I got into one of my book fevers today. I just had to have a book on Leonardo DaVinci. in my defense I am preparing a class on him and his inventions. So I went through my frenzy of checking on my local library's website and then on Amazon. I added 6 books on my Amazon wish list and printed off a list of about 15 books from the library. This is for work and I'm not buying them so it's aaaaallll good.
I just finished my first unread book on my list of 210 Unread Books. It's called The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley Archer and is the first book of The Gideon Trilogy.
It's about two English children who, by a freak encounter with an anti-gravity machine, end up transported to 1763. They meet a thief-turned gentleman, Gideon Seymour, who is hiding from the Tar Man who does whatever he can to bring him back to his former boss. The Tar Man steals the anti-gravity machine and the children team up with Gideon to get it back.
Linda's writing style is real and heavy and tangible. I wrote in my last post that she weaves a story like a chef mixes ingredients. You smell 18th century London, you hear the rustling of people as they walk down the cobbled roads, and you feel the jarring of the carriage as you race to win back the machine.
Youth sci-fi and fantasy is my all time favorite genre. And The Time Travelers deserves it's place among The Mysterious Benedict Society, Artemis Fowl and A Wrinkle in Time.
And now to my favorite part... what book shall I read next?
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Books are only the first step...
I live in America and America like many other countries has benefited from the advancements of technology, namely the world wide web. It is extremely simple for me to find information about thousands of different topics by simply typing my heart's desire into The Google Machine. This is a wonderful thing and sort of a crippling thing.
All this easy access to information in the form of PDFs, articles, blogs, books, ebooks etc creates an urgency to consume it all. I know that there's another book with even more information so I need to hurry through this one to get to the next one... And the one after that... And the one after that.
Whenever I search for a topic online or even at the library I feel like if I just keep piling the books up beside me that I will find the perfect one that will tell me everything I need to know in the exact manner I want to learn it. And if I discard a book then that's surely the one that had the perfect information I need.
Are humans really ready for the amount of information that's thrown at us each day. I understand that our brains can technically handle it by simply ignoring information that isn't important at a particular moment. But is the rest of our body ready? We are naturally active creatures and consuming all that information requires us to site still for long periods of time.
I read an article the other day about unplugging for 30 days and how people spend more time chatting with "friends" on Facebook than they do with real life friends. It was also about the benefits of giving up certain passive activities, like watching tv and surfing the web, for more active activities like hiking and spending quality time with friends and family.
Despite the fact that I love to read and there's nothing more seducing for me but a new book, some hot chocolate and a blanket I realize that humans were made to collect information using our entire bodies, not just our eyes. We have a sense of touch, smell and hearing for a reason. They all work together to collect a more complete set of data for us to learn about our surroundings and about life.
Growing up we weren't really taught to gain information using our entire body. Boys who couldnt sit still during class were labeled troublemakers or worse ADD. We were made to sit at our desks memorizing dates and names. Field trips were almost non-existent toward the end of my school years. So now that we are *all growed up* we have to remind ourselves that we have eyes, ears, mouths and hands that can do more than write spelling words 20 times.
I am not saying to put down your favorite book or stop reading this blog. I'm saying that reading about things online or in books is just one part of learning. I'm also saying that the prominent way you learn information might not even be the best way for you. So after, or while, you read a book about the Civil War why not have a chat with a historian, or participate in a reenactment.
You will learn far more engaging your entire body instead of only just your eyes.
All this easy access to information in the form of PDFs, articles, blogs, books, ebooks etc creates an urgency to consume it all. I know that there's another book with even more information so I need to hurry through this one to get to the next one... And the one after that... And the one after that.
Whenever I search for a topic online or even at the library I feel like if I just keep piling the books up beside me that I will find the perfect one that will tell me everything I need to know in the exact manner I want to learn it. And if I discard a book then that's surely the one that had the perfect information I need.
Are humans really ready for the amount of information that's thrown at us each day. I understand that our brains can technically handle it by simply ignoring information that isn't important at a particular moment. But is the rest of our body ready? We are naturally active creatures and consuming all that information requires us to site still for long periods of time.
I read an article the other day about unplugging for 30 days and how people spend more time chatting with "friends" on Facebook than they do with real life friends. It was also about the benefits of giving up certain passive activities, like watching tv and surfing the web, for more active activities like hiking and spending quality time with friends and family.
Despite the fact that I love to read and there's nothing more seducing for me but a new book, some hot chocolate and a blanket I realize that humans were made to collect information using our entire bodies, not just our eyes. We have a sense of touch, smell and hearing for a reason. They all work together to collect a more complete set of data for us to learn about our surroundings and about life.
Growing up we weren't really taught to gain information using our entire body. Boys who couldnt sit still during class were labeled troublemakers or worse ADD. We were made to sit at our desks memorizing dates and names. Field trips were almost non-existent toward the end of my school years. So now that we are *all growed up* we have to remind ourselves that we have eyes, ears, mouths and hands that can do more than write spelling words 20 times.
I am not saying to put down your favorite book or stop reading this blog. I'm saying that reading about things online or in books is just one part of learning. I'm also saying that the prominent way you learn information might not even be the best way for you. So after, or while, you read a book about the Civil War why not have a chat with a historian, or participate in a reenactment.
You will learn far more engaging your entire body instead of only just your eyes.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Not At All Like Harry Potter
I finished cataloging all my books yesterday. The total is 390.
