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Beiträge, die mit Bookstodon getaggt sind


7. Movies, cartoons, television

Are You Not Entertained?: Mapping the Gladiator Across Visual Media (Lindsay Steenberg)

Really fun read with all the gladiator stuff coming out this year. The author explores the gladiator as an archetype, and the arena fight as a trope, across various movies and TV shows (even outside historical movies, e.g. Hunger Games, Gamer, Fight Club etc). Lots of good insight into gender, nostalgia etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-You-Not-Entertained-Gladiator/dp/1350120073

#nonfiction #books #bookstodon #gladiator


6. Human relationships

The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier (April White)

In the late 19th century, traveling to Sioux Falls was the easiest way to get a divorce - after only 90 days of residency. So the city's largest hotel turned into a "divorce colony" of women (and some men) waiting for their freedom. The book is an awesome read, full of personal stories.

https://www.amazon.com/Divorce-Colony-Revolutionized-Marriage-American/dp/0306827662

#books #bookstodon #nonfiction #divorce #AmReading


I finally figured out where the UK keeps the folklore books. I wandered into a witchy shop, and there they were. 😄

#books #bookstodon #UK #witchy #folklore #folktales


5. Crime and criminology

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession (Allison Hoover Bartlett)

The story of a man who used credit card scams to buy extremely expensive rare books and hoard them. The author explores the world of rare book collecting, buyers and sellers and scammers alike. 📚

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Loved-Books-Much/dp/1594484813

#bookstodon #books #nonfiction #AmReading


4. Russia

The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them (Elif Batuman)

Shorter essays about people who engage with Russian literature, including the author herself. Stories like organizing a Russian literature conference in California, or her summer study in Uzbekistan, or the history of the Ice Palace. Interesting read, although I didn't always like the author's personal attitude.

https://www.amazon.com/Possessed-Adventures-Russian-Books-People/dp/0374532184

#books #bookstodon #nonfiction #Russia #literature


3. History outside Europe

Sparks: China's Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future (Ian Johnson)

Highly recommended read. The author traces the work of underground historians, archivists, and documentary filmmakers in China who try to keep records of history that has been erased or changed by the party. They often literally risk their life and freedom to do it.

https://www.amazon.com/Sparks-Chinas-Underground-Historians-Battle/dp/0197575501

#history #China #nonfiction #bookstodon #books


2. Language, linguistics

The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies (Richard Hamblyn)

The story of how cloud types were named by Luke Howard at the turn of the 19th century. The book gives great historical context starting from the 1600s, about the birth of meteorology and the difficulties of cloud classification. I finally learned how the categories work.

https://www.amazon.com/Invention-Clouds-Amateur-Meteorologist-Language/dp/0312420013

#cloud #language #linguistics #nonfiction #history #books #bookstodon


1. Gastronomy

The Land Where Lemons Grow (Helena Attlee)

The author travels across Italy, exploring the history of various citrus fruits. I never knew citrus could be such a fascinating topic, but the book was an amazing read. From the connections of lemons to the Sicilian mafia, through the orange-throwing carnival of Ivrea, all the way to Renaissance hybrid citrus collections. 🍋 🍊

(Sorry for the Amazon links)
https://www.amazon.com/Land-Where-Lemons-Grow-Citrus/dp/0241952573

#nonfiction #books #bookstodon #AmReading #food #Italy


I finished this year's Polymath Reading Challenge early!
It was exciting as usual, and led me to some great #nonfiction books. So, I'm going to share my reading list. No one asked, but here it is.

Thread. 📚

#AmReading #Books #bookstodon #ReadingChallenge #science #history


The Change series by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith is my favorite YA fantasy.

By "fantasy" I mean post-apocalyptic western with mutant superpowers :D

This series does diversity right. It's part of the setting. The story also features a very cute throuple, a demisexual main character, and realistic depiction of PTSD. And yes, it's well written and exciting. Final book out in October.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0753KXMV3?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1718896357&sr=1-1&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tkin

#YA #fantasy #books #amreading #reading #bookstodon #pride #representation


Meet the characters from my new graphic novel: GEORGE

I loved the idea of making a classic historical romance with a nonbinary/ transmasc romantic hero - inspired by real queer history, but still a comfort read.

Think: Gentlemanly manners you can read as butch chivalry, repressed longing that's also about their own body and presentation, difference that puts them at odds with high society and leads them to question it.

More info: https://www.hari-illustration.com/-i-shall-never-fall-in-love
.
#queerromance #bookstodon
Text reads: I shall never fall in love - Meet the characters: George, the unlikely heir to their crumbling family estate
comic panels with text that reads: Aunt who insists on finding them a husband (a suspicious older aunt and floundering George), secretly more comfortable in masculine clothes (George in a men’s jacket and top hat)
illustrated portrait of George, a white character with dark hair and androgynous historical (regency) clothing
comic panels with George looking longingly at a blonde girl and repressing a minor breakdown about it - text reads: Definitely NOT in love with their best friend Eleanor, don’t worry about it


🥳 After five years of dreaming, listening, writing, editing, and hustling, our book THE SECRET LIFE OF DATA is finally available to the public!!!

