Book Memes « A Progressive on the Prairie

Current books:

Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid by Nicholas Schou

Recent books:

The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker
Monsieur Pain by Roberto Bolaño
Strange Days Indeed: The 1970s: The Golden Days of Paranoia by Francis Wheen
Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman by David A. Wolff
The Virgin Warrior: The Life and Death of Joan of Arc by Larissa Juliet Taylor

Booking Through Thursday: Sensual

Which do you prefer? Lurid, fruity prose, awash in imagery and sensuous textures and colors? Or straight-forward, clean, simple prose?

My journalism degree and background seems to almost demand simple and clean prose. That is called good writing. Now good writing can also be descriptive, but “lurid, fruity prose” would seem the antithesis of [...]

Booking Through Thursday: Grammar

In honor of National Grammar Day … it IS “March Fourth” after all … do you have any grammar books? Punctuation? Writing guidelines? Style books?

More importantly, have you read them?

How do you feel about grammar in general? Important? Vital? Unnecessary? Fussy?

I admit it upfront. The main — if not the only — reason I’m [...]

Musing Mondays: Keepers

Do you keep all the books you ever buy? Just the ones you love? Just collectibles? What do you do with the ones you don’t want to keep?

I wish.

For a long time, I did keep virtually every book I bought unless it was one I really disliked. For a long period of time, the [...]

Musing Mondays: For reference

Do you keep reference books on your shelves at home? What’s your first port of call when you need information – the internet or a book?

I have a ton of reference works on my shelves that I dip into with varying frequency. Two, however, aren’t with the rest. There’s a well worn paperback [...]

Booking Through Thursday: An author you should read

Who’s your favorite author that other people are NOT reading? The one you want to evangelize for, the one you would run popularity campaigns for? The author that, so far as you’re concerned, everyone should be reading–but that nobody seems to have heard of. You know, not JK Rowling, not Jane Austen, not Hemingway–everybody’s heard [...]

Booking Through Thursday: To flap or not to flap

Do you read the inside flaps that describe a book before or while reading it?

Since I suggested the question, I suppose I have somewhat of an obligation to answer it.

I probably should have been more clear but I’m referring to the flaps on the dust jackets of books. And, as a general rule, I [...]

Musing Mondays: Library Etiquette

For the regular library patrons among us: do you have your own idea of what constitutes proper library etiquette? Is there anything you always try to do? Anything you hate when others do?

Because I use the reserve list a lot, one of my minor irritations is those who keep books others are waiting for past [...]

Musing Mondays: Holiday reading

How does your reading (or your blogging) fare in the holiday months? Do you read more or less? Do you have to actively make time to read?

I generally get quite a bit of reading done over the holidays. During the Thanksgiving break, I finished a book I started earlier in the week, read three [...]

Musing Mondays: Book communing

Does your house have a communal bookshelf? If not, is your bookshelf centrally located so everyone has access to it?

Our house is a divided country when it comes to bookshelves. Actually, it’s more akin to bordering states than a civil war but we aren’t into communal shelving.

I have bookshelves in my office. Virtually [...]

Booking Through Thursday: One question

If you could ask your favorite author (alive or dead) one question … who would you ask, and what would the question be?

Sorry, but I can’t resist making this like asking the genie from the bottle for more wishes with your one wish. So, I’d say to Kurt Vonnegut, “Why don’t we chat over [...]