Now this is a rare thing. I was reading this piece, in praise of short books: to start and finish in one sitting is a rare unbridled joy, and it asked readers to list good short books. Instead of a typical dumpster fire, it was full of thoughtful and short comments on….good short books. Amazing.
So if you want some recommendations on good short books to read this weekend or next, head over to that link.
Comments Off on In praise of short books AND the comments section of the Guardian
Posted in Books
Tagged Books, reading, theguardian, weekend
If you want to get started reading a particular author but you don’t know where to start, head over to the Books section of The Guardian and read: Where to start with. They introduce you to a range of authors from Agatha Christie to Zadie Smith. Highly recommended.
Comments Off on How to get started reading a particular author? The Guardian has a solution
Posted in Books
Tagged agathachristie, authors, Books, literature, Sebald, theguardian, zadiesmith
books.worksinprogress.co is a cool site for people who write books and people who read them. As they explain:
Books in Progress is what we call a “public drafting tool”: Drafts will be made available for comment from the public, allowing for direct collaboration between author and reader.
As a reader, you can comment on a passage from the text, or respond to another comment. The author will accept or dismiss these comments. Once the author implements comments, a new draft will be created and the current one archived. Helpful commenters will be thanked in print at the author’s discretion.
Books in Progress was developed by Works in Progress in partnership with Stewart Brand and Stripe Press.
For authors with great readers, I could see this being an invaluable tool. Drop on by the site and see for yourself.
I am a fan of self help books. I’ve even written a defense of them. So I was interested to read this, which says that every self-help book ever comes down to these rules:
1. Take one small step.
2. Change your mental maps.
3. Struggle is good. Scary is good.
4. Instant judgment is bad.
5. Remember the end of your life.
6. Be playful.
7. Be useful to others.
8. Perfectionism = procrastination
9. Sleep, exercise, eat, chill out. Repeat.
10. Write it all down.
11. You can’t get it all from reading.
I don’t agree. It’s true, you will find many of these rules in popular self-help books. But the best self-help books give you insights and ideas you won’t find elsewhere.
So yeah, if you pick up the latest self help book, some form of those 11 rules may be all that you get. But take some time and do some research and you’ll find some guides that can really help you with whatever you are dealing with.
Don’t give up. Get the help you need. Even if its self help.
I’ve been thinking a lot about libraries recently. This started when I read about The Empty Library, shown above. As Wikipedia explains:
The Empty Library (1995), also known as Bibliothek or simply Library, is a public memorial by Israeli sculptor Micha Ullman dedicated to the remembrance of the Nazi book burnings that took place in the Bebelplatz in Berlin, Germany on May 10, 1933. The memorial is set into the cobblestones of the plaza and contains a collection of empty subterranean bookcases.
Just one of the many evil acts by the Nazis repudiated by others.
One way to defeat those who would commit such evil acts is to read more. One way to read more is by doing what Austin Kleon is pushing us to do here and take on a summer reading assignment. Do what he says: go to the library, get a card, check out some books. Read anything and everything the library can provide. Read recklessly. Read at whim. Read however you prefer. Read for pleasure. Read knowing that you stand against those who would prevent it if they could.
Book banning is not just something that happened in the past in Germany. It’s happening now in America and elsewhere. Push back when and where you can. One book at the time.
P.S. The story of the artwork, The Empty Library, is fascinating. I highly recommend it.
Comments Off on Reading as a defence against those that would ban and burn books
Posted in Books
Tagged austinkleon, bookbanning, Books, libraries, Nazis, reading
Here’s a good piece on how the ubiquitous IKEA Råskog trolley (seen above) has become famous as the TBR (to be read) cart on social media. Move over bedside table: IKEA is bringing on competition.
That trolley is old and good. What’s new and good from IKEA is the VINDSTYRKA smart sensor (seen below) which monitors air quality inside your home:
It’s interesting that IKEA continue to make forays into home devices that are not necessarily furniture (e.g., home speakers). I for one am here for that.
Comments Off on Two good pieces on two good pieces from IKEA
Tagged airquality, Books, decor, design, Ikea, socialmedia, storage, yankodesign
Do you like staying up late (or worse, have insomnia)? Do you like to read? Do you not care if you are tired the next day? Then you need this list of20 Short Novels To Stay Up All Night Reading. It is
…a list of novels you can read overnight—compelling enough that you won’t be lured by sleep, but short enough that once you finish, you’ll still have enough time to clock some hours before you have to go to work. If you can sleep, that is.
