Hello, I'm trying to find a book that I read a long time ago about a man who turned invisible because cosmic radiation hit his electric blanket while he was asleep. I've tried googling and chat GPT and neither of them turned up any results. Does this book sound familiar to anyone?

Hello everyone!

I'm looking for two book recommendations:

1. an "entry" book into SciFi. Something that is easy readable. I prefer sth. "positive" or utopian.
2. A similar book like "48 rules of power" but without the Machiavellian touch and the religious touch of "How to win Friends and Influence People". Maybe there is something more "universal" available on how to connect to people on a respectful level.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5141618

Check it out.

Last chapter.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5140656

"the more she ate the more she shat"

Classic GRRM.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5136444

Moar Selmy.

Moar "mummer's farce."

I'm not sure how useful this'll be to people, but on the off-chance that like me, you like to track your pages read daily (into something like Storygraph or Goodreads) and you happen to have an ereader, I've created a spreadsheet that may be useful.

Essentially I found that tracking pages when you're reading a book on an ereader is a little tricky because the number of pages will differ depending on the size of your device and the font size. You can use percentage instead, but:

1. My Kobo seems to calculate percentage based on number of words rather than pages
2. Sometimes with really large books, you can read a ton of pages and the percentage won't have changed

So I created a spreadsheet that can work out the equivalent page count on Storygraph (although this can work for any book tracking site).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ehIw4dE_66yU0Km98i4fBtqMqWXvlN1zTSpLSgR4OCA/edit?usp=drivesdk

I think you should be able to save a copy of the spreadsheet from that link.

I've also added in padding. So for example if the actual text of the book starts on page 6, enter 6 in the padding start field. And then the final page number of the text in padding end. This prevents inflation of number of pages read at the start and end of your tracking (because of all the copywrite info, credits etc.)

Like I say, this probably would only be useful to a select few, but thought I'd share it just in case :)

cross-posted from: https://lazysoci.al/post/15660272

I would like to recommend a book. It's a short read, but food for thought.

I heard a lot of praise for Bulgakov's oeuvre in the past, so I decided to give it a go.

I have read Russian literature in the past by recommendation of family and friends who always showed much interest in it; be it Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov or Pushkin.

But recently I noticed that knowledge of Russian literature virtually stops at the onset of the revolution. When it comes to the Soviet era, there is a sort of intentional silence regarding the literature of that time, at least in the West and its colonized peripheries. Anecdotally, I once had a conversation with my mother during which she claimed that the Soviet period was a dark time to be living in Russia. When I asked her what's the basis of her statement, she said this is based on the novels she read, citing Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. The awkward smile on her face after telling her that these authors died decades before the revolution was priceless; bless her heart, but I am digressing.

When a few exceptions of Soviet literature emerge out of the iron curtain, it turns out to be some anticommunist rambling, just like Bulgakov's Master and Margarita.

Considering the critical acclaim, it feels wrong to say that I found it to be average. Was I supposed to cheer for the devil and his retinue as they terrorize Moscow? Maybe it's my ideological orientation which prevents me from fully engaging with the novel, and I'm alright with that. Though I did enjoy the chapters narrating Pontius Pilate's encounter with Yeshua Ha-Nozri.

Anyhow, was Soviet literature ever popular? Did it die out after the collapse of the union? Or has it always been curtailed in the West?

Check it out.

Get the first book from your local library or for free as well from Z Library (PDF version).

First book in the series is A Game of Thrones.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17539998

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17539905

@MaxBlumenthal

Government By Gunplay. A collection that never gets old.

I'm trying to read some more books (canon) set in the Metro universe. The books don't have to be written by Dmitry Glukhovsky, I'm just looking for some recommendations to expand my knowledge of the lore. Bonus points for chronological ordering! Ty

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17146897

The Fisherman is a horror novel by John Langan that won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel. The story follows two widowers, Abe and Dan, who bond over their shared grief and a passion for fishing. When they hear rumors of a mysterious and cursed fishing spot called Dutchman's Creek, they decide to investigate, despite warnings from locals. Soon, the men find themselves drawn into a tale as deep and old as the Reservoir. It's a tale of dark pacts, of long-buried secrets, and of a mysterious figure known as Der Fisher: the Fisherman. It will bring Abe and Dan face to face with all that they have lost, and with the price they must pay to regain it.

Reviews

grimdarkmagazine.com | goodreads.com |

Lovecraft Done Right | The Fisherman by John Langan - Book Review (video)

author interviews

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16892902

The best horror books of 2024 according to the Esquire (April 10)

• The House of Last Resort, by Christopher Golden
• This Wretched Valley, by Jenny Kiefer
• Among the Living, by Tim Lebbon
• In the Valley of the Headless Men, by L.P. Hernandez
• The Haunting of Velkwood, by Gwendolyn Kiste
• Mouth, by Joshua Hull
• King Nyx, by Kirsten Bakis
• The Angel of Indian Lake, by Stephen Graham Jones
• The Black Girl Survives in This One, edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell
• Bless Your Heart, by Lindy Ryan
• This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances, by Eric LaRocca
• Diavola, by Jennifer Thorne
• The Underhistory, by Kaaron Warren
• Incidents Around the House, by Josh Malerman

Hiya,

My local library summer reading challenge has a few items with which I could use y'all's help.

Read a book with a musical theme.

Read a book outside your comfort zone (I read mostly novels, and mostly sci-fi).

Read a book by an author from a different cultural background. (I'm a white American and I've already read Three Body Problem)

Read a book suggested to you.

I would appreciate any suggestions!

-Pidgin

We see you, hard-core NPR readers — just because it's summer doesn't mean it's all fiction, all the time. So we asked around the newsroom to find our staffers' favorite nonfiction from the first half of 2024. We've got biography and memoir, health and science, history, sports and more.