Happy launch day to my dear friend and coauthor @jesse and thanks to the @themitpress team for all the support.

Buy it here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262048811/the-secret-life-of-data/

#newbook #books #bookstodon #data #surveillance #privacy #commodon
Launch day flier for The Secret Life of Data featuring a quote from Nick Couldry: "Smart, extremely well-informed, and highly recommended."


It's probably more to do with my being much older and more widely read than the last time, but I'm getting a lot more out of Gravity's Rainbow in #audiobook form (George Guidall is a god of narration, might be the USA's Simon Vance) than I ever have before. I think a lot of people who DNF'd it in the past might find they finish it as an audiobook. Guidall makes even the super gross bits bearable and conveys the humor without overdoing the comedy har har. Recommend!
#Bookstodon


#WomensNonfiction 18.
The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier - by April White

This book needs to be a high budget HBO show.

At the end of the 19th century, Sioux Falls was known for its lax divorce laws: if someone resided there for 90 days, they could file for divorce. The town's main hotel fast became a "divorce colony" of desperate women (and some men) and their own private dramas.

#nonfiction #books #bookstodon


#WomensNonfiction 17.
The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II - by Svetlana Alexievich

Alexievich is a Nobel Laureate mostly known for "Voices from Chernobyl", but her other books are great too. In this one she interviewed hundreds of women who fought in WWII in the Soviet army, or as partisans.
This one a difficult read, with a lot of dark stories. But it is very much worth reading.

#WomensHistoryMonth #nonficion #books #bookstodon #women #war
Cover of the book, with a large black and white photo of a young woman officer with several medals on her chest.


#WomensNonfiction 16.
Dorothy Parker: What fresh hell is this? - by Marion Meade

I really enjoyed the collection of Dorothy Parker's short stories, so I decided to read her biography. It was fascinating and often amusing, although in a slightly different way than I'd expected.
Dear Dorothy was a hot mess. In all the best and worst ways possible.

#WomensHistoryMonth #books #bookstodon #nonfiction
Black and white photo of Dorothy Parker. She is smiling and leaning on a balustrade, wearing a light coat, and a hat at a jaunty angle.


#WomensNonfiction 15.
The fossil hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World - by Shelley Emling

This is a biography of pioneering paleontologist and fossil hunter Mary Anning, who is credited with discovering the first complete ichthyosaur and plesiosaur skeletons. Her discoveries contributed a lot to the science of paleontology - and her life was fascinating in all kinds of ways.

#WomensHistoryMonth #nonfiction #books #bookstodon
A painting of Mary Anning, dressed in a warm green coat and wearing a straw hat, carrying her fossil gathering tools. Next to her is a drawing of a plesiosaur skeleton.


#WomensNonfiction 14.
Wonderful ​Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands - by Mary Seacole

Mary Seacole was a Jamaican woman, trained in medicine by her doctor mother. She wanted to join Florence Nightingale in nursing soldiers during the Crimean War, but she was not accepted. So instead, she traveled to the front on her own and put up an inn where she made food and sold drinks, and regularly walked to the trenches to tend to the wounded.

#WomensHistoryMonth #books #bookstodon #nonfiction
Sepia portrait photo of Mrs Seacole, wearing a 19th century dress with lace collar and bead necklace, her hair pinned up.


Apparently there will be a new Neverending Story movie. Or movies. And once again, a buch of new people are discovering that The Neverending Story is a book 😄😄

#books #cinemastodon #bookstodon #NeverendingStory


#WomensNonfiction 13.
The lady and the octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology - by Dana Staaf

A colorful, fascinating book about the French scientist (1794–1871) who invented aquariums. We learn about her experiments in Italy, her inventions to make observations easier, and ther theories about the age-old mystery of the paper nautilus and its self-grown shell.

#WomensHistoryMonth #nonfiction #books #bookstodon
Black and white photograph of Jeanne Villepreux-Power dressed in a wide skirt and a lace shawl wrapped over her shoulders. She is leaning on a decorative column, looking at an elaborate cup. She is young and elegant, with her hair pulled back in a net.


#WomensNonfiction 12.
The ​Memoirs of Madame Vigée Lebrun

Le Brun (1755–1842) was a painter whose works still hang in galleries around the world, including the British National Gallery & the Louvre. She was the portrait painter of Marie Antoinette before she fled to Italy and then to Russia from the Revolution, leaving an abusive husband behind.

Her memoirs are entertaining and witty, showing a glimpse at the life of a remarkable woman.

#WomensHistoryMonth #nonfiction #books #bookstodon
Vigée Le Brun's self portrait painting. She is facing the viewer, wearing a straw hat decorated with flowers and a feather. Her dress is pink with white ruffles, and there is a dark shawl wrapped around her arms. She is holding a handful of brushes and a painting palette.


#WomensNonfiction 11.
The lady and the sharks - by Eugenie Clark

A fun memoir by the famous ichthyologist Eugenie Clark, best known for her work with sharks. I loved reading her memories of establishing a research center, designing experiments to test shark intelligence, and diving in all kinds of places (including sink holes). Also, the details of raising children as a marine scientist.

