Category: Random

Random

A Life in Books (via Brookline Blogsmith)

Geoff W

I LOVE Brookline Booksmith. It is one of the two bookstores in my area that I would live in if I could (Havard Bookstore is the other). I’ve read the Brookline Blogsmith (See what they did there? Gotta love it.) blog for quite some time and it has always been enjoyable.

Today’s post, A Life in Books, however, was extraordinary. It is beautiful, meaningful, well thought and well written. It made me stop and take a few minutes out of my hectic Friday morning to wonder what will happen to my books when I’m gone and what the person who has to deal with them will think. I mean just read these few sentences,

I found a Dover Thrift Edition of Brothers Karamazov. It was highlighted until about a third of the way through and then it stopped. Had he read it before? Was it the last book he started? Did he give up, opting for some non-fiction instead? This guy read more than I did and it is basically my job. It was heartbreaking and fascinating to see so laid bare the life of a reader.

WOW right?

I urge you to check it out. If I could demand it or even command it I probably would. It’s short and succinct so no excuses!

A Life in Books via Brookline Blogsmith

Random

I’m A Grumpy Ggggggg

Geoff W

Sorry everyone, I needed to take a few minutes and vent a few things about the book blogging community and blogging in general.  As I was writing I realized some of it was just me being petty, but part of it is a larger issue that I just don’t want to be the one to raise.

You aren’t supposed to be able to read what I’ve written (except for the last two paragraphs) because I used the NaNoWriMo Word hint to hide what I wrote.  I did this to 1) get this off my chest and allow me to step-over-it and 2) so that I didn’t offend or upset anyone.

GGGG GGGG!  Ggg gg gg gggg gggg G gg ggggggggg ggg ggg ggggggg ggg ggggggg gggggggg ggg ggggggggg gg gg gggg ggg gggg ggggggg gggggg gg (ggggg gggg ggggg’gg gggggg gg gggg ggg gggg ggggg G ggg) ggg ggggg’g ggggggg gg ggggg?  Gg’g gggggg ggggggggggg ggg gggggggggg gggggggg gggggggggg gg gggg ggggggg gg ggg gg gggg gggggggg ggg gggggggg ggg gggggggg ggg ggg gggg gggggg gg ggggggg.  G ggg’g ggggg gggg ggggggggggg ggg gggg, ggg g gggg ggggg gggg ggggg ggggg gggg gggg gggggggg gg ggg ggggg gggggggg ggg gggg gggg gggg.  Ggg G’g ggggg ggggg ggg G ggg gg ggggg ggg G ggg gggggg ggggggggg (gg ggg ggggggggg gg ggggg ggg gg gg ggggg) gggg ggg ggg gggg, gg ggg ggg, gg ggg ggggg gggg gggg G ggg.  Gg’g gggggg GGGGGGG gggggg ggg gggggg ‘ggg, ggggg ggg gggg gg-ggg-gg ggg.’

Ggg gggg gg gggg gggggggg, ggg ggg gggggggg gggg-gggggggggg/ggg-gg-gg ggggg ggggg gggggg gg g ggg ggggg ggg gggggggggg ggggggggg.  Ggg ggg gggg gggggggg gggggggg, ggg ggg gggg gggg ggggg gg gggggg, ggg gggg gggg ggg gggggg ggg ‘gg’ gggg ggg ggg gggg ggggg gg ggggg’g gggggg gg ggg gggg ggg – ggg gggggg GGGG GG GG!  Ggg ggggggggggg gggg gggg gg ggg gggggggg, gggg gggggggg ggg gggg gg ggg gggggg gggggg ggg ggg’g ggg gggggggg, ggg gg GGG’G, gg gg ggggg G GGG’G, gggg gg gggg ggggg gg gggg ggg gggg ggggg. Gg ggg gggg gg ggggg ggg gggg, gggggg gg ggg gggg gg – ggg’g gggg ggg gggg gg gg gggg gggg ggg.

There is one thing – I will ‘vent in public,’ if you will. Just keep in mind this is a personal opinion (and stems from my work with social media/technology in my professional life), so don’t everyone line up to take pot-shots at me.  When you’re writing your blog, try and remember that REALLY long blogs are difficult to read.  I know I’m guilty of doing this on occasion so I’m clearly the sinner casting the first stone.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I read at least 100 blog posts a day and honestly I lose interest quickly.  Just a tip from experience if you find something really interesting and find yourself writing and writing and writing, try breaking it up into a series – or creating a page for a longer/in-depth look.

Thanks for letting me vent even if I couldn’t share all of it publicly – sometimes you just have to write something out to get some sort of closure.

Random

Shakespeare On The Coffee Table (via 101books.net)

Geoff W

I’ve read Robert’s blog, 101 Books, for quite some time now and not only is it informative and witty, it’s incredibly entertaining.  One of the best observations in this piece:

“We read crap we don’t want to read just to say we’ve read it. Or maybe we don’t read crap we don’t want to read, but we still say we’ve read it.”

I really enjoyed this particular piece and wanted to share it with everyone (hopefully he’s cool with that).  Sorry if you all follow him and have already seen it, if you don’t follow him, you should!

CHECK IT OUT: Shakespeare On The Coffee Table.

Random, Updates

Lunch Break Interlude III

Geoff W

Like I said on the last Lunch Break Interlude barely two weeks ago.  It never fails that if I post a regular update something else awesome comes along that I want to share.  So lucky for you dear blogging world  I don’t have a set schedule!

After all the hullabaloo (aka my What about Anne Brontë? series here, here and here) I realized I didn’t have any clue where my copies of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are and I tried to find three editions of those two and any Anne novel but couldn’t find separate editions 🙁  Instead I splurged and spent most of my remaining Amazon gift cards from Christmas/Birthday on a nicer collection and a gift for Tom to the right. The book contains Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey.

On a completely different note, and the REAL reason for this post, last week Claire over at Word by Word (direct link to the post) posted about Tagxedo. Tagxedo is an awesome program you can enter a blog address or any amount of text and it will create a designed tag cloud for you. Mine is below.

Click here to continue reading.

Random

What about Anne Brontë? Part 3

Geoff W

As you’ve read in Part 1 and Part 2 of this random mini-series, I had a visceral reaction to Mary Ward’s preface of The Tennant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë.  It has however inspired me to do a bit of research to read up on the life of Anne and her sisters, and to reflect more on Anne’s books and writing than I probably would have without the preface.

Upon digging further I found a pretty solid (and somewhat revealing) biography of Anne based at the University of Pennsylvania Digital Library. And it definitely shed light on a few things.  Living to only 29 years of age, (photo of her grave in Scarborough, North Yorkshire right) Anne was not the ethereal non-entity she has been made out to be throughout history, and she certainly wasn’t as meek or as quiet as her sisters’ would have us readers believe.  She has been ‘left out in the rain’ because her works are so starkly different in comparison to her sisters, however I don’t believe this is solely due to the public or even her publishers – a large portion of this rests upon Charlotte’s shoulders.

Click here to continue reading.