I don't know how it came up in conversation, but today after class a student was telling me about a book that opened with several pages of positive (but made up) blurbs, followed by nothing but blank pages. The author was of the belief that reviewers often wrote about his books without reading them, and he wanted to test this theory ( Read more... )

I read Pat Conroy's My Reading Life to get a glimpse into the mind of a fellow bibliophile. It met this expectation, and gave me a bit more. It certainly whetted my already voracious literary appetite, and piqued my interest in some books I would have not otherwise considered. But the reader is also introduced to a lot of colorful characters he met ( Read more... )

I recently finished reading William Shatner's autobiography Up Till Now. He has lived a very full and interesting life. My life is pretty dull by comparison, and if you restrict it to my reading life it's even duller. Nevertheless, the story of how I acquired this book is still worth telling.

I bought  it from the used book store I frequent and ( Read more... )

I still haven't purchased a kindle. I still might purchase a kindle. And this, dear reader, is probably not the last time you see me publicly weigh the pros and cons of a kindle.

I had thought that one of the reasons for a kindle was that I would be able to read Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire in hypertext. I'm happy reading most novels in plain old ( Read more... )

I talked to Elle on the phone earlier today. She told me about a squirrel that died in her backyard. She said that when it started to stink, the first thing she thought of was The Brothers Karamazov.

My response was "huh?" (or something equivalent).

That shouldn't have been my response. I have read The Brothers Karamazov and I should have been able ( Read more... )

I stopped by the campus bookstore today and did some browsing. I found a book called The Republican Brain by Chris Mooney, who also authored the Republican War On Science.  I haven't read his previous book. This one doesn't look very inviting either.

The subtitle "The Science Of Why They Deny Science-- and Reality"  suggests the book is yet another ( Read more... )

One of the most valuable talents conservatives have is the ability to detect the bad ideas of intellectuals. Whole books by conservatives have been devoted to this.A few examples are  Paul Johnson's Intellectuals, Jacques  Barzun's The House Of Intellect, Thomas Sowell's Intellectuals And Society and Daniel J.Flynn's Intellectual Morons.

The problem ( Read more... )

What War Really Is

This is the second article from The Bionic Mosquito (via lewrockwell.com) about Herbert Hoover's posthumous The Secret History. From the two articles I've read, it looks like a fascinating and thought-provoking book. I'm definitely going to grab a copy before years end.

( The Miracle Of Freedom: 7 Tipping Points Of History )

There has been a shakeup at the local used bookstore. They've cut way back on their workforce. Both lovely young ladies mentioned in my previous post have been affected. Scarlet was laid off, and Crystal only works on weekends.

You'd think this would result in me buying fewer books, but these changes weren't really sufficient. Scarlet quickly got ( Read more... )