Books

Vermeer’s Hat

picks — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:44:23 +0000

Vermeer’s Hat by Timothy Brook takes objects in several Vermeer paintings [a map, a coin, a hat] and uses them as a door to understanding global trading during the early 1600s. The author does an amazing job of bringing in the details of global trading at that time that makes the current global trading more understandable. A fascinating read.

What haven’t you read?

mkehe — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:11:14 +0000

This week British newspaper The Telegraph made a 3-minute video of contemporary writers confessing to the books they have never read. Their picks include few surprises (Proust, Joyce, “Midnight’s Children”) but do suggest an astonishingly high level of fakery. (more…)

Elissa’s Odyssey

picks — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:32:32 +0000

I just finished reading Elissa’s Odyssey by Erica Verrillo. It’s the second book of the Phoenix Rising Trilogy, a fantasy about a girl who can talk to animals. I found it very enjoyable. The dialogue is smart and funny, the characters memorable, and the plot engaging. What I really like about both books is the blend of mythology and anthropology. The cultures and places are described so thoroughly they seem real. Although this is a children’s book, I’d recommend it for any age group.

“How Fiction Works”

reviews — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:29:30 +0000

In 1858, John Ruskin wrote his “Aspects of Drawing,” a 244-page primer on modern form. Rare among Victorian texts, “Aspects” eschewed grandiose analysis. Instead it stripped art to a series of straight lines, from object (reality) to art (reality translated and then illuminated) – from “technique to the world.” (more…)

What they’re reading in Iran

mkehe — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:50:35 +0000

The Tehran Times ran a piece on Sunday asking booksellers throughout Iran what their customers are buying. (more…)

The Dirt on Clean

picks — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:25:48 +0000

I picked up The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg recently and was instantly fascinated with the vivid descriptions of how standards of personal cleanliness have changed over thousands of years. A thoroughly enjoyable and eye-opening book.

“Central Park in the Dark”

reviews — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:22:54 +0000

Author Marie Winn is a bird watcher and a nature lover and she’s also quite courageous. For 11 years, Winn wandered through Central Park at night to document the encounters with moths, slugs, bats, owls, and other creatures she describes in Central Park in the Dark: More Mysteries of Urban Wildlife.

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The Adventure of English

picks — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:16:02 +0000

Holding my interest all the way was Melvyn Bragg’s The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language. He tells how English began around AD 500, then evolved by borrowing words from the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, and French. Then Americans, Australians, and Indians contributed to changes. Now how widespread the language is! He predicts further alterations to English will be shaped by those who speak it as a second language.

“Distracted”

reviews — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:12:57 +0000

Years before multitasking became a household word and a supposed badge of honor, a retired professor of theology, an acquaintance of mine, offered his opinion on the subject. Convinced of the folly and ultimate inefficiency of trying to do several things at once, he made a case for a more focused approach to life. (more…)

Long live public libraries

mkehe — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:04:59 +0000

There’s an encouraging piece in yesterday’s Vancouver Sun about the vitality of Canada’s public libraries. According to the story, “business is booming” at major public libraries north of the border. (more…)