Some Light Entertaining Reading

Over at Instapundit, Glenn is talking about Robert Heinlein's juvenile books.  (I loved just about all of them and would be quite happy to read them all again, even as an adult).  But he doesn't mention my favorite - more of a novelette than a novel. 

Double Star 

If you've never read it, I can absolutely recommend it no matter what your age.  To me it's the best story he ever wrote.  It's not long, so if you can get hold of it, read it and certainly...

Enjoy!

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 02:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 92 words, total size 1 kb.

Books, Books, and More Books

Update: Let me try again... gotta remember NOT to give the post the same name as a category... Sheesh!
*****

The other day I posted about a story I saw regarding books people lie about reading. It was specific to Great Britain, however, people are people the world over... if they're doing it over there, it's happening everywhere.

LeeAnn came back with a post that include pics of her bookcases. Wow! She's got me beat. Although I will admit to having gotten rid of boxes of books before the last move. And I still have some in boxes... not to mention several bags I keep meaning to go donate to a local book donation place. (since I'm lazy, these bags of books currently reside in a closet where I shall continue to forget them for quite a while yet).

Anyhow, I finally took some really bad pictures of my bookcases today. Most of my bookcases have not only books, but many many many other things tend to take up residence on them.

Let's start in the office. Yes, these are the few books I have that are very techy. And some other stuff that has managed to creep in. I don't buy many techy books because I can usually find what I want online.



Ah that green carpet... I should have golf clubs there instead of books.

Then we move into the next room where we have bookshelves that we finished ourselves and have been with us for over 20 years.

It's difficult to get a picture of them. We have our old kitchen table down in that room (there was nowhere else to put it)



It's right next to the teeny "bar" so the boxes you can just see on the right are cases of wine. Unfortunately the flash on this camera sucks and I don't have a speedlight - so there it is - lousy lighting. Heh.

The next one is in the spare bedroom. Yes, that's a pic my son had from way back on the wall. I still like it. They are built in bookcases as you can see - pretty nice ones.



The bottom shelves are all kid books - some from when I was a kid.

Then we have the shelves in our bedroom. No matter how hard I try to keep them cleaned up... stuff accumulates.



and




Yes, many of those are books from college. I'm pretty sure we have at least 3 calculus books, nursing school books, not to mention engineer type books. If we need to solve an equation or find out how something was treated 30 years ago - we're in fine shape.

Well, that's it. A tour of the books. Not quite up to LeeAnn's impressive standards (I'm so jealous) but enough to keep us occupied when we get bored.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 08:11 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 476 words, total size 3 kb.

High School is in Session

Ran across this today...

Most Britons have lied about the books they read

LONDON (Reuters) - Two out of three Britons have lied about reading books they have not, and George Orwell's "1984" tops the literary fib list, according to a survey published Thursday.

Say we actually believe the statement above... the question of the day becomes - why lie about what books you've read?

Because they want everyone to think they are  "smart"?  Because they never got over this High School feeling of being like everyone else?  Because it's the "cool" thing to say? 

Good Grief!  Sheer idiocy! 

What if you enter into a conversation with someone who loves the book... how do you hold up your end if you haven't read it?  Or does one just smile, nod, and let the other person talk?  What if you both start talking about the book and neither of you has read it?  Now there's a thought for a very interesting staring contest...

Of that list:

1. 1984 - George Orwell (42 percent)
2. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (31)
3. Ulysses - James Joyce (25)
4. The Bible (24)
5. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (16)
6. A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking (15)
7. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie (14)
8. In Remembrance of Things Past - Marcel Proust (9)
9. Dreams from My Father - Barack Obama*** (6)
10. The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins (6)

The only one of these I have read is "1984".  I had to read that in High School.  I hated every page of it.  It was so dismal and depressing and didn't even have the grace to end with an upbeat ending (of course an upbeat ending would have destroyed it's street cred entirely) 

Please note the words "had to read" - the teacher had the Cliff's Notes and would make sure to ask stuff that did not appear in said notes.  I wanted the grade - so I read the damned thing.  (gag me) I have tried assiduously for years to forget the experience. 

I could never figure out why all the books people insisted where "great literature" had to be so damned depressing.  "Grapes of Wrath" anyone?  Why not just kill me now and be done.  I had to read that one in High School too... it's a toss up as to which was the more crushingly depressing of the 2 books.  With GoW I always felt like I needed a shower to wash the grit off after every chapter. 