Fun! Don’t blame me if you are tired the next day. You were warned! 🙂
While many of the furnishings of the 1970s should stay in that decade and never be revived, these shelves are an exception. As Designmilk.com explains, these shelves date
… back to the 70s, when Pierre Paulin was commissioned by President Pompidou to design furniture for the Elysée Palace’s private apartments, (but they were not) …. officially launched to the public until 2009 …
They make me think of the 70s, but they don’t scream it. They would work wonderfully with contemporary furniture today. Also highly expandable. Perfect for book collectors like myself.
For more on them, see: From a Palace to Your Home: The Elysée Shelving System.
This is a most amazing collection of the most brilliant bookshops in the world. Thanks to the Financial Times for it.
Not a bookshop, but I love the image above. What a perfect space to simply sit and read.
Comments Off on Hey! It’s time to take a break and wander the most brilliant bookshops in the world
Posted in cool
Tagged Books, bookstores, cool, FT
Books usually make good gift ideas. While there are lots of ways to come up with book ideas, one way I think is good is to go to FiveBooks.com and check out their most recommended books. They have them all listed, here.
You can’t go wrong with any of books on the list. In the worst case, you can refresh a copy of a book the person may already have.
Comments Off on Good gift ideas: books (courtesy of Five Books)
Posted in advice
Tagged advice, Books, fivebooks.com, gifts
So it’s been 20 years since the release of ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’. It’s weird to think it’s been a big part of my life. Not because I was a huge fan but because of my daughter.
My daughter was into her film going age when it came out. It’s hard to believe now, but in the 90s it was hard to find good kids films to watch. Whenever one came out, we went. Naturally we went to this one, and like many excited families afterwards, we went to them all.
I was grateful for a decade of Harry Potter films. Unlike so many kids films, they were well made and well acted. While the three main stars developed their acting skills over time, from the beginning they were surrounded with the cream of British theatre. Not to mention fine direction, great set design…you name it. The stories may have been aimed at kids, but the films welcomed parents.
I was grateful for the books as well. The Harry Potter books contributed to my daughter’s love of reading. She and I would go to special events at the neighborhood Indigo bookstore late at night, waiting for the volumes to go on sale at midnight. Everyone was dressed up, and the store was full of Potter displays, not to mention live magicians, and all forms of theatricality. Even the media attended and interviewed my daughter once. As parenting gigs go, it was a good one. Finally we’d get the book and she would read it well into the night. It was delightful.
Besides the films, I was happy that as my daughter grew up, the books and the characters in them grew up as well. Starting off as small books for children, the Harry Potter series evolved into novels for young adults. The books and the films dealt with events and emotions that their readers were also dealing with. To steal from Bruno Bettelheim, it was a good use of enchantment.
I was sad to see J.K. Rowling go from being a beloved author to someone who caused a great deal of pain for many people. Daniel Radcliffe responded to that, and I think what he wrote was good and echoes my thinking.
I am still glad of all the times I had with my daughter going to the films and the book launches. I enjoyed the films, and I even read and enjoyed the books. Mainly I am fond of that time in my life with her. It was a good decade that was full of good memories.
P.S. The image above is from this collectable set of the books, found here: Harry Potter Hogwarts Set from the folks at Uncrate.
P.S. S. If you asked me which book/film I liked the most, it’s no contest: Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban. It was a bold move to choose Alfonso Cuarón to direct it, and he turned in a strong film I thought. Like the book, the film deals metaphorically with chronic illness, mental illness, stigmatism, loneliness, fear, and many more dark ideas. It’s the turning point in the film series, where they go from the light and brightness of Chris Columbus to darker themes and ideas. While I liked to other films and other directors, I liked the films that Cuarón turned in best of all.
Comments Off on On the 20th anniversary of the Harry Potter films
Posted in literature, memories, thoughts
Tagged Books, films, harrypotter, memories, Sophie
What is Cecil Court, you might ask? According to the website, Secret London it is…
packed with twenty-odd secondhand bookshops and antiquarian booksellers, it truly is a paradise for literature lovers. Just moments away from the hustle and bustle of Leicester Square, you’ll be surprised to stumble across such a peaceful gem. The shop fronts haven’t changed for over a century, so a walk through Cecil Court is like a trip back in time
When I can travel again and go to London, I think I will make a beeline to here.
For more information on it, click on the Secret London link, or visit their web site here.
Comments Off on Cecil Court: a book lover’s delight
Posted in travel
Tagged Books, booksellers, bookstores, England, london, travel
Here are two links you need if your book shelves need arranging or inspiration:
(I love the above photo by L’odyssée Belle on Unsplash. I wish our city had something like that.)
