#books

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"Time has a tendency to switch around. It’s as cunning as a fox, and it can be malicious. It can flow in one direction and simultaneously in the opposite one. We only think it’s always flowing along with us, and that our life sets its boundaries. Nothing could be further from the truth. It pulls us where it will. Backwards, to when we didn’t yet exist, and forwards to where we’ll no longer be there. It plays with us, fully aware that there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s not hard to play with human beings." -- from 'Needle's Eye' by Wiesław Myśliwski; trans. Bill Johnston

@bookstodon

Ebook and paperback: https://books2read.com/TymeStarwitch
Audiobook: https://owentyme.bandcamp.com/album/the-book-of-newts-starwitch

The undead queen of the space pirates kidnapped Amelia’s sisters and damaged her ship, leaving her with little fuel. Amelia’s a dead woman without her sisters, forced to attack the pirate’s mountain-sized star ship, despite how slim the odds are…

@bookstodon

(Left) The cover of Starwitch, by Owen Tyme. In the background is a red, orange and white nebula. In the foreground is a line drawing of a red spotted newt, in white. The lines of the newt are outlined in black, to help it stand out. The interior is red, with an appearance similar to stained glass. (Right) In the background is a red and orange galaxy, with a blue core, which bears a resemblance to an eye. It has the following text over it: “First you turn my dog against me, then you steal my ship’s core? What’s next, pulling my teeth?” “We didn’t ask for this! You attacked us! Why don’t you just let us go?” “I might as well cover myself in tartar sauce, then go swimming in shark infested waters! My lieutenants would tear me to shreds, just the same!” (Bottom) https://books2read.com/TymeStarwitch

Excerpt from my latest edited chapter "Disrespecting the afterlife".

In this scene Lyeasrakardsul finds out why the Knomes don't mind the fumes surrounding their caverns... 😁

@reading @books @fantasy @bookstodon @worldbuilding @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop






The Last Philosopher: https://books2read.com/b/m0pJYA

Spotting him, the small creatures both jumped up, falling over themselves to fold up a couple of chair-contraptions while waving excitedly at the same time. He had seen less entertaining comedy troupes. Once he was close enough, he saw they were wearing weird dark glasses, which looked even more bizarre than their regular eyes. “Get back in the cave, someone might see!” He made shooing motions, and they obediently scurried off. Close to the entrance, a bird flying overhead all of a sudden dropped out of the sky. “What happened?” “Is fumes master,” the shorter one answered, picking it up. “What are you going to do with it?” He had forgotten this one’s name. “Lunch!” “Oh...eww.” “Bird not important. We wait for master. Good Knomes sorry master upset we wait.” The taller one, Isath, came up and removed his glasses. “Why were you waiting outside, and what’s with all the waving? People might get the wrong idea, you know!” “We keep watch for master, give good news!” “Have you been watching since I left?” “Yes, master.” “What if I didn’t return?” “Good master leave note. Isath trust master.” “It said ‘TF’! “If” things went well!” He was shouting; he hadn’t meant to shout.

Did Geoffrey Chaucer invent April Fool’s Day?

Today, and every year on April the first, we curse Geoffrey Chaucer. Why? Because he is (supposedly) personally responsible for the two worst holidays (“holidays”) known to humankind/the internet. These, of course, are Valentine’s Day and today, April Fools’ Day.

https://lithub.com/tag/chaucer/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01KMVKDFT18P2CKKD0MVH2TF5N&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER

Chaucer at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/144

Portrait of Chaucer by William Blake. Manchester City Gallery - Tempera on canvas c. 1800. The bust-length portrait of Chaucer emerges from a wreath of laurel rendered in soft blue-greens against a pale aqueous background. The face is gentle and bearded, wearing a hood, and has a mild, benign expression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer#/media/File:William_Blake_-_Geoffrey_Chaucer_-_Manchester_City_Gallery_-_Tempera_on_canvas_c_1800.jpg

Charles Dickens Searched the Streets of London and Found Inspiration for His Evocative Fiction

A three-part BBC series will examine how real events shaped the 19th-century British author’s writing. The show is part of the National Year of Reading in the U.K.

by Ryley Graham

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/charles-dickens-searched-the-streets-of-london-and-found-inspiration-for-his-evocative-fiction-180988451/

Dickens at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/37

Charles Dickens. A pen-and-ink engraved portrait of Dickens in three-quarter profile, facing left. He has abundant, curly hair swept back from a broad forehead, heavy brows, and a full beard and moustache that frames a strong face. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/824/824-h/824-h.htm

Today I finished All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It was so beautifully written and I’ve been lost in it for days. I’m glad I read it, though I found the ending really difficult. Not badly written, it was the right ending. I just wanted characters I’d grown to love to have certain things. I had to keep reminding myself that it’s a book about war. As good as it was, a novel with such intensely emotive language about WWII…it was really hard to read right now. So, that's a warning for ya.

