Free ebooks Friday, June 20

Jun. 19th, 2025 11:15 pm
starwatcher: Western windmill, clouds in background, trees around base. (Default)
[personal profile] starwatcher
 
Hooray! I saw this in time for people to get in on the deal.

"On Friday, June 20, 2025, get a curated offering of free romance books at your preferred ebook retailer, no strings attached. This is just a helpful collection of free-for-a-limited-time romance ebooks!"

https://www.romancebookworms.com/


Feel free to share this wherever.

 

"A Game of Lie" by Clare Mackintosh

Jun. 20th, 2025 02:36 am
slippery_fish: (calm)
[personal profile] slippery_fish
The second DC Morgan book brings Ffion and Leo back together as they look into the disappearance of a mentally unstable participant of a reality show.

I liked this in general. George is a cool new character, the Welsh set-up is still working for me and the case was interesting.

I wasn't a big fan of the last part of the book because once the murderer was revealed, it felt a lot like a villain doing their "this is how I did it"-monologue.

But at the end, it felt like a good episode of a procedural series.

Juneteenth: American Cowboys

Jun. 19th, 2025 11:39 am
sanguinity: woodcut by M.C. Escher, "Snakes" (Default)
[personal profile] sanguinity
Happy Juneteenth! Just a quick post:

The Black, African, and African-American employee group at work shared this documentary with us for Juneteenth, about the early days of the Pendleton Round-up (a prestigious rodeo located in Pendleton, Oregon), and two cowboys of color who competed in the 1911 bronc-riding finals: George Fletcher and Jackson Sundown.

(Note: contains discussion of genocide, namely the US govt's war against the Nez Perce. Also, predictably, discussions of racism. Also archival rodeo footage, including bronc-riding and calf-roping.)

of a runaway American dream

Jun. 18th, 2025 10:56 pm
musesfool: Bruce! (the cosmic kid in full costume dress)
[personal profile] musesfool
[tumblr.com profile] angelgazing just informed me that there's a movie coming out in the fall where Jeremy Allen White plays Bruce Springsteen - here's the trailer - and idk but all I see and hear is Carmy from The Bear (the only thing I've seen him in) so it's not working for me. He has a very specific *gestures* everything that's not translating for me. I guess we'll see!

*

Some interesting links and tid bits..

Jun. 18th, 2025 09:29 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
1. Ali Hazelwood Dislikes Peeta and that was problem for some folks

Peeta for the uninformed was Katniss's love interest in The Hunger Games or rather one of two love interests. The other was Gale, I think. I stayed out of the Hunger Games fandom for various reasons.

Apparently what happened is Ali Hazelwood, an author of various books, made the mistake on a book panel at a fan convention of stating that she didn't like Peeta. People got upset - and fanatically attacked her on her Instagram account. To the point, in which she ended up cancelling the entire account (she couldn't figure out how to turn off the comments - Instagram is impossible to use - and makes me crazy - I just post pictures on it and like others posts), and she was apparently popular and highly active.

Excerpt from the post, which I thought worthy of sharing:
Read more... )

Nothing new, but a worthy reminder that before you post a comment in response to something you've read online, especially in fandom, ask yourself these questions:

* Is it kind?

* Is it necessary?

* Does it help?

And are you posting out of anger or rage? Or trying to prove someone else wrong, so you can be right? What is gained by embarrassing or humiliating anyone? [Note - this is reminder for myself as much as anyone. Trying to do better.]

2. Bruce Springsteen Bio-Pic Trailer

Well, everyone else got one - I guess it's his turn? Although I admittedly like his music and Jeremy Allen.
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
[Note, I'm home sick or under the weather at the moment, so apologies for typos, etc - due to brain fog.]

As always, Good News is more often than not in the eyes of the beholder. So mileage may vary.

1. 13.14 Million or 4% of the population of the US came out and protested for "No Kings". "We’re honored to announce a final count of 13.14 million in attendance across 2,300+ No Kings protests nationwide. It took a little longer to finalize due to the sheer scale, but the turnout was historic!
So far, 71 MAGA agitators have been arrested, with 62 additional investigations still underway. We’re actively reviewing online threats and working on escalating where needed. If you see something, say something." - per Alt National Parks.

