Book Nook Cafe discussion

Alias,

I think that I have all of Bruce Feiler's books, and the only ones that I haven't read are the ones on the circus and religion in the Middle East. But I'll try to read them all. He's a great writer.

Larry

Larry wrote: "Alias,

I think that I have all of Bruce Feiler's books, and the only ones that I haven't read are the ones on the circus and religion in the Middle East. But I'll try to read them all. He's a grea..."

Good to know that he's a quality writer. It's on my TBR list, so I will get around to it.

Sadly true now more than ever ...

Henry Brooks Adams 1838-1918

"Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds."

‘The Education of Henry Adams’ (1907) ch. 1

Larry wrote: "Sadly true now more than ever ...

Henry Brooks Adams 1838-1918

"Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds."

‘The Education of Henr..."

Yes. At times it reminds me of 1984 and the 2 minutes of hate.

Wiki
Two Minutes Hate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Min....

Sad quote but it reminds me that as i pursue my goal on Presidential bios, i learn this rampant corruption isn't at all new. It's sad that as citizens we may be aware of this but cannot manage to end it.

Alias, thanks for that link. I love that Wiki has such a page.

Joseph Wood Krutch 1893-1970

"The most serious charge which can be brought against New England is not Puritanism but February."
‘The Twelve Seasons’ (1949) ‘February’

LOL--what the?!? Not having heard of Krutch, i looked him up & found him, Joseph Wood Krutch, plus the book you mentioned, The Twelve Seasons: A Perpetual Calendar for the Country. Thanks for the introduction, Larry. Some of his books sound very thoughtful, including The Great Chain of Life.

Larry wrote: "Joseph Wood Krutch 1893-1970

"The most serious charge which can be brought against New England is not Puritanism but February."
‘The Twelve Seasons’ (1949) ‘February’"

:)

“A hope of something beyond our place and time. This is what books - the best books - give us: a lifeline, a reason to believe, a way to breathe more freely.”
— Blake Morrison

Wiki
Blake Morrison
Philip Blake Morrison FRSL is an English poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs And When Did You Last See Your Father? which won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography.

Born: October 8, 1950 (age 71 years), Yorkshire, United Kingdom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_M...


THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE OF WRITER AND POET BLAKE MORRISON
https://blakemorrison.net/

"Many situations in life are similar to going on a hike: the view changes once you start walking.

You don't need all the answers right now. New paths will reveal themselves if you have the courage to get started."

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones---James Clear

Alias Reader wrote: ""Many situations in life are similar to going on a hike: the view changes once you start walking...."

All the above quotes are good ones, but i must say the one i cited is outstanding. Thank you for each one, Alias.

Alias Reader wrote: ""Many situations in life are similar to going on a hike: the view changes once you start walking.

You don't need all the answers right now. New paths will reveal themselves if you have the courage..."

Alias,

I think it's a good quote for getting us going.

“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.”
― Edmund Burke

Burke is so right. There have been a handful of books in recent years where I slowed down to savor them as I read them ... almost taking more and more time to read as I went along.

Good quote. Larry, i agree. I suppose this is a dual sign--first, of fine writing. Second, of wanting to learn. Sometimes, gloriously, both happen in one book reading!

Writer Ralph Waldo Emerson on making each day a masterpiece:

"Finish every day and be done with it. For manners and for wise living it is a vice to remember. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day for all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays."

