Before you criticize your Brother, walk a mile in his moccasins. If he gets angry, he will be a mile away and barefoot.
31.1.05
24.1.05
Notable Quotes
"Yet, my praise for libraries will be a little more optimistic. I belong to the people who still believe that printed books have a future and that all fears a propos of their disappearance are only the last example of other fears, or of milleniaristic terrors about the end of something, the world included."
Umberto Eco, Vegetal and mineral memory: The future of books
20.1.05
On reading
A while ago, OGIC posted about "demonstrative reading", and yesterday she posted a follow-up. It all ties into the whole question of the Reading Child vs. the Child Reading, doesn't it?
Reading Children (or Teens or Adults) don't usually think about being "demonstrative" in their reading - they're too busy getting on with the actual joy of the words and the book. At least, that's what I was doing. The idea that someone would be watching what I read, or impressed by it, never crossed my mind. It also never crossed my mind that others might be reading differently than I (I knew people read slower, or that some very strange people didn't like to read but different didn't occur to me).
When I take the subway, I see people reading. Until I read these posts, I assumed they were reading because it gave them pleasure. Now I wonder.
Reading Children (or Teens or Adults) don't usually think about being "demonstrative" in their reading - they're too busy getting on with the actual joy of the words and the book. At least, that's what I was doing. The idea that someone would be watching what I read, or impressed by it, never crossed my mind. It also never crossed my mind that others might be reading differently than I (I knew people read slower, or that some very strange people didn't like to read but different didn't occur to me).
When I take the subway, I see people reading. Until I read these posts, I assumed they were reading because it gave them pleasure. Now I wonder.
17.1.05
LOL! Metrosexuals, bling-bling and embedded journalists banned
This floated through one of my discussion lists today: the 2004 Banished Words List. And, you know? I wouldn't miss one of them.
11.1.05
Notable Quotes
Of course, you could level the same charge of myopia against a project that seemed pure lunacy until it became a huge hit: "The Passion of the Christ." ... If you're not a believer, Mr. Gibson is not trying to convince you. He doesn't explain his hero's importance any more than Mr. Stone or Mr. Spacey does, but then his hero was a lot better known to begin with.
"The Making of a Megaflop: Curse of the Pet Project", Caryn James
9.1.05
What Child Were You?
The Inter-Galactic Playground has an interesting post about the "Reading Child" vs. the "Child Reader".
For example, what about the rush to technology? Is plopping children in front of the computer and encouraging them to blog or play "educational" games going to hinder the developing Reading Child? What about using tv as a babysitter? What about all the learning disabled? How do we work with them so that they don't' become discouraged, when so many have the potential to be Reading Children? And what do we do with all those "potentials" who are in non-reading households? How do we encourage them to buck the surrounding norm and find joy in the pages of "treeware"?
UPDATE: More on this conversation at Over the Sea.
The Child Reader is all children who are being "encouraged" to read. These children read artificially in that they read because they are given books. They may do so willingly (and move themselves into my other category) or they may read only the books they are given and never read a book independently after the age of ten. It is these readers who critics discuss when they see children as something different in the market, a group for whom books will be chosen by adults.While I've posted some of my thoughts on that blog, the more I thought about this, the more I wanted to add things.
Then there is the Reading Child. You know who this child is. If you are reading this blog you probably were one. You were the child who went from non-reader to reader almost over night (this often happens young but I know of one person for whom it happened at the age of ten). You don't remember the stage where you halted over words, because you were too busy falling over the next one. Francis Spufford writes of this brilliantly in The Child that Books Built and incidentally suggests that checking children understand what they read may destroy the pleasure in the act of reading--that reading is not about content but about form.
For example, what about the rush to technology? Is plopping children in front of the computer and encouraging them to blog or play "educational" games going to hinder the developing Reading Child? What about using tv as a babysitter? What about all the learning disabled? How do we work with them so that they don't' become discouraged, when so many have the potential to be Reading Children? And what do we do with all those "potentials" who are in non-reading households? How do we encourage them to buck the surrounding norm and find joy in the pages of "treeware"?
UPDATE: More on this conversation at Over the Sea.
4.1.05
My phrase for the day
I'm suffering from "PTRW (Post Traumatic Return to Work) syndrome". Sounds about right. Two weeks off is both too long and not long enough.
3.1.05
Thoughts about 2004
I've looked over my list of books read in 2004. This summary is a variant of Jessamyn's. The thing is, I don't catalog them monthly, I do it quarterly. So by the time I get around to the actual cataloging, I don't remember when I read it. Still, it's an interesting look at my reading this century. One thing that struck me was that I thought I was reading more than I am. This requires work!
number of books cataloged in 2004: 124
number of books cataloged in 2003: 69
number of books cataloged in 2002: 123
number of books cataloged in 2001: 76
number of books cataloged in 2000: 99
For 2004:
average read per month: 10.33
adult fiction as percentage of total: 14
children's/YA fiction as percentage of total: 35
mystery as percentage of total: 23
non-fiction as percentage of total: 13
Luckily, very few fall into the "dislike" column - most are in the "good" to "very good" range. A few - maybe 5 - (no names, but you can e-mail and ask) are ones I'd like to request my time back for having read. That's pretty good odds, isn't it?
