@elysegrasso@historians.social
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elysegrasso

@[email protected]

Retired. Fiber arts. Books. Spec Fic. Colorado Header Mountains are view from site. She/her. ace/aro/NB Survived the Marshall Fire. The view didn't burn #nobridge

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elysegrasso,
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@deirdrebeth @alexlubertozzi @aprilfollies @_L1vY_ @Uair @bookstodon I think the (accurate) point being made is that most people in the 'real' world don't understand the science and technology that make up our world. So it's a bit rich to ask fictional characters to do better.
Quick: explain any two of the following: magnetism, general relativity (or special, for that matter), replication of DNA, the operation of an internal combustion engine, what an escapement does in clockwork.

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elysegrasso,
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@khleedril @CultureDesk @bookstodon That assumes that you have the same lifespan as your parents, and follow a similar life path. I am solitary and childless, and decades older than my mother lived to be, so in many ways our experiences would be mutually alien.

dickrubin716, to bookstodon
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I would love to get your thoughts and feedback on my from my latest book, The Challenges of Being Me. Do you like it? Does it capture your attention? Without knowing anything about the book, what genre would you say this cover best fits? @bookstodon

elysegrasso,
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@dickrubin716 @benetnasch @bookstodon One function of book covers is to help people find books in the genre they are looking for. That makes things tricky: characteristics that will make a book stand out in a group of books in the same genre will tend to hide it in a group of books in mixed genres. You can also annoy readers if your cover makes promises your text does not keep.
I have the impression that the rules for romance iconography are fussier than some other genres.

elysegrasso,
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@noodlemaz @benetnasch @dickrubin716 @bookstodon
It used to be just called 'fiction' since men were considered the norm.
There also used to be many series of 'adventure' fiction with over-all titles like 'The Executioner' and 'The Destroyer': kind of like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys but aimed at adult men. Not sure what fills that niche now. (I liked the Destroyer series, back in the day: it was a little snarky around the formula, and a hair less misogynist. Not sure it would stand up now.)

franciscawrites, to bookstodon
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Can you name a film that was adapted not from a novel, but from a short story?
Here's one:

The Illusionist (2006)

@bookstodon

elysegrasso,
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@adriano @janbartosik @franciscawrites @gevoel @octothorpe @bookstodon I haven't seen the series, but I read the books decades ago. That 'precise woman everything depends on' sounds like the pivot in Foundation and Empire. They may be reasonably faithful to the books.

DoubleTreble, to crochet
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@crochet

New project, a crochet 🧶 Red Lion!
For the Pub!! Looking very unLionlike it will come together I'm sure 😁😀

elysegrasso,
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@DoubleTreble @crochet If you add some flippers, what you have so far would be a reasonable seal.
Something about the shape of the head and the lack of ears...

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elysegrasso,
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@KitMuse @bookstodon Can I vote for different sites with the same deal at the same price?
I suspect you'll find the admin gets very messy otherwise.
Patreon is usually very convenient for me as a patron, but it has a history of going through periodic upheavals that try to screw over the creators, so having an alternative up and running is probably prudent.

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elysegrasso,
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@infinitesoleil @bookstodon This post does not link to any prior post and does not indicate what book is being discussed.

elysegrasso,
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@alexisbushnell @infinitesoleil @bookstodon Interesting... must be a difference in federated servers or the app being used...

elysegrasso,
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@alexisbushnell @infinitesoleil @bookstodon Coincidentally
A tech report just got covered on slashdot: there's a known bug with propagation of links with images causing temporary transfer overloads, especially on smaller servers. The lag symptom I saw is not mentioned, but I wonder if it might be related.

chas, to random
@chas@tty0.social avatar

Is there an or community here? I've been using threads for that as it has a very active one

Mastodon is so broad and the federated model means I've basically only ever seen tech content since that's what I'm connected to

elysegrasso,
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@chas Try

There are also various hashtag prompts like (daily)

and some weekly ones on various topics.

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elysegrasso,
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@CommonMugwort @Da_Gut @bookstodon As I recall, the actual Pleistocene Exile books were OK, but the related series set in the future was a slog and left a bad taste in my mind. Not sure I ever finished those.

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elysegrasso,
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@adritheonly @ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon
I suspect there was a generation of teachers who insisted that their tests proved that students did not learn as well from printed books as they did from handwritten ones. I wonder if their tests were really testing what they thought they were testing, much as SATs etc. turn out to largely be testing access to certain classes of cultural materials rather than what they thought they were testing.
(I did great at SATs, 1/2 century ago...)

elysegrasso,
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@eyrea @adritheonly @ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon Interesting comment, but not entirely relevant to the point of mine, which was that studies with results claiming that old ways are better may be showing more about the design of the tests than they do about the activities supposedly being studied.

elysegrasso,
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@eyrea @adritheonly @ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon still not relevant to my point, which had to do with the structure and validity of scholarly studies, not classroom teaching or tests.

elysegrasso,
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@eyrea @adritheonly @ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon The original discussion was about a study which claimed that people have been shown to learn better from paper books than other media. The SATs were mentioned as an example of survey design that was not testing what it claimed to test.

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elysegrasso,
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@figstick @bookstodon Dianna Wynne Jones (Howl's Moving Castle, or the Chant books) might work?
Have you considered talking to someone at your local library? I'm out of the loop on what's current, unfortunately.

