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16 votes
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American Library Association report: Texas led the nation in book ban attempts in 2022
14 votes -
How to pick up reading again?
I have been a reader in my teens and my early youth. This all changed when I started to develop a depression back in the days. I had no will, interest or strength to pick up a book. During my...
I have been a reader in my teens and my early youth. This all changed when I started to develop a depression back in the days. I had no will, interest or strength to pick up a book. During my university years I read a lot of textbooks but no prose. Picking up a book today feels like a chore for me. I find a lot of them bland and have to force myself to read/finish the story. So basically, my text boils down to: What helped you to rekindle your love for books/reading again? I am curious about all the answers.
EDIT:
Thanks to the comments so far, I have seen that I did not answer the important question why I stopped reading and why it now feels like a chore. So I'll try and give a bit more answers.
Besides "having no strength" during my phase of depression, I kind of started to hate the worlds the books offered. I wished to be part of these worlds, where my depression would not mess with me, where I could be happy or at least experience cool adventures. But after every reading session came the hard realization that I was still in this world with my depression and all my problems. That was when I decided to stop reading.As to why reading feels like a chore today: I don't know. I started to read books again that I loved as a teenager/ young adult, but the magic was gone. Meanwhile, I also started to pick up more books from up-to-date bestseller lists, but I found a lot of them pretty boring, or I did not like the style of the author.
33 votes -
Please suggest me some books from past decades and centuries that are not widely known classics but you value and would like people to discover
For me, Up the Down Staircase is a charming, funny epistolary novel about a school teacher in the city that I love. Advise and Consent is tragic because its gay character faces legal...
For me, Up the Down Staircase is a charming, funny epistolary novel about a school teacher in the city that I love.
Advise and Consent is tragic because its gay character faces legal discrimination but it is the best portrayal of the US Congress I have seen in print.
Dorothy Sayers murder mysteries feature brilliant sleuth Harriet Vane who has an egalitarian love story and is very much an early feminist without making it the focus of her identity. It also sets its mysteries within work place and other mundane settings providing great cultural history.
Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser fantasies are sexist but they are vivid ground breaking entertaining stories that shaped dungeons and dragons the game and fantasy as a genre.
Patrick OBrian Master and Commander and sequels about two friends in the British navy during the age of sail
56 votes -
Books about… books? More specifically, books about writing?
Not too long ago, I came across a book that changed my life, or at the very least, my writing. While I have some trouble remembering specifics, I do remember it going deep into the world of...
Not too long ago, I came across a book that changed my life, or at the very least, my writing. While I have some trouble remembering specifics, I do remember it going deep into the world of philosophy and psychology, exploring the intricacies of what makes a book, and what our writing really means. The book analyzed the craft of writing, discussing how humans perceive the differences between good and bad writing, the difference between a good speech and a dull monologue, and how good writing becomes great. This, as well as the nuances of human perception on language in general. Alas, I have since lost the book's title and author, but the captivating writing style and genre remains with me, and I’d really enjoy some recommendations of similar works. I don’t expect to ever find it, as my search has led me to other good books about this sort of writing.
*Please forgive me if this is not the method I should be following when I post, this is my first post here. *
16 votes -
Edgedancer - By Brandon Sanderson - Discussion
Edgedancer (a stormlight archives novella) came out a few years ago, but since there's little Cosmere discussion in Tildes and I just finished reading it a few days ago, I figured it would be...
Edgedancer (a stormlight archives novella) came out a few years ago, but since there's little Cosmere discussion in Tildes and I just finished reading it a few days ago, I figured it would be worth posting my thoughts on this. The only book of relevance to this which I haven't read is Dawnshard, so please mark any discussion about that with spoilers.
I've seen a lot of complaints about Lift on reddit, and I can see where people are coming from. But I always liked the way Lift think and is written. I feel like Lift's stories would make great bed time stories because of how sweetly they end. In the first interlude where Lift appears, the people of Azir are having trouble picking a "king" because they keep getting assassinated. Lift's involvement solves this problem that we're introduced to at the start of the story. And now in Edgedancer, Nalan is still hunting down budding Radiants because he doesn't believe that the Everstorm has really come back. But at the end of the story Lift swears the third ideal "I will listen to those who have been ignored" and shows Nalan the truth. Which feels like a very fairy tale ending, compared to them getting involved in some epic battle. I honestly expected Szeth to intervene and team up with Lift against Nalan.
