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Open Books Thread

by BooMan
Tue Jun 30th, 2009 at 09:55:59 PM EST

It's the end of the month again. This site, like so many others, cannot operate without generous donations from people like you. In this down economy, all media outlets are suffering from a dramatic drop-off in advertising revenue, and the blogosphere is no exception. It's unfortunate, but new media is coming under tremendous financial stress and cannot exist without citizen support. To everyone who has lent support in the past, thank you for making it possible for me to get my voice out there. Making people like Dana Milbank confront his own vanities is only one of the many joys of blogging. Calling the Obama administration on their plans for indefinite detention is another. Anything you can contribute this month will be very, very appreciated. And, since I need to update the books section (I get 7.5% of all sales purchased through Powell's Books), you can use this as a thread for listing any books that are out there that you want to read, or have read and want to recommend to others. Thanks again, and please help keep the Frog Pond around as a voice in our barren media landscape.

Open Books Thread | 40 comments (40 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 1)

God, this article is annoying.

by BooMan on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 02:39:06 PM EST

Carter: Gush Etzion Belongs to Israel (none / 0)

.

Carter endorses Gush Etzion settlements

"This particular settlement area is not one I ever envision being abandoned or changed over into Palestinian territory," Carter said at the end of his afternoon visit to Neveh Daniel, in Gush Etzion.

Although he did not signify whether he meant his comment to include all 14 Gush Etzion settlements, he said that they were among the settlements over the 1967 Green Line "that I think will be here forever."

Hrair Baliam, who was traveling with Carter, told The Jerusalem Post that Carter was a long time supporter of the Geneva Initiative, which called for territorial swaps, and specifically spoke of trading land within the Green Land for part of Gush Etzion.

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

by Oui on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 03:13:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 1)

yup...nothing says "fun" more than a heavily armed idf detachment watching over the festivities...L'Chaim!

the revolution will not be televised...

by dada on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 03:14:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 1)

If you have never read Oil! by Upton Sinclair, I recommend it. Written in 1928, it is completely relevant to today: war based on lies, torture, hegemony, suppression of workers, oppression of "others," ownership of govt by corporations, and, a personal favorite, genesis of the phrase "history is bunk," which you may remember from the Gang of Four.

Now to find my credit card, Martin.

there is no such thing as history. there are only historians.

by S2 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 03:56:40 PM EST

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Booman did you see the diary by Myriad, I think, about raising money for this site with a calendar of pics by Bootribbers.

Click here to step into the Village Blue2

by diane101 (dianed101 @ yahoo.com) on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 04:33:01 PM EST

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

yes, and I talked to stand strong about how that might be done. I have to follow up with him.

by BooMan on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 04:40:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Well just saying, you need to have it going by the fall for gifts for holidays and year end. Unless it's month/year selected. Anyway I think it's a good idea.

Click here to step into the Village Blue2

by diane101 (dianed101 @ yahoo.com) on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 05:50:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Just this weekend I started thinking about books that I want to take on vacation. It will be mostly fiction, although I'm going to take a book about The Gashouse Gang that I've been saving for a while to read.

I'm thinking of taking the new Sarah Water's novel The Little Stranger and the new Lindsey Davis mystery Alexandria. I also think I'm going to break down and read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society which I've stayed away from so far because I hate books that "everone" tells me I should read. But it does look good.

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 04:46:08 PM EST

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

I gave my mom the Guernsey...Society for her birthday last weekend. She's already finished it, and loved it.

"Little people are very stuff-intensive."

by CabinGirl on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 04:57:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

That's good to know. It looks like it would be a quick read.

Although the problem with bringing a few quick reads is ... more books to take. Maybe I should just bring War and Peace :)

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 05:02:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Um, doesn't that defeat the vacation aspect of the whole thing?