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elysegrasso,
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@mvilain @CuriousMagpie @bookstodon "Consider Phlebas" is kind of a slog to get into. If you ever want to give Banks another try, "Player of Games" or "Excession" move better and provide interesting entry points to the Culture. I think 'Use of Weapons' tilts way too far toward the grimdark end of things to be a good entry point. I can't judge the later books -- I was too familiar with the Culture (and Banks) by the time I encountered them.

elysegrasso,
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@CuriousMagpie @magnetichuman @mvilain @bookstodon
Banks does not ignore the more appalling possibilities of the advanced technologies available (and the vilest characters tend to get what's coming to them) but sometimes the subplot is a circle of Hell illustrated by Goya, and other times it's more by Hieronymus Bosch. Player of Games and Excession run more to the Bosch demons playing ass-trumpets end of things.
Phlebas is early and dark, and I think he had not got the timing down yet...

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elysegrasso,
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@Da_Gut @negative12dollarbill @bookstodon I followed the Dracula Daily posts here last fall. (Some of the commentary was quite snarky.)
Being slowed by the calendar had an interesting rhythm compared to reading the book in a single day.

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elysegrasso,
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@formuchdeliberation @oceaniceternity @bookstodon I suspect this may be a case of a thief believing (inaccurately) that everybody steals. (A known phenomenon.)

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elysegrasso,
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@deirdrebeth @Chigaze @msroest @bookstodon And some other Ursula Vernon books are children's books... her career has been complicated.
Also, unless you have NO tolerance for comic/graphic novel format work, find the Digger comic online. It is wonderful and amazing.
diggercomic.com

and if you like audio fiction https://www.hiddenalmanac.com (6 years of 5 minute episodes 2013-2019 building to a wonderful finale)

elysegrasso,
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@deirdrebeth @Chigaze @msroest @bookstodon She was just Ursula Vernon until the Dragonbreath books took off, so there are a couple of relatively adult titles under that name. Then she added the division between Vernon (kids' books) and T Kingfisher (not necessarily...)
The Back Dog duology was published before that split was in effect.

golgaloth, to bookstodon
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What books did we all get for ?

@bookstodon

elysegrasso,
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@golgaloth @bookstodon One Thousand One Papua New Guinean Nights: Folktales from Wantok, volumes 1 and 2. (Pricey, and only available in hard-copy.)
Some of my presents have not arrived yet, so there may be more books to come.

Jtmoriartywriter, to bookstodon
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@bookstodon

Hullo friends, and all those of you still enjoying Dec 25! I got another book, which will also go straight onto the reading list for 2024.

I'm making easy progress of Behold the Man, but Moorcock is always* easy to read.

(* - Revenge of the Rose was utterly regrettable, nothing else in his decades long career.)

At this rate I'll have a full 2024 list before I've consciously picked anything!

How do you pick your reads for the upcoming year? How many do you read?

Love you all, Moriarty.

elysegrasso,
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@Jtmoriartywriter @bookstodon I follow the wine-cellar stocking mode of book acquisition: acquire books because I have liked previous works by the authors or seen interesting reviews, read when the time and my mood are right.
If you read from the library, your reading will be modulated by their waiting lists.
I read between a few books a month and 10 books a week, mostly depending on whether I am writing my own fiction or working on other projects.

Likewise, to bookstodon
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As a reader, do you prefer when people give you random books as gifts, or do you prefer getting a gift card to a bookstore (so you can pick the book)? Just curious.

Unless I’m asked about a specific book, I prefer the bookstore card 📚
@bookstodon

elysegrasso,
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@Likewise @bookstodon The best book-related gift I ever received was a bookcase.

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elysegrasso,
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@Yuki @bookstodon @passenger @shark_hat Can't speak for anyone else, but one of the advantages of a book at the holidays was that I could enjoy it WITHOUT needing to interact with my whole family for a few hours. That's why not a murder mystery game: it lacks a key feature of a book for those who are easily peopled-out.

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elysegrasso,
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@DanJ @BonnettsBooks @bookstodon I read a few of them back in the day. I'm not sure they held up in the 70s

elysegrasso,
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@DanJ @BonnettsBooks @bookstodon If you are interested,, I'd suggest checking to see if there is a fan group online (there is always a fan group somewhere online, it's a corollary of rule 34) and see what the fans think are the good ones. I do not recommend starting with vol 1 and working your way down the list. There were some real duds, and the stories are formulaic enough that no one needs to read all of them. Unless it turns out that you really like them.

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elysegrasso,
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@sandralindsey @romancelandia My favorite is one that is set earlier than the Regency, called The Masqueraders. Set just after Bonnie Prince Charlie. Lots of cross dressing, so possibly less het?

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elysegrasso,
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@cturnbow @LincolnRamirez @bookstodon I read in the same order, and share the fondness for "Tombs of Atuan".
I found the first book a little disappointing when I read it for the first time.

elysegrasso,
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@cturnbow @LincolnRamirez @bookstodon Whereas, when I first met him (in Volume 2 due to the vagaries of library holdings), he had already grown, so the first book felt like a regression.

pretensesoup, to bookstodon
@pretensesoup@romancelandia.club avatar

Pleased to announce this is up for preorder. It's set in 1970, there's magic and gods and drugs and queer romance, and I did actually write a couple of songs for the Macbeth musical. It's a direct sequel to Dionysus in Wisconsin, so if you haven't read that weird fever dream yet, now is a good time to check it out.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5XX9BH3

(There will be a paperback too. Just no preorder)

@bookstodon @romancelandia @mmromance @lgbtqbookstodon

elysegrasso,
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@pretensesoup @bookstodon @romancelandia @mmromance @lgbtqbookstodon It has not hit B&N yet... I'll grab it when it does.

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