Zooze the Horse roams around the pasture near Lamar State College. Zooze thinks about problems in academia. Zhe wants proffies to submit posts (blog posts, not fence posts).
Thursday, April 6, 2017
BIG Thirsty
1. What's the title of the book that's closest to your bed (or wherever you sleep)?
2. Is it a paper copy or a digital copy (e.g., Kindle) or something else?
3. Will you talk about the book with anybody at your school?
1. Love Thy Neighbor, by Peter Maass, and also a book by William Wharton (I guess I'm really tired because the title escapes me now). 2. dead tree 3. Unfortunately, probably not. But it would be nice. The two books see war through such different lenses. Maass is a journalist; Wharton was an artist. Maybe there is no meaningful distinction. Maass seems cockier than Wharton. Both good, though.
1. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. This time I will finish it. Last time I started it, I had to stop. Every chapter destroyed more of my illusions and ended with "the population expanded and squashed everything in its path": Indians, Mexicans, butterflies, bison. The population is still destroying everything in its path. 2. Paper. 3. Doubtful. And I just put my copy of Bloom County Classics on the bookshelf and found that Berkeley Breathed is posting cartoons on Facebook! Yay!
take some of it with a grain of salt. He was frequently willing to exaggerate to make a point. I read the section dealing with my specialty and almost threw the book across the room. And I agree with Zinn politically on most things.
Ummm...which one? The one I'm currently reading is Kitty Rocks the House by Carrie Vaughn, but Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology is also sitting there (finished) as are Kim Harrison's The Drafter (to re-read) and The Operator (not yet read).
Vaughn is on my Nook, everything else is paper.
I would totally talk about it at work if anyone was interested in my reading material, which they tend not to be.
1. Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won by Wertheim and Moskowitz- Almost finished. I'm in the last section of the last chapter Underneath it is Big Data Baseball: Math, Miracles, and the End of a 20-Year Losing Streak by Sawchik- I'm an analytics geek. 2. Paper 3. Not likely that anyone here cares.
1. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, which I just finished. Also Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, which is fascinating but I'm not sure I have the energy to finish right now (maybe summer!). 2. Both on my kindle, borrowed from the local library. 3. Probably not the sci-fi one, but I've talked to some friends and colleagues about the Kahneman.
I have a kindle by my bed ad all times with over 100 or so books on it (helps that I share an account with hubby). The one I go to when I am just in the mood to re-read something comforting is The Lord of the Rings.
I'm sorry, but it's true. I have, indeed, talked all things Tolkien with people here. Some (the ones who have overheard but not shared---JRR has many fans at HCCC) may think I am odd and much too pedestrian to be in the position I am in. Oh well. In difficult moments, Tolkien has always been a godsend.
1. A great lectures course on Ancient Greece (only very tangentially related to my field--I am such a nerd). 2. Audiobook. After years of resisting, I am now counting listening to an audiobook as "reading." 3. No, I don't need my colleagues to know just how much of a nerd I am.
Well, there's a whole bookcase just above my bed, so the quick answer is "lots of them, on varying subjects, ranging from various aspects of my academic specialty to leisure reading (mostly mysteries) to self-help to religion." Closest to hand, though, are a (hardbound) Bible and a copy of a (paper) booklet of lenten devotions written by members of my church (including me). I've also recently added a copy, bought used online, of an illustrated poetry anthology I treasured as a child (I still have the original copy somewhere, I'm pretty sure, but not handy).
But I fear the above makes me sound much more pious, or at least orderly in my habits, than I am. Am I good about stopping reading random things on the internet, getting into bed, and reading those before falling asleep (or just after waking), though? Not as much as I'd like to be.
And would I discuss the above at school? Probably not with students, but that's mostly a matter of appropriate boundaries. With colleagues who would be interested, in a context where the reference would be appropriate/relevant, sure.
1. Under Heaven, by GG Kay.
ReplyDelete2. Paper, haven't got a kindle (or a smartphone for that matter).