Heaven forbid the "hero" win - that would never happen in real life.  Certainly no one should ever be happy when the book is done.  The best one can hope for is to continue dwindling into the years... gritty, grimy, and downtrodden.  *sigh*

I am currently listening to the audio book of "A Brief History of Time".  The good thing is it's short (only a 5 hour read).  However, I'm a third of the way through and so far there hasn't been anything said that I haven't heard expressed elsewhere.  While not a bad book, in so much as it's not a depressing novel, I'm waiting to see if the end brings new insight or new ideas.  I'll be terribly disappointed if it doesn't progress from the current state. 

I've seen people make fun of authors I read on a regular basis with great enjoyment.  The funny thing is - those making fun of the books often haven't read them.

"That type of book isn't worth my time to even read."  You can almost hear the disdainful sniff while they type the words. 

Right. 

But lying about what you read - that's okay because these are the cool books. 

As far as I'm concerned people can read whatever they want.  I don't care.  If they love 1984 or War and Peace - excellent! Read with great enjoyment.  Revel in the story.  That's what books are for!  But don't disparage others because they prefer to read something else.

I've tried several times to read Ulysses.  I never get very far.  Maybe one day, but I feel no pressing need to read it, so maybe not.  Or I may see if it's out there as an audio book.  Possibly I'll get further with that than "reading".  With a book like Ulysses, I tend to get hung up on some of the pronunciations even though I'm reading to myself and it doesn't matter.  

Oh, last of all, I've never heard of Richard Dawkins and The Selfish Gene.  I suppose that could be considered proof  I'm illiterate.

Heh.

*** Hey Reuters your bias is showing... Obama's book is the only one that got a link!  Not even Orwell's did. 

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 08:13 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
Post contains 793 words, total size 5 kb.

Reading Matters

I was talking to one of the guys I work with today and came to the sudden realization that, although I always "meant to", I never actually did read any of the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout.  I think I'll need to fix that.  At the very least it will get me away from the computer screen for a few hours a night. 

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 09:50 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 66 words, total size 1 kb.

Reading...

On Sept. 11th I suddenly decided to pick up this book. It seemed like the right time to read it again.

If you go here, click on excerpt, and start reading, you'll see why.

Go on, read a few pages, it's not that long and you'll be surprised how little things have changed in all these years.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 06:14 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 58 words, total size 1 kb.

Yet Another Book!

While I'm on a book theme, I was cruising by Elisson's place and I find that he is now a published author... in the book sense.

Want to have a bunch of short stories to fill in bits of your day? This would be the book to have on hand. If you are not a regular reader of Ellison, just browse through a few of his posts, you'll see that the man definitely has a terrific way with words. Then head on over and order your very own copy.

Shorts in a Wad: One Hundred 100 - Word Stories

Congratulations Elisson!!! Well done and well deserved.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 06:04 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 109 words, total size 1 kb.

Celebrating Freedom!

Sadly, I was not able to make it to the wonderful get together with all these terrific people. I did have to work as I was covering for some peeps in the office who were on vacation... But that doesn't mean I didn't do anything at all.

No I celebrated my freedom and headed out to buy books! Not only buy books, but meet up with the author and get my book signed. Barbara has a terrific post about all the fun and games. (Olive Garden in Springfield MA will never be the same)

I'm pretty sure that the same people who want to make me wear a burkha would have a very strong negative opinion of my reading material. I give thanks for every one of our soldiers who have made it possible for me to wear what I want, drive my own car, and read excellent stories without some idiot looking over my shoulder and telling me not to or they'll kill me.

We live in a great country.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 03:48 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 173 words, total size 1 kb.

Vitally Important!

Identity Theft is an issue that effects everyone. It's something we all know can happen to us any time (if it hasn't already). There's a new book out about this subject by Frank Abagnale called Stealing Your Life.

Steve Hunt has posted a review and it sounds like an excellent informative book. Steve has forgotten more than I will ever know about security of all types. When he takes notice of a book like this, it's worth your time to check it out. It may even be worth your identity. Really.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 05:33 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 93 words, total size 1 kb.

A Personal Favorite

Over at Books for Kids blog, Instapundit's mom has a recommendation for a book that I just loved as a kid.

It is late winter of 1940 in the Norwegian village of Riswyk, and although the children still enjoy the fun of a daily sled run down the local mountain, the threat of the German invasion hangs over the town like a cloud...

Read the whole thing.

It's called Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan. It's rated for grades 3-7, but depending on the person, older kids might really enjoy it too. I believe I was about 9 years old when I first read it. And quite honestly, I want to get hold of a copy and read it again. If you have kids in that age range - give them a story of courage and daring - a story to lift their spirits. Give them a story to inspire.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 07:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 152 words, total size 1 kb.

