During my book club gathering this week the idea hit me that in addition to the series of presidential candidate debates we have for the 2008 USA presidential election some entity -- perhaps Oprah's Book Club (http://www.oprah.com/books/books_landing.jhtml) or the American Booksellers Association (www.bookweb.org) -- should sponsor a "presidential candidate book club session".
A very simple proposal here -- the sponsoring organization should select one book that all the participating candidates would read and then discuss on live television just like my book club. Interested citizens would know which book was selected so us common folk could read the selection to follow along.
Now such a format would no doubt supply some real insights to how our candidates process information and interpret literature thereby providing us with much more than the sound bites we often see in the official debates.
Books are timeless while candidates come and go.
Todd
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Book Club
Last night I attended my first book club meeting for the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Scholars (the trade group for conservative academics!). This month's selection is "Power, Faith, and Fantasy" by Michael Oren which I plan to count as two books on my 2007 reading list since it is over 600 pages long :-)
Overall the book club is dominated by historians - the one "futurist" in the room felt out of place I think but his presence was appreciated -- who are primarily retired and/or adjunct faculty members. I must note that I was a bit nervous as I drove on the Macalester College campus in St. Paul, Minnesota where the book club meets. Why? Because below the USA flag was a United Nations flag which is not on my short list of institutions I support. The baby blue UN banner was flying high (just a flag - no black helicopters!!!!) of course because former UN Secretary-General , Kofi Annan, is a Macalester alumni -- http://www.pbs.org/wnet/un/life/map2.html - with a degree in economics so clearly he did not read the same books I have in my life given his work at the UN.
Last night's discussion was active and wide-ranging so I look forward to our future gatherings. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a retired professor of Soviet studies so the Cold War Warrior in me really enjoyed our sidebar conversation. Ah, the good old days!!
It is great to have found a "home" in a new book club such as this one. I would enjoy hearing from blog readers regarding their own book club experiences.
Read with friends,
Todd
Overall the book club is dominated by historians - the one "futurist" in the room felt out of place I think but his presence was appreciated -- who are primarily retired and/or adjunct faculty members. I must note that I was a bit nervous as I drove on the Macalester College campus in St. Paul, Minnesota where the book club meets. Why? Because below the USA flag was a United Nations flag which is not on my short list of institutions I support. The baby blue UN banner was flying high (just a flag - no black helicopters!!!!) of course because former UN Secretary-General , Kofi Annan, is a Macalester alumni -- http://www.pbs.org/wnet/un/life/map2.html - with a degree in economics so clearly he did not read the same books I have in my life given his work at the UN.
Last night's discussion was active and wide-ranging so I look forward to our future gatherings. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a retired professor of Soviet studies so the Cold War Warrior in me really enjoyed our sidebar conversation. Ah, the good old days!!
It is great to have found a "home" in a new book club such as this one. I would enjoy hearing from blog readers regarding their own book club experiences.
Read with friends,
Todd
Monday, June 25, 2007
Prison Books
As the old stereotype goes long term prisoners tend to spend their prison sentences either --
- Weight lifting (to get stronger for their next crime)
- Reading books (many to pursue their law degrees!!)
Due to new post-September 11th national security guidelines numerous religious books are being removed from the shelves of the USA's prison libraries including 600 titles from the federal prison camp in Otisville, New York.
A group of the prison's inmates have filed a lawsuit which claims this book removal program violates their constitutional rights. The books that were removed were apparently "religious" and "all religions were affected" according to the Associated Press' (AP) reporter, Larry Neumeister.
The AP article goes on to note that prison libraries are allowed under the federal government guidelines (aka "censorship") to have 100 to 150 titles per religion on their shelves but that this number will eventually expand as prison officials choose more books from a "new list of permitted books."
