tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293332772024-03-13T23:47:50.592+04:00LifelongreaderA lifelong reader is someone who has a passion for books, someone who will read every day.GEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491380432075180854noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-37413445652569975472009-01-31T14:08:00.002+04:002009-01-31T14:11:17.214+04:00Maximum ImpactJust finished this one, originally the author posted it as an e-book and it got such a good reception, it was then published. It starts off with a look at 9/11 and then gets very geeky, which is good for me. A well written thriller, fast paced and easy to read.<br />Not exactly high brow stuff, but good escapism if you like nerdy stuff and conspiracy ideas.lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-73924017955391994512009-01-26T17:53:00.003+04:002009-01-26T17:58:15.002+04:00Wicked!<div style="text-align: justify;">Just finished this and it is not the normally a book I would have picked up but someone passed it to me, so I gave it a go. It is very well constructed and kept me interested throughout. It is the story of The Wicked Witch of the West (as in Wizard of Oz) told more or less from her perspective, and follows her story from her birth until her encounter with Dorothy. Well worth a read.</div>GEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491380432075180854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-75237494896471480392009-01-13T13:04:00.004+04:002009-01-26T18:02:01.574+04:00Still alive<div style="text-align: justify;">After chatting to a friend, I have decided to reactivate this blog which I have not updated in ages. I will be posting some reviews of books as I read them, and also writing about events in the literature world.</div>GEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491380432075180854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-25617260960754688712007-11-03T17:22:00.001+04:002009-01-26T18:03:47.980+04:00No regular updates<div style="text-align: justify;">Having changed country and job, I have not found the time to work on his blog as often as I did previously. Hopefully when I get myself more established here, I will get to post some more stuff.<br /><br />I am still reading and making notes on books, so I will try to upload those another day.</div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-13399928441395601622007-09-21T18:37:00.002+04:002009-01-26T18:04:15.320+04:00Internet connection problems<div style="text-align: justify;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">I have been having serious internet connection issues, and so have not been posting as much recently as I did a while ago. I will try to update this blog more regularly over the next few weeks.<br /><br /><br /><p class="poweredbyperformancing">Powered by <a href="http://scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-7327968379193502882007-09-08T07:39:00.001+04:002009-01-26T18:04:48.192+04:00Madeleine L'Engle dies at age of 88<div style="text-align: justify;">Madeleine L'Engle, the author of A Wrinkle in Time has died. I have not read any of her stuff, but will have a look for this book as the name keeps popping up and sounds quite interesting.</div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-74157430148353812262007-09-04T18:31:00.002+04:002009-01-26T18:05:23.795+04:00Summer reviews<div style="text-align: justify;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Below is a summary of my summer reading - it is very bitty and does not read well, as it was written over a period of time.<br /><br />22-06-07<br /><br />Just finished The Tempest by William Shakespeare (my absolute favouritest Shakespeare play), as part of a Shakespeare challenge I joined ages ago.<br /><br />It is set on an island where Prospero the Duke of Milan, who was overthrown by his brother and courtiers and then set adrift on the high seas with his baby daughter. He has been living on the island with his daughter, Miranda and a nasty piece of work, Caliban, who has been their servant for about 12 years. There is also Ariel, a fairy, who helps Prospero. It reminds me in some ways of A MidSummer Night's Dream, but it is as if Prospero is an older Oberon and Ariel is an older Puck.<br /><br />At the start of the play there is a shipwreck created by Ariel at Prospero's orders and on the ship are Alonso, Gonzalo, Ferdinand etc - all of them are from Milan, and most of them Prospero's enemies. All the main characters are shipwrecked, as a result of the storm caused by Ariel at Prospero's bidding, but are safe as the latter has plans for them. They are scattered around the island in small groups and are unaware that there are any other survivors - remind you of Lost?<br /><br />Eventually they all come together when Prospero wants them to and all's well that ends well (but that's another story).<br /><br />***********<br />23-06-07<br /><br />Currently I am in France where I am working in the house (10 years after buying it), I am now doing lots of decoration and maintenance work. Today I prepared the bedroom wall for a coat of special paint tomorrow, fitted a shower spray, WD40'd the shutters and the car doors, took down a few light fittings and cleaned the year of dust from them, in short, lots of little jobs, each of which takes 30-40 minutes.. On Monday (25th June) I am off to the second house we have just bought, to see what needs to be done there.