Some Christmas Reading

I first found out about Nanowrimo from Big Stupid Tommy, who I was lucky enough to meet if only for about 2 minutes at Eric's blog meet in October.

Tommy didn't have enough time (what with life constantly interfering with his writing) to finish his novel in November, but he's been slowly posting chapters as he gets them written. Head over here and start reading. This would be the last chapter currently, but he has links to the earlier Chapters at the top of the post. (yes read them in order) I wish my attempt had turned out half as well as this story.

Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and prepare to enjoy - it's an excellent, fun story so far. And no, it has nothing to do with Christmas - it's just that so many people have extra days off about now I thought they should be filled with some good reading. Have fun.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 05:32 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 160 words, total size 1 kb.

What Was I Thinking?

So after meeting Big Stupid Tommy at the recent bloggy get together, I was over perusing his site and ran across this post about National Novel Writing Month.

I naturally hit the link and started reading. Then I decided it sounded like fun. Then I decided to sign up...

Yes, I am out of my ever loving mind. What could I have been thinking? I've never written anything longer than a school paper. And lately I've not written anything more strenuous than (admittedly long winded) blog posts.

I have no idea what I'm going to write. No clue what kind of story (I've already changed my mind 16 times in the last 3 days since signing up). I may end up with a word count of 100... And I'm sure this will be the beginning and end of my career as the great American novelist.

In any case, it should be fun - once I figure out what I want to write about...

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 04:55 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 167 words, total size 1 kb.

Harvey Has the Ultimate Book Review

He's done a first rate job reviewing Blog of War and giving Matt little pointers to make his next book even better. However, I see he failed to mention Matt's very natty picture on the back of the book featuring the famous "Fly Mint Green Shirt^TM".

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 01:58 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 52 words, total size 1 kb.

The Blog Of War

It's official! Matt has taken on the enormous task and compiled the best of the best in war blogging. He's brought it together for everyone to read in one spot.

Today is the release date for this most excellent of books.

Do you read any of the many Milblogs? If so, maybe you have seen some of the outstanding posts from these wonderful people who have laid it all on the line. If not, you are missing out getting to know some incredible people and missing out on a tremendous amount of information.

This is the other part of the story. The part that the media doesn't quite get around to telling you as they are bemoaning all the things America does wrong. This is the part every American should know. These are the people you should know.

Matt's post includes an overview of the book and what you'll find inside - plus a list of the Milblogs that have posts included in the book.

I have my copy. Do you have yours?

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 05:19 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 177 words, total size 1 kb.

It's Here!

In the mail today... the book I've been waiting for!

Congratulations Matt I can't wait to read it!

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 05:59 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 20 words, total size 1 kb.

A Common Language

Over at Trying to Grok, Sarah has just finished reading Mario Pei's The Story of Language. It was written back in 1948 and proposing a common language for everyone in the world. One of Sarah's thoughts is:

But set aside the diplomatic nightmare of implementing a universal language -- and I'm certain that's the reason that it's never been done in the 60 years since Pei suggested it -- and imagine for a moment what such a world would be like.

On thinking about this, I know it would have to be a very basic language - all concrete with no slang. Because slang is the area where people traditionally get caught. For instance, take the recent dust up between the White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen and Sun Times Columnist Jay Marriotti.

"I've been here for 20 years, but people have to know that I grew up in a different country. That's not an excuse. I called the guy that name, but, no, that's the way I grew up, that's the way I've learned that language," he said.

"I don't have an excuse to say that, I have been here enough to know you can use so many words in the States.

The word being referred to is "fag". In America, as we all know this has now become the standard, name calling type slang for male homosexual. (for some reason it's never caught on as a term for female homosexual - go figure) In any case, even though Ozzie has been in the states for 20 years and he is fluent enough in the language to get along well, he doesn't really understand the language. The word doesn't effect him at the gut level which is where slang generally hits. He knows it's derogatory, thus he used it in trying to insult someone, but he doesn't really feel it.

I heard many sportscasters who speak English and (one assumes from their comments) only English, sneering that Ozzie should know better. After all "everyone knows what "fag" means, it's got the same meaning everywhere you speak English"!!! Yes, I actually heard that very sentence come out of the mouth of one of the local talking heads on radio. Apparently he's never been to Great Britain where the word fag is often used as a slang term for cigarette.

The point I'm winding my way around, is that people love their slang. I don't know if it would even be possible to create a language that was completely concrete with no recourse to slang. Even if you start out with that intention, people being people would eventually corrupt it with changes and shortcuts eventually devolving into regional slang and then the concept of a universal language will once again dissolve.

