In anticipation of an upcoming trip to Spain, I’m re-reading For Whom The Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway’s novel based on his experiences in the Spanish Civil War. I haven’t read Hemingway since the 1980s, and I’m enjoying it much more than I expected to. I had mis-remembered Hemingway as a
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wmtc: rtod
Revolutionary thought of the day: Across the road at the sawmill smoke was coming out of the chimney and Anselmo could smell it blown toward him through the snow. The fascists are warm, he thought, and they are comfortable, and tomorrow night we will kill them. It is a strange
Continue readingwmtc: and one great read from harper’s: nicholson baker on "why i’m a pacifist: the dangerous myth of the good war"
After finally getting Jill Lepore’s “Lie Factory” posted on this blog, I will go back even further, to something I’ve wanted to post for nearly two years. No matter the date, this piece is timeless, and more relevant with every passing day. This lengthy essay by Nicholson Baker ran in
Continue readingwmtc: two great reads from the new yorker, part 2: jill lepore on political advertising
The current New Yorker stories by Joseph Mitchell has given me an opportunity to post something I’ve been meaning to share for ages. Last September, Jill Lepore unearthed an incredible bit of history, a piece of the American past that is alive with us today, and more dangerous than ever. (I
Continue readingwmtc: two great reads from the new yorker, part 1: joseph mitchell on himself
The New Yorker has given us a singularly rare gift: new writing by Joseph Mitchell. Joseph Mitchell wrote about New York City and the multiplicity of people who inhabit it. Mitchell wrote nonfiction portraits of quirky people, overlooked trades, unknown professions, obsessive collectors. His warm, meticulous prose brought people to
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading, children’s books edition: # 5
In this post, I look at two nonfiction books for young readers. Both are featured in the current “Forest of Reading” program, a province-wide recreational reading program sponsored by the Ontario Library Association. Both fiction and nonfiction winners of the various Forest of Reading awards – Silver Birch, Red Maple,
Continue readingwmtc: more books on books
A while back, I wrote some “what i’m reading” posts under the general category “books on books”. Allan has just added to this small collection with a post about The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, a book by Alan Jacobs. If you are a self-reflective reader, and
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading, children’s books edition: # 4
Still Classic? A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle, 1962 A Wrinkle in Time has always been one of my favourite books. Although I have re-read it a few times over the years, I approached it for this series with some trepidation, a bit concerned that I might no longer recommend
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading, children’s book edition: # 3: a war resister story of sorts
In this children’s book review, I look at a book about military war resistance and analyze its lessons and conclusions. Shot at Dawn deals with many unpleasant realities of war – including some shameful episodes in Canada’s past – with open eyes and without sugar coating. Ultimately, the author pulls
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: chango’s beads and two-tone shoes (and maybe more, again) by william kennedy
I am reading Changó’s Beads and Two-tone Shoes, the latest novel by William Kennedy, one of my very favourite authors, and in my opinion, one of the greatest English-language writers of our time. Changó’s Beads is Kennedy’s first novel in several years, and after not reading him for so long, his
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading, children’s books edition: # 2
How this series works: I write about one or two older books, offer an my opinion on whether the book will be relevant and accessible to children today, and suggest a more contemporary equivalent. I also recommend two additional children’s books. * * * * Still Classic? My Side of
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading, children’s books edition: # 1
This is the first post in an occasional series about children’s books. My plan is to intersperse children’s book among my usual reading, and to write short reviews of several books for young people in one post. In each, I’ll include one or two older books thought to be classics,
Continue readingwmtc: trials of a student librarian: readers’ advisory, the library thing i love best
Of all the aspects of librarianship that I know about, the piece I’m most excited about is readers’ advisory. Readers’ advisory is the library term for answering that important question… “What to read next?” Questions like, “Do you have any more books like this one?”, “I’m tired of reading mysteries,
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the ghost map by steven johnson
Since quitting my horrible job, I’ve discovered that I actually can read for myself during the school term. I can’t read as much as I’d like to, but then, I never can. It was still amazing, in the middle of a school term, to put my feet up and read
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: shoulds vs. wants
An ongoing theme in my life has been ridding myself of as many shoulds as I possibly can – or, to put it more positively, to spend my time doing what I want, rather than what some voice inside my head or some external pressure tells me I ought to.
Continue readingwmtc: we like lists: list # 19: more eponyms, subcategory edition
Eponyms everywhere! Who knew? Our most recent list of eponyms was a smash success. It gave rise to at least three subcategories, as I wrote here: – Inventor/creator/discoverer, not genericized. These are eponyms, but have not entered the vocabulary as a separate noun or descriptor. Example: Alzheimer’s. Compare to pasteurized.
Continue readingwmtc: what im reading: john henry days, by colson whitehead
Here I am again, gushing about another novel by Colson Whitehead. For my last grab at pleasure reading before trudging back to my grad-school cell, I went back to the only book by Whitehead – fiction and nonfiction – that I hadn’t read: John Henry Days, published in 2001 and
Continue readingwmtc: we should all miss gore vidal
I’ve been looking for some fitting tribute to Gore Vidal, who died last week at age 86, to post here. The internet is full of Vidal’s aphorisms and his cutting wit, but those are the easiest and least meaningful tributes. Vidal was a great thinker, and a great writer, with
Continue readingwmtc: we like lists: list # 16: conformity and its discontents
Allan is in the midst of a giant Stephen King reading and writing project, and in honour of that, I’m reading my first ever book by Stephen King. From this post, I was moved to read the novella The Body (which was adapted into the movie “Stand By Me”). Allan’s
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