Category: Books and Reading
I really enjoyed last week’s Nonfiction November kick-off. I’ll get to my answers to this week’s questions in a moment, but first here are some of the fascinating titles from other participants that caught my attention (titles are affiliate links to Amazon): The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston from Louise at Lone Star on a Lark. On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads from Nancy at ipsofactodotme As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales...
‘In olden time,’ said Hugi, ‘richt after the Fall, nigh everything were Chaos, see ye. But step by step ’tis been driven back. The longest step was when the Saviour lived on earth, for then naught o’ darkness could stand…’ Three Hearts and Three Lions is one of those classic heroic fantasy novels that satisfies on almost every level. Published originally in 1953 and expanded in 1961, it tells the story of Holger Carlsen, an engineer from Denmark who is suddenly transported from a World War II battlefield...
The House on the Borderland is an eerie novel that ultimately leaves many questions unanswered. Written in 1908, it is often cited as an influence on writers like H.P. Lovecraft and Terry Pratchett, and it is listed in Fantasy: The 100 Best Books, edited by James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock. It also becomes my second finished book in the Classics Club Challenge. I really wanted this book to be good. The beginning starts off promising: two men on a fishing holiday in a remote part of Ireland discover...
Nonfiction November looks like a fun event to participate in, plus it gives me an incentive to keep writing, so count me in. Here is this week’s discussion prompt: Your Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven’t read enough of yet? What are you hoping to get out of...
Strange to say, although in times of immediate danger, in face of an enemy, the image of death always breathed new spirit into him and filled him with angry courage, the same image appearing to him in the silence of the night, in the safety of his own castle, afflicted him with sudden dismay. For this time it was not death at the hands of a mortal like himself that threatened him; not a death that could be driven off by better weapons or a quicker hand. It...
Since today is my 50th birthday, I thought I would start my next 50 years off right by joining the Classics Club and committing to read 50 classic novels by October 25, 2021. The idea behind the club is to read at least 50 classic books within five years, and to blog about each one. My main purpose in this project is to read more books from my Summary of Great Books Lists and my Catholic Classics List. I’ve selected books from those two lists along with a...
The amazing videos and links below come from one of my favorite Facebook groups. If you’re a fellow Patrick O’Brian fan and you’re not a member of the Aubrey-Maturin Appreciation Society on Facebook, you’re missing out on good fellowship, discussion, and amazing shared content. The group is for those of us who have read most or all of the Aubrey/Maturin books. From the group’s description: From Master & Commander through to the 21st incomplete instalment, this group is for those who have shared in the long ocean voyages,...
I’ve been enjoying The Betrothed in a mellow sort of way, the way one enjoys a beer or glass of wine. Rather than gulping it down, I’ve been taking it in small sips. It’s that kind of book. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni is one of the books on my Catholic Classics Reading List. It appears in Fr. John Hardon’s Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan, in Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages, and it is number 94 in Daniel Burt’s The Novel 100: A Ranking of...
When I was younger I didn’t have a lot of money. But I always had enough to afford a book. I could always ride my bike to the used book store and find something interesting, something potentially life-changing, for a dollar or two. There are many ways to spend money on transformative experiences: travel, college, spiritual retreats. But for sheer cost-to-impact ratio, nothing beats a book. A good book is the best bargain in transforming one’s life. But don’t take my word for it. Check out how books...
What happens to the brain one hour after opening a book? That’s what The University of Virginia Library set out to explain in the following infographic. It describes reading’s effect on the brain after ten minutes, thirty minutes, sixty minutes, even hours and years later (click the image to make it larger): For a more thorough exploration of the effects of reading on the brain, check out these articles: What Reading Does To Your Brain Is Truly Fascinating Reading Fiction Improves Brain Connectivity and Function 10 Benefits of Reading:...
Did you ever read the encyclopedia when you were younger? I don’t mean Wikipedia, I mean an honest-to-goodness set of World Books or Brittanicas. And I don’t mean for a school paper, I mean for the sheer pleasure of it, discovering wondrous things about the world and letting one article send you on to the next, until before you knew it, several hours had gone by? That’s what reading Dana Huff’s blogroll links have been like for me over the past few days. But I’m getting ahead of myself....
Maria Popova has a wonderful new article at Brain Pickings titled “How Libraries Save Lives.” Libraries have always been important to me, and to be honest, if I would have grown up near a college that offered a Master of Library Science degree, then I may well have ended up a librarian instead of a teacher. In her article, Popova offers a fine collection of quotes and stories in praise of libraries, as well as links to reflections, essays, and art work. You’ll find tributes from Ursula LeGuin, Nikki...
