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I’m in the process of finishing Bull Run by Paul Fleischman with my oldest son and we both really enjoyed it. The book covers the first major battle of the U.S. Civil War (and leading up to it) from sixteen different voices. Northern and Southern, male and female, black and white, young and old characters […]
Photo by Dwight Green In my previous post mentioning Saltscapes: The Kite Aerial Photography of Cris Benton, I posted one of Benton’s pictures of Drawbridge, California. I toured the ghost town, located in San Francisco Bay, in 1997. I thought a post on the history of Drawbridge might interest some of this blog’s readers. The […]
Our wonderful local bookstore, BookSmart, had a 20th anniversary sweepstakes recently. I ended up winning a copy of Saltscapes: The Kite Aerial Photography of Cris Benton (Heyday, 2013). It is a fabulous book with beautiful photographs of the south San Francisco Bay area, where some of the industrial salt evaporation ponds are being restored to […]
Last night I was watching 2013’s movie Now You See Me, a film about four magicians/illusionists who pull scams for the benefit of their audiences. After the first job (what appears to be a bank heist), the FBI comes to the illusionists’ suite to arrest them. The character played by Woody Harrelson is on the […]
We finished reading The Wind in the Willows today. Rarely has a book surprised me so much, maybe a result from what I expect to find in “children’s books.” Silly me, I feel like Toad. The last chapter gave a great chance to explain its title to the boys…why the allusion ties into what Odysseus […]
How could I have **not** read this book before now? The boys and I are thoroughly enjoying it. We just read “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” chapter and it has to be one of the most beautiful chapters I’ve ever read. The willow-wren was twittering his thin little song, hidden himself in the […]
I have felt down about a lot of things lately, and not being able to blog consistently has been a part of that. Fortunately, my wife constantly reminds me (through her actions) of the beneficial power of gratitude. I want to say a word of thanks to all those that have commented here and especially […]
Since one of the reasons I started this blog was to keep notes on what I’ve read, I want to start noting the books I want to read and why they catch my interest. If you’re familiar with any book on the list, feel free to comment about your experience with it! I’m sure I’ll […]
Cynthia Haven, of The Book Haven renown, has helped me in many ways over the past few years of blogging. So when she recommended the René Girard Lecture at Stanford to be given by Roberto Calasso, I arranged to be there. In addition to finally meeting Cynthia (which was great and too short!), I got […]
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck Ballantine Books (paperback, 277 pages) ISBN 978-0-345-47232-8 I ‘ve rewritten a post on this book several times because I couldn’t get it right. This post doesn’t get it right either, but I want to pass some notes on this book because it has been an […]
I know this is last minute but if you have ever been interested in reading (or re-reading) Herodotus’ The Histories, consider signing up for the Reading Odyssey’s reading group beginning on September 17, 2014, and running through March 2015. I have participated in several of their reading groups and have found them extremely helpful and […]
It’s been a few years since I read Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin but I saw an article today that has me wanting to revisit it again soon. This may be nothing new to many, but I wanted to pass it on. Onegin’s Tatiana Was Only Thirteen? points out the references to Tatiana’s maid’s age in reference […]
I’ve gotten a few questions via email over the years on the curricula we use in homeschooling our two boys. I’m always a little hesitant to answer because we have been trying different approaches to see what is a good fit for the boys and what isn’t. The latter group doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a […]
Maybe I’m back? I hope so…I’ve missed this place. While we’re in the middle of so many -ennials, such as the War of 1812, the Civil War, and World War I, I did want to pass on this article from Simithsonian.com [Note: link no longer available, but parts of the article can be found at […]
In my post on Rambling on: An Apprentice’s Guide to the Gift of the Gab by Bohumil Hrabal I mentioned that Jiří Menzel had directed a movie based on those stories set in the Kresko settlement of Bohemia. I finally watched a copy of the movie with English subtitles and I found it almost as […]
It’s August already? I wish I could say I’m tanned, rested, and ready to post. Unfortunately it feels more like pasty, stressed…but at least wanting to post. I’ll start with a wonderful site I’ve found regarding drawings by Benito Pérez Galdós. Dr. Michael A. Schnepf at the University of Alabama has a page on The […]
I’ll repeat a favorite non-book post (judging by visits). Since it’s the tail-end of cherry season, you’ll need to get on top of this to enjoy it during the winter holidays. From the wonderful Fancy Pantry by Helen Witty (New York: Workman Publishing Company, 1986): A Cordial of Sweet Cherries After the elements are assembled—the […]
I apologize for the unplanned silence. I haven’t really felt like reading or posting lately, so maybe a break was what was needed. Since I haven’t read much I’ll post on what I’ve recently watched, which was infinitely better. Trevor at The Mookse and the Gripes has a great review of Inside Llewyn Davis, the […]
If you have a chance to pick up a copy of the current Weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal I recommend you do so. The review section has reviews on books about World War I in addition to several essays about the conflict. There’s also a review of The Professor and the Siren by […]
The boys and I started reading The Three Musketeers last week and we’re enjoying it. Looking to see what film versions were available for instant viewing I found 1973’s movie directed by Richard Lester and written by George MacDonald Fraser (of Flashman fame). I’ve always enjoyed Lester’s and Fraser’s version and the kids love the […]