literature.cafe

Link to the artist portfolio: https://www.artnet.com/artists/jean-claude-gotting/

Things seem to be working otherwise. But it's... yeah. I'll take a look as I can but yeah. If you upload images just use imgur I guess. 🤔

Images on remote instance should show up just fine though :-)

Started reading this. I generally go for martial arts based novels, but decided to give this a go and it's actually quite decent.

Heya, I'm still here. Still working on things in the background and been quite busy. Right now the instance server needs some updates and the pictures backend is a little wonky. Gonna take the instance down for a bit presumably sometime tomorrow for some (hopefully) quick spring cleaning.

publication croisée depuis : https://jlai.lu/post/5591141

In this very long essay (or very short nonfiction book, depending on what framing you prefer), Casey Plett says she’s going to try to define community, then immediately makes it clear that it can’t be defined.

Take the phrase “the [X] community.” When I read that phrase, I think: How does this person know this about the [X] community? What are the borders of the [X] community? How is the writer deciding who counts within them and who does not? Is the writer a member of the [X] community? Would others dispute their membership? Whatever claim is made about the community, how many sections within it must the claim apply to in order to justify the term? Perhaps most importantly, How can that writer possibly decide who gets to speak for the community? And who are those not speaking in their place?

And then, she tells us what it means to feel like you have a community, or none, or to be included or rejected of one community. She talks about « cancel culture », she talks about awkward trans picnics and of justice in the Mennonite community and of when you feel that you’re « from here » − a topic that I definitely relate to.

Communities welcome certain people and cast a suspicious eye on others. Communities lift up their valued members and ignore those they value a bit less. Sometimes those values are, shall we say, suspect. Communities can expel members when they choose, regardless of what that means for the member, and they stay communities no matter how heartless that expulsion might be.

tldr: communities are a vague concept with good and bad things in them.

…but I feel like it’s best to read the book, because that’s a pretty short tldr, huh?

As almost every readers, I have some favorite authors from which I like to read everything they publish. But I wonder how I can efficiently "follow" their publication. Do you know about a service (free, at least as in free beer, at best from the foss world)which can offer such syndication? I'm thinking about a personalized rss feed, or a e-mail, or any way. For the moment, I just look from time to time to their website or social media page but the issues I have are:

• I look when I think about it (it would be better to be somehow notified)
• It's time consuming and inefficient

Some of these have already been posted here in this community. Bit it's nice to hear em talk about it.

LOOOOVE Umberto Eco

Maybe my favourite short story ever. Def top 5. The story on which the incredible Dennis Vellenuve movie Arrival is based. Which is also my favorite movie. Basically I couldnt recommend this story enough!

With the 25th of March being the date of the downfall of the Sauron and the fall of Barad-dûr, the Tolkien Society has for the last 11 years recognized March 25th as Tolkien Reading day.

Many online ebook retailers will offer steep discounts on the core books, The Silmarillion, and the extended Legendarium Histories as well as other books like his translation of Beowulf.

Kobo - steep discounts ($2.99 or less) on 30 books

Amazon* - Tolkien Page books appear to be same price as Kobo

Barnes & Noble* - Tolkien Page books appear to be same price as Kobo

* - I will update this link to a Tolkien Day specific page for this retailer if one becomes available. The have had specific pages in the past commemorating the day.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/16399125

I used to love the Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child books

Like Relic, and the Pendergast series etc. I feel like they got pretty schlocky, but it's been quite a while, and I don't really remember. Are any of their other stuff worth a read?

Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity. Within their halls, the ruling aristocratic houses develop scientific marvels, foster trade alliances, and maintain fleets of airships to keep the peace.

Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship Predator. Loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy’s shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is damaged in combat, Grimm joins a team of Albion agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring his ship.

And as Grimm undertakes this task, he learns that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake...

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Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

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For me, it's every time Hedwig gives Harry the eye, like when Professor Grubbly-Plank disappeared into the staff room carrying Hedwig, who was staring at Harry as though unable to believe he would give her away like this.

I'm French native speaker. I believe I can speak fluent English but I know want to discover English poetry. Where should I start ?

Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly sensual, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force—a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.

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A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Scythe is the first novel of a thrilling new series by National Book Award–winning author Neal Shusterman in which Citra and Rowan learn that a perfect world comes only with a heavy price.

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