"Little people are very stuff-intensive."

by CabinGirl on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 05:31:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Well, I don't have to finish it. Now that I know that Tolstoy writes in a short chapter format - it might be easier than a book with long chapters to keep track of where I am as I fall into one of the many naps I intend to take. On the other hand, it IS heavy and would be hard to hold in one hand while I hold a drink in the other.

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 05:46:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

find a compilation of short stories by dostoyevsky...an oxymoron if ever there was...and you'll be set. it'll help w/ the naps and you may even find yourself spending a lot more time recreating to avoid it, then you'll be too tired to read, eh.

the revolution will not be televised...

by dada on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:16:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Notes from Underground is a quick read. And it's brilliant. But I don't see it as happy vacation reading.

by BooMan on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:18:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

it is brilliant....but she was talking tolstoy, so l figured it was fair game.

dostoyevsky's my favorite russian writer and l have several anthologies of short stories, and they are a slog.

the revolution will not be televised...

by dada on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:25:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 1)

Dostoyevsky is my favorite writer, period. I was very disappointed when I realized I had read everything he'd ever written. I saved the Possessed for last and put if off for years. When I finally gave in and read it, I felt dread with each passing page, knowing I was approaching the end.

by BooMan on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:29:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

I felt dread with each passing page, knowing I was approaching the end.

very apropos.

the revolution will not be televised...

by dada on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:34:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

He's one of my favorite authors as well, as are most of russian authors.....have you read Quiet Flows The Don?. Quiet and Brothersk changed my world view, and Notes used to sit on a night table by my bed.

Have you read Alice Walker? Temple of my Familiar etc.

The german novel The Tin Man?

Banned but hopefully not forgotten.

by Mattes on Tue Jun 30th, 2009 at 01:39:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

I read it for a Law and Literature Class. I'd agree that it isn't happy vacation reading. Although I don't remember disliking it. (it was 20 years ago so it's hard to remember).

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:53:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

War and Peace is great, but it's kind of a guy-book. Have you read all the Dostoyevsky greats? The Idiot is my favorite. The Possessed is fantastic, too, and it's a bit shorter. And Brothers Karamazov is stunningly good.

by BooMan on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:16:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

What's a "guy-book"?

Haven't read Dostoevsky except Notes From the Underground. I will someday but I don't want to have to THINK too much on vacation.

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:52:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

War and Peace is about Napoleon's invasion of Russia, so it's had tons of military elements that are more interesting to most men than most women. Anna Karenina is the opposite. It's a chick-book.

by BooMan on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:59:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

lol!

I guess my years reading Civil War histories complete with battle maneuvers qualified as "guy reading." Of course I got tired of them after a while but mostly because there was nothing new to be added to any description of the battles at Gettysburg. There's only so many ways you can describe the motion of the troops on little round top that saved the Union day. I got back into them when people finally started writing about the war in the west (that would be Missouri and the Mississippi Valley ) but there was less battle strategy out here.

Does he write the whole thing in the almost stream of consciousness way that he wrote Anna Karenina? That slowed me down in Anna - although it worked brilliantly when she finally decided to kill herself so I ended up being glad he wrote it that way. I don't know if I want to go through it again though. Pages of decisions on whether to go to the races or not, whether to go to the party or not, whether to move to the country or stay in the city ... sometimes I just wanted to shout "just make up your mind and do it!".

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 07:50:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

There is nothing so annoying as a book that is too heavy to lounge with while reading it.

Especially if cocktails are involved.

"Little people are very stuff-intensive."

by CabinGirl on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:30:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

'zactly. And cocktails are always involved.

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 06:55:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Well, I guess I should read ...Guernsey... since half of my family tree is from St. Peter Port. Its my next European trip destination. My dumb brother got to go there first and I'll never forgive him for it.

"I never trust people who don't laugh." Maya Angelou, March 5, 2009

by Indianadem on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 09:14:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Read it by the middle of August and we'll compare notes :)

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 09:35:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

OK, although I've got a head start from all the years of family history research and hours of Google Earthing around the island. 'Course none of the genealogy I've done goes much past 1810, so the WW II period is new ground for me.

