In honor of pride month, what are everyone's favorite LGBTQ+ books? It can be a book that deals with the LGBTQ+ experience, or just a book that prominently features queer characters in prominent roles.

Do you buy rent or borrow? Or do you have a subscription of some kind? Do you read physical books or do you read ebooks?

i'm about to be on a plane for 18 hours to tokyo. the goal is to sleep through most of those, but at some point I'll probably wake up at some point. as a result I'm hoping to get some recommendations for some easy, breezy reads that ramp up quickly to distract me from being in a sardine can in the air.

in particular fun sci-fi / fantasy stuff would be nice. minority characters would also be great. recent and old stuff i like:

• red rising
• redwall
• The Avatar F.C. Yee Books
• Cyber Shogun Revolution
• Iron Widow
• Children of Blood and Bone

i don't care about particular tropes or "trope bundles" as I like to call them and are prevalent in sci-fi / fantasy and especially YA stuff. as long as it's interesting I'll read it.

i haven't gotten to read much in grad school so i have lots to catch up on

So I'm a big advocate of utilizing your local public libraries. The best way to secure more funding for them is to use their services! So I thought real quick that I should write up a quick posts about the services that many libraries offer nowadays that you may not know about. Some of these points may be applicable mostly to America and Canada, but it's worth checking in with your libraries in other parts of the world to see if you have similar services available! And definitely post here if you have more to add.

Membership

One point I'd like to start off with is that, even if your local library system is smaller and doesn't offer the services you'd like (or have the books you'd like), check in with the nearest major cities! In many places in the USA, libraries don't require that you reside in the city the library is in, only the same state. For example, I don't live in the city of Los Angeles, but I have a Los Angeles Public Library card because I live in the state of California and that's all they require. Many times you have to get to the city to pick up the card in person, though, so plan on this the next time you're in the area.

Books

Of course, the first thing you'll think of at a library are "books." But did you know:

• Many libraries have suspended their fees for overdue books, due to the administration of the fee system costing more than they collect.

• Libby is a service many libraries offer that have ebook and audiobook checkout. If you have a Kindle or Kobo device you may also be able to read your ebooks on there instead of on your phone or tablet as well. Your books will automatically return themselves at the end of their loan period, so you don't have to worry about fees if your library still has those. Libby has a limited number of copies for each book, so you may need to wait for your book to become available.

• Hoopla is a similar service to Libby in that it has ebooks and audiobooks, but it also has comics, tv shows, and movies as well. And with Hoopla, your library has an unlimited number of copies, so there's no wait time! Instead, you have a limited number of items you can chekc out per month.

Movies

For movies, you might think of only DVD rentals. However, many libaries also offer streaming servies!

• Kanopy is a streaming service that offers high-quality movies such as the criterion collection, oscar nominees/winners, etc. You have a limited number of watches per month, set by your library.

• Hoopla, as mentioned above, also offers TV and Movies for streaming. They also have binge passes, which give you temporary access to the catalog of some major paid streaming libraries such as CuriosityStream and **

• My library offers these services but I haven't used them yet so I can't comment on the usage experience: Digitalia Film, which focuses on foreign language films and classic American cinema, and medici.tv which focuses on classical music including videos of concerts, ballets, operas, etc.

Music

Of course you may be able to check out CDs, but your library might also offer:

• Freegal, a service that allows you to download 5 DRM-free mp3 tracks per week from the Sony Music catalog.

• Hoopla also offers streaming music!

Video Games

via @any1th3r3 - Your local library may also offer video game loans!

News

Many libraries give you free access to paywalled news media, such as the New York Times Digital, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, etc.

Online Learning

Your library may also offer free access to some online learning websites such as LinkedIn Learning, Craftsy, Mango Languages, and more!

Makerspaces

Many library systems will offer makerspaces with access to 3d printers, laser cutters, specialty printers, sewing machines, photo studios, and sometimes even CNC mills! Of course the tools offered in these spaces are highly depending on the individual library system.

