭绝还是融入到现代智人当中了这种东西到底有什么可拿一把骄傲的语气来讲的啊？就纵观地质和生物史如何演化到今天的脉络真的很有意思但时不时要夹带点狭隘的民族自豪感进去真的好尴尬……三星半

#reading

读过 我们从哪里来
https://neodb.social/book/7YxBubtYISyPx3QcASCONv

地质史如何影响人文史这个题材我真的很感兴趣，聚焦现代中国这片区域也比欧美 centric 的多了一些亲切感，但都不需要多深的专业知识就能感受到其多处不严谨不靠谱之处，导致看到有趣的观点总让人将信将疑，颇有在看科普视频博主的感觉，阅读乐趣就减少了很多。以及不知道是不是简中特有的莫名自豪感读着总让人觉得有些别扭，就这片现在居住的土地上几十万年前可能有世界第一长河或者几百万年前来的直立人到底有没有全灭绝还是融入到现代智人当中了这种东西到底有什么可拿一把骄傲的语气来讲的啊？就纵观地质和生物史如何演化到今天的脉络真的很有意思但时不时要夹带点狭隘的民族自豪感进去真的好尴尬……三星半

#reading

读过 Apple in China
https://neodb.social/book/6fkSdyg6oGgsBfjCq2SQmG

苹果刚到中国落地各种水土不服那里还稍有点意思，大多数部分有些流水账了，尤其一开始讲苹果前期历史那里无聊得我都快弃了，后面的 pivot 波澜壮阔时代感也完全没写出来。作者自身的观点直到 epilogue 才出现，且明明自己能念正文却找别人而且听得出几章之间语调差别就很违和。一开始纳闷为啥这种书会被豆瓣和谐掉，听了几分钟立刻明白，一上来就是习近平指挥党媒对苹果发出不实指控要求优待中国顾客来彰显实力这事能说吗 lol 但其实不看表面看实质全书主治根本就是 China No.1 美国授人以渔之后现在工业化不行毫无还手之力。如果正文还不够明显的话结语里也是说得很清楚了。贵党对这种低级黑高级红也不放行真是对国民阅读能力没信心啊。

#reading

I feel like I have to do an #introduction post after 3 years on this instance.
I'm sans serif girl - even if, at 40, I'm not a girl anymore (actually I'm not exactly a girl at all 'cause my gender is neutral, but you know force of habit; also in Italian we don't have a neutral equivalent and I'm not very fond of overextended [? I don't even know if this word exists] masculine) but I'm quite attached to this nickname - a neutral person, my pronouns are she/they, I'm #ace, #biromantic, #autistic and #deaf in my left ear.
I'm boring even if I laugh over the stupidest things and on a scale of 1 to 10 my mood is always an honest 5. Like Fiona Apple's meme in my pinned posts I don't like to go out (if it entails socializing and meeting people) except for walking my #dog (I have an old female dog that I love very much) and exploring the #countryside and river banks.
All my interests are things that I can do on my own like #reading, #writing, #MusicListening, watching #OldMovies, going on walks, taking nature #pictures. I told you: boring!
My best friends live far away from me and I'm obviously sad about it, but not so sad as a normal person would be because I don't despise my time alone, on the contrary I quite like it as it allows me to recharge from everyday stressing things like noises, traffic, work, and of course PEOPLE.
When I had my full earing I used to play the bass guitar and ukulele (and a bit of violin) but I quit because with only one ear left I find it quite difficult and a little bit painful. I also loved going to concerts but I can't anymore.
So most of my free time slots now are taken up by reading #manga #manhwa and #manhua, like I used to when I was in my twenties. One has to do something to entertain theirselves, no?
I'm also quite interested in #astrology and #tarots, that I use as a way to better understand myself.
I believe in #accessibility and that's why I'll always demand an alt text on your pictures and won't boost pictures without it.
I don't do immediate follow back because 1. I want to know who is following me 2. even when, after some time, I think someone is ok I almost always forget to reciprocate.
But you know: bad friend 🤝 bad mastodon user.
I've clearly forgotten something fundamental* but I'll blame the time and my age.
*Here we go! The first thing I’d forgotten is that, as one of my dearest friends always tells me, my love language is "a meme for every occasion". There’s a meme for everything, I’m sure I’ve got one in my endless archive and I'm going to post it. The second thing is that, unlike many people, I like voice messages a lot, even the longest ones. But I don't like podcasts for the record, nor audiobooks. The third thing is that, despite having read so much theory, I can’t bring myself to call me a #feminist. When I think of feminists, the image that springs to mind is about people who manage to put theory into practice, activists who take up spaces. I can’t do that – for various reasons I won’t delve into here – and so I don’t think it’s right for me to claim the label for myself. However, I have great respect for the comrades who carry out feminist practices into everyday lives.
And now for some faves:
- writers: #DaphneDuMaurier #DianaWynneJones #UrsulaKLeGuin #ShirleyJackson #JRRTolkien #NnediOkorafor
- musicians: I've always listened to a lot of kinds of music but if I must choose my all time fave is #JoannaNewsom
- movies: almost all where #CaryGrant starred, plus #ColdComfortFarm #Smultronstället and #NoisesOff
- tv series: #TwinPeaks #VeronicaMars #MontyPythonsFlyingCircus and #MurderSheWrote
- animals: #dogs #goats #donkeys