<br /><br />Reading Mother Tongue, The English Language by Bill Bryson which is absolutely fascinating. It deals with the arrival of language in prehistoric times and the reasons behind the success of English as a global language - in spite of its many linguistic quirks and foibles. It is very much in the style of Bill Bryson, but is erudite nonetheless, and very entertaining. It is packed full of useful pieces of information as well as being very entertaining too.<br /><br />It is one of those books I hate as it is so funny you want to share his wit with those around you, so I constantly stop reading to read out his witticisms to my better half, much to her annoyance. If you have read any BB before and have any interest in the origins of the English language, but do not want a dry academic tome, then this is one for you - it is one of those books I wish I had 20 copies of so that I could pass them to people I know would like it, as I like to share.<br /><br />************<br /><br />Reading The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare - one of his less well known plays, but one I read years and years ago and really enjoyed. I am reading this as part of a Shakespeare challenge I signed up for on someone's blog ages ago, but unfortunately I am unable to get online to check who. The play is a bit slow at the beginning but from what I remember of it, the main part of the story is really enjoyable. Have now finished it and the play was just as good as I remembered - not one of his most popular plays and not often dramatised, but it is one of the plays I prefer. I tend to prefer the plays he wrote when he was older as they have more depth to them, unfortunately they tend to be the plays that people do not read or see performed as they are not considered "classics". The play has standard themes, but is usual that the middle of the play we are introduced to a whole new set f characters 16 years later and then the end ties everything together.<br /><br />Here I have a dial up connection and for the last two days the phone line has been out - hence no connection, and even when there is a phone line it is so slow that I cannot do much online. Even when I have a phone conversation, the line is dropped on average 2 or 3 times, and the call gets disconnected, so imagine the frustration trying to surf t'interweb for any length of time! So although I am writing these things to post in the blog, they may not be online for ages. This is one of the problems of living in the mountains - but there is wi-fi in the village but as I am not here most of the year, it is not worth signing up for an annual subscription, so I put up with the crappy modem service. I will investigate the wi-fi option when I get back in a week or so and see if it is possible to sign up on a shorter contract, but I doubt it will be possible.<br /><br /><br />****************<br />28-06-07<br />Just watched Death pf a President whch was very good. It was very well made and in my opinion was a major development of the mashups done about Dubya several years ago, eg his State of the Union speech. It worked really well and the cutups were very slick - they have been done in other movies before such as Zelig, by Woody Allen and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid with Steve Martin (before his career went down the pan, IMHO)<br /><br />It is a fictionalised account/documentary about President Bush being assassinated. It uses real footage of GW Bush so that the lines between reality and fiction are very blurred - at times you feel as if you are watching CNN, or a news story on TV, instead of watching a DVD. A very clever movie - two thumbs up. I particularly like it as it uses cut up techniques that I have been enjoying in the last years by such guys as Eclectic Method, Osymyso etc for political video mashups - check out some on my other site here. Video mashup is the logical extension of bastard pop, and<br /><br />I have also just returned from the new house which needs more work than I thought, so I knocked out 4 walls and opened up a beautiful original wooden staircase which had been boxed in, and will return in about a week or so to do some more work on it with some other guys - there will be a paying guest there on the 11th August, so it will have to be ready for that. Kitchen, floor sofas and beds have been ordered, and will be delivered around the middle of July, but before then we have to get the plastering, rewiring of electrics and loads of other stuff done.<br /><br />******************<br /><br />03-08-07 The stuff has all arrived and I am now going t be back there in a few days and will see what progress the guys have made. I will try to post from there as the connection here has been atrocious and I have not even thought about uploading as the speed is so slow.