Then there's Stephanie. She writes about her pile of books to be read (what I fondly refer to as "Mt. Bookpile"). My problem isn't a pile or two, it's a 6' bookcase! However, there's a lot to be said for narrowing it down to a few piles. Which is, in fact, one of my goals for 2005. Of course, that will mean less purchasing of books and I'm not sure I can do that. On the other hand, I could just read more rather than spending time watching tv.
I'll keep you posted.
number of books cataloged in 2004: 124
number of books cataloged in 2003: 69
number of books cataloged in 2002: 123
number of books cataloged in 2001: 76
number of books cataloged in 2000: 99
For 2004:
average read per month: 10.33
adult fiction as percentage of total: 14
children's/YA fiction as percentage of total: 35
mystery as percentage of total: 23
non-fiction as percentage of total: 13
Luckily, very few fall into the "dislike" column - most are in the "good" to "very good" range. A few - maybe 5 - (no names, but you can e-mail and ask) are ones I'd like to request my time back for having read. That's pretty good odds, isn't it?
Then there's Stephanie. She writes about her pile of books to be read (what I fondly refer to as "Mt. Bookpile"). My problem isn't a pile or two, it's a 6' bookcase! However, there's a lot to be said for narrowing it down to a few piles. Which is, in fact, one of my goals for 2005. Of course, that will mean less purchasing of books and I'm not sure I can do that. On the other hand, I could just read more rather than spending time watching tv.
I'll keep you posted.
Notes from Mt. Bookpile
Mildly eclectic... only a few clunkers.
Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN | |
A Kiss of Shadows | Hamilton, Laurell K. | Ballantine Books | 0345423399 | Details |
Allies of the Night | Shan, Darren | Little Brown and Company | 0316155705 | Details |
Always the Bridesmaid | Webb, Sarah | Avon Trade | 0060571667 | Details |
The Amulet of Samarkand | Stroud, Jonathan | Miramax Books | 078681859X | Details |
Book of Enchantments | Wrede, Patricia | Jane Yolen Books | 0152012559 | Details |
Calling on Dragons | Wrede, Patricia | Magic Carpet Books | 0152046925 | Details |
Dealing with Dragons | Wrede, Patricia | Magic Carpet Books | 015204566X | Details |
Dragon Rider | Funke, Cornelia | Chicken House | 0439456959 | Details |
Dragon's Kin | McCaffrey, Anne; McCaffrey, Todd; | Del Rey | 0345461983 | Details |
The Eight | Neville, Katherine | Ballantine Books | 0345419081 | Details |
Good Morning, Midnight | Hill, Reginald | HarperCollins Publishers | 0060528079 | Details |
The Grim Grotto | Snicket, Lemony | HarperCollins Publishers | 0064410145 | Details |
How to Read Literature Like a Professor | Foster, Thomas C. | Perennial | 006000942X | Details |
The Inklings Handbook | Duriez, Colin; Porter, David | Chalice Press | 082721622X | Details |
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell | Clarke, Susanna | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 1582344167 | Details |
Killers of the Dawn | Shan, Darren | Jane Yolen Books | 0007137818 | Details |
Killing Bono | McCormick, Neil | MTV Books | 0743482484 | Details |
Leaping Beauty | Maguire, Gregory | HarperCollins Publishers | 0060564172 | Details |
Lord of the Shadows | Shan, Darren | Jane Yolen Books | 000715920X | Details |
Malice Downstream | Thomas, Graham | Ballantine Books | 0739430505 | Details |
Mirror Mirror | Maguire, Gregory | Jane Yolen Books | 006039384X | Details |
Mountain Solo | Ingold, Jeanette | Harcourt Inc. | 0152026703 | Details |
Parts Unknown | Brennan, Kevin | William Morrow & Company | 0060012765 | Details |
The Prophecy of the Stones | Bujor, Flavia; Coverdale, Linda | Miramax Books | 0786818352 | Details |
Searching for Dragons | Wrede, Patricia ; Marino, Krista | Magic Carpet Books | 0152045651 | Details |
Snow White and the Seven Samurai | Holt, Tom | Orbit | 1857239881 | Details |
Sons of Destiny | Shan, Darren | Jane Yolen Books | 0007159218 | Details |
The Stone Diaries | Shields, Carol | Viking Books | 0670853097 | Details |
Talking to Dragons | Wrede, Patricia | Magic Carpet Books | 0152046917 | Details |
The Templars' Secret Island | Haagensen, Erling; Lincoln, Henry | Orion Publishing | 1841881902 | Details |
The Lake of Souls | Shan, Darren | Jane Yolen Books | 0007159196 | Details |
The Stupidest Angel | Moore, Christopher | William Morrow & Company | 0060590254 | Details |
The Unending Mystery | McCullough, David W | Pantheon Books | 0375423060 | Details |
The Truth Behind a Series of Unfortunate Events | Gresh, Lois H. | Griffin | 031232703X | Details |
Winter's Tale | Helprin, Mark | Thomson Learning | 0156001942 | Details |
The Year of Secret Assignments | Moriarty, Jaclyn | Arthur A. Levine Books | 0439498813 | Details |
1/3/2005 8:20:17 PM
Notable Quotes
History buffs have a mania for applying "Age of" labels to epochs gone by: the Age of Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, the Age of Aquarius. When historians look back on the current age, what label will they choose? Some psychologists are already suggesting that the Age of Anxiety would be an appropriate moniker. (They're also suggesting Century of Stress, proving, if nothing else, that the joys of alliteration are not lost on the psychology profession).
Word Spy, Paul McFedries
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