Books on Bastille Day!
For reasons that would take far too long to explain (largely having to do with the French-Canadian ancestry of my friend Aaron), I associate Bastille Day with grilling and large, hastily sewn-together French flags.
And miniature hot dogs.
Today, however, I associate it with books. One of the perks of my RHCE training was that the company through which I ordered the course gave away bribes of "Cool Stuff" to people who took courses through them, including an iPod Nano, various techie toys, or a $200 Amazon gift certificate. It was, perhaps, unethical of me to accept the gift, but my lack of raise for the last two years, the fact that I hadn't been seeking the gift -- it was sent to me after I ordered the course -- and my rampant bibliophilia convinced me that I could suffer the moral quandary in the cause of acquiring more books.
Here, then, is my list of loot in no particular order. Bryn can post her own, if she chooses, as I decided that I should give her half of the certificate:
...and that list is the reason that I hope I shall now associate Bastille Day with grilling and books. Allons enfants de la Patrie, le jour de gloire est arrivé!
And miniature hot dogs.
Today, however, I associate it with books. One of the perks of my RHCE training was that the company through which I ordered the course gave away bribes of "Cool Stuff" to people who took courses through them, including an iPod Nano, various techie toys, or a $200 Amazon gift certificate. It was, perhaps, unethical of me to accept the gift, but my lack of raise for the last two years, the fact that I hadn't been seeking the gift -- it was sent to me after I ordered the course -- and my rampant bibliophilia convinced me that I could suffer the moral quandary in the cause of acquiring more books.
Here, then, is my list of loot in no particular order. Bryn can post her own, if she chooses, as I decided that I should give her half of the certificate:
- Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism, by Daniel Pinchbeck (...which came highly recommended to me by moonandserpent.)
- The Grail Code: Quest for the Real Presence, by Michael Aquilina and Christopher Bailey (This purchase was prompted by a link to a particular post on the authors' blog from one of the History Carnivals that robotnik posts about occasionally. Do check all of these links out, as they really are awesome.)
- The Goetia the Lesser Key of Solomon the King, by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (I've been meaning to purchase this for a while, ever since a conversation I had with the aforementioned moonandserpent; not the greatest translation out there, but certainly a seminal one.)
- Lost Boston, by Jane Holtz Kay (This one was prompted by a number of conversations with jeregenest over the years. I've heard good things about this book from multiple sources, and ... well ... it's a book about the secret ancient architecture of my hometown. How can I not want it?)
- Gracefully Insane: Life and Death Inside America's Premier Mental Hospital, by Alex Beam (Recommended initially by that_cad, this book details an institution that I've found fascinating ever since I was in the Psychology department at Harvard. There are few mental institutions more steeped in history with the inarguable exception of Bedlam.)
- Emily Post's Etiquette, 17th Edition, by Peggy Post (I have been fascinated with etiquette books for years now; I blame my former roommate Elliot for this, really. ...and there are few books in this category that are more instantly recognizable than Emily Post's.)
- Spy Book, 2nd ed., by Norman Polmar and Thomas Allen (I've been working toward getting a decent espionage collection for the last couple years, and this book, while not particularly in-depth, is perhaps the best encylopedic treatment of the real-world techniques and organizations out there.)
- Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the World, by Paul S. Collins (I became aware of this book as a result of the recent post on Solresol in the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society blog, which is well worth reading in its own right. I decided that, for $11, I'd take a chance on at least one book on this list.)
- The Complete Books of Charles Fort, by Charles Fort (It really is a travesty that I haven't read Fort's original works. The premier chronicler of the anomalous around the turn of the last century, his work has inspired any number of followers of the weird.)
...and that list is the reason that I hope I shall now associate Bastille Day with grilling and books. Allons enfants de la Patrie, le jour de gloire est arrivé!