<br /><br />******************<br />01-08-07<br />Current reads<br /><br />Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson<br />Life of Pi - Yann Martel<br />Andy Mc Nabb - Dark Winter<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="poweredbyperformancing">Powered by <a href="http://scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-3706100154746797012007-08-18T20:38:00.003+04:002009-01-26T18:06:25.477+04:00Back online<div style="text-align: justify;">Here I am now in Kazakhstan, and online again. I will post some reviews and thoughts what I typed up over the summer, maybe tomorrow.<br /><br />I will also try to update the site and finish the changes I planned before the summer.</div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-82968720347071572412007-06-05T20:34:00.000+04:002007-06-05T20:52:50.549+04:00Bookstore owner burns books in protest<div style="text-align: justify;">I saw this story on CNN, and it made me feel so sad, then angry:<br /><br />"Bookstore owner burns books in protest<br />May 28, 2007<br /><br />KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Tom Wayne has amassed thousands of books in a warehouse during the 10 years he has run his used book store, Prospero's Books.<br /><br />His collection ranges from best sellers, such as Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October" and Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities," to obscure titles, like a bound report from the Fourth Pan-American Conference held in Buenos Aires in 1910. But when he wanted to thin out the collection, he found he couldn't even give away books to libraries or thrift shops; they said they were full.<br /><br />So on Sunday, Wayne began burning his books in protest of what he sees as society's diminishing support for the printed word.<br /><br />"This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today," Wayne told spectators outside his bookstore as he lit the first batch of books.<br /><br />The fire blazed for about 50 minutes before the Kansas City Fire Department put it out because Wayne didn't have a permit for burning.<br /><br />Wayne said next time he will get a permit. He said he envisions monthly bonfires until his supply -- estimated at 20,000 books -- is exhausted.<br /><br />"After slogging through the tens of thousands of books we've slogged through, and to accumulate that many and to have people turn you away when you take them somewhere, it's just kind of a knee-jerk reaction," he said. "And it's a good excuse for fun."<br /><br />Wayne said he has seen fewer customers in recent years as people more often get their information from television or the Internet. He pointed to a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts, that found that less than half of adult respondents reported reading for pleasure, down from almost 57 percent in 1982.<br /><br />Kansas City has seen the number of used bookstores decline in recent years, and there are few independent bookstores left in town, said Will Leathem, a co-owner of Prospero's Books.<br /><br />"There are segments of this city where you go to an estate sale and find five TVs and three books," Leathem said.<br /><br />The idea of burning the books horrified Marcia Trayford, who paid $20 Sunday to carry away an armload of tomes on art, education and music.<br /><br />"I've been trying to adopt as many books as I could," she said.<br /><br />Dozens of other people took advantage of the book-burning, searching through the books waiting to go into the flames for last-minute bargains."<br /><br />Shades of Fahrenheit 451, but a book lover forced to start the fires - even more sad. I love the image of someone adopting books, and I agree with the blame being on TV.<br /><br />Check out these lyrics: from Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - Television, Drug of a Nation, at least the bold section about book reading, although all the lyrics are worth reading:<br /><br />" one nation<br />under God<br />has turned into<br />one nation under the influence<br />of one drug <p></p> <p> [chorus:]<br />Television, the drug of the Nation<br />Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation<br />(2x) </p> <p> T.V., it<br />satellite links<br />our United States of Unconsciousness<br />Apathetic therapeutic and extremely addictive<br />The methadone metronome pumping out<br />150 channels 24 hours a day<br />you can flip through all of them<br />and still there's nothing worth watching<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >T.V. is the reason why less than 10 per cent of our<br />Nation reads books daily<br />Why most people think Central Amerika<br />means Kansas<br />Socialism means unamerican<br />and Apartheid is a new headache remedy</span><br />absorbed in it's world it's so hard to find us<br />It shapes our mind the most<br />maybe the mother of our Nation<br />should remind us<br />that we're sitting too close to... </p> <p> [Chorus:]<br />Television, the drug of the Nation<br />Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation<br />(2x) </p> <p> T.V. is<br />the stomping ground for political candidates<br />Where bears in the woods<br />are chased by Grecian Formula'd<br />bald eagles<br />T.V. is mechanized politic's<br />remote control over the masses<br />co-sponsored by environmentally safe gases<br />watch for the PBS special<br />It's the perpetuation of the two party system<br />where image takes precedence over wisdom<br />Where sound bite politics are served to<br />the fastfood culture<br />Where straight teeth in your mouth<br />are more important than the words<br />that come out of it<br />Race baiting is the way to get selected<br />Willie Horton or<br />Will he not get elected on... </p> <p> [Chorus:]<br />Television, the drug of the Nation<br />Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation<br />(2x) </p> <p> T.V., is it the reflector or the director?