The past week was not a stellar one for either reading or blogging, and the upcoming one (or two) doesn’t look to be much better, to be honest. Work’s busy, traffic is lousy, school’s back in session, and there are demands from all sides–the off-line life is calling, and there’s just not much time to write anything that doesn’t have a firm deadline right now. Don’t look for me around here more than a few […]
Banned Books Week starts today, but it kind of snuck up on me this year. Last year, I was excited to participate for the first time; I read Speak and re-read Forever and A Wrinkle in Time. Like many of us, I believe it’s important to read and discuss and challenge books that are challenged, and I think that designating a week each year in support of that cause is a very worthwhile thing. But […]
Most of you know – either because you participated yourself, or because you just couldn’t escape all the posts from bloggers who were participating – that last week was Book Blogger Appreciation Week. The 2011 BBAW theme was “Cultivating a Community of Bloggers and Readers.” I posted according to the daily BBAW prompts on four of the five days, and had a wonderful time re-connecting with old book-blogging friends and getting to know new ones, which was what […]
I considered not posting in the Salon today. This is September 11, ten years to the day since the planes crashed in New York City and Washington DC and Pennsylvania and took down the Twin Towers. It seems like it should be a quiet day of reflection. But September 11, 2001 was also a day that brought people together, no matter where they were. We were joined in mourning and in our resolve to rebuild. […]
“Facts don’t do what I want them to” – “Crosseyed and Painless,” Talking Heads And so we shape them into something that does what we want. Some other lines from the same section of that song acknowledge that: “Facts all come with points of view” “Facts continue to change their shape” “Facts are nothing on the face of things” I’ve been thinking a lot about how we shape narratives lately – ever since my stint […]
As promised, I’m back with an update about my Reading Days. It won’t take long…because they didn’t exactly go as I’d hoped. Jury duty isn’t such a good opportunity to catch up on your reading when you actually have to serve on a jury; they kind of like you to pay attention in the courtroom. I was called up for the very first panel last Monday morning, but that jury wasn’t accepted until Tuesday morning. […]
Some universities observe “reading days” – a break of several days between the end of classes and the start of semester exams intended to allow students to focus on reading and studying. I don’t have exams coming up, but I am a bit behind on work-related reading, so I’m taking a few days off from work to work on getting back on track. What? I’m scheduled to report for jury duty first thing tomorrow morning. […]
Blogging slumps are rather unusual for me, but I think I might be in the midst of one. That may be hard to believe this week, since I have posts written and scheduled for most of it already, but I’m not feeling the itch to blog – or to keep up with the blogiverse – the way I normally do. It feels weird, and I hope it doesn’t last very long…but I’m not going to […]
I have had neither the time nor the brainpower to work up a Sunday Salon discussion this week, so I’m resorting to the “lists and updates” thing – an extended Status Report. Update #1: The Handmaid’s Tale Group Read A few months ago, I mentioned wanting to read The Handmaid’s Tale this year (a re-read for me, but it’s been over 20 years since the first time) and, hoping to do it as a group read, posted […]
Every time I read a post about someone’s plans to “diversify” their reading I feel a little awkward. I haven’t always felt this way, but I’ve noticed it over the last decade or so, and I was reminded of it while reading Tayari Jones’ Silver Sparrow last week. My reading choices tend to have a cultural sameness…and I’m mostly OK with it, except when I branch out and then start questioning it. In my post-college […]
I listened to my first audiobook ever this week. I don’t think it will be my last. It was this one: It actually wasn’t my first choice for my first audiobook, a format I’ve resisted for years and have only recently begun to give cautious consideration. I started giving the idea serious thought just a couple of weeks ago, when I accepted the fact that it was unlikely I’d get to re-read Harry Potter and […]
Everyone else seems to be doing mid-year reflections on their 2011 reading, so I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon. It’s usually enlightening to see where I’ve been with books for the last six months, consider how that compares to where I thought I’d be, and try to figure out what’s coming next. Crunching the numbers (via LibraryThing) Total books read and reviewed year-to-date: 24 (slightly behind 2010, and including reviews not yet posted here) Fiction: […]
