The Reading Room

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2:42 AM

In All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator says, In the meantime we receive visitors, a couple of wireless-men, who are generously invited to the feed. They sit in the living-room where there is a piano. Could someone please explain to me what "Wireless-men" means? I've looked on goog...

meaning

2 hours later…

Shokhet

4:36 AM

292- Speech Bubbles: Understanding Comics with Scott McCloud - podcast with 99% Invisible

6 hours later…

BESW

10:31 AM

Sydney Australia - come say hi!

Tweeted by laniwendtyoung on January 25, 2018 at 9:22 AM

10 hours later…

BESW

8:09 PM

Poetry seems an unlikely avenue for forcing action on climate change, but Marshallese poet and activist Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner has become a figure of hope for a nation under threat of rising sea levels.

BESW

8:35 PM

New today at Apex Magazine: Short story "Origin Story" by T. Kingfisher (@UrsulaV). https://www.apex-magazine.com/origin-story/

Tweeted by apexmag on January 25, 2018 at 3:44 PM

Reading for the Uncanny Magazine favorite stories' poll? Try "Packing" by T. Kingfisher! @UrsulaV https://uncannymagazine.com/article/packing/ https://uncannymagazine.com/uncanny-celebrates-reader-favorites-2017/

Tweeted by UncannyMagazine on January 25, 2018 at 4:30 PM

Google Play is launching an audiobook service, and THE FIFTH SEASON is one of the discounted titles being showcased for launch! Just $7.99! https://play.google.com/store/books/collection/20:search_cluster:64?clp=ogEiChhpbmF1dGhvcjoiTi4gSy4gSmVtaXNpbiIYASoCCAAwQA%3D%3D:S:ANO1ljKBc9w

Tweeted by nkjemisin on January 24, 2018 at 8:37 PM

user15026

@BESW That was heartbreaking.

BESW

Hey, @Ash! I finished A Night to Surrender but I haven't had the brain energy to process it yet.

I'm definitely glad I read it. Mostly I liked it, but there were bits that will be instructive in helping me further define the sort of thing I'd like more.

So, thanks for the recommendation, it felt like an excellent entry into the genre.

Shokhet

9:46 PM

How a Library Handles a Rare and Deadly Book of Wallpaper Samples

Mithrandir

Wait, how is wallpaper deadly?

Shokhet

(The book has been digitized, and is freely available here)

Mithrandir

Arsenic-laced? o_O

Shokhet

History’s deadliest colors - J. V. Maranto

►

@Mithrandir Yep.

BESW

One of humanity's most proud and enduring traditions is figuring out beautiful new ways for colors to kill us.

user15026

9:52 PM

@BESW Awesome, let me know if you define more of what you're looking for, I'll try to help with recs if you like

BESW

I wasn't expecting the community element, and was pleasantly surprised by it.

More than just a HEA was at stake, and more than just the protagonists were being risked.

I liked that they both had that sense of belonging to something larger, and needing to weigh choices in that context.

I did not like Bram's assaults of Susanna in the earlier parts of the book. It was amply demonstrated later that he knows how to get consent properly, so forcing himself on her at first was pretty terrible and never felt properly resolved except "toxic masculinity yo." Which, yeah, but leaving it hanging unresolved marred the HEA for me.

Overall I think I'd rather, going forward, avoid HEAs that start with assault.

user15026

@BESW I honestly forgot that, my apologies :(

BESW

10:07 PM

Maybe there's some romance novels that can address those ideas in ways I'm more okay with, but I think I'll back off of those themes for a while.

user15026

It's annoyingly common in historicals :(

user15026

@BESW Makes sense to me - you do see it more in historicals than contemporaries, but I know at least in the indie romance world, there has been a concerted effort to not do that sort of storytelling

BESW

Yeah, I was actually thinking that maybe for my next one I'd try something not historical. It was a bit distracting to watch Dare negotiate modern romance sensibilities in a fictional space inspired by a time and place that didn't really share those sensibilities.

Again, I'm sure there's novels which do that in ways I'd really admire, but for now I'd like to look elsewhere.

I did love the idea of Spindle Cove itself, though, as a sanctuary of self-discovery. It hit some of the same chords that resonate with me in Lumberjanes.

(If you haven't read Lumberjanes, I highly recommend it.)

user15026

@BESW I love Lumberjanes :)

BESW

I pitch Lumberjanes to people as "Steven Universe goes camping near Gravity Falls."

user15026

10:17 PM

OOoh thats a good way to pitch it

user15026

I think I recommended Zoe York's Pine Harbour stuff to you - those are contemporary, if you wanted to give stuff another go at some point.

BESW

Also, one of my friends once live-tweeted an adorability contest between the first issue of Lumberjanes and an adorable kitten. Lumberjanes won.

user15026

@BESW That is fantastic.

BESW

That's when I started reading it.

user15026

I also want to recommend Shira Glassman's Mangoverse stuff but they're not strictly romance. They're just sweet and good.

BESW

10:19 PM

[adds both to Goodreads immediately]

I need sweet and good, lighthearted stuff to read right now.

Bookworm

Q: Where did the Robert Frost Quote "If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane" come from?

I have found numerous sources that attribute the quote "If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" to Robert Frost but for the life of me, I cannot find when / where he actually said / wrote it.