What does this mean: The 3.5% Rule or How a small minority can change the world
excerpt )

2. 81% of U.S. adults say that if a federal court rules that an action is illegal, then Trump has to follow its ruling, per NBC poll. Among Trump supporters, 50% agree.

3. From limiting who can purchase most semiautomatic rifles on the market today to raising the minimum age to buy ammunition, Colorado Democrats in the Colorado legislature were busy this year imposing new gun regulations - specifically in the state of Colorado.

The 12 gun bills passed by the Colorado legislature this year and signed into law

4. Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of committing a sex crime by a jury in New York, more than a year after the state Supreme Court overturned his 2020 conviction on felony sex crime charges. Read more... )

https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/harvey-weinstein-guilty-retrial-sex-crime-new-york-rcna202460

5.The House approves four nominees to the governing board of the Office of Congressional Conduct, providing the board with enough members to operate and continue its role of investigating and uncovering misconduct by Congress members.

https://campaignlegal.org/update/win-ethics-clc-partners-succeed-preserving-office-congressional-conduct

6.Library of Congress employees uphold the Constitution’s separation of powers by not admitting two DOJ officials appointed by the president to lead the agency who have not been confirmed by the Senate.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/politics/library-of-congress-trump-justice-blanche?bt_ee=2QgjkqKxaHyuagkHOeb0m6RbI2h%2FZ9394%2B4e4zEovFoF9q%2BF2LTnhSUP%2BuXHEzeX&bt_ts=1747140898649

7.A federal court orders the administration to promptly facilitate contact between Widmer Josneyder Agelviz Sanguino and his lawyers after immigration enforcement illegally deported Sanguino to a notoriously abusive prison in El Salvador.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/venezuelan-man-admitted-us-refugee-sent-salvadoran-prison-rcna207642

8.Six weeks after being seized off the streets and detained under a false claim by DHS, doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk is released from ICE detention to resume her studies and live in the community while attorneys seek reinstatement of her visa.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/us/rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-bail-release

9. Attorneys general from 20 states file two lawsuits against the administration over its threats to illegally withhold billions of congressionally allocated funds from states if they don’t meet federal immigration enforcement demands.

https://thehill.com/homenews/5298257-20-states-sue-trump-administration-grants-immigration-enforcement/

10. Colorado becomes the ninth state to pass a state-level Voting Rights Act into law.

https://coloradonewsline.com/2025/05/12/polis-signs-voting-rights-act-colorado/

11.Florida: A bill that would have required proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote fails to advance in the legislature.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/08/the-failed-florida-election-bill-that-angered-voting-rights-and-voting-integrity-advocates-alike/

the rest )

Okay, I found 98 items. And I'm tired.

[I feel at times that reading through the news is akin to watching a television serial with a really annoying villain, and I keep thinking, come on writers, kill it already. But alas no, they kill off the characters I like instead. I want new writers. That said, it's not all doom and gloom, there's spots of good news in there - actually more good than bad if you know where to look - and depending on your perspective. I've been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer - and it's not only weirdly comforting for a horror series, but also made me a bit hopeful and optimistic.]

Good night and Good Luck all.

I'd cough you to sleep, but I think that would be a tad discomforting? So here's a photo of a flower instead:


it's so crazy lately

Jun. 17th, 2025 06:33 pm
kaydeefalls: raven smiles brilliantly (raven hearts you)
[personal profile] kaydeefalls
I am 40 today. Huzzah. I have spent the day at work, as per, baking myself a cake, and feeling grumpy because my wife's flight home Sunday was canceled due to tornadoes in the vicinity (you cannot make this shit up), which means she's not getting back until very late tonight instead. So to distract myself, here, have a fic.