It certainly would be a nice thing to have one common world language and it's an interesting thought to ponder, but I don't know if humans could accomplish this. English, in it's various incarnations may be as close as we get.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 06:27 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 503 words, total size 3 kb.

Ban the Book?

Apparently Ann Coulter's new book "Godless: The Church of Liberalism" has caused a couple of New Jersey Assemblywomen to "discourage" sales in that state.

Joan Quigley and Linda Stende are offended by Ann's attitude toward the 4 women (commonly known nowdays as The Jersey Girls) who lost their husbands in the Sept. 11th attacks.

"No one in New Jersey should buy this book and allow Ann Coulter to profit from her hate-mongering. We are asking New Jersey retailers statewide to stand with us and express their outrage by refusing to carry or sell copies of Coulter's book. Her hate-filled attacks on our 9-11 widows has no place on New Jersey bookshelves."

I have no issue with this. As far as I can see they have a right to express their displeasure with the book. They can even ask bookstores not to carry it, just as I can ask my local bookstores not to carry a book I don't like. In my case, they very likely wouldn't listen to me, but I can ask. Just as these women can protest the book as much as they like, as long as they don't try to pass a law.

When I first heard a snippet of this story on a talk station, I thought someone was trying to have the book legally banned. That's why I went looking for the story. Since that's not the case, I thought I should post this so others (who might have gotten the same impression I did) would know that this is not about laws, it's about commerce. In other words, they want to limit Ann's profit on the book.

This is much the same method the conservatives used on the Dixie Chicks about 3 years ago. They ceased buying recordings, urged Country stations not to play their music, and tried to convince everyone else to stop buying their music too. That's business, that's the way America works.

Personally, I can't think of a better way to increase the sales of anything than for people to try and stop it from being sold. Sales of just about anything will go through the roof as soon as there is controversy and even a hint that it might be banned. I'm betting a good number of people, who don't want anyone to know they've got it, will order the book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble, thus by-passing the brick and mortar stores and any possible criticism.

It's very unlikely I will read this book. I have too many others that I really want to read, stacked up and ready for me. Although I find Ann to be funny (at times) or annoying (at other times) or downright infuriating (the rest of the time), I think an entire book would be a little much for me to concentrate on reading right now.

I'm pretty sure Ann doesn't need my help in book sales. She's at number one on Amazon.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 12:58 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 493 words, total size 3 kb.

I Wish I Had Thought of This

Courtesy of Sgt. Mom we have a lovely analysis of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in relation to current events.

Yet I think that all of that sublime, overly complex analysis really misses the thrust of Tolkien’s trilogy. It’s not about the synthesis of the individual. Lord of the Rings is about war. More specifically, it’s a warning to the Western Democratic world, in fable form, about what happens when good people ignore obvious, menacing evil because, hey, it can’t hurt us here, right?

It really is a wonderful piece - go read the whole thing!

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 06:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 104 words, total size 1 kb.

The Biography

Up until now I haven't mentioned Ed Klein's new biography of Hillary Clinton. Mainly because I have been busy, but mostly because only one book written about the Clintons hasn't annoyed me by the end of the first chapter. I have tried a couple of them and really one chapter is all that's necessary - why continue to read the entire book when it's a repetition of the - Hillary is a real bitch - meme.

To date - Buzz Patterson's Dereliction of Duty is the only one with completely sourced material. This was his account of serving as a military aide to President Clinton. It's not hyperbole, it's not innuendo, it's his story as he saw it.

Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the new book by Ed Klein The Truth About Hillary. For a few days people were outraged, and rightly so, about the smear being perpetrated with this book. Then Dick Durbin opened his mouth and Ed Klein has all but disappeared from the blogosphere.

But yesterday and today Sissy Willis has been talking about it. Not only does she makes some very valid points, but she brought something to mind that I had thought about the other day and never got around to blogging.

Conservatives were justifiably angry when unsubstantiated gossip and innuendo were used to try and smear George Bush during the election cycle. Why should a smear against Hillary Clinton be any different? I know that the old adage "do unto others" makes people roll their eyes, but it is appropriate here.

Sissy sums it up rather neatly:

Even so, the bottom line for "girls" on both side of the aisle seems to be that while the the book may "energize the bases" left and right, it won't change any minds and could even help Hillary in the long run.