<br />Does it imitate us<br />or do we imitate it<br />because a child watches 1500 murders before he's<br />twelve years old and we wonder why we've created<br />a Jason generation that learns to laugh<br />rather than to abhor the horror<br />T.V. is the place where<br />armchair generals and quarterbacks can<br />experience first hand<br />the excitement of warfare<br />as the theme song is sung in the background<br />Sugar sweet sitcoms<br />that leave us with a bad actor taste while<br />pop stars metamorphosize into soda pop stars<br />You saw the video<br />You heard the soundtrack<br />Well now go buy the soft drink<br />Well, the onla cola that I support<br />would be a union C.O.L.A.(Cost Of Living Allowance)<br />On television </p> <p> [Chorus:]<br />Television, the drug of the Nation<br />Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation<br />(2x) </p> <p> Back again, "New and improved"<br />We return to our irregularly programmed schedule<br />hidden cleverly between heavy breasted<br />beer and car commercials<br />CNNESPNABCTNT but mostly B.S.<br />Where oxymoronic language like<br />"virtually spotless", "fresh frozen"<br />"light yet filling" and "military intelligence"<br />have become standard<br />T.V. is the place where phrases are redefined<br />like "recession" to "necessary downturn"<br />"Crude oil" on a beach to "mousse"<br />"Civilian death" to "collateral damages"<br />and being killed by your own Army<br />is now called "friendly fire"<br />T.V. is the place where the pursuit<br />of happiness has become the pursuit of<br />trivia<br />Where toothpaste and cars have become<br />sex objects<br />Where imagination is sucked out of children<br />by a cathode ray nipple<br />T.V. is the only wet nurse<br />that would create a cripple </p> <p> [Chorus:]<br />Television, the drug of the Nation<br />Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation<br />(4x)"</p><p></p>Let me know if you want a video link for this track.<br /></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-6635214021139250602007-06-04T20:24:00.000+04:002007-06-04T22:07:15.405+04:00Blog is under redevelopment<div style="text-align: justify;">Please come back later when I have added all the links again as I have decided to have a change of blog style. Comments welcome - the all white seems too clinical to me, I might mess around with different colours later.<br /><br />I will try to add all the links again over the next few days.</div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-50114185396646690912007-05-31T16:06:00.002+04:002009-01-26T18:07:35.142+04:00Harry Potter theme park<div style="text-align: justify;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Just found <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/31/potter.park.reut/index.html">this</a> story on CNN - apparently they are creating a Harry Potter theme park in the States. I hope it is a success as far as I am concerned, anything that gets kids reading is great news.<br /><br />It should be interesting to see how that turns out over the first few years of its opening.<br /><p class="poweredbyperformancing">Powered by <a href="http://scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-40426413622958210262007-05-26T20:46:00.000+04:002007-05-26T20:52:22.375+04:00Borat travel guide<div style="text-align: justify;">According to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/05/25/books.borat.reut/index.html">CNN</a>, Borat is to go into print. He is writing a travel book about travel tips for both USA and also Kazakhstan ("Borat: Touristic Guidings to Minor Nation of U.S. and A." and "Borat: Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.")<br /><br />It is to be released in hardback, but there was no release date mentioned.<br /><br />I am sure that this will create a few more upsets when it is published, in the same way that the movie did.<br /></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-86051789958591912472007-05-21T09:45:00.000+04:002007-06-04T22:07:39.563+04:00Harry Potter gets posted<div style="text-align: justify;">In UK there has been a decision to release a special series of stamps showing the covers of all seven books. Apparently the books in the series have sold a total of 325 milion copies worldwide - that is a <span style="font-weight: bold;">lot </span>of books!<br /><br />It looks like Potter mania is going to hit UK again this summer.<br /><br /><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/05/20/potter.stamps.ap/index.html">source</a><a name="ContentArea"></a><br /><!