在听一本书 Enshitification 讲现代互联网如何被 tech 公司屎化的，到了结尾的作者 proposed solution 部分猝不及防作者安利了 mastodon/fediverse/activitypub，并且 advocate 建立 regulation 强制 big tech 提供类似 fediverse 一样的方便用户迁移站点的手段。

这样会不会把互联网变得更好且不说，突然有种次元壁破了的感觉 hhhhh

#reading

读过 大灭绝时代
https://neodb.social/book/6Z3Za6KkjzMCceTJnfbJhy

作者和译者文笔都很不错，朴实无华但引人入胜，从十三种不同生物入手见微知著讲了第六次大灭绝的几个侧面。看多了有些 depressing，但像很多科普读物一样结尾又带出了许多人类努力下有在变好的示例。读到本书突然觉得这种实地到全球跟着深爱科研和自然的科研工作者深入现场采访了写科普来给提升大众认知的书（类似的还有《Bitch》）的作者生活好棒啊！颇有种战地/调查记者 but for nature 的感觉，并且结合与有趣的人深度交流及深入浅出科普写作，简直是集我的所有 dream job 于一身了，钱不是问题的话大概会想去锻炼自己的身体和写作能力去干这个吧。

#reading

在读 More Everything Forever，看到一个大无语的破次元壁段落。

就 Eliezer Yudkowsky，一个 rationalist 创世始祖（一帮相信 singularity 肯定会来而且只有他们这帮研究 AI alignment 的大聪明才能拯救世界帮助人类造出一个生生世世帮助人类殖民全宇宙的大聪明流派），一个 Peter Thiel 让他做了 IQ 测试结果很满意于是给他的组织陆续捐了 160 万刀的大聪明，一个搜这个名字第一个出来的 reddit 文章是“为啥大家都讨厌 Eliezer Yudkowsky”（然后答案是他太自作聪明了）的大聪明，当年一开始是写博客嘛，但后来发现了一个新的输出自己思想的渠道 -- 写哈利波特同人文。

看到这段时候我把自己下巴从地上捡起来两次。你没看错，这人是《哈利波特与理性之道》的作者…………

我看到 rationalist 这词的时候还在想以为自己绝世大天才的人可真会给自己的大聪明门派起名字，万万没想到这个 rationalist 就是 Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality 那个 rational……

就虽然我没吃过猪肉但也看过猪跑这个名字真是如雷贯耳我的次元壁碎了一地，更加厌世了，世界就是个大屎山，我继续看书自闭去了。

#reading #无用知识又增加了

读过 Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
https://neodb.social/book/0QWbv5FK3eEmDjcbXxS86D

本以为是纯蹭 enshittification 这个词的热度扩成一本书，后半部分觉得还行。前半段也觉得就是个外行互联网发展史概论，怀念一下 good old days，对不熟悉互联网发展史和如何运作的人有一定的 TLDR 价值。到后期开始给作者提倡的解决方案时逐渐有了些体系，喷 Apple 以安全为名实则降低了所有人包括 iSheep 们的体验和安全性的 iMessage 圈地行为的时候就直加分了。解决方案无非是提倡政策和监管层面的反垄断，right to fix, right to exit, inter-operability, net-neutrality, unionize. 开始安利 mastodon/fediverse/activityhub 的时候突然次元壁破了。三星半

#reading

Let's do this.

