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franksting

@franksting@theblower.au

You might remember me from the early days on twitter

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franksting , to bookstodon group
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I’m watching and reading EE Doc Smith’s Skylark at the same time. And the similarities are striking, even if the timescales are a less realistic in the century old books. @bookstodon

franksting OP ,
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@Nick_Stevens_graphics @bookstodon i’m watching the show. As of episode 7 I have no space battles to compare

franksting , to bookstodon group
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“Switzerland…just as its banks were open to the opulent, its borders were closed to those in need” @bookstodon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56897459

Jennifer , to bookstodon group
@Jennifer@bookstodon.com avatar

I need some new science fiction to read, who has some suggestions? I don't like military sci-fi. For reference, my favorite series is the Expanse, I also enjoyed Scalzi's Collapsing Empire, I love Robert Charles Wilson's books. I mostly enjoy space operas and unique stories about technology, for example I really liked the recent book Mountain in the Sea about AI and intelligent octopus. Suggestions from the awesome Bookstodon community? @bookstodon

franksting ,
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@luciedigitalni @WanderingBeekeeper @Jennifer @bookstodon such a diverse set of books. Player of Games has a reread every few years.

austern , to bookstodon group
@austern@sfba.social avatar

10 authors, of whose books I've read at least five:
Jane Austen
Iain Banks
Iain M. Banks
Anton Chekhov
C. J. Cherryh
Samuel R. Delany
Ursula Le Guin
Vladimir Nabokov
Thomas Pynchon
Gene Wolfe


@bookstodon

franksting ,
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@austern @bookstodon that’s only 9 authors

franksting , to bookstodon group
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Book 15 of 2024 was “How to Slay a Dragon” by Mikhail Khodorovsky.
A huge disappointment ⭐️ ⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6366563395
@bookstodon

SallyStrange , to bookstodon group
@SallyStrange@eldritch.cafe avatar

10 authors, of whose books I've read at least five:

Ursula Le Guin
Kim Stanley Robinson
Octavia Butler
N. K. Jemisin
Becky Chambers
Iain M. Banks
Martha Wells
M. R. Carey
Lois McMaster Bujold
Vonda McIntyre


@bookstodon

franksting ,
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@n0madz @SallyStrange @bookstodon 10 authors, of whose books I've read at least five:

SF/Fantasy:
Tolkien
Ursula LeGuin
Iain M Banks
James Corey
William Gibson
Neil Gaiman
Raymond feist
Isaac Asimov
Neal Stephenson
Terry Pratchett

Everything else:
Murakami
Iain Banks
Ian Rankin
Elmore Leonard
Martin Amis
Ian McEwan
Colm Tóibín
Umberto Eco
Margaret Atwood
Arthur Conan Doyle

franksting ,
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@adriano @paul_ipv6 @realn2s @SteveClough @n0madz @SallyStrange @bookstodon That JRR Tolkien’s The Silmarillion should not have been published is quite the take!

franksting ,
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@adriano @SallyStrange @bookstodon indeed, sadly incomplete. But so many of the stories it contains are wonderfully complete. I wouldn’t call it the closing work, as I understand it so much of it had been written before The Hobbit or the Rings were published

franksting ,
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@SteveClough @realn2s @n0madz @SallyStrange @bookstodon Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Farmer Giles, pearl and sir orfeo

franksting , to bookstodon group
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Book 14 of 2024 is David Olusoga’s Civilisations: First Contact and The Cult of Progress. @bookstodon https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6426864924

franksting , to bookstodon group
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Newest Book Ive started is Colm Tóibín’s Fictionalised Biography of Thomas Mann – an intriguing genre which he appears to have taken a great liking to https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56897459 @bookstodon

franksting , to bookstodon group
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Book 13 of 2024, Maya Angelou’s And Still I Rise. A compendium of two early books, you can clearly tell the divide in time between them. Some great poems among them, but also some which didn’t work for me. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58260584 @bookstodon

franksting , to Random
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I’m sure Germany’s ongoing angst will call any criticism of this Settler Colonialism Terrorism “anti-semitism”.
https://mastodon.scot/@JackTheCat/112260267328438463

franksting , to bookstodon group
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Finished Book 12 of 2024. Kate Beaton has assembled a hell of an ensemble in northern Alberta for this witty and humble take on the impact the oil sands industry has on people - local & imported - and the environment. Four Stars @bookstodon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59069071

franksting , to bookstodon group
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“Your eyes have not yet seen life steal from limbs outstretched and trembling like the arms of dancers and dying swans” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58260584 @bookstodon

Da_Gut , to bookstodon group
@Da_Gut@dice.camp avatar

The Many Colored Land by Julian May.... from back in 1982.

