Monday, December 24, 2007

This Week in Reading December 23 - 29

Merry Reading days and nights this week. There are a few well known authors who wrote about this time of year like the irascible Henry Miller, (whose rant about bourgeois Christmas in Nexus I do not recommend to anyone), and Mary Higgins Clark, who has written a few Christmas books with her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark.

Others born this holiday week are the poets Robert Bly, Matthew Arnold, and even comedians like Steve Allen and Alan King (who share the same day on different years), as well as huge pop culture names like Rod Serling and Stan Lee, but, by and large, most of this week's offerings are authors that are known only to their niche audience of readers. That doesn't make them any less interesting to explore, however, as there are some real gems.

Some of us like to bring out a Charles Dickens book of Christmas stories and read one or two each year and also read Clement Moore's poem out loud to family and guests. You may wish to rest your eyes and listen to a recording of The Christmas Carol.

This Week's Question: Which author born this week completely restructured the Encyclopaedia Britannica to make it presumably better to use? And, furthermore, what do you think of how he rearranged it? Have you even used an encyclopedia other than Wikipedia lately?

Answer to Last Week's Question: What? I can't remember what I asked last week. Not really. Actually, for those of us who read, our memories stay very much active. It was philosopher, poet, aphorist George Santayana who said that people are condemned to repeat the past if they cannot remember it. (Now, what in heaven's name is an aphorist? Hint, use an encyclopedia of some kind.)

No comments:

Search the Book Talk archives!