"Permitted books" ? I hope one of them is the "Autobiography of Malcolm X" which provides great insights regarding why so many African-American prisoners in the USA are attracted to Islam. Also, from the Christian perspective I encourage readers to review the work of Prison fellowship which uses the "Good Book" for its work --http://www.prisonfellowship.org
Read widely and act locally,
Todd
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Boys will be Boys
A recent book review by the Associated Press' Jill Lawless (a "girl") regarding this new title caught my attention --
"The Dangerous Book for Boys" (DBFB) by Conn and Hal Iggulden (who are brothers)
Ms. Lawless notes that this book, "allows American boys - but not their sisters - to learn how to play marbles, make invisible ink.................." The book's title probably does not have the sexism that Ms. Lawless seems to suggest, rather it is great marketing if you ask me because such a title would attract both boys and girls given its taboo persona.
This book was a best seller in the United Kingdom where it was named Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards before being published in the USA on May 1st. DBFB's success continues in the USA where it resides on several best sellers lists.
At some point I will probably buy copies for my godsons but will have to read it first myself primarily due to my love of the Boy Scouts program. Assuming this is a practical and useful book perhaps the Boy Scouts (founded in the United Kingdom coincidentally) should tap into its success by inviting the Iggulden brothers to do a Boy Scout-sponsored book tour across the USA as a recruitment tool.
As an Eagle Scout and Vigil Member myself I happily promote the Scouts so let me encourage my readers to get involved in the Boy Scouts if the opportunity presents itself. For more information please visit -- http://www.scouting.org/
"The Dangerous Book for Boys" (DBFB) by Conn and Hal Iggulden (who are brothers)
Ms. Lawless notes that this book, "allows American boys - but not their sisters - to learn how to play marbles, make invisible ink.................." The book's title probably does not have the sexism that Ms. Lawless seems to suggest, rather it is great marketing if you ask me because such a title would attract both boys and girls given its taboo persona.
This book was a best seller in the United Kingdom where it was named Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards before being published in the USA on May 1st. DBFB's success continues in the USA where it resides on several best sellers lists.
At some point I will probably buy copies for my godsons but will have to read it first myself primarily due to my love of the Boy Scouts program. Assuming this is a practical and useful book perhaps the Boy Scouts (founded in the United Kingdom coincidentally) should tap into its success by inviting the Iggulden brothers to do a Boy Scout-sponsored book tour across the USA as a recruitment tool.
As an Eagle Scout and Vigil Member myself I happily promote the Scouts so let me encourage my readers to get involved in the Boy Scouts if the opportunity presents itself. For more information please visit -- http://www.scouting.org/
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Book Expo USA
Since my family was visiting Disney World in Florida at the same time as this year's "Book Expo America" ( held in New York City - www.bookexpoamerica.com) I could not attend this conference but look forward to 2008's show which will be held in Los Angeles, California.
The range of seminar topics and speakers (see website mentioned earlier) were impressive in terms of being timely and in terms of overall variety. I was most intrigued by the sessions focused on - Google, blogging, and promoting book authors via "social networking" technologies.
I registered on their website for future conference updates but if my readers know of any conferences being held in the Midwest of the USA I would appreciate hearing about such opportunities to enjoy perhaps the "Greatest Innovation" (see my posting at http://spacebeaglenotes.blogspot.com where I incorrectly stated that the "wheel" was the greatest innovation) - the printed BOOK.
Keep reading,
Todd
The range of seminar topics and speakers (see website mentioned earlier) were impressive in terms of being timely and in terms of overall variety. I was most intrigued by the sessions focused on - Google, blogging, and promoting book authors via "social networking" technologies.
I registered on their website for future conference updates but if my readers know of any conferences being held in the Midwest of the USA I would appreciate hearing about such opportunities to enjoy perhaps the "Greatest Innovation" (see my posting at http://spacebeaglenotes.blogspot.com where I incorrectly stated that the "wheel" was the greatest innovation) - the printed BOOK.
Keep reading,
Todd
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Empire Builder
The front page story of my Minnesota newspaper today contained an article about a local treasure in St. Paul called the James J. Hill Reference Library (http://www.jjhill.org/). Mr. Hill was a classic rags to riches success story who built a personal empire of railroads. Towards the end of his life Mr. Hill made plans to build a business reference library that would help others build business careers and also serve as an archive for his personal records. Mr. Hill modeled his library after JP Morgan's library since they were business partners.