Decent people don't like smear campaigns because they ensure the true issues are forgotten in the zeal to use the salacious gossip. In the end many people forget the important details like Hillary's stance on health care, social security, etc and vote against "the gossip". When it comes to politics - I prefer sticking to the issues... how do they stand on issues I think are important to the country? The manner in which Bill and Hillary choose to live (or not live) together isn't going to change how Hillary would want to run things as President.

I'm not sure about other talk radio hosts, but I have heard a little of Rush Limbaugh on this book. It is very little, and while I don't know if he's directly plugging the book - he is plugging a conspiracy type of outlook.

"I think this backlash is being created by the press," Limbaugh told his radio audience, adding, "Do you not find it curious that the press is not curious about [Klein's] allegations?"

Well, there may be conspiracy at every turn - on the left and the right. Black souls may be lurking around every corner waiting to take advantage... But to me, the issues are the important things. Where a candidate stands, this includes their past political standings - which are fair game. Everything else is beside the point.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 06:51 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 538 words, total size 4 kb.

Is It Really THAT Good?

Tammi has just finished reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. You can go over and read her review of it. I never read it so I have no idea of its quality. OTOH I did read the Da Vinci Code.... oh it was sometime about 6 months after it came out.

A friend of mine had the book and offered to give it to me once she finished with it - so I accepted and read it. I offer no spoilers here. Just a few thoughts... it's only so-so as a story. The thing I noted by the time I had gotten through the first chapter, he wrote this book as either a television or movie manuscript. The focus and action change about every page or every other page - something I dislike intensely in a book. (I know some people with short attention spans might find this appealing) Otherwise, I thought that there was too much "filler" trying to keep the story going longer. By the time I got to the end I was thinking - well - it's about time! Sheesh!

The thing that called this to mind, other than the fact that Tammi is about to read the book herself, was the recent "order from on high" in the Catholic Church for it's members NOT to read the book. All in all a pretty silly announcement since the book has been out about 2 years or so and has been a best seller all that time. Well, it's not the first time that the Catholic Church has said some pretty silly stuff and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Then I heard that they are going to make the book into a movie... suddenly the pronouncement by the Church made sense. Books are one thing - movies are quite another. For some idiotic reason, people not only tend to believe what they read... but they really tend to believe what they see. So, the Church sees a movie coming along and the pictures will reinforce the thoughts from the book. Oh, did I mention that the book tends to be anti-Catholic? Not over the top outrageously so, still the slant is there - especially with the ending...

Next I heard an interview on the radio with a man from a Catholic group of some kind. Unfortunately I wasn't paying too much attention at the beginning of the interview, so I missed his affiliation (and I'm terrible with names). Unlike most people from religious groups who want to argue their point... he actually made some sense! I was really amazed. I've never heard Dan Brown interviewed (so I can't vouch for the veracity of this man's reporting) but it seems that although the Da Vinci Code is a fictional work, Mr. Brown is apparently trying to fudge the line between fiction and reality. The man being interviewed stated that he was a Sociologist and therefore he often had to write non-fiction, scientific type papers. His point was, that with non-fiction writing, you must footnote and give sources for your work. Good research and documentation give people a chance to investigate what you've written. But outside of a "fact page" in the book - there is no way to tell what is supposed to be "real" and what is supposed to be "fiction".

Unfortunately, with this book, it looks as though they are trying to have it both ways, to make people conclude that it's "true fiction" - kinda like the old Dragnet series... the stories are true, the names have been changed to protect the innocent. And if this holds, people will watch the movie and hear the interviews and decide... well, it sounds true to me. So far Oliver Stone and Michael Moore have shown us, without a doubt, people will believe all kinds of tripe if it's packaged and sold right.

And thus a pretty much mediocre mystery story becomes a huge sensation. Pretty good marketing on the part of Dan Brown and the publisher.

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 05:11 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 676 words, total size 4 kb.

Book Meme

Yeah, it's been around for a while, but I was over at Bou's place and saw her post... so you get my book meme.

# Grab the nearest book
# Open the book to page 123
# Find the fifth sentence
# Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
# Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it. Just grab what is closest!

The book is Incident Response and Computer Forensics by Kevin Mandia, Chris Prosise, and Matt Pepe.

"After reviewing the system information you retrieved during the initial response, you need to decide whether to perform a forensic duplication of the evidence. The forensic duplication of the target media provides the mirror image of the target system. This methodology provides due diligence when handling critical incidents."

I think that puts me pretty solidly into geek territory...

And yes, it was sitting right there next to my printer... I picked it up before I saw James Lileks book, The Gallery of Regrettable Food, was directly underneath it. Hey, I stuck with the rules and didn't switch! :-P

Posted by: Teresa in Books at 12:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 199 words, total size 1 kb.