Welcome to the Book Nook! The weekly thread for all book nerds on The Avocado. This is the place to talk about books you’re currently reading, discuss genres, ask for recommendations, and post serious literary criticism.
This week’s prompt: Have you set book goals, or made other reading resolutions, for 2025? Thanks to Pastyjournalist for the idea!
Suggestions for prompts are always welcome!
Today’s literary birthdays:
Su Shi (1037), Chinese calligrapher and poet (RIP 1101)
Kadi Burhan al-Din (1345), Anatolian poet (RIP 1398)
Simon Episcopius (1583), Dutch theologian (RIP 1643)
Ivan Gundulić (1589), Croatian poet and playwright, considered Croatia’s national poet (RIP 1638)
Baltasar Gracián (1601), Spanish novelist and philosopher (RIP 1658)
Samuel von Pufendorf (1632), German philosopher, economist and historian (RIP 1694)
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823), author and illustrator of scientific works, independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection (RIP 1913)
Wilkie Collins (1824), English novelist and playwright (RIP 1889)
Francisco González Bocanegra (1824), Mexican poet, wrote the lyrics of the Mexican national anthem (RIP 1861)
Frank Nelson Doubleday (1862), American publisher (RIP 1934)
Emily Greene Balch (1867), American economist, sociologist and pacifist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (RIP 1961)
Linnie Marsh Wolfe (1881), American librarian and biographer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography (RIP 1945)
Richard Courant (1888), German-American mathematician and author of books on the topic (RIP 1972)
Storm Jameson (1891), English novelist and critic (RIP 1986)
Dennis Wheatley (1897), British author of thrillers and occult novels (RIP 1977)
Carl Gustav Hempel (1905), German philosopher (RIP 1997)
Ashapurna Devi (1909), Indian novelist and poet (RIP 1995)
Peter Taylor (1917), American novelist, short story writer and playwright (RIP 1994)
Mohan Rakesh (1925), Indian novelist, short story writer and playwright (RIP 1972)
Charles Tomlinson (1927), English poet, translator and illustrator (RIP 2015)
Terry Brooks (1944), American fantasy novelist
Nancy Bond (1945), American children’s novelist
All information courtesy of Wikipedia
Posting pictures is fine as long as they are book related, but I would like this thread to continue to be a NO GIF/YouTube/social media embed zone. Thanks, and happy commenting!