I owe a huge "thank you" to Mr. Hill's vision since his library legacy provided some of the resources I needed to complete my Master's degree since I spent numerous hours completing research in this library. The newspaper article I read explained that the library's management board has decided to remove the personal archives that Mr. Hill (a modern day pack rat) left to the library. Potential homes for these archives -- which include Mr. Hill's list of books he had read, a practice I have done for years so I feel a certain kinship to Mr. Hill -- include the Minnesota Historical Society and a railroad museum in St. Louis, Missouri so it appears this wealth of historical information will be in good hands wherever they end up.
If any of my readers visit St. Paul, Minnesota the Hill Library is well worth a visit especially if you love books.
Thank you Mr. Hill,
Todd
I owe a huge "thank you" to Mr. Hill's vision since his library legacy provided some of the resources I needed to complete my Master's degree since I spent numerous hours completing research in this library. The newspaper article I read explained that the library's management board has decided to remove the personal archives that Mr. Hill (a modern day pack rat) left to the library. Potential homes for these archives -- which include Mr. Hill's list of books he had read, a practice I have done for years so I feel a certain kinship to Mr. Hill -- include the Minnesota Historical Society and a railroad museum in St. Louis, Missouri so it appears this wealth of historical information will be in good hands wherever they end up.
If any of my readers visit St. Paul, Minnesota the Hill Library is well worth a visit especially if you love books.
Thank you Mr. Hill,
Todd
Monday, June 4, 2007
Sandaligerula
While attending a conference in London years ago my friend Dr. Sean Gabb (giving the inventor credit here) created the word -- "hyperbibliophilia" -- which is the condition where someone continues to buy books even though they have not read the books they currently own.
I suffered from this condition for years and still fight it especially when I read reviews of books such as this one --
"Working IX to V - Orgy Planners, Funeral Clowns, and Other Prized Professions of the Ancient World"
by Vicki Leon
This book's focus is on the "behind the scenes" (my phrase) jobs of the workers and slaves that supported the leisure life in ancient Greece and Rome - fascinating stuff for nerdy historians like myself :-)
So does the job of "sandaligerula" interest you? This person's job was rather specific -- they had to ensure their mistress was wearing the proper shoes at all times. I am very thankful my wife can do this job for herself!!! (forgive me)
Todd
I suffered from this condition for years and still fight it especially when I read reviews of books such as this one --
"Working IX to V - Orgy Planners, Funeral Clowns, and Other Prized Professions of the Ancient World"
by Vicki Leon
This book's focus is on the "behind the scenes" (my phrase) jobs of the workers and slaves that supported the leisure life in ancient Greece and Rome - fascinating stuff for nerdy historians like myself :-)
So does the job of "sandaligerula" interest you? This person's job was rather specific -- they had to ensure their mistress was wearing the proper shoes at all times. I am very thankful my wife can do this job for herself!!! (forgive me)
Todd
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Disney World
Last week I spent touring Disney World in Orlando, Florida with my family. For adults I would recommend EPCOT Center and Animal Kingdom. But my best advice would be what I learned from a family waiting behind us in the line to ride the Aerosmith roller coaster -- bring a paperback book to read while you wait in line for the rides!!
We waited nearly 1.5 hours on this roller coaster but the other ride wait times ranged from 20 to 45 minutes. So if you don't have children with you or you have them distracted with toys, junk food, or Disney merchandise (which you will find at every turn) then bring a book to read while you wait in line.
Final note on Disney -- perhaps I missed it but I did not see any book reading events being held in the parks we visited. I have to believe that having some of the characters read from Disney books would prove popular with the kids (and kids at heart like me).
Todd
We waited nearly 1.5 hours on this roller coaster but the other ride wait times ranged from 20 to 45 minutes. So if you don't have children with you or you have them distracted with toys, junk food, or Disney merchandise (which you will find at every turn) then bring a book to read while you wait in line.
Final note on Disney -- perhaps I missed it but I did not see any book reading events being held in the parks we visited. I have to believe that having some of the characters read from Disney books would prove popular with the kids (and kids at heart like me).
Todd
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