Author copies arrived of this bulky anthology of African ghost stories. Now I can say that my story was published in the same book as the legend, Amos Tutuola!
Do you know of a book recommendation engine that will suggest fiction books based on the non-fiction books I read and like?
I want to get more into fiction, and it’s been hard to nail down books that can keep my interest beyond the first few chapters. Thanks in advance! And please boost for wider exposure. #bookworm#books#bookrecommendations
One of the current book bundles at HumbleBundle contains 3 books by John Horvath and Rich Cameron featuring #OpenSCAD for visualization and examples (among 15 in total with various topics on electronics and robots).
Rod Serling, creator of "The Twilight Zone," spent three years as a paratrooper during WWII, and was awarded both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. He later said that his writing career helped him get the war "out of his gut." Shortly after he returned from the Philippines, where he was stationed, he wrote "First Squad, First Platoon," a short story which is being published for the first time today in The Strand. NPR spoke to his daughter, Jodi and his biographer, Nicholas Parisi, about the story and how it's connected to Serling's real experiences. To read "First Squad, First Platoon," you'll need to buy the current issue of The Strand or subscribe to the magazine.
#BOTD H. Russell Wakefield. Some consider Wakefield to be the last great ghost story author in the classic tradition of M.R. James and Le Fanu, and his admirers include Betjeman, Lovecraft and August Derleth. Works include A Clock Strikes Twelve and They Return at Evening. #ghosts#books#bookstodon
Polish Physicist Albert A. Michelson died #OTD in 1931
His most famous experiment - Michelson-Morley experiment, was conducted in 1887 in collaboration with Edward Morley. Their experiment for the expected motion of the Earth relative to the æther, the hypothetical medium in which light was supposed to travel, resulted in a null result. Their results leaded H. Lorentz to devise his Lorentz contraction equations as a means of explaining the null result.
The extent to which the null result of the Michelson–Morley experiment influenced Einstein is disputed. Alluding to some statements of Einstein, many historians argue that it played no significant role in his path to special relativity, while other statements of Einstein probably suggest that he was influenced by it. In any case, the null result of the Michelson–Morley experiment helped the notion of the constancy of the speed of light gain widespread & rapid acceptance
The première of Bertolt Brecht's play In the Jungle of Cities (Im Dickicht der Städte) at the Residenz Theatre in Munich is disrupted by Nazi demonstrators, hooting, whistling and throwing stink bombs at the actors on the stage.
This production was directed by Erich Engel, with set design by Caspar Neher. The cast included Otto Wernicke as Shlink the lumber dealer, Erwin Faber as George Garga, and Maria Koppenhöfer as his sister Mary.
German Poet, Playwright, Historian Friedrich Schiller died #OTD in 1805.
Initially intended for the priesthood, in 1773 he entered a military academy in Stuttgart and ended up studying medicine. His first play, The Robbers, was written at this time and proved very successful. His major plays include "Don Carlos", and the Wallenstein trilogy, which delves into the tumultuous period of the Thirty Years' War.
American author Augusta Jane Evans Wilson was born #OTD in 1835.
Her literary career began early; she published her first novel, "Inez: A Tale of the Alamo," in 1855 when she was only 20 years old. Wilson's most famous novel, "St. Elmo," published in 1866. Her other significant works include "Beulah", and "Macaria", a novel that was banned in the North during the Civil War for its Confederate sympathies.
Scottish Playwright & Novelist J.M. Barrie was born #OTD in 1860.
His early works were modestly successful, including novels such as "Auld Licht Idylls" & "A Window in Thrums". His famous Peter Pan character first appeared in a section of "The Little White Bird", a novel for adults. This was expanded into the stage play "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up," which premiered in London in 1904 & was an immediate hit.
Celts: The History and Legacy of One of the Oldest Cultures in Europe by Martin J. Dougherty, 2024
Before the Vikings, before the Anglo-Saxons, before the Roman Empire, the Celts dominated central and western Europe. Today we might think of the Celts only inhabiting parts of the far west of Europe – Ireland, Great Britain, France and Spain – but these were the extremities in which their culture lasted longest.
@appassionato@bookstodon In fact, the object on the front page of the book was found in Denmark, and probably made somewhere in Ukraine, two millennia ago.
It is the Gundestrup kettle, in the National Museum in Copenhagen.
The End of Everything by Victor Davis Hanson, 2024
“In The End of Everything, Hanson tells compelling and harrowing stories of how civilizations perished. He helps us consider contemporary affairs in light of that history, think about the unthinkable, and recognize the urgency of trying to prevent our own demise.” — H. R. McMaster, author of Battlegrounds
@skatercat@appassionato Accurate, though. At the end of every empire, it was the end of life as everybody at the time was used to, and presumed to continue indefinitely. It's amusing how certain religions keep prepared for "end times" when we've already had several.
https://www.booksns.com/57661/ Prodigal Summer #books I’m a huge Barbara Kingsolver fan. The Poisonwood Bible was a masterpiece. I can’t put into words how much I love Demon Copperhead. But Prodigal Summer…. I am struggling so hard to get into it. I’m about 150 pages in. I’m just so bored. I need some kind of encouragement that it gets better. I …
I forgot to mention I got my kobo ebook reader today!!
See if you can spot any interesting books! Also, please feel free to recommend me some! I have read in ages so I’m trying to find my groove when it comes to reading books!
@soheb hey, thanks so much for loading my books there!
I tend to read a lot of sci-fi & fantasy. Would recommend:
1 the long way to a small, angry planet by Becky Chambers
2 the broken earth trilogy, NK Jemisin
3 murderbot diaries, Martha Wells
@soheb I love that it's in colours. I looked at Boox as well, but it was so expensive and I already have the Kindle app on an iPad Mini, so I told my self it wasn't worth it.
Branded a traitor during the Reign of Terror, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, who was also a tax collector with the Ferme générale, is tried, convicted and guillotined in one day in Paris.
The day after Lavoisier's execution, the great mathematician Louis de Lagrange commented: "It only took them a moment to knock that head off, and perhaps a hundred years won't be enough to reproduce a similar one".
This was always a warning for me, to take care about who I am working for.
He was known for being one of the few righteous tax collectors. When I recall correctly, he even paid some of the taxes out of his own pocket, when people couldn't afford.
But he had been on the wrong side, when things changed.
The importance of active travel, and the encroaching era of car-induced lethargy was a topic for discussion in 1963. Except from John McGahern's The Barracks. #books#bookstodon#cycling#activeTravel
Ok so I'm #reading#Hothouse by #BrianWAldiss now, and this is such a strange and mysterious setting I guess I'll keep going with it, just wow.
Only two chapters so far. Earth, 2 million years into the future. The planet no longer spins, and vegetal life has evolved to the top of the food chain.