Comments Off on If your book shelves need arranging or inspiration
Posted in decor
Tagged apartmenttherapy, book, Books, bookshelf, bookshelves, decor
Whenever I read By The Book interviews in the New York Times, I am always a bit embarrassed. Everyone it seems has a stellar collection of books that they are about to read, they have read all the classics including some obscure ones, they read voraciously, and they arrange their books wonderfully. Meh. Reading about them makes me feel bad.
That’s why I felt better after reading this interview with Ai Weiwei: In the Cultural Revolution, Ai Weiwei’s Father Burned the Family’s Books – The New York Times.
He is well read and thoughtful but he seems much more ordinary about his book reading. And for good reasons. I recommend the interview in itself. And if you feel bad about your own reading, I highly recommend it.
(Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash)
Then you want to go to this page and check out the magical bookshelves there (like the one above). This lover of books and design absolutely drooled over them (metaphorically speaking).
(I don’t know how comfortable or useful that chair is above, but I love the idea of it.)
You might find this interesting: What Happened When I (Tried to) Read 30 Books in 30 Days
Personally I think that is not the ideal way to read. But you should check it out if that sort of thing appeals to you.
Also, it’s the pandemic: don’t read that close to anyone but your immediate circle. 🙂
If you haven’t read philosophy before, it can be daunting. Doing it with an instructor helps. A good instructor or lecturer can give you context, guide you to what is important, help you ask the right questions, even acknowledge the difficulty of what you are reading.
If you don’t have that but still want to give it a try, I recommend this list by Nigel Warburton. Some of them are general, and some focus on specific fields of philosophy. They all sound good. Read the list: Warburton tells you what each book is about and why you want to read it.
I suspect by the time you finish the article, you’ll want to go out and get one of those books.
(Photo by Grant Jacobson on Unsplash)
Congrats! It’s the weekend! You made it. Perhaps you want to relax. If so, here’s a list of books you might be interested in reading: 2020 books: Feel-good reads with guaranteed happy endings – The Washington Post
Hey, it’s the pandemic: you could use some more upbeat reading material.
If you are not the relaxing type, why not check in on that friend you haven’t heard from lately and drop off some soup. Need convincing that it’s a good idea? Read this: Soup for a Friend | A Cup of Jo
Obviously homemade soup is great. But if you live in Calgary, consider getting some soup from my friend, Carmie. She’s a great cook, and you can order soup from her company, SpoonFed. Get some bread or crackers, too.
The weather is getting cooler and the days shorter. Good soup can help you and your friends.
(Top image from the Cup of Jo blog post. Bottom image from the SpoonFed site.)
As a book lover myself, I have coveted the collection of books above from Penguin. As they say:
This spectacular box set of the 80 books in the Little Black Classics series showcases the many wonderful and varied writers in Penguin Black Classics. From India to Greece, Denmark to Iran, the United States to Britain, this assortment of books will transport readers back in time to the furthest corners of the globe. With a choice of fiction, poetry, essays and maxims, by the likes of Chekhov, Balzac, Ovid, Austen, Sappho and Dante, it won’t be difficult to find a book to suit your mood.
Sounds great! For more information, including how to order it, go here.
.
Comments Off on What to get the book lover in your life? The Little Black Classics Box Set from Penguin
Tagged Books, collections, penguins
I’ve been reading less since the pandemic hit. For many reasons. It started to bother me, since the last few years I have been reading dozens of books each year. I felt I was failing. Then I read this: How to Read Fewer Books, from The School of Life.
I whole piece is good, but this part nailed it for me:
In order to ease and simplify our lives, we might dare to ask a very old-fashioned question: what am I reading for? And this time, rather than answering ‘in order to know everything,’ we might parcel off a much more limited, focused and useful goal. We might – for example – decide that while society as a whole may be on a search for total knowledge, all that we really need and want to do is gather knowledge that is going to be useful to us as we lead our own lives. We might decide on a new mantra to guide our reading henceforth: we want to read in order to learn to be content. Nothing less – and nothing more. With this new, far more targeted ambition in mind, much of the pressure to read constantly, copiously and randomly starts to fade. We suddenly have the same option that was once open to St Jerome; we might have only a dozen books on our shelves – and yet feel in no way intellectually undernourished or deprived.