#WomensHistoryMonth #books #bookstodon #nonfiction
Black and white photo of a young Eugenie in diving gear, chest-deep in water and holding a glass jar with some small striped fish in it.


#WomensNonfiction 10.
Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis - by Kim Todd

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717) was a scientific illustrator and naturalist, still known today for her wonderful illustrations of the life cycle of butterflies and other insects. She was the first to draw them in context of their food plants, observing the process of metamorphosis.

The book traces her life and travels, in Europe and in South America.

#WomensHistoryMonth #books #bookstodon
Hand drawn and painted color image of a blue butterfly with its caterpillar climbing on a branch of its food plant, and a second adult butterfly showing the underside of its wings.


#WomensNonfiction 9.
The Search for Omm Sety - by Jonathan Cott

Dorothy Eady fell down the stairs when she was 3 and woke up with memories of her previous life in Ancient Egypt as the lover of Pharaoh Seti I.
She didn't stop there: she threw herself into studying hieroglyphics, moved to Egypt, and became an expert of its history and culture.

Regardless of whether you believe in reincarnation, she was a fascinating, witty woman worth reading about.

#WomensHistoryMonth #books #bookstodon
Photo of Omm Sety in front of the Abydos temple, in her elderly years. She is wearing a pink vest, brown pants, a red blanket over her shoulders, and a green head scarf. She is smiling cheerfully into the camery.


#WomensNonfiction 8.
Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary - by Anita Anand

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was the daughter of the last Maharaja of the Punjab, born and raised in England as the goddaughter of Queen Victoria. The book traces Sophia's life and that of her siblings, seeking their place between two worlds. Sophia became a suffragist, standing up for women's rights, and caring for war victims, displaced workers and children.

#WomensHistoryMonth #books #Bookstodon
Black and white photo of Sophia, sitting in a garden in a white, closed-neck Victorian dress, wearing a hat with her hair pinned up. She has a serious expression on her face. She is surrounded by three black pet dogs (I am bad at dogs but they look like Pomeranians)


#WomensNonfiction 5.
Portrait of Myself - by Margaret Bourke-White

Autobiography from a pioneering photographer who was present, camera in hand, for several important moments of the 20th century. Like honestly, this woman was everywhere, from Black Tuesday to WWII to Gandhi's death. She also writes passionately about industrial photography, which I never thought I'd care about.
Plus she kept alligators on her balcony in the Chrysler Building.
#WomensHistoryMonth #books #bookstodon #photography
Black and white photo of Margaret in the 1930s, positioning her camera while kneeling on an eagle statue on the 61st floor of the Chrysler Building, high above the skyline.


#WomensNonfiction 4.
A warrior of the people: How Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America's First Indian Doctor - by Joe Starita

In 1889, Susan La Flesche became the first Native American doctor to earn a western medical degree. She spent the rest of her life working for her community and standing up for equality. The book tells her life story, that of her family, and that of American women in medicine.

#WomensHistoryMonth #women #books #bookstodon #Indigenous
A black and white close photograph of Susan La Flesche, with her hair pinned up, wearing a high necked grey dress.


#WomensNonfiction 3.
Ada ​Blackjack: A true story of survival in the Arctic - by Jennifer Niven

Ada was an Iñupiaq woman who joined an arctic expedition in the 1920s. The expedition got stranded on Wrangel Island, and slowly all the (somewhat foolishy unprepared) explorers died or disappeared, leaving Ada to fend for herself for almost two years. She survived, and the book uses her diary among other sources to tell her story.

#WomensHistoryMonth #Indigenous #books #bookstodon #nonfiction
Black and white photo of Ada, a young Iñupiaq woman dressed in a traditional outfit with a fur hood.


#WomensNonfiction 2.
The Five: The untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper - by Hallie Rubenhold

In this fascinating book the author researches the lives of Jack the Ripper's five victims. She does so to reframe the whole narrative: why are libraries written by the criminal, but nothing about the women who died? Why is there so much misinformation about who they were and how they lived?

Surprisingly detailed and touching book.

#WomensHistoryMonth #books #bookstodon
The cover of the book, featuring the figure of a 19th century woman with her back to us, walking down an empty, gloomy street.


"What are you reading?"

Um let's see

I'm reading a book about underground historians in modern day China (Sparks) for a reading challenge

I'm reading Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett for a book club

I'm reading the poem a day book by @brianbilston

I'm reading The flowering wand by Sophie Strand in the evenings because it's enchanting

I'm reading Apollodorus' Library for research

Yes I can keep them straight
I'm a bit book promiscuous?... 😅

#reading #AmReading #bookstodon #books


The ActivityPub plugin on my Wordpress blog is working and my entire blogs are posting in full text to Mastodon, links and all. Footnotes are a bit wonky; may need to change the code on those. Finally got my custom Gravatar to come through too. Check it out at @jillminor
#wordpress #ActivitypubPlugin #Blog #bookstodon @bookstodon


I'm alternating between T.H. White's 1939 novel about King Arthur's childhood, "The Sword in the Stone", and a new biography of the amazing 18th century #Stockholm poet Carl Michael Bellman, whose main themes were drink, sex and death.

#books #bookstodon #reading