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@ronsboy67@mas.to cover
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ronsboy67

@[email protected]

ये दुनिया है या आलम-ए-बदहवासी? ہم دیکھیں گ
je ne sais rien, non sono qui.
Victoria Concordia Crescit
He/him, etc
#fedi22
#Arsenal #linguistics #reading #ebooks #Aotearoa #GoldenAgeMysteries #JDramas #KDramas #OLDHindiFilms

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dbsalk , to bookstodon
@dbsalk@mastodon.social avatar

Oh hey, Project Hail Mary is only $2 from your preferred ebook retailer today. Good news if you're a do-or-die Andy Weir fan. (I am not)

@bookstodon

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@dbsalk @bookstodon I loved The Martian but wouldn't re-read Hail Mary unless paid to, at the rate of $1 per eyeroll. Which would probably use up all the royalties he's earned for it.

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@maxmm77 @dbsalk @bookstodon NOT AT ALL. Short of reading Ayn Rand as a paean to communism I doubt it's possible to "read something wrong" - reading is subjective and personal and one's own opinions and reactions are ALWAYS right, for each of us. Vive la différence, chacun à son goût etc. 😀

beexcessivelydiverting , to bookstodon
@beexcessivelydiverting@mastodon.online avatar

Every Movie Adaptation Ranked From Worst To Best (Including )

https://screenrant.com/emma-movies-adaptations-ranked-worst-best/

@bookstodon

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@beexcessivelydiverting @bookstodon VERY impressed that they included Aisha. I don't disagree with the review, but when I saw "EVERY movie" my very first thought was "EVERY? I wonder if they'll include Aisha" So, kudos

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar



@bookstodon

Martin Edwards
Madhulika Liddle
David Crystal
Terry Pratchett
P. G. Wodehouse
Margery Aliingham
Cecilia Peartree
C. J. Cherryh
Iona Whishaw
Francis Vivian

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

seeking @bookstodon help - looking for on slow train travel in all suggestion gratefully received!

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

4/5
@thestorygraph for "Steeltown Magnolia" by Melissa F. Miller, a tense and gripping series debut that I enjoyed, even while being put off by what felt like overt product placement for Apple being made integral to the story.
@bookstodon https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/49233080-a64f-4e11-b0d0-c9da5a83a10b

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

TFW you're really enjoying a mystery/thriller but end up having to dock points from your review for its insistent aPPLe promos. On the + side, it did give me an opportunity to confirm my guess that "malophobe" is the word to describe how I feel about that company😡
@bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

The end of Daylight Saving Time last night emphasised that it's definitely Autumn here, but happily it's ALWAYS Springtime at Blandings and Uncle Fred in Springtime is the perfect mood lifter for the newly dark autumn nights.
@bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Dennis Romano's "VENICE - The Remarkable History of the Lagoon City" was a remarkable read: 600 pages to cover 1200 years of political cupidity. Very glad I read it, but in need of a palate cleanser. And of course, "palate cleanser" is spelled with THREE letters

P
G
W

So even though it's Autumn not Spring up here near the top of the world, this is my current read

@bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

It took me 23 days to read the book on the left, just a few hours to read the book on the right. Both were thoughtful and informative, especially as the 1200 year old city on the left may one day end up in an edition of the book on the right, which features many drowned sites.
@bookstodon

Image shows the cover of the book "ATLAS of ABANDONED PLACES A journey through the world's forgotten wonders" by Oliver Smith

ChrisMayLA6 , to bookstodon
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

At the risk of reigniting a debate that has been had in my timeline in the past... here's a report of a University of Valencia that looked at over 20 paper examine the differential effects of reading digitally & on paper.

The research confirms my experience (my own & in the reading of my erstwhile students) that reading digitally is less likely to lead to long-term educational (knowledge) benefits...

@bookstodon

https://www.upmpaper.com/knowledge-inspiration/blog-stories/articles/2024/makes-you-learn/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=PaperBecauseItsReal2024&utm_term=&utm_content=Image

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@adritheonly @ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon The professor enjoys reigniting this debate, and proselytising for print, if the number of times he has done so in the past is any guide.