What am I reading for: it’s a great question. I think there are many answers to that. To be content, as that suggests. Or to become an expert in an area. Or to pass the time. All are good answers, depending on your need for reading. If you are feeling bad about reading fewer books, step back and decide what you are reading for. It may help you read in a new and improved way.
(Photo by matthew Feeney on Unsplash)
Is told here: How John Lewis’s masterful illustrated memoir is a shining torch for the next generation – The Washington Post
It’s a great story about the life of a great man captured in illustrated form.
Once you read about it, you can buy it here and other places that sell graphic novels and other illustrated books.
Comments Off on The story of how John Lewis ended up making a graphic memoir
July 22, 2020 in Books, new!
Tagged Books, comics, graphicnovels, memoirs
I saved this at the start of the pandemic for a time when I could freely buy books again. Now is that time, in Canada. I think this is a fine list, full of old and new books: 17 books to get you through the pandemic – Free Candie
Summer is a great time to read. Try and do that. If you get stuck, I find sticking to short/funny/light books can help.
And ready the Free Candie blog. It’s great.
(Image from a link to the blog post)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19949123/919731844.jpg.jpg)
Well this advice is fraught with assumptions, but if you are hankering to read the classics and have an open idea of what “the classics” are, I recommend this: So you want to read classic books during the coronavirus pandemic – Vox
Basically, there are quite a number of books that are considered classic, but not all classics are approachable. You might pick up one in anticipation, get stuck, and abandon the idea of ever reading such books. To prevent that from happening, read the advice given in Vox. Start slow, and go from there.
Finally, there has always been a debate over what consists of the classics. Many of them will not appeal to you. And other books not considered “Classic” by many might just be old enough for you to fill your appetite for something you consider classic. (e.g. A fan of science fiction might consider Jules Verne classic. ) I consider it good to read from different times: it gives you a better appreciation of your own time, among other reasons. So put down those contemporary writings and go find your own classics to read and love.
It’s always tricky posting a list like this, for the minute you do, many people will go over it and disagree with it. They will say, “but The Ambassadors is my favorite book”. Fine. Read this list and decide for yourself: 21 Books You Don’t Have to Read | GQ
Many of these books you will be familiar with. (Ahem, The Bible.) You may have them somewhere in your house. Perhaps on your nightside table. Hopefully this will save some of you from spend time struggling to read a book you shouldn’t even be reading.
Life is short. There is an endless list of books you can read. Read the ones you want to.
I realize not everyone can do this, but if you are bored out of your gourd right now and are looking for a challenge, why not try to read an entire book in a single day.
If you think: there’s no way I can do that, then read this: How to Read an Entire Book in a Single Day.
As you can see, it’s quite possible to do it, and with that article, you have all kinds of advice on how to succeed.
The weekend is coming up. This could be just the thing you need to feel some sense of accomplishment.
Let me know what you read!
A strong defense of self help books can be found here: On Self-Help Books | The Book of Life.
Essentially the argument is that the genre has been overtaken and is associated with people like this:
And not associated with this:
We need a list of good self help books, classic and current. Unfortunately, even lists with the so called best self-help books of all time are lacking in literary qualities. That’s a shame.
I think we need a new list of self-help books then, a list stretching from the classics such as the Dhammapada and the Bible and the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, all the way to present day books like In Search of Meaning. A new list of books that help us live better lives but that are good as books themselves. It’s time for such a list, and time for the current list of self-help books to take a backseat to this new list.
For fans (or critics) of productivity books, here’s a review of “Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business” in The New Yorker.
It’s a good review of such a book. Better than the usual synopsis. Also good to think about on a Monday as you roll into work and figure out how you are going to tackle – or avoid – the week and what it entails.
Comments Off on “Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business” – a review in the NewYorker
September 23, 2019 in new!, work
Tagged Books, NewYorker, productivity, work
As they say, here is: A Very Short List of Very Short Novels with Very Short Commentary.
Some of these you may have read, but chances are there are a few you haven’t. I recommend short novels to people who want to read more and are stuck with not having read anything recently. Better still, read good short novels. Every book on that short list is a good book.
Enjoy
Comments Off on You want short novels? The Paris Review got your back
September 16, 2019 in advice, Books, new!
Tagged advice, Books, novels, parisreview
It’s Saturday. You are thinking: I should start reading more books. But I suck at it. Well then, read this: How to Read More Books, According to an Editor Who Finishes 60+ a Year
I can’t promise it will get you to 60 books, but it will help.
Things I’d add:
Part bookshelf, part seat, this bookshelf is not like any other.