How is it?

@bookstodon

franksting ,
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@Da_Gut @bookstodon 1982‽

franksting ,
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@Da_Gut @bookstodon I remember reading as a teenager. It would've been pretty new then!!

CultureDesk , to bookstodon group
@CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

In celebration of the 50th birthday of Stephen King's first novel, "Carrie," NPR polled its readers on their favorite King books. Here's what they chose. Which is your top pick? Tell us in the comments if there's a gem that didn't make the cut.

https://flip.it/f9sriI

@bookstodon

franksting ,
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@dfrancis @CultureDesk @bookstodon i suspect I prefer Misery or Firestarter. Two I have reread and enjoyed recently after being so dissatisfied with Fairy Tale and then a reread of another of the other older books. Back in the day I loved The Stand and The Talisman.

franksting , to bookstodon group
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How’s your ? @bookstodon

franksting OP ,
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@robparsons @bookstodon i shall read the rest where Nell is Edina and Tig is Patsy

franksting OP ,
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@madjo @bookstodon correct. It’s the only way to have some semblance of control

franksting OP ,
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@arratoon @bookstodon better get reading!

ChrisMayLA6 , to bookstodon group
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

I have now completed the nine volume books series The Expanse by James A Corey, and what a ride it has been.

Its quite an extraordinary feat of sustained (coherent) imagination & I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who likes world-building SF.

With its multi-viewpoint narrative strategy but also with it central core of crucial characters, this is space opera of the highest quality.

And the finale is wonderfully pleasing in plotting terms!

Its been a joy!

#sciencefiction
@bookstodon

franksting ,
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@marcroberts @Jennifer @ChrisMayLA6 @Henrysbridge @bookstodon Amos is the most empathetic of all the characters for me. Book or TV show. He and Drummer (TV) are just wonderful and challenging all at once - like so many humans.

BuffaloCrisps , to bookstodon group
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@bookstodon
@@bookstodon

Meh. Tis well written but didn't excite. I do love reading the elder stories but this one didn't spark.

Twas like a lovely pint in a savage pub but with no friends.


franksting ,
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@BuffaloCrisps @bookstodon @bookstodon Agreed, maybe it was the setting - not so much in the city – or the fact that he’s retired, but it felt like the character had been stuffed into someone elses tale

franksting , to bookstodon group
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Book 11 of 2024 is Atwood’s collection “Old Babes in the Wood” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61489616 @bookstodon

franksting , to Random
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Looks like the @protonmail 0.94 Beta to 1.00 Upgrade process is as fraught as the previous Beta update process. Should I uninstall and start again, or will it fix itself after multiple restarts like the last time?

franksting , to bookstodon group
@franksting@theblower.au avatar

Book 10 of 2024 is Mark Lanegan’s Sing Backwards and Weep. A ragged tale of a life – and associated lives –wrecked by Drug Addiction. It suffers from being a patchwork set of stories and encounters with characters, but lacking any depth in either. I am however shattered from reading the summary of the final addicted years. @bookstodon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51284863

franksting , to bookstodon group
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book 9 of 2024 was The Trees by Percival Everett. A frankly astonishing satire on white fear in 21st Century USA https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56269278 @bookstodon

franksting , to Random
@franksting@theblower.au avatar

Okay so the new @protonmail 0.94 beta update is a bit messy on my mac. Wouldn't run without saying “restart to update”, but only after restarting for the third or fourth time will it eventually open the messaging window.

evanpeterjones , to bookstodon group
@evanpeterjones@mstdn.social avatar

Curious how Mastodon reads compared to the YouGov poll of the US population below

How many Books did you read last year?

https://today.yougov.com/entertainment/articles/48239-54-percent-of-americans-read-a-book-this-year

@bookstodon

franksting ,
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@evanpeterjones @bookstodon @kcarruthers i read more than 20

hawksquill , to bookstodon group
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

My 2024 reading thread is below!

Book 1: On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

5 stars

Stunning art, lovely found family, and a fun sci fi setting, all while managing to strike the perfect balance between cozy and yearning.

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

franksting ,
@franksting@theblower.au avatar

@hawksquill @bookstodon I wasn't quite so generous with my rating, but I agree with most of your review. The last few chapters felt a bit drawn out and don’t feel the same as the rest of the book.

franksting ,
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@educaremom @hawksquill @bookstodon there are chapters in the middle where the pure banality of existence in such a situation are among the most compelling things I've read in a while. As an Irish person, I really got how people just looked out for each other…up to a point

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