There were days I was going between that and then watching Outlander (with the Jacobite Rebellion and the Battle of Culloden), and then I’d watch the news, and it was just TOO MUCH.

Next up: It’s self care time! I’m going read A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Beck …

The book's cover, all in moody blues, a photo of the French city of Saint Malo, where much of the book is set. Above the city is a long stretch of sky, filled with clouds.

The perils of searching Glasgow Libraries: Sometimes your search yields manuscripts in Latin from 1618, and next minute you find you've spent an hour down an unexpected research hole.

📚 About to Fall Apart by: Ashley Hickson-Lovence

This is the story of one man's weekend, a weekend in which everything could change

These lines could change everything.
He sips more of his tinny.
Imagines a new life.

Aidy's just punched a co-worker, but he hasn't got time to deal with the fallout. With a deadline fast looming he must get home, knuckle down an...

https://bookblabla.com/book/about-to-fall-apart

@bookstodon

This is the story of one man's weekend, a weekend in which everything could change These lines could change everything. He sips more of his tinny. Imagines a new life. Aidy's just punched a co-worker, but he hasn't got time to deal with the fallout. With a deadline fast looming he must get home, knuckle down and finish the story he's been working on, a story he hasn't been able to stop thinking about. It's the story of a falling plane and of a grieving mother. Set across one weekend, About to Fall Apart is the exhilarating story of a man of mixed heritage living on the Irish border as he tries to stay positive, reconnect with his children and maybe, even, find his own birth mother. To be released: April 9, 2026. 'Poignant and tender.' FERDIA LENNON 'A dynamic voice.' IRENOSEN OKOJIE 'Lushly written and formally audacious.' NICOLAS PADAMSEE

Ebook and paperback: https://books2read.com/TymeDarkMoon

On a world long thought to have no moon, its sudden appearance inspires wonder and terror. Hasty research links the full moon and catastrophe, revealing the existence of the so-called ‘Harbingers of Doom’, creatures from the moon that harvest souls. Can everyone survive or will they become part of the dark harvest?

@bookstodon

(Left) The cover of dark moon, by Owen Tyme, illustrated by Ryan Johnson. In the foreground, a redheaded witch and a dark haired wizard fight back to back, holding some rather large pistols. The witch is in a black dress and the wizard is in a black robe with golden decorations. Both looked a bit purple, due to the lighting. The witch's hair blows on the wind and she wears a necklace of bone beads. Behind them, there's dust, mist and fog lit by twilight as a moon rises, framing their heads. Objects that look like shooting stars fall from the moon and there's a few visible impacts. (Right) A white moon, on a background of the stars of space, with the following quote over the top of it: “Idiot! You’ve likely killed us both, leaving us stuck out in the open like this.” “We’ve got incoming. I know you’re angry and I suppose you’ve got every right to be, but we need to defend ourselves.” “ ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’, for now, and then we decide what to do about the conflict between us.” (Bottom) https://books2read.com/TymeDarkMoon

QSFer Emily Carrington has a new MM paranormal book out: Para Schooled Trilogy Box Set.

In every relationship, there’s always a choice. Choosing wrong may cost these heroes everything.

Werewolf’s Choice (Para Schooled 1)

Werewolf society has little tolerance for a lone wolf like Don, a man with a complicated past. It’s hard for him to ...

https://www.queerscifi.com/new-release-para-schooled-emily-carrington/

@LGBTQBookstodon @MMbookstodon @diversebooks @bookstodon

New review: Complementing other recent books on the Challenger expedition, The Wake of HMS Challenger brings a focus all of its own to the subject and firmly stands on its own two feet as a thoroughly enjoyable work of science history.

https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2026/03/31/book-review-the-wake-of-hms-challenger-how-a-legendary-victorian-voyage-tells-the-story-of-our-oceans-decline/

@bookstodon@a.gup.pe @princetonupress

Today is the birthday of John Fowles, and it feels like a good moment to return to a writer who made novels feel intimate, troubling, and alive.

His books do not leave the reader untouched. They linger. They raise questions about love, freedom, illusion, loneliness, and the stories people tell themselves just to keep going.

If you have read him, which book stays with you most?



@bookstodon

John Fowles