3. Sure, and it was a colleague who got me reading this.
1. Love Thy Neighbor, by Peter Maass, and also a book by William Wharton (I guess I'm really tired because the title escapes me now).
ReplyDelete2. dead tree
3. Unfortunately, probably not. But it would be nice. The two books see war through such different lenses. Maass is a journalist; Wharton was an artist. Maybe there is no meaningful distinction. Maass seems cockier than Wharton. Both good, though.
1. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. This time I will finish it. Last time I started it, I had to stop. Every chapter destroyed more of my illusions and ended with "the population expanded and squashed everything in its path": Indians, Mexicans, butterflies, bison. The population is still destroying everything in its path.
ReplyDelete2. Paper.
3. Doubtful.
And I just put my copy of Bloom County Classics on the bookshelf and found that Berkeley Breathed is posting cartoons on Facebook! Yay!
take some of it with a grain of salt. He was frequently willing to exaggerate to make a point. I read the section dealing with my specialty and almost threw the book across the room. And I agree with Zinn politically on most things.
DeleteUmmm...which one? The one I'm currently reading is Kitty Rocks the House by Carrie Vaughn, but Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology is also sitting there (finished) as are Kim Harrison's The Drafter (to re-read) and The Operator (not yet read).
ReplyDeleteVaughn is on my Nook, everything else is paper.
I would totally talk about it at work if anyone was interested in my reading material, which they tend not to be.
1. Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won by Wertheim and Moskowitz- Almost finished. I'm in the last section of the last chapter
ReplyDeleteUnderneath it is Big Data Baseball: Math, Miracles, and the End of a 20-Year Losing Streak by Sawchik- I'm an analytics geek.
2. Paper
3. Not likely that anyone here cares.
1. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, which I just finished. Also Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, which is fascinating but I'm not sure I have the energy to finish right now (maybe summer!).
ReplyDelete2. Both on my kindle, borrowed from the local library.
3. Probably not the sci-fi one, but I've talked to some friends and colleagues about the Kahneman.
I have a kindle by my bed ad all times with over 100 or so books on it (helps that I share an account with hubby). The one I go to when I am just in the mood to re-read something comforting is The Lord of the Rings.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but it's true. I have, indeed, talked all things Tolkien with people here. Some (the ones who have overheard but not shared---JRR has many fans at HCCC) may think I am odd and much too pedestrian to be in the position I am in. Oh well. In difficult moments, Tolkien has always been a godsend.
1. A great lectures course on Ancient Greece (only very tangentially related to my field--I am such a nerd).
ReplyDelete2. Audiobook. After years of resisting, I am now counting listening to an audiobook as "reading."
3. No, I don't need my colleagues to know just how much of a nerd I am.
1. Why am I not in a bed?
ReplyDelete2. It's not a copy of anything! It is an original.
3. If I talk to them they will talk back. Nothing good can come of that.
1. Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris. Five baseball book for the season.
2. 1966 paperback.
3. See #3 above.
Off topic, no not really. Zooze is doing a great job. Bubba should be proud to call him a friend.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI'm lucky to know hir.
DeleteAmen.
DeleteWell, there's a whole bookcase just above my bed, so the quick answer is "lots of them, on varying subjects, ranging from various aspects of my academic specialty to leisure reading (mostly mysteries) to self-help to religion." Closest to hand, though, are a (hardbound) Bible and a copy of a (paper) booklet of lenten devotions written by members of my church (including me). I've also recently added a copy, bought used online, of an illustrated poetry anthology I treasured as a child (I still have the original copy somewhere, I'm pretty sure, but not handy).
ReplyDeleteBut I fear the above makes me sound much more pious, or at least orderly in my habits, than I am. Am I good about stopping reading random things on the internet, getting into bed, and reading those before falling asleep (or just after waking), though? Not as much as I'd like to be.
And would I discuss the above at school? Probably not with students, but that's mostly a matter of appropriate boundaries. With colleagues who would be interested, in a context where the reference would be appropriate/relevant, sure.
The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture by Rebecca L. Spang, and Treasure Planet (A Man-Kzin novel)
ReplyDelete