@bookstodon#Books #Reading #SFF #SciFi #Fantasy #Fiction #BrokenEarth

(comment on The Stone Sky)

ALT

"When a comm builds atop a fault line, do you blame its walls when they inevitably crush the people inside? No; you blame whoever was stupid enough to think they could defy the laws of nature forever. Well, some worlds are built on a fault line of pain, held up by nightmares. Don’t lament when those worlds fall. Rage that they were built doomed in the first place."

— N. K. Jemisin: The Stone Sky

"Built on a fault line of pain, held up by nightmares" could be the historical footnote for this era of capitalist imperialism. Could also be the official tagline for the USA.

@bookstodon#Books #Reading #Quotes #SFF #SciFi #Fantasy #Fiction #BrokenEarth #AntiCapitalist #AntiFascist

ALT

读过 Apple in China 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
苹果刚到中国落地各种水土不服那里还稍有点意思，大多数部分有些流水账了，尤其一开始讲苹果前期历史那里无聊得我都快弃了，后面的 pivot 波澜壮阔时代感也完全没写出来。作者自身的观点直到 epilogue 才出现，且明明自己能念正文却找别人而且听得出几章之间语调差别就很违和。一开始纳闷为啥这种书会被豆瓣和谐掉，听了几分钟立刻明白，一上来就是习近平指挥党媒对苹果发出不实指控要求优待中国顾客来彰显实力这事能说吗 lol 但其实不看表面看实质全书主治根本就是 China No.1 美国授人以渔之后现在工业化不行毫无还手之力。如果正文还不够明显的话结语里也是说得很清楚了。贵党对这种低级黑高级红也不放行真是对国民阅读能力没信心啊。

#reading

I'm super late for my biannual re-#introduction post... Whoops! 😅

Anyway, I'm slanderoid. I'm just some guy from a tiny #rural village in Midwest, USA. I came to #Mastodon after #Twitter turned into a medical waste dumpster fire back in 2022. I'm turning 40 in a week and I feel weird about it

I'm a #geek. (Or a #nerd, I'm not sure which.) I love #horror of all kinds. I used to play a lot of #VideoGames but not so much, lately. I'm more into #movies and #music at the moment. I love #books and I can often be found #reading something. My wife and I run a big #LittleFreeLibrary from our front lawn. We've got some big plans for it next year!

I recently launched a website full of my #writing over at https://notaherostory.com. #NotAHeroStory has been my dream for many years and it's cool that, after some hard work, time, and dedication, it finally exists! If you're into #fantasy, #comedy, #LitRPG, or #beer, you should check it out. It's 94% free!

If you're new here, welcome! 😄

ALT

读过 Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
本以为是纯蹭 enshittification 这个词的热度扩成一本书，后半部分觉得还行。前半段也觉得就是个外行互联网发展史概论，怀念一下 good old days，对不熟悉互联网发展史和如何运作的人有一定的 TLDR 价值。到后期开始给作者提倡的解决方案时逐渐有了些体系，喷 Apple 以安全为名实则降低了所有人包括 iSheep 们的体验和安全性的 iMessage 圈地行为的时候就直加分了。解决方案无非是提倡政策和监管层面的反垄断，right to fix, right to exit, inter-operability, net-neutrality, unionize. 开始安利 mastodon/fediverse/activityhub 的时候突然次元壁破了。三星半

#reading

It's tragic that Nassun, in a fit of rage, comes to understand her father's filicidal outbursts—but can't quite make the connection that what she aims to do with her fear and hatred is just as evil as what Jija did to Uche with his.

So close! Just a wee bit more self-reflection and she'd get there…

Ah, but we're only a quarter of the way through the book. There's time and hope for Nassun yet.

@bookstodon#Books #Reading #SFF #SciFi #Fantasy #Fiction #BrokenEarth

(comment on The Stone Sky)

ALT