Of the 210 unread books I currently have there are 8 books I'm currently reading. Yes, that's 8 books at once. And about 13 books I've started but then for one reason or another put down and forgot about.
I used Book Crawler to catalog my books on my iPad. It's a great tool for keeping track of the books you own, have read and want. I've also assigned tags to each of my books based on different criteria like "made into movie" and "should read again" and "signed copy".
As I cataloged my books I slowly began to understand the enormity of the task before me. I have to read 210 books before I can buy another one. Some women have shoes or purses; I have books. I don't know if I can do this. I've never tried to seriously do anything like this before.
But deep down I know it will be good for me. I have collected so much knowledge in these unread books but I never actually ingested it all. They just sit on my lovingly, handmade bookshelves waiting to share their secrets.
One of the books I'm currently reading is called The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley Archer. On the front it says, "For children who like Harry Potter." It's praise for the book but it just annoys me. This book is nothing like the Harry Potter books. The writing style is different, the plot is different and the characters do not resemble Harry, Hermoine or Ron in the least bit.
The Time Travelers is an extremely entertaining book about two modern teenagers who, after chasing a dog around an English laboratory end up back in 1763. See, nothing like Harry Potter.
I do really and highly recommend this book. The writing style is natural, flowing and wholesome. And the author brings up topics that are slightly more mature than the average reader of a book like this but that only makes it even more enjoyable for an adult reader. This book was also made for the big screen. Archer describes a scene like a chef; you can feel it, smell it, taste it and sometimes you choke on the humor and humanity that jumps out from every page.
I'm not finished yet but I am excited to have The Time Travelers be the first book I check off my 210 Unread Books list.
Of the 210 unread books I currently have there are 8 books I'm currently reading. Yes, that's 8 books at once. And about 13 books I've started but then for one reason or another put down and forgot about.
I used Book Crawler to catalog my books on my iPad. It's a great tool for keeping track of the books you own, have read and want. I've also assigned tags to each of my books based on different criteria like "made into movie" and "should read again" and "signed copy".
As I cataloged my books I slowly began to understand the enormity of the task before me. I have to read 210 books before I can buy another one. Some women have shoes or purses; I have books. I don't know if I can do this. I've never tried to seriously do anything like this before.
But deep down I know it will be good for me. I have collected so much knowledge in these unread books but I never actually ingested it all. They just sit on my lovingly, handmade bookshelves waiting to share their secrets.
One of the books I'm currently reading is called The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley Archer. On the front it says, "For children who like Harry Potter." It's praise for the book but it just annoys me. This book is nothing like the Harry Potter books. The writing style is different, the plot is different and the characters do not resemble Harry, Hermoine or Ron in the least bit.
The Time Travelers is an extremely entertaining book about two modern teenagers who, after chasing a dog around an English laboratory end up back in 1763. See, nothing like Harry Potter.
I do really and highly recommend this book. The writing style is natural, flowing and wholesome. And the author brings up topics that are slightly more mature than the average reader of a book like this but that only makes it even more enjoyable for an adult reader. This book was also made for the big screen. Archer describes a scene like a chef; you can feel it, smell it, taste it and sometimes you choke on the humor and humanity that jumps out from every page.
I'm not finished yet but I am excited to have The Time Travelers be the first book I check off my 210 Unread Books list.
Monday, April 4, 2011
My Husbands Decree
I just realized that I have only read about half of the books I own. That's not good. I've also realized that I should get my husband to build me another bookcase. The books lined up against the floorboards look like they could use a nice shelf to sit on.
However, I doubt that my husband would do anything to help my obsession right now. After bringing the 210th unread book into my house after a library used book sale he decreed that I could not buy another book until I read all the unread books on my bookshelves that he made for me.
This is not going to be easy for me. I can't smell a book without fantasizing about how comforting it will feel in my hands while I curl up underneath the covers, sipping on some English Breakfast and idly petting my cat, Bianca. I spend a lot of time in the real world; I live for my little trips to fantasy lands that have nothing to do with current events or small city drama.
But I believe I have a plan. First of all my husband didn't say anything about trading books. I am a member of PaperBackSwap.com. And technically speaking he shouldn't be mad about getting rid of one book to make room for another. And besides I've started to focus on trading for books I've already read but don't own yet.
Second, I can still peruse the stacks in the library. Just as long as I don't take any home. That could tied me over when I'm getting a hankering for fresh paper.
And thirdly, as much as I don't want to admit it, I will just have to sit down and start reading my way through my 210 unread books.
However, I doubt that my husband would do anything to help my obsession right now. After bringing the 210th unread book into my house after a library used book sale he decreed that I could not buy another book until I read all the unread books on my bookshelves that he made for me.
This is not going to be easy for me. I can't smell a book without fantasizing about how comforting it will feel in my hands while I curl up underneath the covers, sipping on some English Breakfast and idly petting my cat, Bianca. I spend a lot of time in the real world; I live for my little trips to fantasy lands that have nothing to do with current events or small city drama.
But I believe I have a plan. First of all my husband didn't say anything about trading books. I am a member of PaperBackSwap.com. And technically speaking he shouldn't be mad about getting rid of one book to make room for another. And besides I've started to focus on trading for books I've already read but don't own yet.
Second, I can still peruse the stacks in the library. Just as long as I don't take any home. That could tied me over when I'm getting a hankering for fresh paper.
And thirdly, as much as I don't want to admit it, I will just have to sit down and start reading my way through my 210 unread books.
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