Seed Banks

Fairly self explanatory, some libraries have seed banks so you can start your own garden!

Tool library

Some libraries also let you check out tools such as power drills, circular saws, sewing machines, etc.

Passes

And last on my list, libraries often will offer passes to museums, zoos, and other local activities in your area.

Please utilize your libraries!

Finally, I'd like to end off by repeating what I said at the start: The best way to secure more funding for your library is to utilize your library. Libraries are one of the few spaces left where you can go and are not expected to exchange money for their services. They bring equity to many underserved communities and it is vitally important to preserve them. A lot of people I know think that they want to avoid using the library because they don't want to "take away the resources from those who need it more," but in reality it's the exact opposite! The more you want others to be able to use a library, the more you should use it yourself as well!

So… do you have arachnophobia? Wait wait wait… come back and listen, it’s not like you think. Really.

Are you into generation spanning epics? Interested in scientific pioneers full of hubris? Want to see multiple civilizations rise and fall, as alien and familiar at the same time? Want to see life from another set of eight eyes?

Children of Time is a sci-fi novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky is a zoologist, psichologist and writer. This will be important soon.

The premise is simple. What happens when we find someone with which we can’t talk? Can he bridge our differences or are we doomed to failure and mutual destruction?

— enough back cover copy —

I really loved this book. It’s a way out there first contact story, filled with conflict and a surprisingly warm and hopeful message. I’d love to talk about it, so It’s in my best interest for you to go, read it and come back here. If you have not done it already.

It reminded me of other first contact stories like Blindsight (another thread in the making) or the tree body series, but it’s so so so much… lesss… bleak? I really needed that.

PD: English is not my first language, I’m an spaniard, so be patient with me.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/449006
original post by @thegiddystitcher@beehaw.org

Like probably most of you I do own at least the majority of the books in physical form. But sometimes it's just easier to read on Kindle.

Sadly they're about £5.99 each, which is absolutely worth it if you can afford it, but x41 books it really adds up.

The good news is, if you check regularly you'll find that one or two books go on sale at a time for as little as 99p. Personally I pick up anything that goes under £2, currently I think that's just Guards! Guards! but they change all the time.

If anyone knows what schedule they change on that would be useful info, atm I just have a reminder to check back every couple of weeks.

(link is to the UK page but I'm sure the same applies on other Amazon sites too)

Chirp Books has Robin Hobb's Farseer audiobooks on sale for $2.99 - $3.99 each

https://www.chirpbooks.com/series/farseer-audiobooks

@literature @books
#bookstodon
#fantasy

Post about books you recently finished, and if you'd like, a brief review of the book here!

If you'd like to post a more in-depth review or discussion, feel free to create your own thread if you'd like.

Please be sure to enclose any spoilers in spoiler tags like so:

(the icon for spoiler tags is the ⚠️ icon under the text box)

Which will look like:

I started reading his works late last year, and I've had a hard time putting them down. I've finished his 5 major works and have read a few of his lesser known stories.

Are there any fans of his here?

I used to read alot devouring books on the bus to school/work (almost like the movement help my dyslexia 😂) but recently I have been struggling to get into books having not been able to get past the first few chapters. Do yous have tips or methods for when you're in a bit of a reading funk?

My personal favorites are steampunk, coming of age, and alternate history. How about you?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/1140184

(The following review contains NO SPOILERS)

This is the story of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng, stuck in a perpetual conflict between their individual hopes and the expectations of their community. The son of Ezra, a wealthy merchant from Kaifeng, falls in love with a Chinese lady and has to conciliate between this love and the pride of his people.

“do not break your mother’s heart. No, wait, I do not ask you to think of me, David. Think of our people!” (Ch. I)

“now—hear me—I am not your earthly father while I speak these words. I am your rabbi. I command you!” (Ch. III)

The Jewish individual, at his core, exerts the whole pressure of his people, blood and history upon himself, voluntarily or forcefully. He spends his earthly life in sorrow over the long gone past and reminisces about the lost homeland.