The moment at the end where she hugs Nalan to comfort him as he's crying was touching. It got me crying! I didn't expect to feel any sympathy for Nalan, but at the end it feels like a fog is lifting off of him and he's been in a haze this whole time. Which I suppose is true of all the Heralds at this point.
I kept trying to guess who the Radiant in Yeddaw was. Of course it had to be a minor character that we've already seen. So I was thinking it would be that guard we met earlier, since they mentioned trading to get some spheres with stormlight so that she can read. I thought this was a lie, with the real reason being using the stormlight to practice some surgebinding. The other candidate was the old man, but that turned out to be a very interesting misdirect that I'm hoping to learn more about in Dawnshard. (The actual radiant was the woman at the orphanage)
The description of the city of Yeddaw was very interesting and new. I wish there was more art to go along with the descriptions, but I feel like I don't really understand the layout of the city. I feel like it would be dark all the time (except noon) if it was carved into the ground like I imagined. Also I wonder if there's more to the story than it just being created with loaned out shardblades. We know that the total number of shardblades in Roshar is very small. Even assuming something like 5 shardblades that were loaned out, how is it possible to create a whole city with that in a reasonable amount of time. Feels like it would take many decades.
20 votes -
Elizabeth Rush's The Quickening - a new journey to Antarctica
5 votes -
Commodified fantasy takes no risks
14 votes -
What are you reading these days?
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
27 votes -
Three medieval tales about adventures to the Moon - from three different cultures
12 votes -
Short(er) easy reading fantasy series that isn't YA or Discworld
Been reading a lot of Malazan BotF and while I love it, I'm looking for something breezier to read for a bit. Preferably something with under 5 PoV characters, 150-300 pages, a mostly linear plot...
Been reading a lot of Malazan BotF and while I love it, I'm looking for something breezier to read for a bit. Preferably something with under 5 PoV characters, 150-300 pages, a mostly linear plot and that doesn't take 100+ pages just to get my bearings on the world. If it's got humor or a bit of mystery too it, all the better.
29 votes -
Olga Ravn on her new hybrid novel about maternal ambivalence, her debt to Doris Lessing, and attempting to read Freud aged ten
5 votes -
‘It's time the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo grew up’ – Karin Smirnoff on her shocking sequel
13 votes -
Terry Pratchett was fantasy fiction’s Kurt Vonnegut, not its Douglas Adams
47 votes -
Texas tried to enact more book bans last year than any other US state
13 votes -
A reading challenge!
Are you stuck in a reading rut? Can’t decide what to read next? Overwhelmed by choice? Join me in my reading challenge! The challenge is simple - read the alphabet. Start by choosing an author...
Are you stuck in a reading rut? Can’t decide what to read next? Overwhelmed by choice? Join me in my reading challenge!
The challenge is simple - read the alphabet. Start by choosing an author whose surname begins with A, next book the surname begins with B and so on through the whole alphabet.
I did this a few years ago after having a baby, and in my sleep-deprived haze couldn’t make decisions easily. The library was too overwhelming and I needed to narrow down my options somehow!
I have additional rules for myself, like I try to prioritise female and POC writers as I find myself tending to read a lot of white men, but it isn’t a hard and fast rule for me - first and foremost it has to be a book I’m keen to read.
I propose organising the comments like this: top line comments will be the letter, replies to that will be the book you chose, plus a short summary or review (even just a rating out of 5 will do) to help others find books they might like, and then people can discuss the individual books under those comments if they like. This keeps everything in one post for people not interested to ignore, and hopefully builds up a nice reference of all sorts of books in one place.
Happy reading!
Edit: I guess there’s a limit on quick comments to avoid spam so we’ve just got the first few letters for now. I’ll come back to complete the alphabet when I can :)
42 votes -
Great audiobooks that come to mind because the narrator is amazing and NOT Ray Porter?
Don’t get me wrong. I love Ray Porter narrated audiobooks. Sometimes I’ll give listen simply BECAUSE it’s Ray Porter. But at some point, every book starts to sound the same, and his tendencies and...
Don’t get me wrong. I love Ray Porter narrated audiobooks. Sometimes I’ll give listen simply BECAUSE it’s Ray Porter.
But at some point, every book starts to sound the same, and his tendencies and flavour as a voice actor start to color the story. You can almost predict what voice he’s going to use and when, and it starts to take away from the story a bit.
