@leapingwoman@willaful@dickrubin716@bookstodon In Apr 2020, Lawerence Wright published THE END OF OCTOBER, a novel about a influenza pandemic for which the world has no immunity devastates the planet. A CDC epidemiologist tries to figure out how to combat it and how his family can survive.
@Wivik@bookstodon I'd read in Harlan Ellison's burbs in his books that there used to be a morning and evening mail in NYC when he lived there. I learned from my downstairs neighbor that during her childhood before WWII, she remembers mail delivery 3x/day--morning, afternoon, and evening--in her home in the UK.
If only mail service was as reliable and post offices were as inviolate as depicted in WAY STATION. It would make a nice limited streaming series.
Romance Writers of America (RWA) is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in part because of years of controversy surrounding race and inclusion. The trade association was founded by a Black woman in 1980 but became progressively whiter and less supportive of Black writers, awarded controversial books and in 2005, polled members on if romance should be defined as between one man and one woman. Despite all this, romance itself is thriving — it's the highest-earning fiction genre and sales are climbing. NBC took a look at what went wrong at the RWA. We want to know: What genres of book do you read (choose as many options as you like)? And if you're a writer, tell us about your work in the comments!
@CultureDesk@bookstodon@blackmastodon You didn't mention mysteries or detective fiction. Sometimes I like crossovers like a gay fiction author who with his trans partner and pair of Corgis solves murders in the local Portland Gayborhood.
Just finished Biology the Whole Story by Lindsay Turnbull https://www.amazon.com/Biology-The-Whole-Story/dp/1788451937/ref=sr_1_1 Wow - what a great read! This was the perfect biology refresher for someone who took biology ... thirty-ish years ago? Steps through all the major topics - DNA, evolution, energy systems, animals, plants, and so on. Was great to dig back into some concepts I hadn't thought about in a long time
@danielcornell@bookstodon I'm in the same boat, only it was 50 years ago. I recently listened to Paul Sen's EINSTEIN'S FRIDGE as a great brush up on Thermodynamics which I studied for my Chemistry degree. It was a great overview of how it became the science of heat transfer, who were the major players (I remembered a lot of the names), and it's implications in modern information theory (that was new).
I've got some audiobook credits before I cancel my account (just not worth it when the #library is there 🥰). Could someone recommend some good audiobooks?
What I am looking for:
✔️Cozy mysteries or cozy horror
✔️If romance, nothing 🌶️ because I can't listen to sex scenes being narrated to me without giggling like a middle schooler.
✔️Female main character = bonus
✔️POC protagonist = bonus
✔️YA or New Adult recs okay
A year or so later, I got it as an Audiobook and am amazed at the level of depth and understanding of the characters, the setting of 1900 New York City, and the writer's ability to get inside the minds of a Jinni, a creature of Fire born in the desert, and the Golem, a creature of clay built to serve her master, able to read minds and desires of those around her with the strength of 10 men.
I'm excited to learn there's a sequel. Thanks for that.
A fellow social worker I knew from grad school shared this book on her Instagram story and recommended it. I was on a hold list for the ebook at my local library for weeks, but now, I have it. I’m also listening to the #audiobook read by the author.
@bibliolater@bookstodon I've found that the more I've enjoyed reading a book nowadays, the slower I read it towards the end. Because I literally don't want it to end.
I suppose there's a page-limiting-factor to that. CRYPTONOMYCON wasn't a linear novel. I had to assemble the puzzle pieces of the story as I read. So the last chapter didn't feel like I was racing to the end but just one more piece put into place to finish the entire story. Same for any William Gibson novel.
I never finish THE JINN AND THE GOLEM because I didn't want to story to end. Some years later, I'm listening to the audiobook and marveling at the author's ability to create the feel of 1900 New York.
All of Child's REACHER novels had the narrative drive to push me to finish them. I wanted to find out how it all turned out. Even the epilogs offered some tidying of loose ends.
I have a craving for vampire novels that don’t take themselves too seriously - any recommendations? Currently reading Odd Blood and enjoying it so far.