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

4.75/5 @thestorygraph for "The Book Forger" by Joseph Hone. Dr Hone has delivered a near-flawless template of how to write academic history brought to life for laypeople. A truly gripping story, one that was hard to put down.
@bookstodon
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/5a903c51-853b-42f6-8a66-ab5b403d74ce

leapingwoman , to bookstodon
@leapingwoman@spore.social avatar

@bookstodon 22 of the Funniest Novels Since ‘Catch-22’ Because we could all use a laugh. Gift link.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/books/funny-novels-humor.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ck0.KmuI.eh8Ym-bSCOp6&smid=url-share

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@leapingwoman @bookstodon The Uncommon Reader
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/fae0d123-346f-4bb8-9e8a-6ada38bc19d0

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

anyone who's read Deborah Crombie's Kindcaid and James series: I loved the first 7, but 8 & 9 both went VERY heavy on the past timeline device AND blended it with the present via various forms of psychic/paranormal woo-woo. I'm very much not a fan of either, so both together is just is ugh. Are subsequent books in the series similar? @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

No wonder people complain that English orthography is bizarre! 🤣 @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

4.5/5
@thestorygraph for The Seven by
@hammerNow

ronsboy67 OP ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@skua @thestorygraph @bookstodon Your'e absolutely right, of course

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

2/5 @thestorygraph for A Finer End, book 7 in the Kincaid & James series by Deborah Crombie. My 61st book of 2024, it dragged my average down to under 4.1/5 , thanks to my zero tolerance for mysticism & mumbo-jumbo in mysteries. I skmmed through it 90 minutes, only reading to keep up with developments in Gemma & Duncan's lives. I hope the series leaves the woo-woo behind now. @bookstodon

ronsboy67 OP ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@tashasounart @bookstodon
I have enjoyed the development of the lead characters. Not just romantically, but as individuals with their own issues. Books 3-5 were the strongest for me so far,
I'm hoping the character growth continues, as it's something that I enjoy when done well, detective characters who age in more or less real time. It's a big part of the reason why Allingham's Campion is my favourite of the Golden Age sleuths, the way hs grew as a person and changed as he aged.

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

A Finer End, book 7 in the Kincaid & James series by Deborah Crombieset in Glastonbury & apart from all the tedious mystic mumbo-jumbo, the eons-old fixation on a tiny hill reminded me a Kiwi acquaintance in the UK who, when a colleague said he was going mountain climbing on the weekend, asked "Have you imported some?" 😆 @bookstodon

pussreboots , to bookstodon
@pussreboots@sfba.social avatar

Five stars: What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman (2023) is a survey of our current understanding of owls. The audiobook is read by the author.

https://pussreboots.com/blog/2024/comments_03/what_an_owl_knows.html

@bookstodon

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@pussreboots @bookstodon This could be interesting, thanks. I've long been fascinated by the fact that the owl is revered as a symbol of wisdom in the West and contemned as an icon of stupidity in Indic languages

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Finishing Walter Isaacson's Einstein biography was a nice way to round out February, just hours before my Early Bird renewal @thestorygraph - not too unhappy with my progess on this year's Reading Challenges there. @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

REALLY enjoying Walter Isaacson's "Einstein: His Life and Universe" but the I'm reading must be the US edition - I simply HATE it when books about science t use Imperial measurements.

SI or die!