I find this picture of Judaism and the Jews to be common in the literature. I am reminded of Youssef Ziedan's The Nabatean, where an Arab Jewish proselyte is seen to be always grieving and his close ones didn't know why exactly.

On another note, Pearl S. Buck excelled at presenting historically accurate depictions of the Chinese Jews in the 19th century by blending historical events with fictional characters.

Personally, this book doesn't hold up to her well-acclaimed House of Earth trilogy, yet it's good enough.

adapted from a comment i made somewhere yesterday, and expanded a bit from my reading list. i read a lot of books about this subject (just an interest of mine) so if you want recommendations for books in the space i have many to offer.

here's a few:

ordered by year

• Extreme Cities: Climate Chaos and the Urban Future by Ashley Dawson (2016)
• The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World by Jeff Goodell (2017)
• Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future by Edward Struzik (2017)
• Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame by Michael Kodas (2017)
• Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution by Beth Gardiner (2019)
• The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption by Dahr Jamail (2020)
• The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: Futures from the Frontiers of Climate Science by Paul Behrens (2020)
• Losing Earth: A Recent History by Nathaniel Rich (2021)
• The Pyrocene: How We Created an Age of Fire, and What Happens Next by Stephen J. Pyne (2021)
• Fire and Flood: A People's History of Climate Change, From 1979 to the Present by Eugene Linden (2022)
• Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World by Gaia Vince (2022)
• The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle (2023)

California specific appendix

• Fire in Paradise: An American Tragedy by Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano (2020)
• Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson (2021)
• California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid by Katherine Blunt (2022)

books i intend to read

• The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert (2014)
• Disposable City: Miami's Future on the Shores of Climate Catastrophe by Mario Alejandro Ariza (2020)
• The Atlas of Disappearing Places: Our Coasts and Oceans in the Climate Crisis by Christina Conklin & Marina Psaros (2021)
• Fire, Storm and Flood: The Violence of Climate Change by James Dyke (2021)
• Meltdown: The Earth Without Glaciers by Jorge Daniel Taillant (2021)
• The World as We Knew It: Dispatches From a Changing Climate by Amy Brady & Tajja Isen (2022)
• Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis by Annie Proulx (2022)
• The Rise of Ecofascism: Climate Change and the Far Right by Sam Moore & Alex Roberts (2022)
• Global Burning: Rising Antidemocracy and the Climate Crisis by Eve Darian-Smith (2022)
• The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time: The Arctic Mission to the Epicenter of Climate Change by Markus Rex (2022)
• I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis With Grief, Hope, and Gallows Humor by Andrew Boyd (2023)

my personal comments

• if you're a pyromaniac, the path of Fire in Paradise, Paradise, Megafire, Firestorm, and The Pyrocene should satisfy that itch.
• the doomer trifecta is probably Fire and Flood, Losing Earth, and Nomad Century so if you want to know how badly we fucked this one up they go into that quite intimately
• wonks will probably enjoy Nomad Century, The Best of Times, The Worst of Times, and California Burning as they deal with policy and policy prescriptions in decent droves
• people looking for something less emotionally devastating should read the optimistic chapters of The Best of Times, The Worst of Times (it is structured to alternate pessimism/optimism chapters) and Choked (which has a generally positive outlook)
• Extreme Cities is a Verso book, and so is probably the most socialist-oriented of these
• if you want to be emotionally devastated on a personal level: read the two Paradise books (ideally back-to-back) or one of them and The End of Ice

Ringworld's Children by Larry Niven available in audiobook format for $1.99

https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/ringworld-s-children-by-larry-niven

@literature

Me, it's "La Peste" by Albert Camus

Just thought I'd throw it out there. You can import your Goodreads (or Storygraph or other) history as well.

https://joinbookwyrm.com/instances/