"I never trust people who don't laugh." Maya Angelou, March 5, 2009

by Indianadem on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 09:44:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

This should be an interesting discussion. Now I'm looking forward to reading this.

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 10:25:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Maybe I'll put it on my beach book list.

"Little people are very stuff-intensive."

by CabinGirl on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 09:48:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

and it's in paperback so you can hold it in one hand and your cocktail in the other :)

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 10:26:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Like I love to read and read a lot. My three favorite all time books are:

(1)Saturday's Child by Janet Dallet. A psychotherapist's explanation of Jungian psychology through the prism of her patients.

(2)Gifts of Natural Things by Llyall Watson. The Irish biologist's tour de force of how miraculous things happen via quantum mechanics. Set on an island in the Indonesian archipelago called the "Dancing Island."

(3)Answer to Job by Carl G. Jung. A radical explanation of the Godhead by the preeminent figure in modern psychology. Awesome.

Suppose you scrub your ethical skin until it shines, but inside there is no music, then what? Kabir

by Dongi 2 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 07:20:38 PM EST

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

I've just read two books by Michael Chabon, a very gifted wordmaster. I'm enjoying Jasper FForde's The Fourth Bear even as we speak.

Oh, there you are, Perry. -Phineas -SLB-

by boran2 (blogistan@yahoo.com) on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 08:42:09 PM EST

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Did he write the Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, or am I thinking of someone else?

"Little people are very stuff-intensive."

by CabinGirl on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 08:46:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

That's the guy.

Oh, there you are, Perry. -Phineas -SLB-

by boran2 (blogistan@yahoo.com) on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 09:09:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

I loved The Fourth Bear. My favorite of all Fforde's books. That Goldilocks ...

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 09:36:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

I got The Fourth Bear off the sale table at Barnes & Noble, not realizing that there was an earlier book in this series. I'm going to do something that I hate, going back to read the earlier one after reading the later book.

Oh, there you are, Perry. -Phineas -SLB-

by boran2 (blogistan@yahoo.com) on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 11:10:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

Ah The Big Over Easy. I don't think it will matter that much if you read it out of order. Unlike some series.

by maryb2004 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 11:23:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

The Price of Oil once again linked to Nigerian attacks instead of supply and demand. When will news outlets stop using "press releases" as news.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-up-to-near-72-on-dollar-apf-1326791204.html?x=0&sec=topStories &pos=8&asset=&ccode=

by americanforliberty on Tue Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:40:16 AM EST

Re: Open Books Thread (none / 0)

I tend to shy away from conspiracy-theory-sounding stuff, but today's interview on Fresh Air knocked the wind out of me. The author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, Jeff Sharlet, painted a picture of a secretive rightwing fundamentalist power cult, a commune that provides room and board and political help to some of America's most powerful rightwing operatives including Sens John Kyle, John Ensign, Tom Coburn and Gov Sanford, among many others.

In the interview, Sharlet suggested that Sanford's bizarre explanations/apologies and decision not to resign stemmed from the Family's doctrine that he, like them, is literally one of those chosen by God to lead America in his name, so whatever he does is by definition approved by God.

Unlike what you might expect from the author of such a book, Sharlet seems to be no crusader -- he's willing to look at all the arguments and let the individual draw their own conclusions. Hopefully this book will become the center of major discussion and exposure in the media and beyond. You can read an excerpt at the url above and hear audio of the interview later this afternoon. I normally wouldn't recommend a book I haven't yet read, but this one sounds astonishing and important enough to make an exception. It's now at the top of my to-read list. It would seem to deserve a top spot on this site's list as well.

FDR's response to progressive demands: "I agree. Now go out and make me do it."

by DaveW on Wed Jul 1st, 2009 at 02:55:58 PM EST

Open Books Thread | 40 comments (40 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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