note-0003
Perhaps a bit embarrassing since I’ve read the book so many times1, but I had no idea that The Count of Monte Cristo was based on a real life story, thanks to this video. And am a sucker for all things revenge.↩︎…
twenty-six things tagged “books”
A lovely little book on ghastly parenting by animals that are not us. Gifted this to a family member who just had her first baby and is your normal, apprehensive, anxious, stressed-out, impossibly-in-love first-time parent1. I loved Priscilla Witte’s witty2 illustrations and what I think is the over…
On Knowing Everything When One is Young
When he was young he had prided himself on being clever. Walking down the street, not even thinking anything, just walking along like every other moron, he’d had a distinct sense of how clever he was. He’d never done anything with that cleverness except write stupid articles and make occasionally…
Came recommended by HU. I had to borrow them from PG1. A limited, 7-part comic book series based on one of my favorite movies. Told from the perspective of John Doe and provides his backstory which is about as sad and disturbing as you can imagine it would be. About as gory as the movie itself. Most…
I finally found the French textbook I used in middle school: Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Françaises
Didn’t realize it was a four-parter. Major nostalgia. Have forgotten most of my French but I somehow still remember a lot of words for things (and their gender!) thanks to these books (well, Volume 1 at least). Looks like the CBSE still uses it. Here’s audio to accompany the books.…
Dune Art (and other lovely things by Owen Gent)
This beauty is by Owen Gent an artist and illustrator from Bristol (Insta). He appears to do a lot of book covers and I just love his work. Here are a few favorites.…
Waiting is Hard Work
Lessons learned from “Frog and Toad Together”: Don’t be like Toad and yell at your seeds. Do what you must with love and care and leave them be. They’ll be fine. “But when?!”…
I was lucky. I went to good schools, I had excellent teachers. I was in the right place at the right time. Paul Dirac Opportunity and luck bestow their benisons upon a once-in-a-generation genius, mathematical mystic, and one of the greatest theoretical physicists to have walked the planet. You…
Dan Brown is Renowned
These articles are from a while ago. I love them a lot. By Michael Deacon. That’s true, mused the accomplished composer of thrillers that combined religion, high culture and conspiracy theories. His books were read by everyone from renowned politician President Obama to renowned musician Britney S…
A Columbo Caricature
I just love this. Couldn’t find out who drew it. Via MVB whose grandma is a huge fan and with whom I will watch an episode or two one day 🤗💗🕵️♂️…
Adventures of the Magic Monkey Along the Silk Roads (1983)
by Evelyn Nagai-Berthrong and Anker Odum
Rating: A+
A friend used to loan me this lovely book when I was 12 or 13. I loved reading and re-reading it to the point where I remember asking him if he could just gift it to me for my birthday (he declined). And then Life happened and I grew up and I forgot all about it until around 3 years ago, when I sudd…
“Fear can be a funny thing; it doesn’t always shine a flattering light. It can make us forget that others are scared too.” The author tells a short and lovely story about the pandemic, isolation, hope, the value of community, nature, and so many other things for such a short book. It is told through…
On Law and Character
Good government never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders. Law And Gover…
Columbo by Peter Falk
From the highly entertaining “Just One More Thing”…
Birthday gift from TK. Sharp, vibrant, funny, and dark. The characters’ philosophical ruminations are self-indulgent and sophomoric and tedious. Don’t know if that was the point.…
45 Jokes from The Laughter Lover
by John T. Quinn
Translation copyright 2001 John T. Quinn; all rights reserved. Introduction Philogelos (The Laughter Lover) is a collection of some 265 jokes1 likely made in the fourth or fifth century CE. Some manuscripts give the names of the compilers as the otherwise-unknown Hierocles and Philagrios. Other manu…
An Introduction to Apache Kafka in the Style of a Children’s Book
I loved how the author imagined persistence 💗…
Definitely Not Octopuses
From this book that features 14 animals. Which are definitely not octopuses.…
“Stump the Bookseller” is a lovely, crowd-sourced book-sleuthing service.
It’s run by the fine folk at Loganberry Books, costs a nominal $4 per submission, and has a very admirable 50%+ success rate. Here’s my submission 🤞 Via CK ♥️…
Guide to Book Conditions
Reproduced here via AbeBooks with this caveat: The definitions below are for reference only. Booksellers use these terms, as well as unique terms not included in this list, based on their own criteria. If you would like clarification on any term in a particular seller’s description, please contact…
On Fiction
It was the pivotal teaching of Pluthero Quexos, the most celebrated dramatist of the Second Dominion, that in any fiction, no matter how ambitious its scope or profound its theme, there was only ever room for three players. Between warring kings, a peacemaker; between adoring spouses, a seducer…
Powells
, ThriftBooks, and Bookshop are three alternatives to purchasing books on Amazon. Powell’s is withdrawing from the Amazon Marketplace: “The vitality of our neighbors and neighborhoods depends on the ability of local businesses to thrive. We will not participate in undermining that vitality.”…