I love reading fantasy novels, but sometimes I just get tired by all the world building. Do you know any fast paced Fantasy books where I don't need to learn about 12 different languages, 6 countries and 4 types of magic before the book gets interesting? 🤣 I need a palate cleanser. #Books#Bookstodon
Original day off plan for afternoon film postponed, as I realised there was a screening perfectly timed for after work tomorrow, so instead stroll to local, a pint of Jarl, and get on with reading in preparation for Cymera Festival chairing duties.
I've not chaired a gig since before my surgery a few months back, now I have three author events within a month of one another to prep for. Lot of work, but also a lot of fun!
Brazilian novelist & journalist Lima Barreto was born #OTD in 1881.
His literary career began in the early 20th century, and he is best known for novels such as "Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma" - a bitter satire of the first years of the República Velha in Brazil, was published in 1911. Despite facing difficulties & setbacks during his lifetime (alcoholism and mental health issues), he continued to write until his death.
"Não se sabia onde nascera, mas não fora decerto em São Paulo, nem no Rio Grande do Sul, nem no Pará. Errava quem quisesse encontrar nele algum regionalismo; Quaresma era antes de tudo brasileiro."
"We didn't know where he was born, but it certainly wasn't in São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul or Pará. Anyone who wanted to find any regionalism in him was wrong; Quaresma was first and foremost Brazilian."
French poet, dramatist, and novelist Jean Aicard died #OTD in 1921.
He was associated with the Parnassian movement, which emphasized formalism, craftsmanship, and the use of classical mythology and historical themes in poetry. He was also a prolific playwright and novelist. One of Aicard's most famous works is the novel "Le Roi de Camargue" (The King of Camargue), was published in 1872.
"Cigales, mes sœurs,
Qu'importe à nos cœurs
La richesse des granges pleines?
Pourvu que nos voix
Sonnent par les bois
Quand midi flambe sur les plaines?
...
Par les froids hivers
Nous n'allons pas vers
Ceux qui n'ont pas la voix ou l'aile;
Dès qu'a fui l'été,
Nous avons été...
Mais notre gloire est immortelle."
Chanson des cigales
~Jean François Victor Aicard (4 February 1848 – 13 May 1921)
Today, I’m celebrating Roger Zelazny’s birthday. One of the most imaginative writers of the 20th century, the concepts he touched upon in his books greatly influenced me.
Here’s to one of the greats of SciFi/Fantasy 🥂 #books
In 1897, Ross made a significant breakthrough when he discovered that malaria parasites were transmitted by mosquitoes. He found malaria parasites in the stomach tissue of a mosquito and demonstrated their life cycle in the insect. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1902, becoming the first British Nobel laureate in Medicine.
It’s about granularity and what I can glance at at once. I do not need a daily (hour, minute) schedule which is the default on many ‘computer calendars’, my needs are more like week, month, year.
I go to computer calendars
most often when determining what year June 17th fell on a Saturday, that sort of thing.
This may be a silly question, but how does one actually read short story collections? Is it the same as if reading a novel? Do you put the book down between every story? Do you look for connections between the stories? Am I supposed to read them linearly?
@Namnatulco I just finished reading the I, Robot book which is a compilation of Asimov's short stories about robots over a long period of time. That probably has more connectivity and linearity than a compilation of short stories from multiple authors. But even in that form they were only loosely related. There was a through thread of the Three Laws of Robotics and the basic technology of their "brains" but otherwise there wasn't a lot of connectivity to them. So they could have been read in any order even though I started front to back. I definitely had pauses between them but I do that with reading regular novels too.
@hankg thanks! I used to do that, but I kinda gave up pauses between novels (at least switching between multiple ones), because I started to feel lost between a bunch of books and never really finishing any while still wanting to. But it might work better for short stories.
English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale was born #OTD in 1820.
Nightingale became famous for her work as a nurse during the Crimean War (1853–1856). Beyond her work in the Crimean War, Nightingale was a prolific writer and statistician. She used statistical methods to analyze and present data on healthcare and public health, making significant contributions to the field of medical statistics.
American educator Catharine Beecher died #OTD in 1878.
One of Beecher's most influential works was "A Treatise on Domestic Economy" (1841), which became a widely used textbook on household management and domestic skills. In this book, Beecher argued that women's education should include practical instruction in areas such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare, in addition to more traditional academic subjects.