May 2013
21 posts
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“Human beings, I fax, did not think their lives were challenging enough so they...”
– From “Sometimes You Break Their Hearts, Sometimes They Break Yours” in Safe As Houses by Marie-Helene Bertino. This is a fantastic if a bit uneven short story collection, bursting at the seams with moxie and balls and oddities. Reminded me a lot of Monica Drake, who I adore, and also a bit of George...
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“‘You don’t have to read the People’s Daily, because that won’t tell you...”
– Banned books as currency. Related, from this fascinating essay about teaching The Great Gatsby to college students in Chengdu:
Is this the communist dream that Karl Marx envisioned? I asked the class if they thought China was still a communist nation. Someone let out a definitive...
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Two nerdy running tips
I finished my second half-marathon yesterday. Please believe me when I tell you how improbable this is. I am not a natural at running. In fact I am ridiculous-looking and slow. But it is cheaper than therapy and has roughly the same effect on my mental health as anti-depressants (except that the side effects are easily counteracted with Advil), so I keep at it.
Nerds keep saying to me,...
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Great graphic novels for seniors
This week Erin and I led a open book discussion about Stitches by David Small, the first time a graphic novel was chosen for one of these public discussions, and we weren’t sure who to expect. To our surprise, it was primarily attended by some of our regular seniors, who LOVED the book. We had a fantastic discussion and I was really struck by their passion for the book, and how they talked...
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“One can do almost anything (perhaps even murder) if one does not attempt to...”
– Advice for the ages from The Old Maid by Edith Wharton.
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April 2013
40 posts
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“But reading was different from fractions, in Kelsey’s opinion. Not...”
– Kelsey Green, Reading Queen. Look, I still have the foam football I got in fifth grade for being the MVP of a school reading competition, so I thought this book about a third-grader trying to win a school reading competition would be perfect for me. In actual fact, it is inspiring a mild panic...
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Musician Ian MacKaye To Speak at the Library of... →
megzam:
Groundbreaking singer, songwriter and guitarist Ian MacKaye will speak at the Library of Congress on personal digital archiving and the need to educate creators and users in ways to steward our digital cultural heritage.
GAWDDAMN.
I am an archivist I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait For cool things to get old
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Latest addition to the Catlady's Lyrics Of Popular...
I knew you were kitties when I walked in So shame on me now
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“‘I think most of us are outsiders,’ she said. ‘And I think...”
– RIP E. L. Konigsburg, children’s author extraordinaire. Very few authors understand how smart children can be, but she was one of them.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is one of the only books I read as a kid that I have specific memories of reading, because it was so...
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“It’s a self-eating watermelon of despair.”
– Adam Steltzner in “The Martian Chroniclers,” by Burkhard Bilger. Words cannot express how much I love this. Don’t read the article. Just luxuriate in the sentence.
(actually read the article it is pretty great)
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“As longtime readers know, this time of year we here at GLW get hard at work to...”
– What’s that? You think that donating books to an amazing library seems like the ideal way to celebrate National Library Week? You’re a genius! Might I suggest Guys Lit Wire and their annual book fair for Ballou Library?
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nittanysam replied to your post: Hypothetical question
Reading makes automatic negative calories Source: I’m an English teacher
I wish I could believe this (actually, wait, do I? I’m not sure how I feel about calories today).
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Hypothetical question
If one eats an entire bag of hint-of-lime chips in one sitting because one is so distracted by the fabulous novel one is reading, does it count as binge eating? It can’t count, right? Because one has almost no memory of the eating part? RIGHT?
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“I’d been listening to men talk since I arrived in New York City....”
– The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner. This book is fantastic. I’ve been pushing against quoting from it repeatedly (why, I don’t know) but I couldn’t hold out any longer. Another addition to the feminist book club list and probably the best literary fiction I’ve read so far...