Somehow I churned out 18k words in a week for this. It was supposed to be a quick and silly meet cute. IDEK. Happy birthday to me.


ready to dive (18468 words) by kaydeefalls
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nicholas "Nick" Nelson/Charles "Charlie" Spring, Darcy Olsson & Charles "Charlie" Spring
Characters: Charles "Charlie" Spring (Heartstopper), Nicholas "Nick" Nelson, Darcy Olsson, Elle Argent, Tao Xu (Heartstopper)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Pride, Strangers to Lovers, Romantic Comedy, mass transit mishaps, strangers to friends to lovers speedrun, queer found family is so important, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Sexual Content, this is not a slow burn for once, they've got the hob on medium high and are jumping right into it, Meet-Cute, the mildest of angst before a happy ending, Confident Charles "Charlie" Spring (Heartstopper), Smitten Nicholas "Nick" Nelson
Summary:

In which Darcy is a drunken chaos gremlin, Charlie has to clean up their mess, and missing the last train of the night might just be the best thing that Nick has ever done. (A Pride-themed uni meet cute AU, because why the hell not.)

slippery_fish: (always a woman to me)
[personal profile] slippery_fish
I really liked this for the most part. Jen is such a great character, and I love how she reacts to a crisis, to challenges and to icky guys. Nikki, Mallory and Paul were also really fun to watch.

Loved the tone of the show for the most part, a nice mixture between light-hearted and heavy stuff. Though there were some moments that were actually really hard to take because they just hit you in the gut. I actually had to fast-forward through the twist during the gala. It's just his utter horribleness that women have to deal with in real life and I couldn't take it in my entertainment.

I liked the cameos, especially Blonsky was fun. Also, the 4th wall breaking worked for me most of the time even though it did feel a bit random as a part of the show? But hey, Kevin is Glados, good to know.

Book Review: All of us Murderers

Jun. 17th, 2025 04:34 pm
pandarus: (Default)
[personal profile] pandarus
(Thanks to NetGalley for access to an advance copy of All Of Us Murderers in exchange for an honest review)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Us-Murderers-Kj-Charles/dp/1464227527

While the adage that you should never judge a book by its cover is generally good advice, in the case of “All Of Us Murderers” the cover art is an excellent guide to the contents of the book: a gloriously over the top piece of escapism created as a love letter to the genre.

Cover art

This is an unrepentantly gothic confection, and it was, as anticipated, a wittily tropetastic delight rife with nefarious villains, misty moors, blood-drenched ruins, cursed fortunes, wide-eyed nubile heiresses and mysterious ghostly figures, ALL of which our hero (a precious ADHD cinnamon roll, and - provided one doesn’t find The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name to be a source of wickedness - very much the white sheep of his unpleasant family) is desperately trying to avoid, bless him.

Zebedee Wyckham is the impoverished grandson of a successful gothic novelist, and having found himself once again between jobs he has unwisely accepted an invitation to pay a visit to a wealthy uncle whom he hasn’t seen in decades - only to find himself trapped in the most ghastly houseparty since…well, since the LAST hilariously ghastly (and murderous) house party to grace the pages of a KJ Charles novel.

Finding that the lover whom he inadvertently ruined a year ago is now working as his uncle’s secretary comes as a mortifying shock, but this is the least of the unwelcome surprises that his uncle’s faux-gothic home has in store.

Zeb may be the innocent Cinderella figure amongst the variously unpleasant scions of the Wyckham family, but he’s no fool: having grown up on the works of Mrs Radcliffe, Horace Walpole and his own respected ancestor, Zeb can spot a gothic novel cliche at fifty paces and he has absolutely no intention of ending up sacrificed on a pagan altar, walled up in a cellar, drowned in a well or otherwise disposed of: think “Scream”, but make it gay and a period piece.

He is, in short, the polar opposite of Austen’s Catherine Morland: far from imagining spectral figures and dark secrets where none exist, Zeb is a pragmatic soul with a kind (if battered) heart who wasn’t born yesterday & has no interest in rushing headlong into danger if it can possibly be avoided.

Can Zeb escape the unwelcome attentions of the various spectral figures, blackmailers, marriageable heiresses and spider-filled rooms that await him at Lackaday House, and persuade his bitter ex to forgive him for past offences?

