Last week I finished The Mother Tongue, which is an awesome book about the English language that I really have no idea how to discuss because (in typical Bill Bryson fashion) it’s filled with all sorts of interesting little things … Continue reading
I’m reading Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude (one of the inhabitants of the Shelf of Doom) and all I can think is “What the heck was this guy smoking???” Oh, wait…not true. I’m also thinking “How soon … Continue reading
Travels with Charley John Steinbeck 1961 246 pages ******************** I saw a post on this book a few weeks ago over at JoAnn’s blog (Lakeside Musing), and it reminded me that 1) I actually like John Steinbeck, so 2) I … Continue reading
Wherever Grace Is Needed Elizabeth Bass 2011 352 pages ******************** I’m totally cheating and stealing the book description from one of those major book selling sites (you know, the one that isn’t B&N): When Grace Oliver leaves Portland for Austin, … Continue reading
A Game of Thrones George R.R. Martin 1996 807 pages ******************** For once, I’m starting a series late, and if I play my cards right (pace myself) I might just be able to remember what is going on when we … Continue reading
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer April 2005 368 pages ******************** To say that our main character, Oskar, is precocious is an understatement. He’s also quirky, a bit socially awkward, and very, very sad (or, in his words, … Continue reading
The Stranger Albert Camus Translated by Matthew Ward 123 pages First published in 1942 This is a most unfortunate choice of covers (especially since it’s the edition that I own). It reminds me of the cover for Beat the Reaper, … Continue reading
Rooftops of Tehran Mahbod Seraji May 2009 368 pages ******************** 17 year old Pasha and his best bud Ahmed like to hang out on the (surprise) rooftops of their homes in Tehran. Pasha is the more serious of the two…he … Continue reading
Holy shmoly, if you want political gossip, is this the audio book for you! In the months following JFK’s death, Jackie Kennedy sat down with Arthur Schlessinger Jr (and was it my imagination, or was the man no good with … Continue reading
Take the Cannoli Sarah Vowell 2001 219 pages ******************** This is a collection of essays written by Vowell and previously published elsewhere. Unlike her later works, there isn’t a central theme to this book. It still reeks (in a good … Continue reading
In a real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read. It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish. ~S.I. Hayakawa
The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
~St. Augustine
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.
~Mark Twain