So I was wondering if you all had any recommendations for great audiobooks that came to mind simply because the narrator was amazing?
I think I feel the same way about RC Bray. There’s always a Skippy just waiting to make an appearance.
Marc Thompson (of Thrawn and Star Wars) is tremendous and memorable as well.
38 votes -
The strange, secretive world of North Korean science fiction
29 votes -
Death in literature: Can you really prepare for it or even understand it? Ten suggested books from Ted Gioia
13 votes -
Pahrump Nevada library considers controversial policy of moving children’s books to the adult section based on content
13 votes -
Literature Map: The more people like an author and another author, the closer together they move
17 votes -
Recommend a book on feminism for tween boys
My 10 year old son asked me the other day what feminism was. He had never heard of the word and when I tried to define it on the fly he looked a little puzzled. It surprised me that he hadn't been...
My 10 year old son asked me the other day what feminism was. He had never heard of the word and when I tried to define it on the fly he looked a little puzzled. It surprised me that he hadn't been introduced to the concept since he goes to a pretty liberal public school. I think the school has focused more on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. Also, i have to admit that I feel a little guilty that he's practically a tween and he doesn't have a clue what feminism is (im feeling like this is a big mom fail).
Usually when I want to introduce a topic that I think is important with my kids, I find an appropriate book as a jumping off point. But I'm really stuck on this one. Everything is either way too young (picture books) or written with girls as the target audience. And the books don't seem to define feminism exactly, just give vague descriptions, slogans, and historical examples. I'm looking for something along the lines of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, which is a book his entire 4th Grade class read and discussed last year. ETA: He reads at a high level - for example, he breezed through The Hobbit. So a book at a High School level might also work.
Thank you in advance for your help!
33 votes -
Early California woman mystery writer: the life and times of Lange Lewis
11 votes -
Josh Cook on the uses and misuses of judgement about literary quality and reflections about the process of suggesting books
5 votes -
Book recommendations: Psychology topics
Hi everyone :) I am pretty obsessed with consuming information as someone with ASD, and one of my preferred topics to really dive into is Psychology, Philosophy, and Business ethics that can...
Hi everyone :) I am pretty obsessed with consuming information as someone with ASD, and one of my preferred topics to really dive into is Psychology, Philosophy, and Business ethics that can relate to the other 2 topics. I generally read a lot of articles, journals, and studies, but I have found myself really wanting to dive back into the course topics that I was learning about in college before I dropped out, as I don't do well in structured school settings.
I have been re-visiting a lot of Freud's work and other basic course stuff, but I do love more advanced topics that make me connect the dots between my personal studies and my schooling, so honestly just drop some titles for anything nonfiction and not as self help directed and I will check it out.
Thanks guys :)
18 votes -
More than thirty years after its publication, picture book Daddy's Roommate has once again found itself the target of censorship
13 votes -
‘Death Glitch’ looks at what happens after we’ve logged off for good
13 votes -
Thousands of Yiddish pulp fiction stories finally seeing the light of day
15 votes -
Tim O'Brien, author of the Things They Carried, announces new book America Fantastica
10 votes -
Using artificial intelligence to ban books only makes the problem worse
20 votes -
Man of the people: The history and context of Aleksandr Afanasev’s collection of obscene Russian folktales
4 votes -
The Summer Book (1972) – Tove Jansson's novel about love, family and nature, will make you nostalgic for your own childhood
5 votes -
Books that changed your perception
I’m looking for new things to read, having more time on my hands as I work on some things in my personal life. No rules, I just want to challenge the way that I think. Anything goes. Edit: wow, I...
I’m looking for new things to read, having more time on my hands as I work on some things in my personal life.
No rules, I just want to challenge the way that I think. Anything goes.
Edit: wow, I didn't expect such an incredible response, thank you everyone! I will try my best to grab as many of these that sound up my street as possible, and I will reply properly with my thoughts. Bare with me! <3
82 votes -
Anyone enjoy Don Quixote of la mancha series ?
13 votes -
What are you reading these days?
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
25 votes -
Metro 2033 author Dmitry Glukhovsky sentenced to eight years in prison for criticizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine
43 votes -
Suggestions for a good math epub reader on Windows?
I have tried Calibre & SumatraPDF, I was so excited for Calibre until it never worked properly on the one textbook I needed. For example, whenever I went to the next page it would stall on loading...