The problem is that no I've read on science ever states whether it uses SI or not, and samples don't go far enough to show it either. @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

4/5 @thestorygraph for "The Monk", book 5 in the DS Cross series by Tim Sullivan. My 50th read of 2024, and the least enojyable of the Cross series for me so far. On the plus side, I'm now 22 books and 10875 pages ahead of schedule for my reading goals for the year @bookstodon
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/5e73044e-8593-423c-911e-edeed4315937

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

TFW you're reading a mystery set in the UK written by a UK resident author and your keen detective abilities make you think "hmmmm, US edition?"🤔
@bookstodon

ronsboy67 OP ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@benetnasch @Rob_l @bookstodon I did wonder about that possibility actually, whether it was being used as a term of art. Te subsequent use elsewhere of "club class" reinforced my view, though. That to my (non-UK) ears also sounded very North American - here in Aotearoa, we'd say "business class"

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

When I first heard Romagnol, I thought it sounded a bit French. Reading "San Marino la storia in miniatura", with its snippets of Romagnol songs & poems led me to a YT recording of someone speaking Romagnol. Many commenters who spoke Catalan said they could understand it easily, so I tested Google Translate out with "detect language" on the following. It said "Corsican" and offered a translation for almost every word. Interesting! @bookstodon

leapingwoman , to bookstodon
@leapingwoman@spore.social avatar

@bookstodon Please recommend a good basic privacy-respecting non-social reading list tracker for iOS/macOS. My reading list is a mix of print, audio, and library books. Once read, I like to note how well I liked it, if I didn't finish (and why), and make a few optional comments. What works for you and why? Thanks for your boosts and help!

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@leapingwoman @bookstodon you may want to check out @thestorygraph
ALL its social features are strictly opt-in it can be used entirely privately, and the 3.5 years I've been using it, it has suited my reclusive reading habits well.

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Reading "San Marino la storia in miniatura" and the passage about people acquiring RSM passports in the mid C19 reminded me of the Customs officer who was stumped by the RSM stamp on my passport as we left Rome (a gimmicky tourist souvenir that cost €5 then) - he looked at at it and asked "did you enter San Marino directly?" D'Oh! 🤦‍♂️ (if it WERE possible, RSM is not a Schengen state, so maybe the 90 days wouldn't start until we left 😀 ) @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Reading " San Marino la storia in miniatura" for a reading challenge @thestorygraph and the vocabulary, with lots of 19th century officialese, is a challenge, but so is the absence of commas in lists. Not just the "oxford comma"; the author will pile adjectives together or lists of objects, with not a comma in sight. Is this standard practice in ? @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Rigorous attention to factual accuracy even in minor details is always a good sign in crime novels😀☕ @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

4.25/5
@thestorygraph for The Bangalore Detectives Club - sweet, good-natured and devoid of info dumps. A promising start to the series. @bookstodon
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1947b664-bb32-4e3e-8c63-9e67382e6571

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Reading The Bangalore Detectives Club book 1, and really enjoying it. I hadn't realised was set in the 1920s, when my great-grandmother was living there, so learning more of the place is fun. As is the reference to Lady Molly, I might have to dust off my Orzcy and check her out
@bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

I'm no expert at maths in much the same way ostriches are not experts in flying , but something still seems a bit suss about this, from "Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment For Every Day of the Year" by Susie Dent. Unless, of course, my copy "had the good fortune to fall through a time warp from a hundred years in the future" 😀
@bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Trying my (and the) second Jack Haldean mystery "Mad About the Boy?" - 1/4 in and I'm (a) glad I have never had any so-called "friend" as utterly unsympathetic, uncaring and obtuse about others as Jack Haldean and (2) wondering why someone hasn't killed HIM yet. @bookstodon

wendypalmer , to bookstodon
@wendypalmer@mastodon.au avatar

I wish ebook retailers let you choose your cover eg if I wanted to buy a copy of Boy Swallows Universe today, I’d be stuck with the Netflix cover. It doesn’t have to be like that.

@bookstodon

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@wendypalmer @bookstodon Another nice thing about Calibre - I often do a Google Search for covers I like and replace the one that I bought

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

"He asked me to play a guest spot in his outrageously good series The Games."