(Of course he can! This isn’t LitFic! You know that the starcrossed lovers will escape the villains’ clutches in the nick of time, foil their iniquitous plans, and finally achieve their happily ever after - but it’s still *thoroughly* enjoyable watching KJ Charles get them there.)
musesfool: !!!! from Middleman (!!!!)
[personal profile] musesfool
I swear, sometimes I think my oven is some kind of black hole or something, because sometimes the laws of physics seem to weirdly not apply. Yesterday, as planned, I made teriyaki meatballs. Because I don't understand how the recipe author got 28 meatballs out of 16 oz of ground meat, I had 32 oz of ground chicken, from which I made 28 ping pong ball sized meatballs. I baked 16 meatballs on one tray at 400°F for 20 minutes. It was the only tray in the oven. FOURTEEN out of the 16 were at least at 170°F when I took them out of the oven (generally I aim for 165° for fully cooked ground chicken) and checked with my instant read thermometer. TWO were at 143°F. They weren't even next to each other! Just 2 random meatballs that somehow didn't cook to the same temperature as EVERY OTHER meatball on the same tray in the same oven. I mean, I know ovens can have hot spots, so does my oven somehow have cool spots? Less hot spots? I mean, what the actual fuck???

*

Is this growth?

Jun. 16th, 2025 01:56 pm
aj: (reading)
[personal profile] aj
Right, so I picked up a fiction book this last week! AND I started reading it!

This is mildly exciting because I've read nothing but 9-1-1 gay fanfic for the last six months. Legitimately. I think I've read something like 70 novel-length stories in that time period; some of them twice.

ANYWAY, I borrowed The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong. It's (so far) a cozy little fantasy road trip book, and I'm having an ok time.

I've also got two non-fiction books in audio and text format (a book on the craft beer industry and a book on the West's perception of food scarcity, specifically with the Banda people in West-Central Ghana), both of which have entertaining-to-me Chicago-connections. The first centers around the creation of Goose Island brewing - HILARIOUSLY started by someone from my mom's home town in Iowa - which is a Chicago brand. The second was written by someone who went through Northwestern's doctoral program and did a good chunk of writing/research for the book while with that institution.

Quick moment to stump for University of California Press' Open Access arena for books. I keep finding cool shit to read here! For FREE! Legally! (And here's the University of Michigan.)

Also, I kind of really appreciate my graduate level work now. I got a lot of practice reading a whole bunch of higher level academic stuff, so now I can just read it for fun.

"Remigration" and What It Means

Jun. 16th, 2025 02:25 pm
dewline: "Truth is still real" (anti-fascism)
[personal profile] dewline
[personal profile] solarbird has some thoughts about one of the Vulgarian's latest eruptions on "Pravda Sotsialnaya" yesterday, in which he demanded the US federal government get on with the ethnic cleansing on what I suspect to be Stephen Miller's continuing "advice". She's on point here.

This is one of the major reasons why I still think Canada should get out of the so-called "Safe Third-Country Agreement" with the US government right bloody now. Yesterday would have been better, and today would still be good. We need more people up here in Canada anyway to do all manner of work. Whether it's through regular immigration channels, regular refugee channels, or emergency "save the people about to be put through refoulement ASAP, dammit" measures.

Yes, there's a specific word for what Trump and Miller are trying to do to millions of people across the USA right now.

Refoulement.

That's what "remigration" is code for. Sending them back to the undeserved hells they've escaped from.

I intend to have a word about this with my MP and/or her staff. Today.

Grumpy.

Jun. 16th, 2025 10:31 am
aj: (seasonal)
[personal profile] aj
I need to buy a smaller garbage can for the kitchen. Due to cat food shenanigans and situations, there has been more of an opportunity for fruit flies to invade and I'm 100% going to Lowes this evening to get a.) fly paper strips and b. a smaller covered waste can. I'm mildly traumatized by fruit flies for reasons that don't bear going into at this juncture, but this is getting tackled and tackled today.

I should also probably buy some bananas.

The weekend was fine. I got to go be social on Saturday (whee!) but I spent yesterday impersonating a slug. I even made crock pot mac and cheese because it didn't involve turning on the oven. AND I took a 3-hour nap.

I think the big issue is that I need to figure out how to get my air purifier working. It's going to be a complicated puzzle because my apartment has two circuits and if I have the AC plugged in (non-negotiable in July/August), I can't have another big electrical drain on that same circuit. I should probably blow the circuit so I know where to connect it in my bedroom. Ah, the joys of living in a building that had its electrics retrofitted in the 40's! And then the 70's!