-- /date --> </div><div style="text-align: justify;" id="cnnSCHeadlineArea"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--startclickprintinclude--><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">var clickExpire = "06/19/2007";</script> </div><p style="text-align: justify;">"Britain's Royal Mail is issuing a series of seven stamps depicting the covers of the best-selling "Harry Potter" books just before the final volume goes on sale.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Millions of the stamps will be issued on July 17 as part of the post office's tradition of celebrating "social themes and important occasions central to our way of life," said Julietta Edgar, who is in charge of special stamps at Royal Mail.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" goes on sale July 21.</p><div style="text-align: justify;">"There's no doubt that J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels, published in dozens of languages worldwide, have made a phenomenal impact on our reading habits," Edgar said. "<br /><br />I also found <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1178822.cms">this</a> interesting article from the Economic Times of India, and although it is a bit old, the ideas are fascinating.<br /><br />It looks at the globalisation and marketing of HP, and is well worth a look.</div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-69028106953031090712007-05-20T21:15:00.002+04:002009-01-26T18:08:31.193+04:00Radio 4<div style="text-align: justify;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">I have been listening to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/schedule/week/">BBC Radio 4</a> a lot on the MacBook and have just listened to their Classic serial (Tom Jones), followed by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/openbook/openbook.shtml">Open book.</a><br /><br />Great stuff, but it means that I am not reading as much. I had forgotten how good Radio 4 was. And I never realised how easy it was to set it up on the Mac, a few clicks and it was running.<br /><br />Very cool.<br /><p class="poweredbyperformancing">Powered by <a href="http://scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-59331549527977555512007-05-19T19:50:00.002+04:002009-01-26T18:09:16.444+04:00Apologies and moving on<div style="text-align: justify;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Just a short post to say that I am still alive, but I think that posts here will become ever more erratic as I am moving on from UAE and so am in the middle of packing up my whole life into boxes.<br /><br />I hate this time of year, and the stage I am at here with moving on, saying farewell to friends etc.<br /><br />It is a very sad time, but also quite liberating as you can make a fresh start.<br /><br />Powered by <a href="http://scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-84051819772994670582007-05-14T23:32:00.001+04:002007-05-15T21:52:11.299+04:00Just got a MacBook<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div align="justify">I have just got a MacBook and am currently setting it up the way I want it, so I will try to post some more on books here soon.<br /><br />I am now freed from the desktop and can post using the Mac, but it will take me a while to get used to it as I have been using Windows for many years. However I still own, and use an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Computers">Acorn</a> - the best computer in the world, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC_OS">best OS ever</a>!! What Windows <span style="font-weight: bold;">might </span>be in 10 years from now :)<br /><br />I am using a Firefox Extension - <a href="http://scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a> to post this instead of logging into Blogger which I always found to be a pain. It is very cool and lets you post from FireFox directly, just one click and you have access to your blog.<br /></div><br /><p class="poweredbyperformancing">Powered by <a href="http://scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-57651843440298673752007-05-11T17:51:00.000+04:002007-05-11T17:54:58.593+04:00On holiday soon<div style="text-align: justify;">Just to tell the two people who actually look at this site that in a month from now I will be away from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interweb">t'interweb</a> until mid August. <br /><br />I will not be updating stuff here, and will be checking email only infrequently. <br /><br />Until then I will try to post a few more things over the coming weeks, although things here are getting very hectic.<br /><br /><br /></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-64822372018736653472007-05-05T13:28:00.000+04:002007-05-05T13:39:31.684+04:00Jodi Picoult works on Wonder Woman<div style="text-align: justify;">Bestselling author tackles comic books (<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/04/26/picoult.wonder.woman/index.html">source</a> here)<br /><br />"Jodi Picoult is known as a serious novelist. Her latest effort, "Nineteen Minutes," is currently sitting in the top five on the New York Times bestseller list and has earned rave reviews from such publications as The Washington Post and Publishers Weekly.