I have tried Calibre & SumatraPDF, I was so excited for Calibre until it never worked properly on the one textbook I needed. For example, whenever I went to the next page it would stall on loading forever, and this is apparently a known issue that's [according to the posts I read from the owner] caused by a graphics driver that I'm not interested in delving into just to read an ebook.
The ebook itself is pretty large with a lot of mathematical equations and images, but nothing my computer should be stalling on. The issue with SumatraPDF is that it can't seem to render the mathematical equations properly, and I couldn't find any simple way to load them without having to do more work.
5 votes -
The cost to librarians and libraries from the US culture wars
22 votes -
Tildes Book Club: Discussion topic for Roadside Picnic
This is the Discussion topic for all those who participated in Tildes Pop-up Book Club: Roadside Picnic, or for anyone who has previously read the book and wishes to join in. I don't have a...
This is the Discussion topic for all those who participated in Tildes Pop-up Book Club: Roadside Picnic, or for anyone who has previously read the book and wishes to join in.
I don't have a particular format in mind for this discussion, but I will post some prompts and questions as comments to get things started. You're not obligated to respond to them or vote on them though. So feel free to make your own top-level comment for whatever you wish to discuss, questions you have of others, or even just to post a review of the book you have written yourself.
For all the latecomers, don't worry if you didn't read the book in time for this Discussion topic. You can always join in once you finish it. Tildes Activity sort, and "Collapse old comments" feature should keep the topic going for as long as people are still replying.
And for anyone uninterested in this topic please use the Ignore Topic feature on this so it doesn't keep popping up in your Activity sort, since it's likely to keep doing that while I set this discussion up, and once people start joining in.
45 votes -
What upcoming books are you looking forward to?
What upcoming books are you looking forward to? I'm excited for my copy of Light Bringer by Pierce Brown to arrive!
21 votes -
Interview with Colson Whitehead: ‘A city summons you into its weird drama’
4 votes -
The coming enshittification of US public libraries
98 votes -
KKR to acquire Simon & Schuster from Paramount Global for $1.62 billion
14 votes -
Recommendations for learning how to think and reason
So, I had this chat with a friend about verious topics. It made me realize how much I love engaging in discussions, but I also noticed that I struggle to articulate my thoughts logically and...
So, I had this chat with a friend about verious topics. It made me realize how much I love engaging in discussions, but I also noticed that I struggle to articulate my thoughts logically and effectively frame my arguments. I want to improve my reasoning and argument skills so that I can confidently present my ideas in such conversations. So I'm seeking a book recommendation that can help me develop my logical thinking and persuasive abilities. I'm looking for a book that explains things in a straightforward way, with fun examples to practice with, covering diverse topics to make logical thinking enjoyable. If you have any suggestions, I'd be super grateful
51 votes -
Do you look up words while reading a novel?
What's your general philosophy around this? In theory, we learn all our fundamental vocabulary from context. But at the same time, it may be important to know the precise meaning. When do you look...
What's your general philosophy around this? In theory, we learn all our fundamental vocabulary from context. But at the same time, it may be important to know the precise meaning. When do you look it up? When do you make an educated guess and keep going?
56 votes -
‘I can’t stress how much BookTok sells’: Teen literary influencers swaying publishers
13 votes -
Climate activist Greta Thunberg has pulled out of an appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival over its links to the fossil fuel industry
27 votes -
What are you reading these days?
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
46 votes -
Any good places to find old (but good condition) hardbacks?
So, I’ve recently remodeled my home office and added a big Murphy bed and bookcase wall unit. It is massive, amazing, and not nearly full enough for my literary standards. :) I’ve been hunting for...
So, I’ve recently remodeled my home office and added a big Murphy bed and bookcase wall unit. It is massive, amazing, and not nearly full enough for my literary standards. :)
I’ve been hunting for older, good condition, hardbacks from some of my favorite authors. I’m a massive Clive Barker fan (Imajica, Weaveworld, The Great and Secret Show, etc) and have been trying to track down good editions on eBay. I find it’s really hit or miss, and Amazon is really no better. Short of exploring Etsy for stuff (and my local thrift stores, which have not been remotely useful) are there any good places on the internet I should check out?
There was a time when googling for this worked, now it’s rather useless.
Thanks, all!
15 votes -
US District Judge blocks Arkansas law allowing librarians to be criminally charged over ‘harmful’ materials
50 votes