I mention this because my lungs have been apparently unhappy? I'm real bad at reading signals my body is sending me but after using my inhaler after walking by someone smoking the shittiest weed imaginable, I felt better? I used my inhaler this morning again and feel less crap. So, maybe the air quality really is hitting me? And I DO have to unbox the air purifier I bought in March? UUUUGH, effort.

Teeth

Jun. 16th, 2025 12:42 pm
lexin: (Default)
[personal profile] lexin
I called the Community Dental Services people this morning, and I have an appointment in July in Holyhead. I have never been to Holyhead, so this should be interesting.

(no subject)

Jun. 15th, 2025 05:52 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Methinks I've contracted a chest cold, or a head cold, feels like a chest cold. Lovely, I need to get blood work done on Thursday, and have a virtual appointment on Friday. I'll just wear a mask on Thursday. Also, apparently for most of this week.

I blame Breaking Bad, whose been under the weather of late. Or the subway.
God knows.

I did not go protest in the No Kings Protests yesterday, outside of the fact that I was feeling poorly and not sleeping well, so exhausted, plus digestive issues (one does not march with digestive issues in a huge city with no easily accessible bathrooms - it's just not done), and bum knees, with a sciatic nerve. The people doing it in their walkers, just protested outside of their homes on the sidewalk, not quite the same thing.

Not that I feel guilty or anything. (well maybe a little).

The official count is 12.1 million. Palantir is collecting data for the evil Empire (aka Trump Administration and his Republican cronies), so various sources have put up protections and aren't re-posting videos, photos, or addresses any longer. Things are starting to get heated in the US, and I'm not quite sure where its headed. I most likely have the same news resources that you all have, so we're kind of in it together?

Between the chest congestion, digestive issues, lack of sleep, sciatic nerve, and the news...I've fallen into a malaise of sorts and am finding it difficult to concentrate. As a result, I didn't get any of the things I intended to do - done this weekend. Oh well, I did at least do some exercises, took out the trash, and got a lot of water. (The water went out in my building on Friday night, so I went and picked up some.)

Did finish watching a few things of note:

1. Dept. Q on Netflix. Will it get a second season? Forbes thinks so, since Netflix submitted it for the Emmy's and doesn't tend to do that otherwise - also it got a good reception. But honestly, it's Netflix, so who knows?
It's a mixed bag, and I agree with the critics. Excellent performances, Mathew Good is rather brilliant in it, as is the rest of the cast. But, like most of these mystery series - it spends far too much time on the convoluted sadistic Case of the Arc or Lost Case, and not enough on the other mysteries. Read more... )

That said? Compelling characters, and I want to see more of them, and I liked them. Also I want more of the series. So...I was like all of the other critics willing to handwave the Lost Case.

2. Season 2 of My Buffy Re-watch

Take aways? Becoming Part II is a lot better than Becoming Part I, mainly for the Spike, Buffy, and Joyce scenes. Also the Drusilla, Jenny, Angel and Giles scenes. It's a lot more fun, and a little less on the campy/cheesy side.
See more )

3. Murderbot I'm about five episodes in? Saw the latest at any rate, and kept falling asleep during it. It's a slow series. The books were too.
It's funny, but there's too much time spent on the space opera parody that the Murderbot is a fan of. Yes, yes, I get what the writers are doing there, but a little parody goes a long ways. I kept going to sleep.

4. Andor - it's almost too political for its own good. And convoluted. Reminds me a little of the second of the Star Wars prequels, which was also very political. I'm enjoying it, but my attention kept drifting today during it, which again may be due to an overall lack of focus on my part.

***

In the 60sF/10sC, wet and rainy. I've stayed in, since I'm a bit under the weather and tired. I'm supposed to go on a tour of Grand Central tomorrow with the big headhoncho, but I may cancel and just hide in my cubicle.
This chest cold is threatening to be annoying. Maybe it's just allergies?

Good news, is it is a short work week. I have Thursday and Friday off. So just have to somehow get through Monday through Wed.

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