<br /><br />But "Nineteen Minutes" isn't the only new project bearing the 40-year-old writer's name. There's also the latest issue of DC Comics' "Wonder Woman."<br /><br />Picoult's five-issue run doing the title makes her only the second woman to write the character in its 66-year history. But despite the assignment's historical significance, when DC originally approached her to pen the story -- the company had noticed a character in Picoult's "The Tenth Circle" was a comic-book penciller -- she wasn't entirely sure she had the time (or the desire) to do it.<br /><br />Her children convinced her otherwise."<br /><br />I thought this was interesting : I have not read any of Picoult's books (yet), but I probably will sometime. Sounds like this could be an interesting concept - Wonder Woman was originally portrayed in a 1970s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman_%28TV_series%29">TV series</a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynda_Carter">Lynda Carter</a>. Thirty or so years down the line, I think we are due an update.</div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-27373615330554373942007-05-05T13:06:00.000+04:002007-05-06T19:25:19.775+04:00Technorati face-lift<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.technorati.com/">Technorati </a>has had a makeover - they now refer to authority instead of rank (I think it was called that previously). They also seem to have got their ping problems sorted - at one point one of my blogs had not been updated for 450 days, although I had updated and pinged it often!! This <span style="font-weight: bold;">seems</span> to be ok now (fingers crossed).<br /><br />They also have a new heading eg:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Everything in the known universe about lifelongreader </span><br /><br />and a slightly nicer lay out - not exactly earth shattering news, but good to know they are working on issues and developing their site, at last.<br /><br />All good news.</div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-80940604909392534712007-05-04T14:15:00.000+04:002007-05-05T13:40:00.686+04:00Who reads books anymore?<div style="text-align: justify;">I just read this story on <a href="http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/blogs/marquee/2007/05/who-reads-books-anymore.html">CNN</a><br /><br />"It's not easy getting people to care about books.<br /><br />Thursday, a small contingent gathered in front of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's building in downtown Atlanta, a couple blocks from CNN Center, to host a "read-in." The paper has decided to eliminate its book editor position and the activists want to show that books -- and readers -- matter. (The episode has received <a href="http://bookcriticscircle.blogspot.com/search/label/NBCC%20Campaign%20to%20Save%20Book%20Reviews">national coverage</a>.)<br /><br />So a handful of people quietly read books in front of AJC headquarters while others, standing in front of a poster saying "Save the Book Review" and a display of titles (Walker Percy's "Love in the Ruins," "Romeo and Juliet," Langston Hughes) praised AJC Book Editor Teresa Weaver and talked about why the paper was making a bad decision.<br /><br />"The problem is, they're not making enough money, and this is easy to give up," said Vivian Lawand, a veteran Atlanta bookseller.<br /><br />The paper says it will continue to have book coverage. "We will continue to use freelancers, established news services and our staff to provide stories about books of interest to our readers and the local literary community," spokeswoman Mary Dugenske told The New York Times.<br /><br />The AJC isn't alone in its rethinking. The Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/books/02revi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all">recently ran a piece</a> about newspapers cutting back on book coverage. There's not enough advertising money, the thinking goes, and readers are gravitating online anyway and getting their book information from blogs and Amazon reviews. (I won't even go into all the questions surrounding the publishing business.)<br /><br />But I'm not so sure cutting newspaper book coverage is the way to go.<br /><br />I'll admit I'm biased -- in many ways. I don't know Weaver personally, but we have several friends in common; I subscribe to two newspapers (and several magazines); I'm in two book groups, one online and the other face-to-face; I like to see <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-connelly29apr29,0,6944897,print.story?coll=la-opinion-center">good writers succeed</a>; and, of course, I oversee the entertainment and media page for a large news organization and I like to keep up with the field.<br /><br />But at bottom, it's for a selfish reason: I read books. Lots of books. It's not just for my job. I love reading in general, and I know when I die I'll still have shelves -- cases -- of books I never got to. ("TBR stacks," my online group calls them -- "to be read" ... eventually.) I like books and I like reading about books, and Amazon and blogs aren't enough.