Sam Neill's mentions of John Clarke are a bittersweet highlight of his memoir "Did I Ever Tell You This?" and the quote above made me want to watch that marvellous show all over again. The 100-metre track episode timeless comedy genius, imo

@bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Another snippet of Romagnolo in "San Marino la storia in miniatura" once again stumping all the online translators I know of
"S’t’vù che ai tu penn al tignol a n’ dega dan fai ciapé la guaza ad San Zvan"

One more highlighted passage to send to my sammarinese friends with a plea for help. 😂
@bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Reading "San Marino la storia in miniatura" for a reading challenge @thestorygraph - very interesting and VERY personal history of the author's home country. I'm grokking more unaaided than I thought I would but the Romagnola brings me (and translators) to a screaming halt😂
"A j'ho la moj so l'uròla"" non capisco!
@bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

"Writely or Wrongly" by Joanne Anderson is my third 5/5 read for 2024 @thestorygraph but the first to tagged as a personal "top read". Its closing paragraph nicely sums up why I enjoyed it so much. @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

After a lengthy chapter on usage issue (e.g. discreet/discrete, who/whom, less/fewer etc) that was informative, reasoned and balanced, "Writely or Wrongly" pretty much guaranteed a 5/5 rating with the next chapter's title 🤣 @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Another gem from "Writely or Wrongly": A dangling modifier that made me literally laugh out loud. @bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

"Witely or Wrongly" by Joanne Anderson is a real delight, and making me think I need to read more G.B. Shaw (articles, letters etc). LOVED this re apostrophes:

"There is not the faintest reason for persisting in the ugly and silly trick of peppering pages with these uncouth bacilli."

@bookstodon

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

Who knew that in addition to being 100% on point about the "pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy" that is nationalism, GBS also had a thoroughly correct laothing of petty prescriptivist pedantry? Thanks to Joanne Anderson's "Writely or Wrongly", I do now. @bookstodon

Eliot_L , to bookstodon
@Eliot_L@social.coop avatar

There's a bundle for sale at https://www.humblebundle.com/books/terry-pratchetts-discworld-harpercollins-books
$18 minimum for 38 books

I think this would be a great buy for someone looking to get into Discworld, with a few caveats:

  • They are Kobo DRM'd eBooks so you can't read them on a non-Kobo eReader without stripping off the DRM
  • It's not a complete set (but it's close, I think they are only missing 3 of the main novels)

@bookstodon

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@Eliot_L @bookstodon THanks for this! For stripping DRM from Kobo ebooks (I read on Kobo devices only), there is an excellent plugin for Calibre, the nonpareil of ebook library management software.

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@Eliot_L @bookstodon

Sadly, it's not a global promotion. It may be helpful to include information on where the promtion is available, to spare others the disappointment I just experienced.

ronsboy67 ,
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

@Eliot_L @bookstodon Thanks I should have remembered the old adage "it it seems too good to be true ..." 😢

ronsboy67 , to bookstodon
@ronsboy67@mas.to avatar

ALL DONE BABY! 🏆
4.25/5 for Poland A History by Adam Zamoyski and with that,
I have finished @thestorygraph

10 books from 10 countries. All . no light or easy reads, another VERY productive informative start to my reading year @bookstodon

Image shows covers of 10 books from 10 countries for "The Storygraph Reads the World 2024" Challenge 1. Cybernetic Revolutionaries by Eden Medina (Chile) 2. Germany A Nation in its Time -by Helmut Walser Smith 3 The Ghana Reader by Kwasi Konadu 4. Islam and Colonialism: Becoming Modern in Indonesia and Malaysia by Muhammad Ali 5. Rastafari Roots and Ideology by Barry Chevanne (Jamaica) 6. A History of Modern Lebanon by Fawwaz Traboulsi 7. Poland a History by Adam Zamoyski 8. Out Sri Lanka - poetry anthology 9. A Line in the River - Khartoum, City of Memory by Jamal Mahajoub (Sudan) 10. Venezuela: What Everyone Needs to Know by Miguel Tinker-Salas
Image shows the 30 countries read by the user in the 3 years of the Read the World Challenge Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Cuba Germany Ghana Haiti India Indonesia Italy Jamaica Lebanon Aotearoa/NZ Nigeria Norway Pakistan Palestine Poland Russia South Africa South Korea Sudan Syria Trinidad & Tobago Turkey Venezuela Vietnam Zimbabwe

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