Just like TOKYO VICE, TOKYO NOIR is more of an intertwined anthology than the straightforward narrative you might expect. And amidst investigative adventurism and journalistic exposes of Japanese political scandals is a story surprisingly focused on personal tragedy.
The resignations and disciplinary actions come after it was revealed that certain authors and books—including R.F. Kuang's hit novel Babel—had been inexplicably deemed not eligible for the Hugo at Worldcon 2023 in Chengdu, China.
Géopolitique de la mode : Vers de nouveaux modèles
Sophie Kurkdjian analyse ces différentes évolutions, devenue phénomène global qui, au-delà de sa quête de créativité et d'innovation, doit repenser tout son système. Rattrapée par la surproduction et la surconsommation, la mode se trouve aujourd'hui aux prises avec des défis sociaux et environnementaux qui conditionnent son avenir.
The Turkish British writer Elif Shafak has published 19 books, many of which are bestsellers, and her novels have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Women's Prize for Fiction. Yet she's also one of Turkish literature's most attacked authors, the victim of a campaign that started with fringe nationalist groups and has now been taken up by individuals associated with the ruling Justice and Development Party. Kaya Genç writes for The Dial about how this case is part of a wider trend in President Erdoğan's "new Turkey."
(Some) ignorant leftbros: "Class first! No idpol!"
Scholars of right wing politics/economics: "All these right-wing thinkers are much more comfortable thinking about the blurred lines between sexual and economic politics than many thinkers on the left. And they understand that Keynesianism rests on a certain kind of sexual contract. Any challenge to this order—whether it be an escalation of wage or benefit claims, or the flight from sexual normativity, or unmarried women claiming welfare benefits—disrupts the fiscal and monetary calculus on which Keynesianism rests."
Above remark from "The Extravagances of Neoliberalism", an interview of Melinda Cooper (author of "Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance") by Benjamin Kunkel, in The Baffler.
I wonder if property prices dropped in Brighton & Hove dropped after Peter James started writing his Roy Grace novels. It seems everyone is a serial killer, victim or career criminal who lives there. #books#reading#crimefiction
Really enjoyed The Bone Harp by Victoria Goddard. It diverges a bit from The Lays of the Hearth-Fire series in that it's more abstract and set in a different world. The language is lyrical and free, with a lot of alliteration, pleasant, like a lullaby -- it's definitely a slow burn, if you like that (I do).
I really enjoyed the sprawling sense of imagination and the thoughtful details woven throughout the story.
"There were weavers who learned to capture the sky into impossible fabrics, so the people went garbed in sunsets and moonrises, in the blue of a mountain morning, the starry field of a winter midnight. There were glassblowers who created bells and bellflowers as delicate as Klara’s hoarfrost, gardens of glittering jewels where there had never been aught before but stone."
"Someone caught the winds in jewelled nets, and created symphonies of storms over the mountains. Someone sang the city into hills and towers, plunging pools and hanging gardens, and then spun bridges at dizzying heights between them."
Victoria Goddard has become one of my favorite fantasy authors. The Hands of the Emperor is one of my favorite books (it is about found family, empathy, kindness, being a foreigner/outsider). Her writing is a balm for troubled times and worth returning to time and again for solace.
Dutch poet, literary critic, & essayist Albert Verwey was born #OTD in 1865.
Verwey was a central figure in the Dutch literary movement known as the Tachtigers, which sought to revolutionize Dutch poetry by emphasizing individualism, emotion, and innovative language and form. The Tachtigers rejected the conventional poetic styles & themes of their time, advocating for a more personal and introspective approach to poetry.
Two of the most important pages from a book (“They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45” by Milton Mayer) that I often revisit. What is on these pages has always been the case in the U.S. #books#bookstodon#vote
An elite team of MI6 agents must go undercover to unravel a smuggling network funding violent terror in the second thrilling adventure in the acclaimed Double O series by Kim Sherwood.
Our children's book wizard Fiona was delighted to get an early copy of Rachel Plummer & Forrest Burdett's upcoming The Big Day from Little Tiger, reading it to the Gruffalo in the spring sunshine!
She Campaigned for a #Texas School Board Seat as a #GOP Hard-Liner. Now She’s Rejecting Her Party’s Extremism.
Courtney Gore, a Granbury ISD school board member, has disavowed the far-right platform she campaigned on after finding no evidence that #students were being indoctrinated by the district’s curriculum. Her defiance has brought her backlash.
FTA: "If you’re setting up a liberation library at your Gaza solidarity encampment and you’d like some radical books, please write to us at orders[at]haymarketbooks.org and we’ll send some free books to get you started."
In addition, they are offering four e-books free to pretty much anyone interested.
Liz just wants a happy birthday.
Is that too much to ask?
A beautiful antique bed: her birthday present to herself. The nice delivery men set it up in her bedroom, and then all Hell breaks loose. Literally.
When it turns out the bed's former owner isn't basking in the glow of a happy afterlife, Liz must face some nasty adversaries to help him. Why on earth would she risk her life and her sanity to help a ghost? Certainly not because she’s in love with him.
Heads up that The Khan by Saima Mir is on Kindle for 99p. I loved this thriller about gangland power struggles in the Bradford Pakistani community, just seen there’s a sequel which I will now be buying #AmReading#books
Scottish astronomer Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming was born #OTD in 1857.
Fleming's most significant contributions came in the field of stellar classification. She developed a system for classifying stars based on their spectra, which became known as the Harvard Classification Scheme. In 1890, she published the first catalog of stellar spectra, which contained over 10,000 stars classified according to her system.
"If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain."
Life, p. 6 - Collected Poems (1993)
American lyric poet Emily Dickinson died #OTD in 1888. Although she wrote 1789 poems, only a few of them were published in her lifetime, all anonymously, and some perhaps without her knowledge.
Finding time to read in a busy schedule can be tough. But even 10 minutes a day can take you on incredible journeys. How do you fit reading into your day? #reading#books#bookstodon
Old News but Worth Mentioning: Resignations, Censures Follow in Wake of Hugo Awards Controversy (www.publishersweekly.com)
The resignations and disciplinary actions come after it was revealed that certain authors and books—including R.F. Kuang's hit novel Babel—had been inexplicably deemed not eligible for the Hugo at Worldcon 2023 in Chengdu, China.