Source: Letter to his daughter Ellen, reprinted in The Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The days weren’t long enough for the reading she wanted to do.”
~~~ The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Sage advice from Emerson. Yet it's Bennett who defined my life!

madrano wrote: "Sage advice from Emerson. Yet it's Bennett who defined my life!"

Deb, have you read The uncommon reader? Did you enjoy it ?

Hmm. I don't see my reply to your question, Alias.

The answer is no. It's on my TBR but not particularly high on it. Reading what the Queen reads could be a fun adventure.

Alias Reader wrote: ""

I read a lot about rock in the 1960s. (It was the best of times ... it was the most intense of times.)

If you read about Jimi Hendrix in London, you will find many accounts of just how sweet the man was ...

I saw Hendrix in Raleigh on April 11, 1969. Best guitar playing I ever heard. I liked a lot of other rock groups more than the Jimi Hendrix Experience then and even now ... most of his music was not melodic enough for my tastes. But again, easily the best guitar playing I ever experienced. And, Alias, the words that you posted with the peace symbol are the kind of words that he would have said.

Larry, that is so cool that you saw him perform in person. I've only been to a few concerts in my lifetime. The experience is thrilling.

Larry, what a rich concert life you've enjoyed.

I'm more like Alias. Although i have seen Peter, Paul & Mary in concert three times!

"If I Had My Way"--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgvn5...

"A Soalin'" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nABow...

"Early in the Morning"-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX0X_...

"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGpkS...

"First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (Yes, the Roberta Flack hit, pre RF) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6x3m...

Gee, i feel i just revisited some of those concerts! :-)

“Reading changes your life. Reading unlocks worlds unknown or forgotten, taking travelers around the world and through time. Reading helps you escape the confines of school and pursue your own education.”

~~~ Donalyn Miller

The last point, about pursuing education cannot be overstated. This is why i'm alarmed with we learn the facts about how few people read books after graduating high school. There is so very much to learn via books.

madrano wrote: "The last point, about pursuing education cannot be overstated. This is why i'm alarmed with we learn the facts about how few people read books after graduating high school. There is so very much to..."

100% agree.

"33% of high school graduates never read another book the rest of their lives and 42% of college grads never read another book after college. 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years and 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year."
https://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/sob...

2021 article
"Roughly a quarter of American adults (23%) say they haven’t read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 25-Feb. 8, 2021. "
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...

Thank you, Alias, for providing the numbers. It is discouraging, imo.

Hmmm...i'll have to think about this one. Fiction can definitely illustrate how realities impact people through created scenes and conversations.

You'll have to take up any disagreement with Mr. Emerson. .😁

LOL--will do.

Today is the anniversary of the birth of author Ralph Ellison. For the first time i learned that his father, who hoped his Oklahoma City-born son would be a poet, named him for Emerson.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Ellison

How 'bout that?

Happy Birthday, Emerson ! 🎂

Sorry for the confusion. It's Ellison's birthday today. LOL--let's blame his dad & be done with it.

No. I misread.

Happy Birthday, Ellison !! 💚

“I read my eyes out and can’t read half enough… the more one reads the more one sees we have to read.” ~~~ John Adams

Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung

Happy Birthday Ralph Ellison. 🎈🌟🎈

Alias Reader wrote: "“I read my eyes out and can’t read half enough… the more one reads the more one sees we have to read.” ~~~ John Adams"

:) Love the graphic !

Glad i found it.

“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors.”

Carl Sagan
Cosmos

I like that "voyage through time" phrase. Thanks.

"Your entire life happens inside your body. It's the one home you will always occupy and can never sell.

But you can renovate it.

If you can only pick one habit to build, exercise might be the one. Everything is downstream from how your body is functioning."

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones---James Clear

"There are unheralded tipping points, a certain number of times that we will unlock the front door of an apartment. At some point you were closer to the last time than you were to the first time, and you didn’t even know it. You didn’t know that each time you passed the threshold you were saying good-bye."

~~~ The Colossus of New York BY
Colson Whitehead


The above quote was shared in her newsletter
The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun--Gretchen Rubin

Alias, what fonts of wisdom you shared today. Renovating one's body, great notion.

And the Whitehead quote is quite true. As one has recognized many of those "unheralded" tipping points, it's a satisfaction to read someone else putting that sensation into words.

Thank you for sharing both with us.

You're welcome, Deb. I thought the Whitehead quote was quite true and a bit Buddhist in tone. Often we are so busy or looking ahead, we fail to live in the moment.

I think often we just aren't looking at events in that way. It's easy to do when something global event occurs but in our own lives, it's a matter of not even giving it a thought. Usually we do that after learning of the death of someone we know. Sadly.