What are you reading?
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Still waiting for my library to supply the Captain Cook book...
Reading these:
The Dorothy Wordsworth (bought) is a keeper; after a brief interesting historical introduction, her 225 year old diary is immediate and lyrical - after all she was her brothers inspiration, muse and recorder. And has artwork throughout.
Censoring Victoria is quite academic (library book borrowed 9 times in 11 years).
30 pages in, I may skip through to the end. -
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I have never read any of Ursula K. Le Guin, so I'm starting the Left Hand of Darkness.
Crazy economist who likes to write about higher education.
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@Piano-Dad ooh, me neither. Not sure where to start.
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On Lying and Politics by Hannah Arendt https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/1a83999a-ad81-4709-a546-8790280e444d
I started out as a poli sci major but I think I'm out of practice. Short book, long read.
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Added this one to my "to read" list:
Indian writer, lawyer and activist Banu Mushtaq has made history by becoming the first author writing in the Kannada language to win the International Booker prize with her short story anthology, Heart Lamp.
It is the first short story collection to win the presigious prize. Judges praised her characters as "astonishing portraits of survival and resilience".
Featuring 12 short stories written by Mushtaq between 1990 and 2023, Heart Lamp poignantly captures the hardships of Muslim women living in southern India.
The stories were selected and translated into English from Kannada, which is spoken in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, by Deepa Bhasthi who will share the £50,000 prize.
In her acceptance speech, Mushtaq thanked readers for letting her words wander into their hearts.
"This book was born from the belief that no story is ever small; that in the tapestry of human experience, every thread holds the weight of the whole," she said.
"In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the last sacred spaces where we can live inside each other's minds, if only for a few pages," she added.
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@Piano-Dad said in What are you reading?:
I have never read any of Ursula K. Le Guin, so I'm starting the Left Hand of Darkness.
I've had that one on my bedside table for a while. I read and admired The Dispossessed many years ago, and I've taught from her book on writing, Steering the Craft, but The Left Hand of Darkness is her most famous book, so I really want to read it and The Wizard of Earthsea.
Also, I've started taking Tai Chi and my teacher recommended her interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, so I just grabbed the ebook.
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@Piano-Dad said in What are you reading?:
I have never read any of Ursula K. Le Guin, so I'm starting the Left Hand of Darkness.
I've had that one on my bedside table for a while. I read and admired The Dispossessed many years ago, and I've taught from her book on writing, Steering the Craft, but The Left Hand of Darkness is her most famous book, so I really want to read it and The Wizard of Earthsea.
Also, I've started taking Tai Chi and my teacher recommended her interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, so I just grabbed the ebook.
@Mary-Anna Are you enjoying the tai chi? When I started, I found it both relaxing and energizing. It took all my mindfulness to figure out how to follow, which tamped down the constant chatter in my mind.
The chatter is back, but it’s generally pretty focused chatter now. We’ve been doing tai chi since January of 2024.
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@Mary-Anna Are you enjoying the tai chi? When I started, I found it both relaxing and energizing. It took all my mindfulness to figure out how to follow, which tamped down the constant chatter in my mind.
The chatter is back, but it’s generally pretty focused chatter now. We’ve been doing tai chi since January of 2024.
@AdagioM said in What are you reading?:
@Mary-Anna Are you enjoying the tai chi?
I am!
My experience with Tai Chi was near zero. I've been doing some videos that are more fitness-oriented than true to the practice, I think, which I think of as more like fitness club yoga than like the yoga you'd do at an ashram. By contrast, this class is being taught by someone who's been practicing under a master for something like twenty years. Some of his more advanced students attend the beginners class with us, and even they have studied for quite a few years. Anyway, it seems pretty authentic.
I also find it challenging to follow, not least because of my regrettable tendency to confuse left and right, and I agree that it helps tamp down the chatter in my head that never goes away. It doesn't feel all that challenging yet physically, other than to my balance, but I suspect that I'm working harder than I realize. I'm also meeting people in my new town, which is a big bonus for me.
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@AdagioM said in What are you reading?:
@Mary-Anna Are you enjoying the tai chi?
I am!
My experience with Tai Chi was near zero. I've been doing some videos that are more fitness-oriented than true to the practice, I think, which I think of as more like fitness club yoga than like the yoga you'd do at an ashram. By contrast, this class is being taught by someone who's been practicing under a master for something like twenty years. Some of his more advanced students attend the beginners class with us, and even they have studied for quite a few years. Anyway, it seems pretty authentic.
I also find it challenging to follow, not least because of my regrettable tendency to confuse left and right, and I agree that it helps tamp down the chatter in my head that never goes away. It doesn't feel all that challenging yet physically, other than to my balance, but I suspect that I'm working harder than I realize. I'm also meeting people in my new town, which is a big bonus for me.
@Mary-Anna All good things! I find that there is always something I can do better than I’ve been doing it. Now I’m concentrating on breath, and coordinating breath to movement. Also working on posture, and making all movements flow from one to another. It’s almost like dancing.
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A book recently published by a lifelong friend.
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https://www.worldofbooks.com/cdn/shop/files/0316118400.jpg?v=1718655970&width=493
Good stuff here. If you look up an ingredient you’ll find a list of other ingredients that go well with it. Classic combinations are highlighted and there will be commentary from chefs and such.
It’s geeky but I really like it!
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Just started I Cheerfully Refuse, one of the many books I bought during the North of Boston Independent Bookstore scavenger hunt recently.
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@Mary-Anna All good things! I find that there is always something I can do better than I’ve been doing it. Now I’m concentrating on breath, and coordinating breath to movement. Also working on posture, and making all movements flow from one to another. It’s almost like dancing.
@AdagioM @Mary-Anna I tried Tai Chi several times and passed out each time. I guess it is not for me.
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@Piano-Dad said in What are you reading?:
I have never read any of Ursula K. Le Guin, so I'm starting the Left Hand of Darkness.
I've had that one on my bedside table for a while. I read and admired The Dispossessed many years ago, and I've taught from her book on writing, Steering the Craft, but The Left Hand of Darkness is her most famous book, so I really want to read it and The Wizard of Earthsea.
Also, I've started taking Tai Chi and my teacher recommended her interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, so I just grabbed the ebook.
@Mary-Anna @Piano-Dad #booksky #BannedBookSkyClub over on Blue Sky is reading The Left Hand of Darkness in June. I might use that as
an excusemotivation. -
@Mary-Anna @Piano-Dad #booksky #BannedBookSkyClub over on Blue Sky is reading The Left Hand of Darkness in June. I might use that as
an excusemotivation.@rustyfingers said in What are you reading?:
@Mary-Anna @Piano-Dad #booksky #BannedBookSkyClub over on Blue Sky is reading The Left Hand of Darkness in June. I might use that as
an excusemotivation.Ooh! Good to know!
And it sounds like tai chi is not for you! I had that experience with karate, but so far tai chi is good.
