I’ve been trying to read more, including audiobooks while I’m on the road, so naturally I’m looking for some science fiction, including space opera… all the better to inform my own operatic tales. Thankfully, Tim O’Brien has a list of 55 space operas from the past not-quite century done for Barnes & Noble, who admittedly has a vested interest in getting you hooked on series. I have read many, but far from all, of the…
Finding time to read, or catch up with films, seems all the more difficult these days, so I pored over this list from various critics at The Guardian, who apparently are annoyed at the increasing length of films and heft of novels and have a slew of suggestions of how to get all the artsy goodness you want in a smaller package. I haven’t seen all the films nor read all the novels listed. In…
A few years ago, writer, media consultant, and avid Stoic, Ryan Holiday, decided to open a bookstore with his wife. What with being a writer who is very into philosophy and how one lives one’s life (seriously check out some of his books), he decided to share some thoughts about what he learned from running the bookstore. The 23 lessons are on the shorter side, but are thought-provoking and often link to longer pieces that…
I had another post slated for today, but, I figured I’d be a bit more timely, considering the video above came out this past Sunday. John Oliver can lambaste and rant with the best of them, and his snark regarding the pop culture phenomenon of The Da Vinci Code speaks to me. Why? Because I was convinced by a number of very energetic people to go forth and read now –right now– The Da Vinci…
So many industries are being shaken by the coronavirus pandemic, the retail section overall is suffering, but specifically, small retail businesses are hurting. What with coming from a family of librarians and book-lovers, I’m especially keen to see independent book shops weather this latest storm, so I was happy to see an article earlier this month about how one online outfit, Bookshop.org is helping brick-and-mortar operations have an online footprint too. My “unread” bookshelf is…
The New York Public Library (NYPL) released a list of its most checked out books in its 125 year history (it was founded in 1895). Coming from a family that includes librarians, archivists, and avid history readers, this was delightful news. I learned about it as the NPR story covering it was shared widely among my social media channels. One curious note in the NYPL release: an honorable mention for Goodnight Moon, which I suppose…
With a family full of librarians, archivists, and history buffs, it comes as no surprise we’re all fans of used book stores. Close to home, the long-standing Idle Times Books in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC is set to change owners (and also change names) as Paul Schwarztman explains in this piece from the Washington Post.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being a “talking head” on television talking about Hollywood, celebrity culture, and the 2016 Presidential Race. One of the things I referenced was Daniel Boortsin’s 1962 book The Image, which when I first read it 20-some years ago, seemed very prescient. Nowadays, it seems only more so. What I was referring to on the program was Boorstin’s observation of the new class of celebrity who was “a person who…