<br /><br />I fear I'm in the minority. How many people read books anymore, anyway? I'd like to think that book readers matter -- particularly to newspapers -- but it's not like the AJC's front steps were overflowing with demonstrators Thursday morning. The paper would probably get more protesting if it canceled "Mary Worth.""<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/blogs/marquee/2007/05/who-reads-books-anymore.html">read more</a> (with 300+ comments, so there must be some readers on CNN :) )<br /><br />This makes book reading blogs and forums even more important!!</div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-59901600476425195192007-05-03T18:06:00.000+04:002007-05-03T18:07:28.050+04:00Vonnegut mp3sA bit late in the day, I know, but have a look <a href="http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/04/kurt_vonnegut_m.html">here</a> for a few mp3s of Mr Vonnegut reading from his works.<br /><br />I haven't listened to them myself - I will grab them later.lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-4236713783781945032007-05-03T17:29:00.000+04:002007-05-04T14:18:18.389+04:00Carnegie and GreenwayHere is a link to the Carnegie and Greenway <a href="http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/celebration/top_tens.php?action=list">site</a> with a list of their award winning books. They are having a 70 year celebration this year and list books that have won awards over the years. There are some great titles in there.<br /><br />What are your favourite books, you can vote and let them know.lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-44947099132971825922007-05-02T18:18:00.000+04:002008-12-10T05:23:30.496+04:00Holes by Louis Sachar<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.louissachar.com/HolesBook.htm"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_phIn43FpGPk/Rjie71oHxyI/AAAAAAAAAB4/G4PV26G6UaA/s320/100holes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5059968932195583778" border="0" /></a>My students here in Year 8 are working on developing a wiki based on the book <a href="http://www.louissachar.com/HolesBook.htm">Holes</a> by Louis Sachar. Have a look at it <a href="http://stanleyyelnats.wikispaces.com/">here</a> and let me know what you think. We have just started and some of them still need to sign up yet to edit it, but when I logged in just recently, new pages were being added and more content put there.<br /><br />It is starting to look good, and we should have some pictures of some work there in the next day or two.<br /></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-16649804460294666032007-04-29T21:05:00.000+04:002007-04-30T07:28:45.683+04:00The Beatles do ShakespeareHere are the Beatles doing the death scene of Pyramus and Thisbe, from A MidSummer Night's Dream :) It is hilarious even though the sound quality is not great.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qG9lIaabWgM"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qG9lIaabWgM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />I get the feeling that in Shakespeare's time, it might have looked somewhat similar to this, even with the audience participation and heckling.lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29333277.post-16478772402249461632007-04-29T20:32:00.000+04:002008-12-10T05:23:30.724+04:00Amber Spyglass<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_phIn43FpGPk/RjTN4loHxxI/AAAAAAAAABw/fsAmYPyIV8Y/s1600-h/100amber.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_phIn43FpGPk/RjTN4loHxxI/AAAAAAAAABw/fsAmYPyIV8Y/s320/100amber.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5058894653500671762" border="0" /></a>I have just finished reading The Amber Spyglass which completes my reading of the Dark Materials series. I enjoyed this one even more than the other two.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />It is a long book, but whizzed by - a great page turner. Will and Lyra this time move between multiple worlds and meet up with some old friends at various times. They seem a lot more mature in this book, even though they are still relatively young. With the events they have been through, that is hardly surprising.<br /><br />I loved the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulefa">mulefa </a>who appear about half way through the book - they are so cool. The description of them is just weird - I find it hard to visualise them. The descriptions of the travel from and to the other worlds is very well described, and raises some interesting points about the universe as we see it.<br /><br />There is a lot more theology in this book, which might put some people off, and the Church is not painted in a very good light. Also some of the characters seem to have changed drastically in this book.<br /><br />I suggest that if you are interested in reading this, then you should get your hands on the other books in the series so that you follow the characters through different universes and storylines in order to understand the worlds they inhabit.<br /><br />Overall 5 stars.<br /><br /></div>lifelongreaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03948361464417064330noreply@blogger.com0