For more information on how you can get your own, see Bookworm – The only cocoon shaped bookshelf in the world | Atelier 010 Rotterdam
Arguably they are the ones in this article: I read the 8 best business books of all time—here’s what I learned. If you want to know what they are and get a synopsis, read that piece.
This is brilliant: 44 Short Books to Help You Reach Your Reading Challenge Goal – Goodreads News & Interviews.
It’s a great list of books, for starters. Second, they tell you how long they long they are and a number of them are under 100 or 200 pages.
If you are trying to reach a reading challenge goal, or if you are stuck trying to get started reading, or if you find you never finish books due to their length, then you should check out that list.
Comments Off on 44 short books to help you overcome your reading difficulties
Tagged Books, favorites, goals, literature, reading
How so? Here is a list of one hundred books by great women authors on a wide range of topics, including graphic novels like Persepolis. Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts – #VOTE100BOOKS.
Regardless of the voting and which book gets the most, it is safe to say that everything listed is worth seeking out.
It’s unlikely even well read people haven’t read all these. If you find you want to read more women, you’re bound to find things on that list.
The photographs of European libraries at this link really are stunning! I’d love to take a tour of Europe that went to each one of them.
Lovers of libraries and books will want to check out Fubiz for more images. The above image is just one of many great photos.
Despite being burned too many times by Kickstarter projects, this one seems so worthwhile I feel I must promote it: Color Problems – A Book by Emily Noyes Vanderpoel by The Circadian Press with Sacred Bones — Kickstarter. It’s a great project to recreate a classic book, and it will be a boon to many people if it gets off the ground. Anyone interested in the visual arts should check it out and contribute some way if you can.
I hope it’s successful, that the project initiators have 1) their act together 2) actually release something tangible and 3) in a timely manner that is high quality. (Many of my recent Kickstarter projects have failed at 1, 2 and 3.)
Good luck to them.
Comments Off on A reluctant promotion of a Kickstarter project: Color Problems – A Book by Emily Noyes Vanderpoel by The Circadian Press with Sacred Bones
July 7, 2018 in art, culture, new!
Tagged art, Books, cool, culture, kickstarter, visualarts
John Sandoe Books Ltd is just one of the shops shown here:
London’s prettiest and most Instagrammable bookshops | London Evening Standard.
If you love books, this piece in the Standard will have you planning / dreaming of going to London and spending quality time (and money) there.
Enjoy.
And what a library! Napoleon had asked for it to be as follows:
The Emperor wishes you to form a traveling library of one thousand volumes in small 12mo and printed in handsome type. It is his Majesty’s intention to have these works printed for his special use, and in order to economize space there is to be no margin to them. They should contain from five hundred to six hundred pages, and be bound in covers as flexible as possible and with spring backs. There should be forty works on religion, forty dramatic works, forty volumes of epic and sixty of other poetry, one hundred novels and sixty volumes of history, the remainder being historical memoirs of every period.
Even with slimmed down books, that is a lot of paper to be carrying around as your conquer Europe and other parts of the world. I’m sure he would have loved the Kindle.
For more details on this library, see: Napoleon’s Kindle: See the Miniaturized Traveling Library He Took on Military Campaigns | Open Culture
I knew that Paris had streets named after politicians and historical figures, but I didn’t know how many Paris streets are named after mathmaticians. Apparently quite a few! Amazing. One more reason to love Paris.
Dover publishers have the best books when it comes to math. If you want to see some of their better ones, see this list.
Good stuff.
Published on 9/29 at 9:29 🙂
Bill Gates picks great books to read, and Business Insider has his latest batch here: Bill Gates’ favorite books on science – Business Insider. Unlike other such lists from famous people, I can imagine Gates actually does read all the books he recommends. From other reviewers I’ve read, his book selection is solid.
Not just non-fiction, there is some fiction in there as well.
If you have the itch to be an author, then here are some links you may find helpful:
Image from here: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Cookbook.
Comments Off on Book writing advice, cookbooks and otherwise
Posted in advice
Tagged advice, authors, Books, cookbooks, Publishing, selfpublishing, writing
 | smartpeopleiknow on On the end (?) of the Cape Bre… |
 | Carl Setzer on On the end (?) of the Cape Bre… |
| Carl Setzer on Happy Birthday to Gmail, from… |
| smartpeopleiknow on Happy Birthday to Gmail, from… |
| Carl Setzer on Happy Birthday to Gmail, from… |
| smartpeopleiknow on Happy Spring! Here’s som… |
| Carl Setzer on Happy Spring! Here’s som… |
Smart People I Know 